Album Reviews

** 1/2 The Muffs, “Blonder and Blonder,” Reprise. From the punchy “Agony” to the spry, sad “Just a Game,” the pert tunes on the Muffs’ second full-length effort bash past in a familiar punk-pop mode. But that doesn’t necessarily make Kim Shattuck’s snarled vocals and the gusts of abrasive guitar any less intense--just strangely comfortable in a prickly way.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).