Arrows of Desire

By most measures, Matthew Good is a survivor, the kind of rocker who's carved out a career on his own terms. He's a star in Canada, winning a Juno in 2011, so there is a sense of assurance on Arrows of Desire, his 13th album. He recalls the classic alternative rock of the '90s in both sound and feel — his vocal timbre can recall Matthew Sweet, and the guitar ballast any number of late-'90s bands, from Better Than Ezra on — but, as a survivor, his sharpest skill is his craft. Good writes clean, efficient songs that balance soul-baring with sculpted melodies, and if the music feels somewhat frozen in time — this is the kind of full-throated, big-budget alt-rock that was all the rage in the late '90s and isn't much heard in the new millennium — it nevertheless is performed with a passion that gives it freshness.