In Brief

* * * E, “Broken Toy Shop,” Polydor. Big major chords feed the harmonious vocals of this man called E, for a uniformly sunny, serene sound despite the often downbeat lyrics. But don’t put on E’s second album while looking to relax: Its crafty melange of power pop through the ages will drive you crazy trying to identify snippets and snatches you’re sure you’ve heard before.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). A rating of five stars (a classic) is reserved for retrospective albums.