Editor’s Note: In Sound Advice, the first Saturday of every month, veteran NEWS entertainment writer Dale McGarrigle, former British music-press writer Adam Corrigan and a revolving stable of NEWS writers review new albums from across the musical spectrum.

“blink-182” (Geffen) – blink-182

Say it ain’t so … blink-182 is growing up? Yes, this is a more mature offering from the maturing Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker. Don’t believe it? Consider the album title. No more clever double entendres (“Take Off Your Pants and Jacket”) or sophomoric misspellings (“Enema of the State”) as titles. Heck, this one isn’t even self-titled … It’s simply untitled. Hoppus says they aren’t making their next record, they’re making their first record. Evidently, fatherhood – all three recently became parents – is having a drastic effect on this scrappy, pop-punk trio. Hardcore fans need not fret, however, as blink hasn’t strayed too far from its distinctive sound. The frenetic drumbeats, quicksilver guitar riffs, and anthem-like choruses are still present – as is the “explicit content” parental advisory on the label. Yes, they may be maturing, but they’re not mellowing. The group’s fifth full-length album is another solid, catchy offering by the pierced, tattooed, T-shirted boys from San Diego.

The enhanced CD also contains six videos and allows fans logging onto the band’s Web site to access filmed concert footage and merchandise.

– Andrew Neff

“12 Memories” (Sony) – Travis

Had things just gone a little different, it could have been Fran Healy running with the Hollywood set today. In fact, just a few years ago, it looked like Travis was destined to be a bigger band than Coldplay. Travis always had more tension to their very British sound. Their second album, “The Man Who,” had all the hallmarks of opening doors to high fame, and sold roughly a billion copies. But the follow-up “The Invisible Band” seemed to see Healy treading water, as the band stayed in a safe, occasionally saccharine, landscape.

“12 Memories” is an older Travis, angrier at times. While Healy’s voice still soars, it now implores you to “Peace the **** Out,” on the song of the same name. And it is not only a more political, but sadder recording. “The Beautiful Occupation” still rings with Andy Dunlop’s metronomic guitars, but instead of Healy’s usual thin metaphors, we get a straightforward cry for protest. “I’m just wasting my time /Half a million civilians gonna die today / But look the wrong way.”

Because of the occasionally bleaker tone of “12 Memories,” the old comparisons to Radiohead will probably pop up again. Travis, however, remains a much less interesting band than Radiohead. So while this album shows noteworthy signs of development in the band’s sound, it is a better milestone than destination. – Adam Corrigan

“Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook” (Columbia) – Bette Midler

This album was the brainchild of Barry Manilow, who recruited Bette Midler to be the girl singer.

The collection is a fine tribute to songs sung but not necessarily made famous by Rosemary Clooney, the Frank Sinatra of girl singers. Clooney, who died in 2002, was a woman with impeccable vocal style who could imbue a single note with more emotion than most singers can in an entire album, let alone a single song.

If you have never heard Clooney sing any of the songs – including “Mambo Italiano,” “Come On-A My House” and “Tenderly” – then you won’t be disappointed. Most of the songs are in big-band style, with Midler sounding like herself singing with a big band. The best tracks are the opener, “You’ll Never Know,” with orchestration soaring and Midler sincere and beautiful, and “Mambo Italiano,” which is full of life in Midler’s sassy vocals and the orchestra’s snappy beat.

If you have heard Clooney sing any of these songs, be prepared for disappointment. You will wait for something more from Midler: depth, emotion, something. “Sisters,” one of my favorites from the classic movie “White Christmas,” is forgettably cutesy as Midler pairs up with Linda Ronstadt. The album’s last song, “White Christmas,” lacks that certain something again, something that Bing Crosby and Clooney certainly had.

By the time you get to that last one, what you will be wanting is to hear Clooney singing her songbook herself. – Janine Pineo

“Guilding the Lily” – Eric Horschak

For several years now, the Gouldsboro resident has been a favorite at coffeehouses through coastal Maine. Now he’s put out an album collecting his original works.

Horschak, an experienced instrumental finger-style guitarist, recorded “Guilding the Lily” at his family’s 180-year-old farmhouse, using a borrowed Sony multitrack recorder. He plays on both six- and 12-string, 1970s-vintage Guild Jumbo guitars.

Picking out the melodies, the talented Horschak draws people in, invoking a multitude of emotions with these 12 well-crafted acoustic originals. Whatever the listener’s mood, he’s sure bound to hit a chord with “Guilding the Lily.” (“Guilding the Lily” is available at the Grasshopper Shop in Ellsworth and Bull Moose Records stores in Maine and at www.cdbaby.com/horschak.) – Dale McGarrigle