ZAC BACK AT #1; GASLIGHT ANTHEM, PASSION PIT DEBUT

The sound you just heard were the barking of summer’s dog days, producing one of the lowest-selling #1 albums of the modern era.

Atlantic’s Zac Brown Band return to #1 this week with a total that barely tops 47k, beating last week’s champ, Def Jam/IDJ’s Nas, whose Life Is Good album scares up 42k in sales.

Zac Brown Band’s chart-topping number is the fourth lowest of all time for a #1 album, beating only Amos Lee’s Mission Bell (40.5k, 1/30/11), Cake’s Showroom of Compassion (44.5k,1/1611) and Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday (45.3k, 2/6/11).

Mercury/IDJ Jersey rockers Gaslight Anthem’s Handwritten (#3) and Columbia Cambridge, MA, techno popsters Passion Pit album Gossamer (#5) are the week’s to debuts.

Razor & Tie’s Kidz Bop Kidz 22 (#4), Island/IDJ’s Justin Bieber (#6), Syco/ Columbia’s One Direction (#7), XL/Columbia’s Adele (#8), Def Jam/IDJ’s Frank Ocean (#9) and A&M/Octone’s Maroon 5 (#10). Barry Weiss and Steve Bartels’ Team IDJ grab four of the Top 10 on this week’s heart.

New entries to the Top 50 include Capitol/EMI’s Beatles’ 14-track iTunes exclusive Tomorrow Never Knows (#20), Roadrunner’s Slipknot (#22), RCA Nashville’s Love and Theft (#24), Epic’s Jennifer Lopez dance hits compilation (#25) and Atlantic’s Hunter Hayes (#37).

Big Beat/Atlantic’s Skrillex (#27) and Roc Nation’s Jay-Z Blueprint 3 album (#30) both return to the chart thanks to Amazon MP3 sales, along with ATO’s Alabama Shakes (#39), 19/RCA’s Kelly Clarkson (#42), Nonesuch’s The Black Keys (#45), Def Jam/IDJ’s Rihanna (#46), New Elektra’s Ed Sheeran (#47) and Big Machine’s Brantley Gilbert (#50).

Albums showing an upward trajectory include Capitol Nashville/EMI’s Luke Bryan (#17-12, +1%), Fueled by Ramen’s fun. (#24-18, +3%) and YM/CM/Republic’s Nicki Mniaj (#43-31, +9%).

Hitting retail this week are Def Jam/IDJ’s Rick Ross, S-Curve’s Joss Stone and RCA’s Sparkle soundtrack, featuring the final recorded performances of Whitney Houston.