Cloudspeakers

"Tramps like us, baby we were born to die!" bellows Patrick Stickles on his band's second record. A Jersey rocker needs cojones to quote Bruce — and to make a concept album about the Civil War. Yet... Lees meer

Athens, Georgia, band the Whigs build arena-size tunes out of some very unarena influences — including the Replacements, Pixies, My Morning Jacket and Spoon. The band's third disc is the sharpest d... Lees meer

If Dexys Midnight Runners aged into boozy pub-session romantics, they might sound like Mumford and Sons, a banjo-pickin', waltz-grindin' English folk-rock quartet. Marcus Mumford sings of London lo... Lees meer

Right now, every rising nu-disco diva has to deal with the Gaga comparison, and Victoria Hesketh, who records as Little Boots, has neither the personality nor the all-the-world's-a-fashion-runway c... Lees meer

These Chicago gloom punks have long mixed gory lyrics and bright pop melodies, making evil seem like a day at the beach. Their 2008 major-label bid, Agony & Irony, got bogged down in power-ballad o... Lees meer

Whenever life knocks you down, the Drive-by Truckers are there to remind you that things could always be shittier. On the 10th album from this remarkably consistent Georgia band, a sexually abused ... Lees meer

Five studio albums in, California psych-garage trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are still religious zealots — worshippers in rock's Gothic cathedral. The song titles tell the tale: "Bad Blood,""War... Lees meer

Some grousing from fans greets most posthumous Jimi Hendrix studio releases. And fair enough: Hendrix can't offer his opinion anymore, and between past dubious product (i.e., the heavily overdubbed... Lees meer

At its website, Montreal's Breakglass Studios — run by Besnard Lakes bandleader Jace Lasek — trumpets its custom 1969 Neve mixing board, used by Led Zeppelin on Physical Graffiti. The same piece of... Lees meer

Part Kanye West, part Brian Eno, producer-musician Brian Burton — a.k.a. Danger Mouse — has defined himself with his excellent taste in brilliant misfits. His biggest smash was Gnarls Barkley, with... Lees meer