What Made Milwaukee Famous don't yet live up to the adjective in their name, but if the indie rock outfit from Austin, Texas make it big, they can likely credit the work of keyboardist Drew Patrizi. At their Bowery Ballroom show, Patrizi's chord-banging, which alone wouldn't be out of place in a Mario Brothers video game, gave the band's sound a playful texture -- separating the rhythm lines of the guitar, bass, and drums -- and accented Michael Kingcaid's croon.

The advantage of having a keyboard on stage was also apparent for Cassettes Won't Listen, the one-man electro-rock project of Jason Drake. Performing at BLVD, Drake sang and played both guitar and piano. He also alternated between setting up beats on his computer to spinning everything from music to voicemails. Keyboard-driven numbers like "Cutting Balloons" were the most energetic, as if the Books decided to let loose and rock out.

But the harder the rocking, the fewer the keyboards. With amps cranked up to 11, New Jersey's Tokyo Rose took the stage at Arlene's Grocery and played cohesive emo guitar rock in the vein of Jimmy Eat World and the Get Up Kids. The bassist and two guitar players all had the same shiny black hair with stylized bangs that drooped over their eyes; the sounds of their instruments blended together with a similar absence of individualism.

The members of St. Louis-based Blinded Black, who opened for Tokyo Rose, stuck around to see one of their idols perform. During their own set, they joked that they weren't old enough to be playing in a bar; Chuck Kraus, the band's eldest member, turned 21 last week, and drummer Jake Rohlmann is only 18. They watched Tokyo Rose with aspiration-filled eyes and Kraus even lip-synched to "Goodbye Almond Eyes." JAKE TRACER / PHOTO MIA BERG

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What Made Milwaukee -- and Austin, TX -- Famous

Cassettes Won't Listen's Jason Drake

Tokyo Rose rock Arlene's Grocery

Nothing says "CMJ" like pelvic thrusts from Blinded Black