Subtle, 'ExitingARM' (Lex)
Playful hip-hop geeks show you every toy in their box.
By Mosi Reeves 05.13.08 7:28 PM
Local H, '12 Angry Months' (Shout! Factory)
The world's greatest fake grunge band still have the pop chops.
By Chuck Eddy 05.13.08 7:25 PM
A dozen years and one drummer removed from their copacetic Nirvanabe nugget "Bound for the Floor," Scott Lucas' Illinois-bred bubble-grunge duo are still loudest and prettiest when hitching their power chords to power pop. This time, though, there's a concept: One title per month, all revolving around an ugly breakup.
Kidz in the Hall, 'The In Crowd' (Duck Down)
Ivy Leaguers spur nostalgia for polka dots and Ballys.
By Mosi Reeves 05.13.08 7:20 PM
This Chicago duo, who met as undergrads at the University of Pennsylvania, hearken back to the preppy, '80s hip-hop of Leaders of the New School and Kwam é.
Duffy, 'Rockferry' (Mercury)
Bittersweet siren teams up with Britpop vet.
By Barry Walters 05.13.08 7:16 PM
Like Amy Winehouse, fellow U.K. chart-topper Aimee Duffy is a white soul singer with '60s styling. Like the mother of all Brit soul birds Dusty Springfield, this young Welsh woman is fond of peroxide and mascara. Yet among the many appealing things about Duffy is that she's very much her own person -- a big-voiced smalltown girl who expresses herself with rare dignity.
Death Cab For Cutie, 'Narrow Stairs' (Atlantic)
Breakup bard confidently details love's travails.
By Josh Modell 05.13.08 12:45 PM
From afar, Death Cab for Cutie don't seem to have evolved very much over seven albums: The Seattle band still explore love's tender, bruiseable side with Ben Gibbard's sometimes delicate, sometimes forceful vocals set to sometimes delicate, sometimes forceful indie rock.
No Age, 'Nouns' (Sub Pop)
Punk passion to the power of two.
By Joe Gross 05.06.08 6:49 PM
No Age / Photo by Ed Templeton
Duos simplify the concept of "band" as far as it can go before becoming "solo artist." Synth pop made duos an emotionally unique form, testifying, "Us and our funny haircuts against the world, baby. All I need is a keyboard, an arpeggiator, and thou." Hip-hop's "He's the DJ, I'm the rapper" steez brought bold ambition -- here's a turntable, a mic; let's change the world.
