No Age / Photo by Ed Templeton

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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.

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All blues-punk duos, the Black Keys included, start with a reverence for the source material and the thrill of ruled composition. They get ragged for a while (in the Keys' case, for four albums), eventually establishing bona fides. Then comes the futzing around (see the thick thrum of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army").

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Four vets of the Chicago outsider-rock scene do not quite a supergroup make, but when the band includes two guys from U.S. Maple, whose output features some of the most deeply alien takes on punk ever, you pay attention. Like Maple, Singer tie minimalist songs into Gordian knots: Clean guitars stab and moan, while drums skate around the rhythm, rather than hammer it home.

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Alternative-rock vets Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan managed to transcend '90s grunge with the Afghan Whigs and Screaming Trees, respectively. Dulli now does business as the Twilight Singers, while Lanegan makes solo albums and lends his nicotine-scarred pipes to other people's albums, including Queens of the Stone Age's and Dulli's. Both struggled with drug abuse—they lived, friends didn't.

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Their '90s pedigree (two members played in emocore act Yaphet Kotto) will likely always get Saviours tagged as mere hipster metal. This once seemed unfair ("Circle of Servants Bodies," their track on the excellent 2006 Kemado comp Invaders, slayed).

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This anonymous U.K. producer blew assorted minds with his self-titled debut last year, adding a sleepy mopiness to the shuddering dancehall time-lapse of dubstep. Untrue deepens and expands his emotional range -- think The Godfather Part II.