U.K. dance-rock outfit Bloc Party stormed both sides of the pond in 2005 with the release of its debut full-length SILENT ALARM. Mixing airtight dance-floor rhythms with smart guitar-driven melodies and a hipster aesthetic, Bloc Party set itself apar…

Musically minimalistic and visually outrageous, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were at the center of the revival of post-punk and garage rock that made New York City a rock & roll hotspot again in the early 2000s. After the success of the Strokes, the trio (led…

One of the most celebrated new bands of 2004, the Arcade Fire came out of Montreal's vibrant music scene with a melancholic, cinematic sound equally redolent of '80s heroes like the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen and latter-day orchestral-rockers Mercu…

In 2002, Interpol helped lead the charge of New York bands influenced by the post-punk and new wave sounds of the early 1980s. With Cure-like moody guitar and synth riffs and dour, Ian Curtis-style vocals, they conjured up a dark but infectious sound…

Amidst a field overcrowded with teen-pop and nu-metal, Detroit's White Stripes emerged at the tail end of the 1990s as a new hope for gutsy, no-frills rock & roll. Their doggedly minimalist sound--just one guitar and a drum kit--heralded a return to …

Fueled by a fascination with America's vintage cultural landscape and a musical obsession with the Jesus & Mary Chain, Dutch duo the Raveonettes have been making an ultra-cool, minimalist version of garage-rock since the early 2000s. Though they ofte…

Though Tennessee's Kings of Leon are a rock band from the south, that doesn't mean they're a Southern Rock band. The Followill brothers Caleb, Jared, and Nathan (along with their cousin Matthew) play a straight-ahead, hard-driving brand of rock & rol…

Formed in Leicester, England, in the late 1990s, dance-rock quartet Kasabian hit big with their self-titled debut in 2004. Bearing the marked influence of "baggy" superstars the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays, Kasabian set themselves apart from ma…

In the wake of Bikini Kill's split during the late 90s, singer-songwriter Kathleen Hanna took little time to get back in the "Riot Grrrl' ring with Julie Ruin, and soon afterwards, Le Tigre. While the former project proved to be a one-off, Le Tigre w…

In 2002, the Libertines' passionate, melodic, punk-inspired sound made them critical favorites in the UK. Their debut album, UP THE BRACKET, bore strong echoes of the Clash, early Jam, et al, and was produced by none other than Clash guitarist Mick J…

Bright Eyes is the brainchild of Omaha, NE singer-songwriter Conor Oberst, around whom the band (which has at times consisted solely of Oberst) revolves. Part of an Omaha indie scene centered around the Saddle Creek label, Oberst learned at the feet …

Led by producer and DFA records honcho James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem helped bring indie rock to the dancefloor. As the flagship band of the early-2000s dance-punk craze, LCD Soundsystem mixed a punk edge with classic disco and house grooves, creating…

One of many young U.K. bands to grab the spotlight in the mid 2000s, the Kaiser Chiefs play catchy, madcap Brit Pop, perfect for a Saturday night out. Unlike their peers on the scene, the Kaiser Chiefs have a goofy charm that plays off the styles and…

Beck Hansen, the quintessential California slacker, came up among the lo-fi ranks, pushing a blend of country blues, Dylan-inspired wordplay, punk, and hip-hop. His straight-out-of-the-gate 1994 smash, "Loser," made him a star seemingly overnight. Su…

Death from Above 1979 made an immediate splash upon debuting in 2004 with Youre a Woman Im a Machine Bassistsynth player Jesse F Keeler and drummervocalist Sebastien Grainger hail from Toronto where they met and formed Death from Above in 2001 The 19…

Indie singer-songwriter Chan Marshall somewhat reluctantly began recording under the name Cat Power in the mid-1990s. Often withdrawn and always unapologetically eccentric, Marshall nonetheless managed to win over a steadily growing following, thanks…

In the mid-'90s, Olympia, WA's Sleater-Kinney emerged out of the somewhat ghetto-ized Riot Grrl movement to become rather more mainstream figures in the alt-rock world. Throughout their career, their roots have remained firmly set in punk charged wit…

Formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Hot Hot Heat looked back nearly 20 years for inspiration, as they fashioned their sound after quirky post punk outfits such as XTC and the Cure. After a number of personnel changes, the line-up se…

Austin, Texas, indie popsters Spoon first hit the scene in 1996, releasing their debut album on New York's venerable Matador Records. With a solid, melodic punk sound firmly in place, Spoon would go on to develop a bolder, more adventurous aesthetic,…

Led by Black Francis (AKA Charles Thompson), this Boston band reveled in the raw, loud energy of punk, but harnessed it in service of catchy melodies laced with bizarre lyrics. Their 1989 album, DOOLITTLE, is widely considered to be one of the best a…