In 2000, Coldplay emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become a worldwide smash with their debut album PARACHUTES and hit single "Yellow." They're generally lumped in with the Britpop crowd, but, like Travis, they favor a more thoughtful, melodic pop …

Glasgow-via-Belfast indie-rock ensemble Snow Patrol have played everything from shambolic noise-pop a la Pavement, to a slightly droney post-rock in the vein of Mogwai, to epic lovelorn anthems modeled after Coldplay. While the band's influences are …

Formed in the Pacific Northwest during the late 1990s, Death Cab for Cutie deals in guitar rock that is informed by a striking sensitivity. Led by singer/guitarist Benjamin Gibbard, the group straddles the line between indie and emo rock, earning the…

The roots of Los Angeles band Maroon 5 lay in the late-1990s Weezer-influenced alt-rock outfit Kara's Flowers. After that group disbanded, the members eventually started a new band (along with a second guitarist). Rechristening themselves Maroon 5, t…

U2's Bono was one of the few real rock heroes of the 1980s, leading the Irish band to international recognition with a charged, political approach to music. The band's early efforts brought a stadium-size presence to alt-rock, with Bono's expressive …

Separately, synth player Jimmy Tamborello and singer Ben Gibbard were known for their work in electronica and emo, respectively, with Dntel and Death Cab For Cutie. Together, they became a powerful pop duo, combinining Tamborello's melodic knowhow an…

There was no shortage of new post-punk inspired outfits emerging in the early 2000's. However, Scottish band Franz Ferdinand had a slightly different take on things, bearing the marked influence of countrymen Josef K and Orange Juice as well as usual…

Combining the influences of new wave, post-punk, and lo-fi, Washington's Modest Mouse spent the second half of the 1990s becoming one of the most renowned indie-rock bands in America. Though often tagged an emo group, Modest Mouse transcends sub-genr…

John Mayer emerged in 2001 as the fresh young face for a new generation of earnest singer-songwriters. While Mayer's work is as confessional, intimate, and acoustic-guitar-based as that of old-schoolers like James Taylor and Jackson Browne, his appro…

In a crossover worthy of soap star-turned-rocker Rick Springfield, professional surfer Jack Johnson emerged as one of the hottest pop stars of the early '00s. The interesting thing is that, amid hordes of teen-poppers and nu-metallists, he came to fa…

Following in the footsteps their idols The Beatles, Oasis became a phenomenon in their home country in the 1990s. Taking the Fabs' template as a model, they added a thick wall of Pete Townshend-influenced guitars and stood at the vanguard of the mid-…

Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice started out in 1997 in a band called Juniper, which was signed to a major deal but fell apart before it could make a full album. Shortly after that, Rice hit the road as a solo artist. His first album, 2003's O, in…

In the late 1990s, the Albuquerque indie-rock band Flake Music morphed into the Shins, led by vocalist-guitarist James Mercer. Upon the release of 2001's OH, INVERTED WORLD, the Shins garnered a landslide of critical acclaim with their amiable, 1960…

Coming out of the grass-roots Gilman St. punk scene of the early-1990s Bay Area, Green Day exploded into the mainstream with their third album, 1994's DOOKIE. The trio's punk energy and pop hooks, influenced by first-generation punks like the Buzzcoc…

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…

Generally, the punk-inspired generation of bands that came to prominence in the late '90s fell into two camps; cred-soaked aesthetes in thrall to the art-punk approach of emo godfathers Fugazi and radio-friendly pop-punks following in the footsteps o…

The angst-ridden alt-rock that bands like Nirvana popularized in the early-1990s eventually branched off into a softer, more mature sound with such groups as the Goo Goo Dolls. Although they began as raw and rowdy Replacements-style rockers in the la…

Glasgow, Scotland's Travis started off as an alt-rock band in 1997 (look no further than the early track "All I Want To Do Is Rock"), but transformed into Britpop songcrafters for their massive sophomore release, THE MAN WHO. Praised by Oasis' Noel G…

The alternative rock outfit the Perishers includes Ola Klft vocalsguitar Martin Gustafson keyboardsbacking vocals Pehr strm bass and Thomas Hedlund drums Hailing from Ume Sweden the Perishers formed in 1997 They played shows in their hometown until s…