 | | Formed in July of 2001 by Eric Bemberger, Chris Hughes, and Joel Petersen of Gabardine, Beep Beep were godfathered into a spot on Gabardine's label, Saddle Creek. |
 | | Playing sharp but engaging post-hardcore with complex melodic lines, edgy guitar figures, and plenty of eccentric wit (their name, for instance, sounds French, but doesn't mean anything), Les Savy Fav were formed in 1995 by five friends attending the Rhode Island School of Design. |
 | | Consisting of members who have done time with Enon, Skeleton Key, Mono Puff, the DaoSon For, Creedle, Lesser Dog, Rugburns, Rust, and Morricone Youth, the N. |
 | | Quite likely the most unapologetically artsy punk-related band since the early days of Sonic Youth -- when Kim Gordon was writing for Artforum, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo worked with Glenn Branca, and underground movie star Richard Edson was their drummer -- Japanther is not in the least bit afraid to get all conceptual 'n' stuff. |
 | | The brainchild of two edgy graphic designers from Baltimore, Double Dagger is a hardcore punk/art-rock trio formed in 2002. |
 | | Enon is the trio of John Schmersal (who was involved with Brainiac and John Stuart Mill) and Rick Lee and Steve Calhoon (both of Skeleton Key). |
 | | Portland, Oregon-based experimental rock outfit Menomena originally consisted of multi-instrumentalists Justin Harris, Brent Knopf, and Danny Seim. |
 | | With an experimental post-punk attitude and influences ranging from Krautrock to dub, Gogogo Airheart formed in San Diego in 1996, originally consisting of just core members Ashish Vyas and Michael Vermillion. |
 | | Named for the character who's an expert putter in the 1988 arcade classic Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf, Miracle Chosuke began cranking out spazzy, new and no wave-influenced indie rock around the turn of the millennium. |
 | | Seattle-based noisenik Lars Finberg has played in some of that city's noisiest, weirdest bands, including the A Frames, Unnatural Helpers, and the Dipers, but as the Intelligence he throws downright poppy melodies in with jagged beats and shards of new wave and no wave guitars and keyboards. |
 | | Post-punk noisemakers Giddy Motors emerged from London in 1999. Originally comprised of the fabulously named Gaverick de Vis (guitar/vocals) and Manu Ros (drums/bass), the band was soon augmented with the addition of full-time bassman Gordon Ashdown. |
 | | Taking their name from the 1998 Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, post-punk throwbacks Xiu Xiu were formed in San Jose, California by Cory McCullough, Yvonne Chen (publisher of the indie zine Zum), Lauren Andrews, and Jamie Stewart. |
 | | Boston's Pretty & Nice got their start several hours northwest in Burlington, Vermont, where musician Holden Lewis met engineer/musician Jeremy Mendicino in 2004 and the two proceeded to record what would become the band's debut, Pink & Blue. |
 | | Liars were conceived in November 2000 after two friends and ex-Los Angeles art students, Aaron Hemphill and Angus Andrew, reunited in New York City. |
 | | A four-piece multi-style rock act that drew comparisons to Deerhoof and Ecstatic Sunshine, Ponytail released their first slab of infectious sugar-fueled two-guitar trad punk (Kamehameha on Creative Capitalism) in January of 2007. |
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 | | Los Angeles' noise rock outfit the Mae Shi features Ezra Buchla, Brad Breeck, and Tim and Jeff Byron. |
 | | The experimental, environmentally conscious Cloud Cult began in the mid-'90s in Minneapolis, MN. The band was initially the solo project of Craig Minowa, who launched Cloud Cult while he was pursuing a degree in environmental science, and also shining shoes and driving an ice cream truck, among other jobs. |
 | | Scrappy Welsh noise rock trio Mclusky was one of the bright spots in the British indie scene's post-Brit-pop hangover, releasing three appealingly noisy albums, 2000's My Pain and Sadness Is More Sad and Painful Than Yours, 2002's Mclusky Do Dallas, and 2005's The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire, before an acrimonious split in 2005, apparently due to intra-band tensions due to an incident on the trio's 2004 American tour where the band's van and equipment were stolen. |
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 | | Blonde Redhead's noisy, dissonant guitars, alternate tunings, and quiet, stilted lyrics have often been compared to early Sonic Youth. |
 | | Well after the death of new wave, Brainiac formed in 1992 with a sound that perfectly epitomized the uptight, herky-jerky tension of the early-'80s movement, as well as its warped sense of song structure and electronic breakdown. |
 | | Comprised of Joe Kremer, Matt Marlin, and Kurt Beals and packing an intense, complex sound that drew from bands like Polvo and Modest Mouse, Pterodactyl started formulating their brand of shrieking, stomping indie rock in the early 2000s. |
 | | Brazil began in Muncie, IN, around 2000, with a lineup that included brothers Nic and Jonathon Newby, Aaron Smith, Benjamin Hunt, Eric Johnson, and Scott Freeman. |
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 | | The Brooklyn indie rock outfit Meneguar features Justin Wertz, Jeremy Earl, Jarvis Taveniere, and Christian Deroeck. |
 | | Formerly known as AM Radio before the southern California punk-pop band of the same name claimed the rights to the moniker, N. |
 | | Ohio's experimental rock quartet Aloha consist of guitarist/vocalist Tony Cavallario, bassist Matthew Gengler, multi-instrumentalist/percussionist Eric Koltnow, and drummer Cale Parks. |
 | | A collaboration between Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart and Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg, Blue Water White Death take their name from a 1971 documentary about shark hunters in Australia’s Dangerous Reef. |
 | | Exeter, England-based post-rock trio Appliance was formed by guitarist/vocalist James Brooks, bassist Stuart Christie, and drummer David Ireland, schoolmates whose earliest music sprung from their mutual admiration of bands like Spacemen 3 and Joy Division. |
 | | Trans Am are loosely associated with the mid-'90s post-rock scene centered around Tortoise, Ui, Labradford, Windy & Carl, etc. |
 | | The English electro-Krautrock duo Warm Digits feature multi-instrumentalists Andrew Hodson and Steve Jefferis, who borrow inspiration not only from Can, Neu!, and Kraftwerk, but also from My Bloody Valentine's dense sonic layers and Brian Eno's wispy analog melodies. |
 | | Hypnotic, elusive New York City experimental rock band Psychic Ills were formed in 2003 by Tom Gluibizzi (guitar/keyboards) and Tres Warren (vocals). |
 | | The cosmic post-rock band Mogwai were formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1996 by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Braithwaite, guitarist Dominic Aitchison, and drummer Martin Bulloch, longtime friends with the goal of creating "serious guitar music. |
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 | | The spastic indie rock trio White Denim hail from Austin, Texas, where bandmates Josh Block (drums), Steve Terebecki (bass), and James Petralli (guitars, vocals) first set up shop in 2005. |
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 | | Washington, D.C.-based emo quartet the Dismemberment Plan -- frontman Travis Morrison, guitarist Jason Caddell, bassist Eric Axelson and drummer Joe Easley -- debuted in 1994 with the single "Can We Be Mature?," signing to DeSoto to release the full-length ! in the fall of 1995. |
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 | | Hailing from Richmond, VA, Ilad combine the compositional backgrounds of guitarist Clifton McDaniel and keyboardist Gabe Churray with the improvisational skills of bassist Cameron Ralston and drummer Scott Clark, fashioning a sound rooted in indie rock but peppered with elements of folk, free jazz, and experimental pop. |
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 | | Attempting to reconcile experimental '60s psychedelia and the intense indie rock of the '80s, AM Radio burst onto the scene in the late '90s. |
 | | Precursors of the esoteric sound eventually tagged "post-rock," Shrimp Boat was among the key Chicago indie bands of their era, with members later going on to even greater success in groups like the Sea and Cake. |
 | | Land Observations is the project of James Brooks, formerly of the post-rock band Appliance. During the group's hiatus the mid-2000s, Brooks spent more time on his visual art, showing his work at galleries in the U. |
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 | | The music of the San Francisco (by way of Oakland) indie rock outfit Erase Errata has been compared to such eclectic experimentalists as Captain Beefheart, the Minutemen, and the Dog Faced Hermans, due to the fact that the group posses an uncanny knack of improvising on the spot (claiming that they could improvise a whole set if pressed to). |
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