The core unit of San Diego's Louis XIV had originally played together in the rootsy, alt-rocking Convoy, which issued an album called Black Licorice in 2001. Having moved on by 2003, vocalist/guitarists Jason Hill and Brian Karscig and drummer Mark Maigaard hooked up with bassist Jimmy Armbrust and began fleshing out the Louis XIV concept --... [+] Read More

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The dark blues duo Soledad Brothers began in early 1998 after guitarist/vocalist Johnny Wirick (a.k.a. Johnny Walker) asked drummer Ben Smith (a.k.a. Ben Swank) if he wanted to play a show. Since then, they have recorded for Detroit's Italy Records and Bellingham, Washington's Estrus label. Wirick and Smith's partnership can be traced back to... [+] Read More

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Formed in Ann Arbor, MI, in the spring of 2003, the Avatars wasted little time establishing themselves as one of the more popular and well-respected bands in the Detroit-area music scene. Playing straightforward rock & roll brimming with pop hooks, garage rock swagger, and an R&B undertow for the folks who felt like dancing, the Avatars featured... [+] Read More

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Buffalo, NY's fiery rock trio the Bloody Hollies mix punk, garage rock, rockabilly, and surf into a combustive, and compulsively listenable sound of their own. Singer/guitarist Wesley Doyle, drummer Mike Argento, and bassist Nick, all former art school students, started the band in 2000 as a response to all of the mopey music that was passing... [+] Read More

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The Come Ons emerged in 1999 featuring ex-Gore Gore Girl Deanne Iovan on bass, vocals, and vintage organ, guitarist Jim Johnson, and Dirtbombs drummer Patrick Pantano doing double duty behind the Come Ons' kit. While their dance-y, soul-inspired grooves were an immediate sensation in Detroit, the band didn't debut on wax immediately. First there... [+] Read More

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Although six months earlier people were telling New Zealand's Datsuns to give up, by mid-2002 London's music press was hailing them as “genius." By then the Datsuns had already been playing their brand of garage rock for six years, ever since they met at school in Cambridge and formed a band called Trinket.

Back in 1997, as Trinket,... [+] Read More

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One of Mick Collins' many post-Gories projects, for years the Dirtbombs seemed to exist more in concept than in reality. As if in reaction to the bass-less sound of the Gories, the band brought together two drummers, two bass players, and Collins on vocals and guitar. And other than consistently loud volumes and lots of noise, the Dirtbombs... [+] Read More

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Inspired by rock and punk icons such as Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, and Johnny Thunders, New York City's the Little Killers play stripped-down, super-charged garage punk. Formed in 2001 by vocalist/guitarist Andy Maltz, bassist Sara Nelson, and drummer Kari Boden, the band cut its teeth on the local club scene before signing with Crypt Records... [+] Read More

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Detroit minimalist rock duo (specifically, southwest Detroit minimalist rock duo) the White Stripes -- Jack White, guitar and vocals, Meg White, drums -- formed in 1997 (Bastille Day, to be precise) with the idea of making simple rock & roll music. From the red-and-white peppermint candy motif of their debut singles, self-titled album, and stage... [+] Read More

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