Garbled garagists THE BLACK LIPS are a beautiful disaster spreading bruised pop like a social disease. Like everything about the Brian Jonestown Massacre, everything about the Black Lips music (and the band’s venue and label, Die Slaughterhaus) is DIY and art-damaged — frayed or faded — yet takes on supersaturated supersonics. This is surf rock clawing from a froth of psychedelic phlegm dripping from Spanish moss. On stage, the chaos is fluid — and may even spread some fluids. The Black Lips may not technically play rock best, but they will rock you best.
www.myspace.com/theblacklips.

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MASTODON makes some of the more feral and sharp metal in the country right now, and the quartet is definitely Atlanta's heaviest hitter - not that you can see the band around town. Since forming in 2000, the hard-rocking quartet spends most of its time touring clubs from New York to Des Moines, Iowa. This year Mastodon has only come home twice, but with its blistering new album, "Leviathan", to support, and opening slots for Slayer and Slipknot in Europe, Slayer and Killswitch Engage in the U.S., rest assured that Mastodon are showing the metal world how it's done 'round here. "www.mastodonrocks.com" less...

Don't let the cheeky antics of bassist Dustan Nigro distract you from the fact that the busy indie rock of THE CLOSE is the real deal. Frenetic and angular high-end guitar pitch; disaffected - almost nasal - vocals; steadfast drumming; and Nigro's virtuoso basslines make the band not only one of the more technically proficient but also surprisingly energetic live acts. On stage, the group offers sensory overload, pounding through an angst-ridden Built to Spill sound, while Nigro takes off his shirt, stalks the stage, leans on his bandmates and ascends speakers and amps. Keyboardist and backup vocalist Theresa Marie Fedor outfits the band with a burgeoning indie goddess and some crucial harmonies that take the group from good to best. "www.thecloserocks.com" less...

BUTCH WALKER has been a part of the local music scene long enough to have outlived two or three generations of fans going out to see his bands, which have included The Floyds and the Marvelous 3. After jumping around between hair-metal and power-pop in search of attaining his rock star dreams, Walker now has a major-label solo debut, "Left of Self-Centered", that sounds like he's finally settling into his own skin: metal-pop. He's a big-rock true-believer if ever there was one, headbanging more confidently and accessibly than ever.

"www.butchwalker.com."

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www.dbtech.net/penetrators/index.html. Sporting a high-spirited sense of fun, peerless showmanship and musical skill, the Penetrators are unrivaled among this city's myriad throwback acts. With an indefatigable devotion to both recreation and re-creation, they play all-instrumental rock 'n' roll in the lost tradition of the early 1960s, transporting their listeners back to the era before the Beatles, when surfin 'n' spyin' tunes by such artists as the Ventures, Dick Dale and Duane Eddy dominated America's airwaves and packed dance floors from coast to coast. less...

These musical crazies may have won over our readers by sole virtue of their silly stage costumes (part Merlin, part Lewis Carroll). Or perhaps it was their even sillier little newsletter (part Gary Larson, part Lewis Carroll). Or could it have been their nutty original songs (part Dr. Seuss, part "Christmas Carol")? Whatever it was, well, hats off to the Hat! less...

Moody, melodic and hypnotic yet still somehow energetic, King Lear Jet have graduated from the relentless shoe gazing of their early days into an impressive outfit, equal parts Built to Spill, Wilco and Galaxie 500. The guitars swirl, jangle and drone while an insistent rhythm section keeps the pace between a crawl and an amble. It's indie rock that can put you gently to sleep or slowly wake you up. The Tom Collins' lead vocalist/guitarist Fran Capitanelli's penchant for channeling Jimmy Page, John Lennon and Keith Richards into dynamic post-punk songs, like college radio fave "One Day Krush," is what caused the initial stir of excitement for the group. But look a bit closer here and you'll find a complex list of elements in the sound — the Flaming Lips, Frank Black, Pavement and more. Basically, the Tom Collins is no one-trick pony, so look for them to take it to the next level in 2001. less...