Billy Bragg is a beloved everyman activist and protest singer/songwriter, and if you don’t know his work, stop posting stupid comments on Facebook and find out.
Noisy rock with hardcore abound make Pennsylvania-based Pissed Jeans fourth outing (second by noise-master Alex Newport) a gem worth waiting four years for.
Like the first time you heard Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” (or The White Stripes), you feel the build, lean in, and get ready for the blues explosion.
New Orleans’ school chums Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer hop from Cure-inspired dance (“Boys Don’t Cry,” not the somber sobbers) to Passion Pit falsetto yippies.