In 2005, former U.P.O. guitarist Zoltan Bathory forged ties with vocalist Ivan Moody of Motograter, W.A.S.P. members Darrell Roberts and Jeremy Spencer, and Anubis Rising bassist Matt Snell. The result was to be Five Finger Death Punch; a furious, double-bass beast with just a touch of late ‘90s nü-metal.

With a name like What Made Milwaukee famous one might think that the band was from Denver. Well, if you made that assumption—and you probably did—you’re dead wrong. These fellas are from none other than the glorious digs of Austin, TX. It’s been a long road for this power pop gang of five, chock full of unsigned touring and lineup changes.

Sia is perched uncomfortably on top of one of those posts you find in parking lots that are there to stop cars from turning out of the lot anywhere they please. The lot is, in fact, the one for the Hollywood Bowl, where Sia has just performed a noteworthy set with the group she is most associated with, Zero 7. But she is post-bound because the rest of the band have left the premises, and not taken her with them.

With a synthetic blend of progressive, jazz and electronic influences, Tera Melos’ style denotes everything that is beautiful about modern rock. Based on DIY ethics and a commitment to their music as an art form, the trio has gained a following from their hometown of Roseville, CA, and beyond, one fan at a time.

Every few minutes, Mike Ski puts a hand over the phone and coughs up something nasty. The frontman for the A.K.A.s is somewhere in Texas and waging war with the flu bug that’s been attacking his band all tour. Yet somehow last night, he managed to play one of the better shows of his life.

Chuck Ragan is a man’s man. He builds houses, fishes, reads Bukowski and was front man of Florida swamp rockers Hot Water Music and Rumbleseat. Since the break-up of HWM and hiatus of Rumbleseat, Ragan has been working on his solo career, releasing a live album, Los Feliz and more recently his first studio album, Feast or Famine. He may be a gruff musician, but he’s pretty soft spoken.

The dichotomy is striking: A dingy, would-be musician from the small, no-nothing Alaskan town of Wasilla, isolated from the culture, stimulation and pulse of city life manages to uncover the sonic prowess of a highly evolved psychedelic-cum-Detroit rock ‘n’ roll band, all without even leaving his basement.

With You’re My Lover Now, the follow-up to their critically lauded 2005 EP Carry the Wood, Philadelphia rockers The Teeth are steeling themselves for another round of “Name That Influence.” As a band who draws from a disparate batch of musical ingredients, The Teeth defy the sort of categorizing that music journalists thrive off of.