With its choke-hold guitar energy and the controlled vocal eruptions of Polly Harvey, this British trio created a college-radio splash on this side of the Atlantic There's an undeniable electricity to Dry, the band's debut: These musical primitives make exciting use of dynamics and twisted arrangements. As a frontwoman, Harvey commands attention: She cunningly mixes sensuality and feminist awareness in conversational hooks. An air Deja Vu also wafts around the album; not a single angry riff, raw melody or thorny lyric on it would've surprised postpunk trend spotters back in '8L The (big) difference between PJ Harvey and the half-forgotten bands of that period is focus — and competence. Polly Harvey only plays rough when she wants to, for emphasis. If that sounds like progress, Dry will slake your thirst for a Patti Smith fix — maybe permanently.

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.