This Brooklyn duo are one of the perkiest bands in indie rock, routinely whipping crowds into a crazy-dancing frenzy with their cheerfully spry keyboard-and-drums tunes. On their third album, simplicity is key: Most songs are built around simple synth riffs, battered by booming percussion and topped by Matt Johnson's adenoidal voice. But Matt and Kim still cover a lot of ground, feinting at techno on the jittery "Block After Block," creating a sweeping orchestral sound on "Northeast." The album's best asset might be its pervasive optimism. "I hear that shoestrings tend to break/But they tie back together great," Johnson sings on "Where You're Coming From." Call it therapy you can spaz out to.

Keep up with rock's hottest photos in Random Notes.

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."