Philadelphia couple Rob Garcia and Sarah Everton made two bedroom-rock low-fi records in 2010 as Reading Rainbow. They've since adopted an evocative new name (apparently Carrie Brownstein didn't like the old one), added a real rhythm section and blown up their sound into a shoegaze wail that braces against their songs' prim poppiness. There's a horror-movie tension as Everton's pale-beauty vocals get subsumed in hell-stoked noise.

“More Than a Feeling”

Boston mastermind Tom Scholz was as surprised by anyone when he sent his unsolicited demo to record labels and got back a positive response. Scholz said, “I couldn’t believe it. Nobody knew who we were, so I wouldn’t even say we were struggling. It was groveling.” Part of the credit for the interest must go to the anthemic rock number "More Than a Feeling." Inspired by the Left Banke's 1966 hit "Walk Away Renee," Scholz worked on the song for five years in his basement studio before it was released on this album.