This Atlanta indie crew broke out last year with Cryptograms, a set of messy, brooding noise-rockers. But on their follow-up, Bradford Cox and Co. go prettily melodic, with Velvet Underground-style ballads ("Agoraphobia"), synth-powered new wave jams ("Nothing Ever Happened") and rootsy rockabilly tunes ("Twilight At Carbon Lake"). "I'm obsessed with rock & roll and I'm influenced by doo-wop groups like the Flamingos and soul groups and R&B," says Cox. "But the things I'm influenced by are usually the least obvious things in our sound."

Check out all of the albums in the 2008 Fall Music Preview