28. The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady are the wildest, funniest indie-rock bar band since the Replacements. These Minnesota boys blew up last year with the underground sensation Almost Killed Me, and Separation Sunday is their wiseass version of a classic rock opera, with teen punks, Jesus freaks, party girls, hard drugs and Catholic angst. As guitarist Tad Kubler plays Killebrew-size riffs, Craig Finn sputters his brilliantly bent tales of sin ("Tramps like us and we like tramps") and salvation ("She crashed into the Easter Mass/With her hair done up in broken glass") in the Midwestern badlands.

Next: Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better