With the strongest indie breakthrough of the last two years, Irish hard folkie Damien Rice built a tremendous grassroots following around his live show, belying the quiet nature of his debut, O. The guy rocks, and his songs take on far greater power with the full-band arrangements that he brought to stages across the country. Little strains of this power made it out through import CD singles and their B-sides -- his "remix" of "Volcano," actually a re-recording,...

Mike Watt, along with his compadres in the late, great Minutemen, helped forge the American indie scene with his own bare hands. Bravely fusing jazz, funk and hardcore, the Minutemen were outspokenly political and unapologetically idiosyncratic. Above all, they were one of the finest post-punk bands ever. To the current generation of the American rock underground, which proudly wears its influence...

Resonating bass notes open Contemplating the Engine Room, the second solo LP from Mike Watt. It's an appropriate herald for a bass legend like Watt, whose punk-funk escapades with '80s hardcore iconoclasts the Minutemen and their spinoff group, fIREHOSE, can be heard in the music of everyone from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Primus. Watt's solo debut, 1995's Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, was an all-star...

"People have certain kinds of expectations of what a band should be like," Watt says. "But twenty-five years on, I do thi...