Inspired by early R.E.M., frontman Cliff Retallick collected some buddies and made a couple albums for Yep Roc before they called it quits about a month after the second album's release. Some 15 years later, Retallick was doing film score work in Los Angeles and wondering if they quit too soon. Not only has he reunited the gang, but they're re-releasing Darkling and prepping a third album for release next year. You can hear Michael Stipe's influence on Retallick's vocals, plus The Band's piano-driven sway on its more alt-country passages. But elements of psychedelica and Southern rock stand out, too. With John Howie Jr. & the Rosewood Bluff and Jeffrey Dean Foster. —Chris Parker