NOISE

What do you have planned for this solo acoustic performance?

A little bit of everything. I've learned a lot of new music, covers as well as originals. I've got three CDs' worth of [unrecorded] new music, all totally different. One is almost like a soundtrack, kinda spacey, Peter Gabriel-ish. Another is all acoustic solo work, kind of like [2001 album Stream], maybe a little more adventurous as far as the time signatures. And the other one is all vocals, influenced by the old progressive-rock I grew up with. Not all about technique, but more about how I can stretch the form of a song. Instead of a verse, chorus and a bridge, you can mess with that and have in-between bits in a way that's more complex but still flows.

You headlined Vegoose as part of Dave Matthews & Friends and played a Vegoose-at-night duo show with Matthews. Do fans at your shows expect you to play those songs when you're out by yourself?

I've toured a lot over the years, so people realize it's a different thing. And if they come from that camp, hopefully they realize I'm not gonna be playing Dave Matthews covers. There's so many tribute bands—copy, rip-off bands I call them—so there's no need. And also, I like to keep it to when I play with him and not try to capitalize on the whole thing.

You've had opportunities to become a full-fledged member of DMB. Why did you opt against such mega-stardom?

Before they even started I had a band, so I felt like I was already on my own path. And when they started playing lots of gigs, I was raising a family. Every Tuesday they'd play Trax in Charlottesville, and every Wednesday they'd play in Richmond, and those were always ladies nights. It didn't seem right to take that time away from my family and tell them, "Well I'm gonna go hang out with a lot of big-tittied chicks tonight and tomorrow night." Dave and I were always in the same neighborhood, and we worked a lot together, especially on the records. I just didn't hop for the full-time commitment.

In terms of commercial-radio trends, the more homogenized and less interesting a band is, the more likely it is to succeed. Based on this principle, who will have the longer career, Nickelback or Hoobastank?

1. Less interesting hometown

Nickelback: Hanna, Alberta.

Hoobastank: Agoura Hills, California.

Winner: Hoobastank. As Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Shannon Tweed have long proven, Canadian exports are always more interesting.

2. Less interesting name origin

Nickelback: Bassist Matt Kroeger's brother often returned five cents in change to his pre-band Starbucks customers.

Hoobastank: We don't want to know.

Winner: Tie. There are no winners when vaguely prurient connotations take on a caffeine conglomerate.

3. Less interesting lead singer

Nickelback: Chad Kroeger.

Hoobastank: Douglas Robb.

Winner: Hoobastank. Crazy Jesus hair plus porn-star facial hair doth an interesting lead singer make.

4. Less interesting radio hit

Nickelback: 2002's "How You Remind Me."

Hoobastank: 2004's "The Reason."

Winner: Nickelback. "Never made it as a wise man/Never made it as a poor man stealing"? Three minutes, 45 seconds of this stuff, and not a single example of what exact traits triggered the muddled title realization.

5. Less interesting MySpace page

Nickelback: Bare bones, text-heavy, broken photo links.

Hoobastank: Lots of red, lots of black, lots of testosterone.

Winner: Nickelback. At last count, Hooba had Stanked 66,662 friends. Four away from evil is undeniably interesting.

The Verdict: It appears that both bands are equally uninteresting. Perhaps neither has much of a future after all.

Def Leppard


YEAH! (3 stars)

The Lep's collection of '70s rock covers sidesteps most of the obvious pitfalls of such albums, opting for lesser-known album tracks over a classic-rock hit parade, for the most part. There's nothing mind-blowing here, but it's looser and more energetic than their last album of originals, and guitarist Phil Collen gets to do a mean Rod Stewart on The Faces' "Stay With Me."

MEG & DIA


SOMETHING REAL (3 stars)

Two young, cute, look-alike sisters. Sweet, harmonizing voices soaring over somewhat-rocking guitars. No, it's not Tegan and Sara. Meg & Dia, who got their start in Reno and Las Vegas bands, have recorded 11 well-crafted pop-rock songs on Something Real. Sadly, none of them stand out above the rest of the Mix 94.1-FM crop of middle-of-the-road minivan rock.

GENGhIS TRON


DEAD MOUNTAIN MOUTH (3 stars)

The Philly-based group blends grindcore and EBM for pure, sonic dissonance. While an interesting departure from the typical, the CD never really breaks new ground and finds itself simply sounding like The Locust tweaked-out on speed with a drum machine.

ENVY


INSOMNIAC DOZE (3 stars)

Soothing post-rock soundscapes and abrasive screamo vocals wouldn't seem to mesh, but Tokyo's veteran hardcore outfit coaxes some electrifying results by juxtaposing the disparate styles. Crisper production might help next time out—just because the lyrics are in Japanese doesn't mean we wouldn't like to hear them clearly.

The Casualties


UNDER ATTACK (2 stars)

Heard better, heard worse. Fast, cheap and trying awfully hard to sound out of control, The Casualties give it to you old-school: shouted choruses, and pounding punk guitars with enough melody to make it interesting, but not so much that you think they're being commercial. If occasionally old-school sounds synonymous with junior high—"We are the enemies of this society" sounds like 400 conversations I've had with my sons—it's still spirited enough.