Pungent Indie Rock

Snowden -- Anti-Anti (5.3mb mp3 from the band's label page)

While not as interesting as Kill the Power on their earlier EP (which sadly they've taken down from their site), this is still an excellent tune. The crisp drums, sing-songy "oh-oh-oh-oh"s and jangly guitars in the intro make you wonder if it's going to be fluffy pop, but then the slightly distorted bass hints at more intensity to come.

The unique vocal style uses somewhat monotonous melodies (oxymoron?) that end up sounding more pleasing than they should be. After a disjointed break halfway through, the last minute really gets rolling with more distortion and a sort of chanted, repeated, and mostly unintelligible chorus -- nice, focused noise.

Smells Mellow

Laura Veirs - Galaxies (3.3mb mp3 from her SXSW Showcase page, which will likely disappear shortly)

This might sound like straight-up pop at first, but there's a certain depth here that makes it worth paying closer attention. I bet Sheryl Crow wishes she could craft sparse little beauties like this. There's always something interesting going on -- spacey, warbling keyboards, plinking piano bits, or reverbed guitar feedback floating behind the scenes -- but the singer's wonderful voice and a simple, softly distorted guitar line carry things through from beginning.

The na-na-nas in the last minute probably shouldn't work, but they somehow wrap things up just right. After getting hooked on this song, I believe that galaxies really can pour down your cheeks and flood the street.