Sister Sin
On Parole (Victory)
Like it or not, it’s only a matter of time before Aqua Net hair metal makes a come-back. When it does, Sweden’s Sister Sin will be well positioned to assume the tiara of lion-maned footnote Lita Ford.

Jenny Lewis
Jack Killed Mom (Warner)
Coming on like a soul-jacked Loretta Lynn at Sunday morning services in Harlem, the cutest kid in indie rock blooms into one of the sexiest. Bonus points for drums that sound like firecrackers going off in a metal garbage can.

Modern Crimes
Class of 98’ (Misfortune)
Straight-edge five-piece from Drummondville, Quebec, crushes with red-lining guitars and murderously fierce gang vocals.

Okkervil River
Singer Songwriter (Jagjaguwar)
Conjuring up the spirit of Sun Studios circa ’55, indie rock’s next great storyteller, Will Sheff, gives you yet another reason to wonder what the hell you ever saw in that putz Ryan Adams.

Civet
Hell Hath No Fury (Hellcat)
As if the fact that the tattooed tuff chicks of Civet seem like they could kick Brody Dalle’s ass, the L.A. punk revivalists boast a guitarist named Suzi Homewrecker. Get ready to duck and cover, boys.

The Sound of Animals Fighting
Chinese New Year (Epitaph)
Props to the masked mystery men of this SoCal side project for delivering a soundscape that more than lives up to its title. If you want a preview of what East Pender Street will sound like on January 26, 2009, start here.

Bleeding Through
Orange County Blonde and Blue (Trustkill)
Enraged metal-scorched hardcore that’s kind of like subjecting yourself to a Liquid- Plumr enema, only more extreme and twice as punishing.

Brother Von Doom
Eater of Days (Deathcote)
From the pit by way of Ohio, this blast from the Dayton-based merchants of melodic death metal features razor-edged musicianship and vocals that sound like a WWE ’roid rager whose pubic hair has caught fire.

Dilla Ghost Doom
Sniper Elite (Stones Throw)
MF Doom and Ghostface Killah spit hot fire over psychedelic guitars, classic hip-hop breaks, and a bizarro running commentary from Wolfman Jack on this mashup from the late J Dilla’s Donuts sessions.

The Wedding Present
I Lost the Monkey (Manifesto)
The Wedding Present returns without embarrassing itself, the guitars thick enough to satisfy aging shoegazers, and David Gedge evidently unaware his pull date was supposed to be 1993.

Lykke Li
I’m Good. I’m Gone (LL Recordings)
Swedish oddball Lykke Li proves she’s more than the world’s reigning chicken-dance queen with an update of her YouTube hit. That the rough edges have been filed down does nothing to dilute the addictiveness of this three-minute marvel.