Mary Timony

Heralded for her bent, chirping, and rhythmically challenging guitar work in Helium, Boston singer-songwriter Mary Timony's music was almost squandered by the media's lurid fascination with her feminist inclination. Accompanied in recent years by Ash Bowie -- one of America's finest and most innovative guitar players -- Timony has continued to reinvent herself, marrying a wry appreciation for Dungeons & Dragons escapism (see: Syrup USA) with her chiming, fuzz-laden drone-pop leanings. For further studies in this fractured, beautifully discordant guitar work, look to the Spells -- a duo featuring the dueling guitars and vocals of Timony and Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein.