Titus Andronicus

Sometimes it's hard to know if a musician's being sincere. This is not a problem with singer Patrick Stickles and his band mates in Titus Andronicus, whose anger at just about everything comes off as heartfelt and far from mindless. The focused rage of their 2008 debut, The Airing of Grievances, is carefully conceived, with a wide-screen sound -- blasts of shoegazer-y noise, screaming vocals, sporadic but triumphant harmonica appearances -- that's fully formed and powerful. These plotted-out arrangements are matched by Stickles' brainy lyrics, piled high with sprawling sentences and biblical allusions. After forming in Glen Rock, New Jersey, in 2005, Titus Andronicus underwent a series of roster changes (with Stickles and Ian Graetzer being the constants) before eventually settling on a quintet. They toured the punk rock circuit east of the Mississippi, releasing a few EPs and 7-inches along the way. In 2007, they paused for a moment to record their first full length for Troubleman Unlimited, only to hit the road again in support of it. Upon release, the album was well received among indie rock's critical circles, and established Titus as a scruffy, literary punk-pop group to watch.