Fiver

In 1991, Smashing Pumpkins's Gish was overshadowed by Nirvana's Nevermind, and even though Billy Corgan would eventually see success with his second album, his debut was almost completely ignored. To a lesser extent, the same thing has happened to California's Fiver. While the past year has seen Grandaddy gain huge success and acclaim for releasing one of 2000's best and most overrated albums, Fiver quietly released their second album, Strings For Satellites. Frequently hailed as proteges of Grandaddy's Jason Lytle, Fiver's brand of oddball, psychedelic pop deserves to be heard minus the comparisons. Singer Dave Woody has that patented helium-filled voice that has brought success to a certain slew of U.S. bands over the past few years, as well as the lyrical creativity: "When lazers existed the whole world consisted of flyways and bi-ways with robot assisted gadgets that predicted how it would all be," ("Mini-Bunny"). What should give Fiver an edge over their counterparts is how this record sounds. Recorded in less than a week, the songs show that high budgets and endless studio time are not needed to do a little experimenting to make a decent, quirky pop album.