Ladyfinger (NE)

In a similar way that Die Kreuzen and Soundgarden really made it okay to bring big classic rock and metal elements (heavy riffs, screeching vocals) into modern rock in the early ’90s, Ladyfinger (NE) are making the same statement some 15 years later. Only instead of grunge providing the back-drop, Ladyfinger bring these elements to the angular post-punk of bands like Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu and the Jesus Lizard. The debut from this quartet of Nebraskan rock worshippers is as big on the Iron Zeppelin/Led Maiden-isms as it is on stop-start jagged rhythms and complex time signatures. Heavy Hands is as its title suggests: starkly unsubtle, gleefully chaotic pandemonium rock at its finest.