The Willowz

Although Willowz singer Richie James Follin sneers as well as anyone since Sky Saxon, the "garage" tag often associated with his Anaheim foursome is as out of place as the band itself. Looking like rejects from an audition for That '70s Show, The Willowz are actually more modern than their primitive recording techniques and outdated hairstyles would have you believe. Talk in Circles, the group's latest, is a brittle, screeching, but ultimately satisfying slab of alternative rock hiding behind promotional references to the White Stripes and the Black Keys. Songs like "Ulcer Souls" and "Cons and Tricks" are more closely related to the intense ramblings of Sparklehorse than to any trendy blues or Zeppelin connection.