The Silos

It has been argued that without the Silos, there wouldn't be an alt-country movement. So great is the admiration for their 1987 masterwork Cuba that many have forgotten that founder Walter Salas-Humera has kept some form of the band going for almost two decades. Sadly relegated to cult status, the discography of The Silos is well worth rediscovering. Efforts such as Susan Across the Ocean and Heater are prime folk rock, music of an uncompromising subtlety made years before Uncle Tupelo supposedly kick-started alt-country music, and last year's When the Telephone Rings was Salas-Humera's best in awhile, the title track being a touching elegy to his adopted home in the wake of 9/11.