The Format, Rainer Maria

No one knows the brutal sting of being curb-kicked by your record label like Dallas musicians, so it is with open and empathetic arms that we receive Sam Means and Nate Ruess, known to their previous overlords at Elektra Records as The Format. Lullabies, their 2003 major label debut, was a formidable fuzz-rock excursion that sold well in their hometown of Phoenix. Last year's follow-up EP Snails was a more perfectly polished collection of pop gems, and while a few of the band's tunes recently ended up on the barnyard of bulimia that is MTV's Laguna Beach, it apparently didn't move enough units...goodbye big label, hello small 'n' sweet Dallas gig. Wisconsin-bred, Brooklyn-based art rock trio Rainer Maria sweetens the bill.