Frightfully good Brooklyn rock quartet Lakota is more straightforward than many of its overly hip and postmodern hometown peers, but you're kind of sick of all that quirky shit anyway, right? These guys ply earnest, hooky fare reminiscent of Foo Fighters' rowdier moments and Sugar's cathartic heavy-pop purge, skating right up to the edge of punk without ever tipping over into all-ages cliché. Last year's full-length Hope for the Haunted was a refreshing respite from the cookie-cutter likes of Simple Plan and Fall Out Boy, a catchy, rollicking guitar album with substance, ideas and style; hear some of it at www.purevolume.com/lakota, then head down to Tampa's intimate Top 5 Records and pick up a copy after the group kills it live.
Lakota w/No Cash Value, Saturday, Jan. 21 @ Top 5 Records, Tampa. 7:30 p.m.; $5.
This article appears in Jan 18-24, 2006.