Party of Helicopters

With vocals that sound something like the Byrds circa Turn! Turn! Turn! and guitar riffage that calls to mind today's metal/math rockers Don Caballero and the Fucking Champs, Ohio's Party of Helicopters is a band that defines contradiction. The lyrics only fuel the confusion -- far from being a leather-clad and steel-studded metal madman, singer Joe Dennis sounds more like Morrissey moonlighting in Black Sabbath. The band is worth checking out for curiosity's sake, if nothing else. Need more encouragement? The band's second disc, 2000's Mt. Forever, garnered a ninth-place finish in Spin Online's Top 20 for 2000, ranking the "rock impressionist" Copters right between Radiohead and Belle & Sebastian.