Vendetta Red, with A Static Lullaby, Retisonic, the Bled and Lonely Kings

Jesus, it's torture living in Seattle. All those furry trees, flannel shirts and froufrou lattes. Must be a bitch. Vendetta Red uses its hometown as inspiration for carrying on the woe-is-us tradition, becoming yet another platoon in the multiplying army of young bands with their hearts on their sleeves and punkish alternative rock on their brains. The boys in Red manage to create a sound that's disenchanted enough to snare young, doe-eyed harbingers of angst while still offering an appealing hook for modern-rock radio. They're in touch with their feminine side, but they're also kinda pissed. We shouldn't expect anything less from the city that gave us Sir Mix-A-Lot. Oh, yeah, and that really depressed dude from Nirvana.