Cameron Matthews

Flint, Mich.'s own Deer Widow is giving you a goddamn ultimatum with their resplendent emo single 'All My Exes Pay Their Taxes.' We can only assume that said exes are doing pretty darn well and living above the poverty line, while our heart-on-sleeve narrator continues to dwell on the past.

The sound of Boston is becoming increasingly experimental, with Berklee grads pushing the boundaries of rock 'n' roll year after year.

Life sucks sometimes, so we defend ourselves by retreating back into our shells to pursue a dissociative state of mind. It's a great mechanism if you want to escape irreparable emotional damage. But if we allow ourselves to ignore reality for too long, then it's going to be hell waking back up again.

In general, people have become more comfortable with the weird and the subversive, and we think this has a lot to do with David Lynch.

No, Sunwolf's 'Push It' is not a rock 'n' roll cover of Salt-n-Pepa's 1988 single of the same name. It is, however, still a worthwhile listen that'll help you "push" the limits of your dreary Monday afternoon.

Today's free MP3 comes from Portland, Ore.-based singer John Amadon, whose new album 'The Bursting Sheaf' melds the folky sounds of the Northwest with classic rock rhythms.

We'd like to think blues-rock icon Jack White would be flattered there's an insane dance move named in his honor. According to New York funksters Spirit Animal, 'The Black Jack White' requires throwing your fists in the air, doing a little two-step and shaking your hands like they've gone to sleep.

Nobody, Ever are made up of dudes that look like the bartenders of the club you're supposed to be seeing the band in. But once the four-piece get up onstage, they lay it all on the line, cracking skulls with righteous amounts of sludgy rock. And you, the unassuming audience member, stand there totally slayed by the guy that made you a vodka tonic 15 minutes prior.

There's a lot of evidence to suggest that emo (at least it's earliest iteration) is making a comeback in modern rock music. Philadelphia's Balance and Composure pick up where Sunny Day Real Estate left off, but they add absolutely brutal layers of blitzkrieg distortion.

As rents continue to climb in the American musical hotbed of Brooklyn, N.Y., we're going to see a lot more bands moving to the outskirts -- or staying where they came from. Long Island's Bellegards are one of the best projects we've heard from the suburbs of New York City.