The Pink Spiders

Like Cheap Trick with less gloss and more edge, the Pink Spiders blast onstage full-throttle -- whether they're playing a backyard BBQ or a coffeehouse full of teenagers looking to alleviate the boredom of a Friday night in the sticks. In fact, the trio appeared at both places in Cleveland last summer -- and are often seen in area clubs, playing with local post-hardcore noiseniks the Lovekill -- cementing the city as its unofficial home away from its Nashville home base.

Formed less than two years ago, the group self-released an EP in early 2004 and sold nearly 4,000 copies of it while road-tripping with bands like the Letters Organize. Such sales attracted interest from CI Records, who released its full-length debut, Hot Pink, last month. Unsurprisingly, the disc conjures the era when rockers came saddled with their own larger-than-life mythologies. Take the swaggering attitude of the Stones, the primitive swing of early Beatles, the devil-may-care hooks of snotty punks, and three charismatic personalities -- Matt Friction, Jonny Bang, and Bob Ferrari, who christens himself "World's Greatest Drummer" on his MySpace profile -- and Hot Pink weaves a web of venomous rock and roll.