Artist Juliette Lewis And The New Romantiques

Give Juliette Lewis credit for one thing: She’s not Joaquin Phoenix. The actress’ music career is no mere lark (and definitely not some Andy Kaufman-esque prank), and her surprisingly long-running band The Licks played edgier music than most star-driven rock acts. Of course, for all their attitudinal charms, The Licks were slightly derivative of other, better garage revivalists, which explains why Lewis has ditched that creative dead end for the slightly more experimental New Romantiques. The group’s debut, Terra Incognita, was produced by Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, who surrounds Lewis’ bluesy bellows with dark, proggy atmospherics.