Rooney

Named after a John Hughes character—Principal Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—tepid rock/pop crossover Rooney is a precise combination of Weezer and The Cars. The California quartet carries on the sexy-nerds-in-rock tradition, and has toured with the likes of Kelly Clarkson and The Strokes. Its 2009 effort, Wild One, was released song by song on the band’s website, but last year’s fluffy Eureka was released on the band’s own imprint and has sensibly stripped any pretense of rocking, leaving mellow gold like the catchy “I Can’t Get Enough.”

Updated 01/25/2011