Shinedown

If you’re us, you probably know Jacksonville nü-metal band Shinedown best for its martial anthem “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom),” from the soundtrack to the 2010 action extravaganza The Expendables. (We can’t recall the song actually being used in the film, but it was in the trailer, for sure.) Playing bro-friendly, fist-pumping stadium rock for juiced-up white guys, Shinedown is the kind of band that tender, affectless indie-rock musicians will always define themselves in quiet contrast to. Shinedown’s latest, this year’s Amaryllis, has been described by singer Brent Smith as “the centerpiece of what Shinedown is.” To wit, album opener “Adrenaline” was used as the theme song to a WWE pay-per-view event. There you have it.

Updated 06/26/2012