Artist The Brutes

As far as parroting their influences goes, local garage rockers the Brutes excel. The band is unabashedly seeped in Britpop and garage rock fandom, skillfully echoing bands like the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, and The Kinks. Execution-wise, they’re aces. Frontman Gregg Garvey is a charismatic leader; he sounds as comfortable as Liam Gallagher atop his band’s riff-heavy, bouncing guitar rock. That commercial-ready appeal even landed a Brutes song on MTV’s hit showJersey Shore. If there’s a catch, it’s that the group’s 2010 debut LP, Wondrous Punch, sounds too familiar, too much like karaoke mimicry.

Updated 06/28/2011