the roids

With a smirking nod to the foreign-born “The” bands that have been all the rage lately, these “identical cousins from Iceland” (has Gunnar only seen the tricks a guy can see from Reykjavik?) have cranked out a slew of energetic, unyielding lo-fi rock-outs. They may be put-on hype-riders on one level, but the songs are for real: they rock, they groove, they roll, they move. I’m especially fond of the charging “Submarine,” which is more or less a male update of Elastica’s memorable “Connection.” “Swollen” has a similar kind of brief, focused energy; unlike, say, the Vines, these guys have control and know when to rein things in. Gunnar & Gerhardt’s “Roid”ery is well worth checking out. - By Joseph McCombs