'10 A.M. Automatic,' The Black Keys
From 2004's 'Rubber Factory'

Yeah, yeah -- enough about the White Stripes already. Sure they have style and panache, and a chick drummer who keeps time about as well as a Canal Street "Rolecks," but for my money there's only one white rock 'n' blues duo out there: The Black Keys. And on no other song do these scrawny guys from Ohio show their metal than on '10 A.M. Automatic.' If there were ever a song that made me want to move to Akron -- a city through which the infamously combustible Cuyahoga River flows -- this is the one.

'Dead Angels Make Slow Sound,' Detachment Kit
From 2001's 'They Raging. Quiet Army'

Sometimes I feel like smashing things. Everyone should have a piece of music by which to imagine smashing stuff. This one's mine. The funny thing is, the first time I saw Detachment Kit live -- at a Joe Strummer tribute show no less -- lead singer Ian Menard was getting his face smashed by some old dude who took offense to Menard's use of a lyric cheat sheet whilst singing 'Spanish Bombs.' Despite getting pummeled by a drunken octogenarian, I couldn't help but reflect on the sheer power and grit he conjures in this song. It's as if some terrible, thorny fit has reached down his throat and yanked his lungs from their spongy tethers. The brittle, jittery guitar adds to the tension, as the loud/quiet thing pours molten adrenaline into the open wound torn by the bombast of the rhythm section. The gist of the song can be summed in two little sentences: "I'm not screwed! I'm not!" Just writing this, I can feel my jaw tighten and that old smashing compulsion rear its ugly head. Damn you Detachment Kit. All you do is hurt.

Hear the song after the jump.