BOYS LIKE GIRLS
Hometown Boston Their Sound Punchy guitars, hooky choruses.
You Know Them From Their hit-the-road anthem ''The Great Escape,'' currently in heavy
rotation on MTV. Verdict Depends on whether the group can transcend their fairly generic Warped
Tour sound.
CARTEL
Hometown Atlanta Their Sound Warbling, confessional punk-lite. You Know Them From The recent MTV reality show Band in a Bubble and their 2006 video for
''Honestly,'' a wink-wink homage to MySpace dating. Verdict Pretty decent soundtrack for the food-court crowd.
QUIETDRIVE
Hometown Minneapolis
Their Sound Bouncy riffs, plenty of whoas, and angsty, my-tooth-hurts vocals. You Know Them From Their rendition of Cyndi Lauper's ''Time After Time'' from a WNBA campaign. Verdict Not bad, but major points docked for taking the easy way out with a
cover tune.
