Series 7: The Contenders

In name alone, Girls Against Boys were an inspired choice for this soundtrack. (The reality-TV satire depicts contestants fighting to the death.) The corrosive Washington, D.C.-based post-post-punks, who contribute all but three of the 16 musical tracks on Series 7: The Contenders, supply appropriate tuneage for the on-screen carnage, as well as mood enhancement for suspenseful and soft-focus moments. Sequenced to work as a stand-alone album, it also proves they're still contenders after two years in label-merger limbo.