Various Artists

What do Kansas City and Cleveland have in common? Besides being purveyors of wholesome Midwestern values and containing perpetually underachieving sports teams, each city also has a small but thriving indie-rock community. Enter hipster brew company Pabst Blue Ribbon and its surprisingly strong fifteen-track compilation. KC represents with only six songs, but the contributions make up in quality what they lack in quantity. National Fire Theory ignites the second half of the album with the energetic blast of "The Native." Overstep follows suit with an incisive, postrock maelstrom, "Do You Copy?" Elevator Division's jangly, R.E.M.iniscent "Mute" and the Interpol-dramatic sweep of Stella Link's dreamy "Starting Line" end the comp on melodic high notes. The disc is available only from the bands included on the album, but the adventurous and curious won't go wrong hunting this one down.