Yo, Kansas City! It's time to rock the vote!

The New Amsterdams
For five years, the New Amsterdams -- a stripped-down, rustic footnote to the Get Up Kids -- had to play the jilted mistress in Matt Pryor's bizarre love triangle. Over the past year, Pryor nearly self-destructed during the Kids' final tour, but he came out stronger and even a bit more settled, having decided to balance this side project with life at home with his wife and toddler son. But being the good emo forefather that he is, Pryor's past pain has produced a few gems, including a New Amsterdams full-length in the spring, a five-song EP on the group's Web site and even an upcoming children's album under alias the Terrible Twos. (www.newams.net)

The Golden Republic
In a year fraught with breakups and meltdowns, the Golden Republic proved to be one of the region's most refreshing success stories. In addition to inking a major-label deal with Astralwerks, releasing an EP and touring the country extensively, the group formerly known as the People found time to record a full-length that squeezed highly hummable pop into an uppity rock paradigm. Shrugging when critics labeled them "glam," the Golden Republic gained the respect of fans, peers and critics by crafting music that didn't compromise in the slightest. The brightest spark in the Republic's sound is singer Ben Grimes, whose gravel-throated vocals give the band its sly lip-curl and swagger. (www.thegoldenrepublic.com)

Minus Story
Some bands explode onto the scene in a hailstorm of alcohol and brimstone. Minus Story took a quieter path, amassing a devoted audience with thoughtful albums and live shows that emphasized a layered "wall of crap" sound (the band's own coinage) over boozy showmanship. The eclectic quartet also proved to be one of the area's most prolific studio denizens, issuing a full-length and an EP in the last year and recording another album to be released in the coming months. The group's sound is buoyed by the effervescent vocals of keyboardist Jordan Geiger, whose roller-coaster falsetto draws comparisons to Rufus Wainwright and Smiths-era Morrissey, minus the woe-is-me melodrama that can make those singers tedious. (www.minus-story.com)

Elevator Division
In past years, Elevator Division began to make a name for itself in the emo-indie world, sharing bills with national acts such as the Faint and Pedro the Lion. The band's sound is cool, melodic pop, swept up by buoyant guitar and vocals that crescendo before sinking to the dark and moody basement -- which is where Elevator Division found itself earlier this year, when all of its members lost a family member in March. Add to that the departure of guitarist Jeremiah Gonzalez, and any lesser band would bow and exit, but Elevator Division bounced back, mounting the stage with as much electricity as ever. (www.elevatordivision.com)

The Supernauts
Like the unknown comic-book heroes this band's name conjures up, the Supernauts are fearless -- faster than a speeding power chord and able to leap across '70s glam and '90s power-punk in a single bound. They're even bold enough to take on Hendrix, whose "Spanish Castle Magic" is captured live on the 'Nauts' latest release, Medicine & Love -- purely, it seems, to showcase guitarist Tim Braun's fiery fretwork. The Supernauts wail on their own material, too, blasting through three-chord rockers and gliding over spacey ballads with equal confidence. If not in this galaxy, the Supernauts will surely be famous in another. (www.supernauts.com)

Best Punk
The Ssion
A band that might be fully appreciated only in the flesh, the avant-punk rockers in the Ssion are known for defying all preconceived notions of live music. Combining campy theatrics, fake instruments and plenty of animated eye candy, Cody Critcheloe and his costume-clad cronies have left audiences wondering what the hell just happened. With the recent release of the "World's Worth" 7-inch, which includes a cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," fans eagerly await the forthcoming Glory Wound album and new, back-to-basics stage show. (www.ssion.com)

Ironguts Kelly
The "oi, oi" crowd in Lawrence and Kansas City has found its hero in Ironguts Kelly, a band named for an obscure M.A.S.H. character. Some would call Ironguts old-school hardcore, others ska or punk, but in the end it's all spikey-jacketed fun. If you haven't seen them, imagine the rasp of Tim Armstrong's voice and throw in some NOFX-like ska-punk influences, a rubber-band bass, and a barroom full of big, tattooed bald men. (www.irongutskelly.com)

Flee the Seen
Whereas most of the mainstream hardcore scene spends its time dripping machismo, local fave Flee the Seen hasn't been afraid to flaunt its feminine side, with more than a little help from bassist and vocalist Kim Anderson. On the band's first EP, The Sound of Sirens, Anderson's trademark voice -- a husky, muted growl that seems more at home in the pit than at the prom -- spits relentless vitriol over pounding breakbeats and squelching guitars. Think this isn't hardcore? Try saying that to her face. (www.fleetheseen.com)

Alert Alert
Skate-punk bands, while plentiful as wallet chains in the in this country, rarely appear on multigenre best-of lists. Alert Alert made itself an exception to this rule by playing tight, fast, ragged, no-nonsense punk -- the kind that actual punks can get off on. You'll see them at the shows, too: faux-hawked, mohawked and no-hawked, chains at their waists and shorts down to their knees, so skinny a dropped guitar from the stage could break them in half as Alert rips into a Black Flag cover. Don't laugh, man -- your daughter went home with one last night. (www.alertalert.com)