Home Schooled

The Afterparty, The Afterparty (self-released): No sooner did the Afterparty put out its second LP — 2006's opiated root-beer float of an album, Under the Rainbow — the band began rolling out psychedelic electric numbers live, showing that it could evoke the wild outlawry of Flying Burrito Brothers as well as the slow wizardry of Townes Van Zandt. Led by the beatnik imagination and candied tenor of Danny Fischer, the band began using stories gathered from its time on the road and its own collective growth to get more honest and have more fun. Despite production that's messy as hell, the Afterparty's third, self-titled joint is a document of a band coming into its own. "Taco Land Blues" is about a fast-food restaurateur who got gunned down in Texas. And "I Love You" — easily one of the year's best local songs — well, it ain't about nothing besides being in love. To paraphrase that song: Oh, shit, we love the Afterparty. Download: "I Love You"

Fourth of July, Fourth of July on the Plains (Range Life Records): We gave this Best Album in our Best Of issue, and even though other local offerings that have come out since (such as one from a member of this very band) might be more artistically compelling, On the Plains is still a fucking fun listen. No one for whom we've played the soppy-great "Why Did I Drink So Much Last Night?" didn't immediately request to hear more from the Fourth of July, and we were always happy to oblige. Because wherever this jangly, guitar-pop band of rascals gets heard, a minor party springs into existence. Lead singer and songwriter Brendan Hangauer made it through the year without losing his title as the Lawrence-KC scene's reigning comic romantic, and tours across the country, plus a gig or two at CMJ, let his band spread its good-time-slacker philosophy nationwide. Someday, America may break its oil addiction, but bands such as FOJ ensure that we'll never kick our PBR habit. Download: "Long Gone"

Dri, Smoke Rings (Range Life): Brand-new and awesome Lawrence label Range Life Records' other big release this year brought the local music scene a new female monarch. After Smoke Rings, every music fan in town should want to have Adrianne Verhoeven's baby, especially the dudes. Under the nickname Dri, the ex-Anniversary keyboardist and singer has made the kind of cool, seductive, loungey album that reduces the otherwise virile and robust listener to an aching mass of jelly — especially if said listener is a lonely guy home by himself after a night of drinking, which was part of what Range Life mastermind Zach Hangauer envisioned for the album (see Wayward Son, November 1). With Dri's unaffected, girl-next-door vocal work up front and an array of producers, including Nezbeat and Scenebooster, trading off on the tracks, Smoke Rings drifts across a musically defined but emotionally diverse pop landscape. Listening to it is like spending an entire day on the same piece of beach, alone and with occasional dancing. Download: "Don't Wait"

The Ssion, Fool's Gold (self-released): Some people don't even want to admit that the Ssion (a) not only still exists but (b) tongue-kisses this town with big, bright dance-pop slobber. Those haters are lame. With Fool's Gold, the Ssion — comprising, at its core, frontman Cody Critcheloe and totally zonkers producer Ashley Miller — emerged this year not only as an electro-disco stage show for the ages but also as a creative juggernaut of wacked-out audiovisual art. For his mind-bending, hilarious and harmoniously bizarre vision as a videographer, Critcheloe won one of the Charlotte Street Foundation's four local-art grants. That's taking the term art punk to a wealthy level. But even without the visual accompaniment of pop-culture pastiche and homoerotic backup dancers, the Ssion's Fool's Gold stands up as a solid album of memorable hooks, clever lyrics and nearly perfect dance beats. Download: "Clown"

Namelessnumberheadman, Wires Reply (self-released): What a lucky little planet KC is that Namelessnumberheadman remains in its orbit. For the band itself ... not so much. Despite pay-attention-damn-it acclaim from indie tastemaker Pitchforkmedia.com in the form of an 8.7 rating for 2004's Your Voice Repeating and a 7.1 for this year's Wires Reply, Nameless remains that perennially overlooked, certifiably great local band. A trio of family men, one of whom recently moved to Boston, the Headmen probably could have chosen life situations better suited to hard touring and self-marketing. Instead, they chose to remain at home, playing occasional shows and sweating out beautiful home-studio anthems. Wires starts small, with drums and guitar bursting like dandelion heads and a tentative voice cooing Walt Whitmanlike imagery: Spider legs, cicada wings and pulsing web-worms/Fingernails and petrified leaves' veins. But the album's pastoral journey is anything but meek. Songs such as "The Beginning" and "Opposable Thumb" shimmer with dynamic passion, and softer, more acoustic songs such as "The Hour Has Come" and "Scatterbirds" join quiet intensity to musical intricacy. Should the world someday ask where Namelessnumberheadman has been all these years, we'll proudly provide the answer. Download: "The Beginning"