Mark Mallman

Mark Mallman has been pedaling along for more than a decade as one of the most underappreciated voices in rock and roll. His pathos-packed piano rock is all about spectacle: Mallman plays his instrument like Danny Federici and straddles it like Tori Amos in heat. His cigarette-and-insomnia-addled voice sounds like an old boxer coming out for one more round, but that round has somehow lasted seven-plus albums. Last year Mallman trashed an album on a whim ("I was too depressed," he blogs) and made a synth-core dance record under the alias Ruby Isle. It was a fun detour but it lacked the drama and consistency of his solo work, which only sounds "solo" inasmuch as Andrew W.K. does. Mallman promises that his upcoming LP this year will be "the darkest record I've made," but the first single, "Do You Feel Like Breaking Up?" forecasts no drop-off in the fun factor.