Picking up what the Dismemberment Plan and the Unicorns put down, Columbia vs. Challenger strikes a happy medium between off-the-wall lyrics and serious pop-rock chops. The Lincoln, Nebraska, trio's self-released debut, Haywire, imagines if-I-were-God scenarios such as turning the Dallas Cowboys into unbeatable robots and shopping with turtleneck-clad dinosaurs at Wal-Mart. Despite the umpteen giggles, the music never flinches from its mission: zero-gravity dance-rock, with a launch pad of fat drumbeats and skronky guitars. Fellow Lincolnites UUVVWWZ tag along for a post-Cold War dance party with live satellite feeds from Kansas City's Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk.
