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Modest Mouse is an American rock band that formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington. Founding members include lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. The band got their name from a passage Virginia Woolf's story “The Mark on the Wall” that reads, “I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises”. Modest Mouse released material on smaller independent labels throughout the 1990’s. Their 1997 breakthrough album, The Lonesome Crowded West, is considered by many to be one of the defining albums of 1990’s indie rock. The band achieved mainstream success after the 2004 release of their fourth album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which spawned two hit singles and received multiple Grammy nominations.

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Mick Jagger is the lead singer and Keith Richards is the guitarist for the internationally popular rock band, The Rolling Stones. Though there have been several rotating members in the band, Jagger and Richards have always remained its core. The pair formed The Rolling Stones in London, England and started performing in the 1960's. They quickly became the gritty alternative to the Beatles and grew their fanbase with macho showmanship and swinging rhythms. A few of their many classic hits include, "Honky Tonk Woman," "Sympathy for the Devil," "Start Me Up," "Satisfaction," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash." They still tour, performing to sold-out crowds around the world.

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Lying in States in an indie rock band from Chicago, Illinois founded in 1999. Its members consist of Justin Trombly, Fergus Kalser, Ben Clarke, Mark Benson, and Jeremy Ohmes. Their first album, Bewildered Hand, was released in 2002.

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Low is an American indie rock band from Duluth, Minnesota that formed in 1993. Band members include Alan Sparhawk (guitar and vocals), Mimi Parker (drums and vocals), and Steve Garrington (bass guitar). Low is known for playing “slowcore,” which is a type of indie rock that is characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos, and minimalist arrangements. Members of the band have disagreed with the “slowcore” label, however. Low began to experiment with a quiet, more reserved sound when they first began playing together in the 1990’s. Their slower style helped them to stand out in the Duluth indie scene, which was largely made up of bands playing loud, post-punk, grunge music.

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Live Wire was a London-based pub rock band established in 1979. It held small-scale concerts at bars throughout the area, where they distributed black-and-white souvenir buttons with their band logo. Live Wire was a four-member group consisting of the vocalist and guitarist Mike Edwards, bassist Jeremy Meek, drummer German Gonzales, and guitarist Chris Cutler. The band released their first album entitled Pick It Up in 1979 and followed it up with No Fright in 1980 and Changes Made in 1981. Live Wire reached the height of its success in 1979 and quickly disbanded in 1981.

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The band Lifetime formed in the early 1990s in New Jersey. They draw from a tradition of melodic rockers committed to maintaining the bite of punk's explosive side. By the late 1990s, Lifetime had redefined underground music in America, steering it towards a progressive transition from the hardcore of yesteryear.

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Last in Line was a hardcore punk band based in Boston that performed in the early 2000s alongside other local punk bands as Close Call and Mental. Their self-titled LP was released in 2002 and featured influence from other Boston-based punk bands as well as several tracks inspired by horror films, which they considered tied to the punk scene, particularly classic slasher films, such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The lead vocalist described these films as "in your face, raw, and abrasive, like punk music." The band separated between 2002 and 2004, citing a constantly changing lineup and conflicting schedules among members, though they remained friends and still performed together following their official "breakup".

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The Knack was a band best known for their single, “My Sharona,” which was released in 1979 on their album Get the Knack. The album spent six weeks at the top of Billboard’s Top 100 list and they were highly popular in the Los Angeles club scene. The band consisted of Doug Fieger, Bruce Gary, Prescott Niles, and Berton Averre.

Shortly after Get the Knack was released, the band began to receive criticism for similarities between their album art and that of The Beatles’ debut Meet the Beatles, which had been released in 1964. The also received a great deal of backlash based on their refusal to give interviews as well as the subject matter of some of their songs.

In 1979, not long after the album was released, San Francisco artist Hugh Brown began the “Knuke the Knack” movement as a way to poke fun at the band. He believed their popularity was “over-hyped” and that they had a manufactured sound. He produced and sold kits that included buttons, t-shirts and bumper stickers.