TITUS ANDRONICUS Still not allowed inside the house.

Another week, another Mercury music section that won't get you the slightest bit drunk. For that, look to entrepreneur/renaissance man Vince Neil, who's just announced he's selling his own brand of vodka. Tatuado vodka sells for the very affordable price of $13.99 (holy shit, that's, like really cheap—like, HRD and Popov cheap, isn't it?) and Neil himself will be on hand to sign bottles at Lee's Discount Liquor. (Uh, no one seem's to have told Lee's Discount Liquor about this.) Why drink vodka from the relatively responsible likes of Dan Aykroyd when you can have one made by Vince Neil—a man who killed his friend while drunk driving??
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Enough of this insanity. New Jersey's best band (you heard me!) Titus Andronicus opens their masterful new album with these lyrics: "Okay, I think, by now, we've established that everything is inherently worthless / And there is nothing in the universe with any kind of objective purpose." It gets even better from there.
LISTEN:

Titus Andronicus - "Ecce Homo"
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Cold Specks—AKA Al Spx—doesn't have much to say about herself or her doom-laden gothic soul. Her music says more than enough.
LISTEN:

Cold Specks - "Blank Maps
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It's a story of lost love. Portland songwriter Tonality Star recorded some anonymous albums about the girl who broke his heart. Now he's formed a soul band, PWRHAUS, and is slowly getting comfortable with the spotlight.
The Sound by pwrhaus
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Susanna Hoffs doesn't need the Bangles to make classic pop—her new solo album is a flawless marriage of past and present.
LISTEN:

Susanna Hoffs - "Picture Me"
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Plus a bunch of Up & Coming shows you can read about.