White Light Riot has gone straight from Minneapolis to the ears and ipods of college students nationwide—not a surprise at all. The band's catchy pop rock sound emulating from its first full-length album, Atomism, is addicting and unavoidable. These are the songs you won't be able to get out of your head and the riffs you will constantly be humming. The lyrics and powerful instrumentals are unrelenting and carry out throughout the entire album with equal force.

Brothers Mike and Mark Schwandt, Joe Christenson and Dan Larsen are the men behind the sound, which I imagine would be absolutely ridiculous live. The energy of the album alone is enough to convince me of the talent and passion this foursome possesses. While I think that the band's sound is commercially viable, the underlying effort does not show that as motive for writing these kinds of tracks. Sure, they could be the next Killers, but the real accomplishment would be the mad drive that is undoubtedly present behind the music. The sound is derivative of an older indie sound with more complexities and experimental melodies than what we normally hear on the radio. Some of the best tracks, "Out of Sight" and "Atomism" will leave you singing along—that I'm sure. And hey, we can add another cookie-cutter band to the so-called indie scene, or we can take bands like White Light Riot and really define the genre with talent-driven acts with originality.