Wolf Parade came together for a third EP this summer titled Expo 86. We had no choice, last month, but to call it one Badass record and it looks like most music journalism's ink has followed suit. This month, Wolf Parade drummer Arlen Thompson spoke with us regarding the band's beginnings, tourings, their, ahem, sophomore slump, and how they got back on track for their latest collection of indie rock ballads.

OV: What is the name in reference to? Why Hezekiah and what's this I hear about a pet snail?

RC: Yeah, it was the name of my snail. We put our first songs on the Internet in 2005, when we were just fooling around with the stuff. When I first started writing stuff for the guitar, so I just kinda put it up there as my snail making music. It was kinda weird. So he ended up passing away and I took the name upon myself.

"I am pretty knee-deep, almost buried alive, in American roots music," Ron Gallo writes via e-mail from somewhere just outside of Birmingham, Alabama, where he's on tour with his band, the Toy Soldiers.

Shame, Shame, the sixth album by Philly's own Dr. Dog, signifies a time of fresh and exciting change for the group that's been repping our city for the last decade. New label, band members, and technical tricks in the bag paired with the same light-hearted attitude towards life make for an excellent album you can not only shake your booty and groove to, but also one in which you can strangely root or sense a bit of yourself.

Stylistically omnivorous, inventive and slightly confounding, Mice Parade has been saddled with a boat-load of descriptors over its past decade of existence. "Experimental," "indie," hell, even "avant-electronica" are floating around out there. "Joyous," however, is a tag more sparingly applied.

Comparing a female singer to a songbird is a clichéd, diminutive way to indicate that the musician in question has a pretty voice.

Singer/songwriter Jesca Hoop's voice is not so one-dimensional - pleasing, ethereal, throaty, bold, full - and never "pretty." A more apt comparison would be to say that Hoop's voice is like a church organ, strong tones lilting from high one moment and low the next, and - with the aid of crafty production - able to create vocal soundscapes fit for cathedrals.

Origivation: The duo Little Fish was formed about four years ago in Oxford, England. What was the premise for starting the band with your friend (and drummer) Nez?

Juju: We never set out to form a band and rule the world (although now we would obviously love to!). We actually met on a drunken Saturday night out in a Fish n' Chip shop in Oxford.