BEST NEW BAND (FORMED IN LAST 12 MONTHS)
Jeff Clayton & The Mongrels
According to our old pal Webster, when used in adjective form, the word mongrel means not pure. Well, CL is here to tell you that these guys are about as genuine as you can get, despite their crossbreeding of genres. Individually, Jeff Clayton (vocals), Mike Hendrix (guitar), Mad Brother Ward (guitar), Jimmy King (bass) and Jeremy Holcomb (drums) are all insanely talented, not to mention bad ass (I mean, we aint messing with any one of them). Collectively ... well, you can just kiss your ass goodbye because the wrath of fury theyll unleash is pure rock and fucking roll! Nuff said? Runner-ups were Yardwork and The Lights, Fluorescent.