Nobody's Jesus

Whatever you call the Damn Personals, please, please don't refer to them as the saviors of rock and roll, even if their retro indie rock is the stuff that makes lazy music critics sling the clichéd term at bands like the Strokes, White Stripes, and the Hives. Working their way out of Boston since the late Nineties, the Damn Personals have shared stages with acts like the aforementioned, as well as labelmates Piebald, Jimmy Eat World, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. During the early years, the band was known for getting smashed onstage, then smashing things. When they released Driver Driverin 2000,the effort received less-than-positive reviews -- even though its raw, unpolished approach may have earned better acclaim during today's rock-resurgence craze (or hype, depending on how you want to look at it). Deciding to calm their fondness for drunken shenanigans, the Damn Personals released Standing Still in the USAthis year.While more polished than the band's debut, the latest continues down that path to rock and roll salvation, taking Elvis Costello and locking him in a garage, force-feeding him a diet of gritty guitars and vintage hooks that, while stupidly simple, have made them Beantown favorites.