Band Number 12

Pompano Beach-based threesome Band Number 12 is largely an under-the-radar act, but the group's appeal lies in its overall mood, a sort of wistful, drink-dampened nostalgia for relationships that in retrospect were probably never that good. So it's no surprise the band was born, more or less, in the infamous Poorhouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Vocalist/guitarist John Owens is a bartender there, and the awesomely named brothers Dan (bass) and Darryl Bonebrake (drums) are longtime patrons as well as musical journeymen on the local scene. Band Number 12's members have variously played in South Florida acts such as Seville, the Enablers, and Anchorman.

Fans of the Afghan Whigs and even the Replacements and the Hold Steady will find much to love in Band Number 12's stale-beer-scented apologies, but aging punk and hardcore types should take note too. Besides the other projects mentioned above, all three band members at one time played in the '90s local favorite act the Vacant Andys (of which Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba is also a graduate). As such, they've yanked a thread from that band's loud but introspective rock — those were the days before emo was a bad word, remember — and updated it for the quarter-life-crisis set.