From: Waltham, Massachusetts

Active: 2002–2008

I first heard them: when Live 105 played “Out Here All Night” as I was driving to get groceries

Sound: Damone’s first album, From the Attic, is a terrific indie rock record, if lyrically juvenile (the first line is “I’m rockin’ a BMX bike”); the problem is that then the songwriter left the band and another member took over composition chores, deciding that their new sound would be “unironic ’80s hair metal”.  Regrettable.  Noelle LeBlanc’s wonderful voice redeemed a few tracks here and there, but all in all it’s hard to listen to Damone’s post-2003 output without lamenting what could have been.  Songwriting matters!

Listening station: No fewer than five Damone songs that have featured in past editions of this chart:

		“Frustrated Unnoticed” (2003)
		“On My Mind” (2003)
		“Leave Me Alone” (2003)
		“Out Here All Night” (2005)
		“Wasted Years” (2006)