Damone

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!

Further listening: Even though Damone currently only has one song in the top 100 — and that's an Iron Maiden cover — they have no fewer than four other songs that have featured in past editions:

			"Frustrated Unnoticed" (2003)
			"On My Mind" (2003)
			"Leave Me Alone" (2003)
			"Out Here All Night" (2005)