The Rocket Summer

The Rocket Summer is Texas native Bryce Avary, who has played every instrument on each of his albums and sung with such frenzied energy on almost every song that he makes power pop actually seem dangerous. Imagine Ben Lee singing Christian rock while doped up on so much speed his head might explode. The musical wunderkind doesn't sing about Jesus on every song — well, not directly at least — but it's obvious that while on tour, away from his new wife, he's slipping into the bathroom not with a Playboy but with the latest chapter in the Left Behind series. Don't let the Christian thing scare you off, though: Avary isn't one for evangelism — unless, of course, you let yourself be seduced by his relentlessly happy tunes. Oh, and just to be clear, he's not bumping rails of biker-grade go juice, either. In fact, this guy has got an IV pumping Zoloft directly to his brain. If he were a Scientologist, his name would be Tom Cruise.