The Friday Night Boys

The jury is still out on this Fairfax, Virginia-based foursome: Legitimate heirs to Jimmy Eat World and other power-pop chart-toppers, or just another reason to hate the Internet? Because, yes, it was on iTunes that The Friday Night Boys first found appreciative teeny-bopper ears, leading to a one-off gig on MTV's "On Your Radar" segment for unsigned bands. In short order, the quartet was scooped up by Fueled by Ramen, the record label responsible for discovering Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and dozens of other acts featuring effeminate men in peg-leg jeans. First order of business: Changing the band's look, from bright smiles and Boy Scout-douche headbands to leather jackets and serious-rocker scowls. It remains to be seen whether the label commissioned a similar makeover in the studio. Let's hope so. On last year's EP That's What She Said, the group veered perilously close to self-conscious parody with such banal, nasal-y, demo-oriented tracks as "Thursday Night Pregame" and "High School." Great for The Lizzie Maguire Show, not so great for general consumption. The band's debut LP — Off the Deep End — drops on June 9.