That Dog. are proof that the '90s were a very different time, one when an alt-pop band with three women, one guy, extraordinarily catchy songs ("Never Say Never" and "Long Island" were every bit the equal of "Buddy Holly" and "Say It Ain't So"), and a cool gimmick (full-time violinist Petra Haden) could have full major-label backing and still fall between the cracks. They released three albums before parting ways in 1997, including the great Totally Crushed Out! and the absolute classic Retreat from the Sun. After various projects and solo ventures in the 2000s, they've finally reunited for a handful of shows (and, one hopes, a second shot at improving rock radio playlists). Frontwoman Anna Waronker spoke to Sound of the City about the future of the band, the influence of her biz-legend dad Lenny Waronker, and why she prefers After School Specials to Sweet Valley High.

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In this week's Voice, we looked at the history of Archers Of Loaf, the storied North Carolina indie outfit that recently got back together for a run of shows and reissues. Below, some quotes from Archers frontman Eric Bachmann that couldn't fit into the Voice's print edition; members of Band of Horses, Les Savy Fav and the Hold Steady help restore the white trash heroes' proper place in indie rock's annals, too.

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William Rahilly

With her excellent debut Past Life Martyred Saints, former Gown Erika M. Anderson (a.k.a. EMA) has been causing quite a stir for dense sonics and harshly comic narratives that haven't been this critically acclaimed since the heyday of certain Seattlites. Or, if you let her tell it, Lou Reed. In advance of her two New York City shows, we asked her about weapons and breakfast.

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Glenn Mercer, singer/guitarist/co-founder of New Jersey's modestly legendary Feelies, is a warm, soft-spoken guy who hasn't altered much of anything about his music in, oh, twenty years. Sound of the City recently chatted with him about his band's new and old material--Here Before, the Feelies' recent album, is the group's first since 1991--his band's critical stature, and how the vinyl resurgence has affected him.

The Feelies reunited in 2008. What happened with the band in the three years leading up to [2011's] Here Before?

Well, we played shows, mostly on the East Coast, and started writing songs around that time. And we realized after about a year and a half, that we get together so infrequently that for us to really make another album, we had to put our live shows on the back burner. And it was about a year since making the decision to make an album the top priority. So it was about a year of writing all the songs, rehearsing, mixing, recording. It was a slow process, since we're really kind of spread out: Bill's in Florida, Brenda's in Pennsylvania.

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My Chemical Romance's fearless leader talks about mocking his own concept albums and rebelling vicariously through his hair.

What are your favorite post-apocalyptic movies?

Night of the Comet, Mad Max obviously--I actually prefer the first one. A Boy and His Dog. I think those are like the three main classics.

You've said the new album's "Look Alive, Sunshine" intro was inspired by A Clockwork Orange, but it also reminded me of Vanishing Point, have you seen it? It's a 1971 car-chase flick with a guy on the radio sending messages to the driver so he can escape the police.

Yes! Vanishing Point and The Warriors were two very big reference points for the album. I definitely wanted it to feel like there was this DJ out there like, inspiring these lunatics to drive around. And I also wanted it to feel a little bit like The Warriors as well. But yeah, I love both of those movies.

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Old 97's bandleader Rhett Miller can tell you the exact number of songs he's written, but not how many times his fans have proposed at shows. He's happy to sound off on Battlestar Galactica, Rock Band, his perfect coif, and how to write a cheating song when you're happily married. Just don't mention green-eyed women.

Last year you covered "Rocks Off" and wrote new words to "Desolation Row." How big are your balls?

Seriously, right? I mean, where do we get off?

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On Saturday, lizphair.com suddenly had a new album available via download for a mere $5.99, with one streaming track as a sample, or maybe a warning: "Bollywood" features our heroine rapping in different voices over, yes, a Bollywood tabla. This, in addition to the low asking price, prnt scrn/ctrl+p cover art, and simple enough title (Funstyle), begs you not to take the result too seriously, even if it's her first album in half a decade. But nothing is so simple with Liz Phair, who's incurred bad blood from critics and longtime fans in ways unseen in pop since perhaps Neil Young's vocoders-to-country '80s.

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Lee Broomfield

Beth Ditto is such an unlikely star that even Taylor Swift would spring an "Imma let you finish" on her. Her mutant soul-punk trio Gossip is the only riot-grrrl band to have a top 10 hit (2006's Bush-deposing "Standing in the Way of Control") and become aptly named considering her frequent appearances in UK press, sometimes with Kate Moss and sometimes unclothed. But that doesn't mean rock's premiere plus-size designer and improbable sex symbol is any less shy--laying down vocals is so "terrifyingly intimate," she needs liquor. There will be plenty of that tonight, when the Gossip headline Terminal 5.

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Nate Dorr

The Coathangers' drummer: now with blonde hair!

The Coathangers
Part of the "You are Here A/K/A the Maze" series
Death by Audio
Tuesday, September 29

"If this place caught fire, it would be Great White part two," says my friend matter of factly. Thanks, dude. We're lost in this maze installation ("with actual dead ends!" this space actually bragged) and I'm losing my mind in this thing. Rounding every corner is more disembodied art and crawlspaces to toke up, provided you haven't already before entering this weirdly-lit labyrinth where people are building model ships out of sticks and styrofoam rafts. Come to think of it, I don't know what the Coathangers look like. Everyone in sight is dressed like Yeasayer; some Marnie Stern/Deerhoof sounding-duo is making noises. Could that be the Coathangers? Their publicist mentioned their bassist is absent with family emergency tonight, so the band "might do something improvised." Do the Coathangers have a guy drummer? Whoever is playing introduces songs called "Jodeci" and "The End of Fitness" that bleed into one another. Nah, it's way too early in the night to be the Coathangers. One thing is certain: no one knows the names of any of the bands they're watching right now. "Um, I think that's High Society," one door manager says, unsure.

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Conor Oberst + Jenny Lewis
Battery Park
River to River Festival
Saturday, July 4

Conor Oberst's labelmate Tim Kasher once sang, "I'm writing songs to entertain/ But these people, they just/ They just want pain." It's an apt summation of the lukewarm reaction to last year's eponymous Conor Oberst, released to polite indifference in an indie stratosphere somewhat sick of him, and coincidentally his most upbeat, eager-to-please record. The same contingent shrugged at Jenny Lewis's Acid Tongue, released about the same time, though some have been on her case for a while now that she's putting out glamorama-disco fantasias about breaking up and blowjobs that flipped, respectively, cell phone and cigarette metaphors.

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