Never underestimate the power of a good band name… or a bad one. I honestly believe about half of this band's fanbase was derived from its name alone. …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead -- or simply Trail of Dead -- sounds bad-ass right out of the box. It sounds cool when you say it: "Dude, you going to Trail of Dead tonight?" Sounds like you're going to see a death metal band instead of, well, an indie jangle-pop band. Their T-shirt sales must be massive.

I'll probably go to Trail of Dead tonight. My main motivation is seeing opening band Criteria, who are bound to unveil some of the new material from their soon-to-be released Saddle Creek CD. Don't know if they're playing before or after The Sword (probably before), so I recommend you get their early. Show starts at 8 and tix are $15. I'm surprised it isn't sold out yet, quite frankly.

If you don't feel like venturing downtown, mathy art-noise power trio Fromanhole is playing at O'Leavers' tonight after a somewhat lengthy hiatus. Also on the bill is St. Paul's V9R9D and local band Life After Lazer Disc.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--