Just hours before Irish rock band Snow Patrol played an intimate tour opener at New York City's 600-capacity Bowery Ballroom, frontman Gary Lightbody spoke with SPIN.com about "Crack the Shutters," the new single from his group's latest album, A Hundred Million Suns<

"I think the breakout moment was this song," Rivers Cuomo tells SPIN.com of "My Brain Is Working Overtime," a slick pop tune off Alone II, his just-released second collection of rarities and demos. "It felt like the first important song I'd written after losing my way for a long period of time."

Decemberists frontman and songwriter Colin Meloy is a man of stories. Among them: "Record Year," a track off his band's new singles collection, Always the Bridesmaid.

With their melodious, sun-drenched sound, you can tell youthful beach bums the Little Ones hail from SoCal. And "Morning Tide," the title track off the band's just-released debut album, epitomizes their laid-back style. Below, watch as the five guys strum through a semi-acoustic rendition of the song, then explain its birth and lyrical meaning.

Considering the hyper-literate rambles of many Okkervil River's songs, we thought is wise to reach out to frontman Will Sheff for some answers. Below, he explains "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979," from the crew's just-released album, The Stand Ins.

The crashing drums, snarling vocals, and thrash-heavy guitars of the Bronx's "Past Lives" are so naturally fun that the entire track sounds effortless. But as the band's lead singer, Matt Caughthran, tells SPIN.com, the word effortless isn't in his vocabulary: "My favorite thing about being in the Bronx is challenging yourself to do things you never thought you could do.