The Prize Fighter Inferno, 'My Brother's Blood Machine' (Equal Vision)

When the stairway to heaven leads up your own ass.

As the frontman for prog-emo extremists Coheed and Cambria, Claudio Sanchez is no stranger to self-indulgence, but on this self-recorded solo debut his lack of restraint makes for a messy amalgam of classic-rock balladry and falsetto dance pop that probably should've never left his hard drive.

Cobra Starship, 'While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets' (Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen)

Emo pro can't recapture the magic of soundtrack breakout.

Following the weird, midlevel fame he experienced this past summer with "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)," former Midtown frontman Gabe Saporta wanders rather smugly through this knowing collection of dance-punk workouts and plaintive electro-pop ballads.

Sugarcult, 'Lights Out' (Fearless/V2)

Raging riffs for getting drunk and getting lucky.

Though these SoCal pop punks sneaked onto MTV with their 2004 single "Memory," the hard-partying reputation they earned after the song's success was far from teen-friendly.

Hellogoodbye, 'Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!' (Drive-Thru)

Ambitious young rockers try to do it all -- and don't.

With his forlorn lyrics and geeky fashion sense, Forrest Kline quickly scored the devotion of MySpace users everywhere, and perhaps as a result, the 22-year-old songwriter now feels confident enough to follow his muse wherever it wanders.

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