The Kills

The duo’s first three albums made them indie favorites, leading to a tour with the Jack White-fronted Raconteurs. When White lost his voice, singer Alison Mosshart stepped in; they formed supergroup The Dead Weather with Raconteurs and Queens of the Stone Age members and released two successful albums, while Kills multi-instrumentalist Jamie Hince married Kate Moss. The Kills returned in 2011 with “Blood Presures,” their best record to date and their first to chart in the Top 40. A festival circuit and TV credits followed. This year, they’ll release a new album and tour festivals including Governor’s Ball.

Mosshart buoys Dead Weather’s layered and kinetic rock:

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The first single from “Blood Pressures” is stripped down but just as energized:

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The Band

Levon and the Hawks—that was the band Bob Dylan hired for his first “electric” tour in 1965-6. The well-regarded backing group developed into a creative force under Dylan, and their 1967 debut “Music From Big Pink” secured drummer-vocalist Levon Helm and his ensemble’s place in rock history. Dylan co-wrote three of it’s songs (and painted the indelible cover art), and the record received adoring reviews; The Band’s self-titled follow-up was better than “Abbey Road.”

“The Basement Tapes,” a 1975 release of sessions from seven years earlier, is the best aural document of the interplay between Dylan and The Band:

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“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” from The Band’s eponymous album, and the first without Dylan’s explicit involvement, exemplifies the group’s fascination with the intersection between Americana and rock:

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