A heavy dose of guitar-driven indie and alt-rock tonight: Michigander, Westside Cowboy, Sterling Gavinski, Improvement Movement, Hovvdy, Twin Bloom, Fruited Planes, Other Girls, Good Flying Birds, The Big Moon, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah all worked that lane. The Velvet Teen, Minus the Bear, Pinback, The Ninth Wave, and Editors brought a moodier, more angular edge, while Waxahatchee, Ratboys, and The Buoys leaned into scrappier, more rootsy territory. Gang of Youths and Brian Fallon (of The Gaslight Anthem) both went for big, heartland-rock catharsis in different registers.

A few tracks came with real stories attached. Fantastic Cat's "Donnie Takes the Bus" comes from a New York indie-folk supergroup whose name was picked on the spot by a bartender the four members asked, half-joking, what they should call themselves. Jamie T's "3310" — n ...