Zelazowa

For the upstart alt-rock quartet Zelazowa, rock is indeed a family affair: The band of brothers and cousins honed its craft in Philadelphia-area basements, bonding around a shared DIY work ethic and a collective love of artful, post-grunge rock (imagine Nirvana with the Pixies influence multiplied). Now supporting two strong independent releases (2005's Rest Easy and the recent PolymorphEP), Zelazowa has been enjoying growing word-of-mouth buzz through good old-fashioned hard work — namely a tour schedule (214 gigs in 2006 alone) that lesser bands might consider masochistic. If you can't catch Zelazowa's towering rock live, check out the upcoming tour documentary What You Want Us to Be, We Can't Always Be...(available through www.ship-king.com) for an up-close look at how the quartet spent the past year. Either way, you'll find yourself walking away inspired.