Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Grace Potter has jammed the anti-war streets enough to get arrested. But if she shows any politics on this year's This Is Somewhere, the protest is mostly veneered by the Nocturnals' adult-alternative rock and Southern boogie blues, though she cuts to the NOLA disaster core on the piano-grooved "Ain't No Time." Over the free-associating bonus blare of "If I Were From Paris" she wails, "If I was a crow I'd caw," and ornithologists will immediately identify the species as Sheryl and Black. If she has her role models, she also has the Hammond B-3 chops and unselfconscious nerve to name-check "Cat Scratch Fever" without irony and sing her guts out like there's no classic rock tomorrow.