With a name inspired by Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, this L.A. band transform colorful prose into serious alt-rock drama. Founded in 2006 by Mikel Jollett, The Airborne Toxic Event spin romantic struggles and life lessons into a toxic brew of boisterous rock and slick synth-pop. Jollett can sound as dauntingly dark as Ian Curtis, as on the rollicking "Sometime Around Midnight"; other times he can whip his wails into a Bono-like frenzy ("Timeless"). The band reel him in with big rhythmic punches on "Changing," while The Calder Quartet's grand strings boost it all to cinematic heights.