Artists like Okkervil River

The Hold Steady is an American rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn, Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards) and Steve Selvidge (guitar). Noted for their "lyrically dense storytelling," and classic rock influences, the band's narrative-based songs frequently address themes such as drug addiction, religion and redemption, and often feature recurring characters based within the city of Minneapolis.

Sunset Rubdown is a Canadian art rock music group from Montreal. The band began as a solo project for Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, who released his debut, Snake's Got a Leg, in early 2005. By the next year the project expanded to become a full band which included Camilla Wynne, Jordan Robson-Cramer, and Michael Doerksen.

Tapes 'n Tapes was an indie rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Formed in the winter of 2003 at Carleton College, the band are best known for their 2005 debut album The Loon, which featured the singles "Insistor" and "Cowbell". The band were stylistically compared to bands such as the Pixies and Pavement – and, at the time of their mid-2000s success, were compared to their then-contemporaries Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The band released three studio albums before quietly disbanding in 2012; they briefly reunited between 2019 and 2020.