Ultimate Fakebook

Melding the pop power of '70s groups like Cheap Trick with the snark of '80s alternative bands like the Replacements, Ultimate Fakebook play a brand of emo pop that resulted in a couple of under-the-radar classic albums. Neither 1999's This Will Be Laughing Week nor 2002's Open Up and Say Awesome made much of a splash at the time, but their charms proved long lasting, and when the trio reunited in 2020 for The Preserving Machine, their skills were undiminished.