Los Angeles' Failure were criminally overlooked during the '90s alternative rock explosion, crafting densely layered space-rock that split the difference between My Bloody Valentine's shoegaze and Tool's progressive metal. Albums 'Comfort' and 'Fantastic Planet' are now recognized as ahead-of-their-time masterpieces, with the latter's 'Stuck on You' becoming a belated hit. Their 2014 reunion after an 18-year hiatus was greeted with the reverence they deserved from the start.

Finch are a Temecula, California post-hardcore band whose debut made them one of the defining acts of the early-2000s emo and heavy alternative crossover. Formed in 1999, the group broke through with What It Is to Burn, an album that joined melodic hooks, screamed intensity, and polished production in a way that appealed to punk, emo, and heavier rock audiences at once. Say Hello to Sunshine complicated that success with darker, stranger arrangements and a less immediately accessible post-hardcore sound, earning a reputation as a cult record after initially dividing listeners. Later reunions and releases kept the band's name active, but Finch's core legacy remains the tension between the cathartic directness of their debut and the restless ambition that followed. They fit punk and metal-adjacent scope through post-hardcore, screamo, and alternative rock heaviness. Finch's best songs use contrast sharply: clean vocals break open into screams, bright guitar lines turn jagged, and choruses carry both romance and collapse. The band captured a moment when emotional rock was becoming heavier, more polished, and more volatile.