Everclear

In the aftermath of the Nirvana-led grunge explosion of the early 1990s, Everclear's grunged-out roots rock brought it all back home without a trace of pretension. At first glance, songs like "Santa Monica" and "Everything to Everyone" are deceptively simple-sounding, grunge pop affairs. By the end of the '90s, however, people listened a little harder and began to realize that bandleader Art Alexakis was actually a major songwriter of his time.

• rock
• pop