Ben Kweller

History will remember Ben Kweller with a tampon stuffed up his nose. The 24-year-old songwriter plugged in and rocked out during his Austin City Limits Music Festival performance this past year after his "allergies" induced a nosebleed that gushed blood on the keys and his guitar while he battled through the vociferous new tune "This Is War." One would think that alone would be enough to finally end the "next Cobain" campaigns that have followed Kweller since his teenaged years fronting Dallas' Radish, but it was recently rumored that the mop-haired, lazy-eyed songsmith would perform with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic as a reunited Nirvana at SXSW in March. The irony is that with his self-titled third album, Kweller has never been closer to finding his own voice. The record, which was produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters), features Kweller on every instrument, revealing his musical maturation through a series of deeply personal, heartfelt tunes such as "Run," "Penny on the Train Track," and "Thirteen." Let it bleed. ATO label mates Gomez will Bring It On early.