311

While many bands spend their careers exploring different musical styles and ideas, there’s something to be said for finding one thing and doing it well — you know, like the Ramones and AC/DC. That’s not to say that this Los Angeles-by-way-of-Omaha quintet exists on the same hallowed plane as those acts, but 311 has doggedly stuck to its trademark fusion of reggae grooves and crunchy hard rock for the past fifteen years. Reliable as an atomic clock, the group has never changed its lineup, and every couple of years, it puts out essentially the same album (no one was fooled by the title of the 2003 disc, Evolver, btw). Yet 311 still manages to score the occasional radio hit or gold album — this year’s model being Don’t Tread on Me — and has maintained its faithful fan base of frat boys and quasi-Deadhead types. If it ain’t broke…well, you know.