MICHAEL WISTI (The Rank Strangers)

Arriving in the early-'90s wake of Soul Asylum and the Replacements, Michigan native Mike Wisti thought Minneapolis was the natural place to start his crafty garage-rock band. "Then the White Stripes and Detroit sort of blew up, but whatever," he quipped. His trio [The Rank Strangers] has enjoyed a stable lineup of late with bassist Davin Odegaard and drummer Shaun Davis. Wisti also has become a go-to engineer/producer at his Albatross Studio for locals ranging from the Goondas to Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles to Hüsker Dü legend Grant Hart.

RANK STRANGERS  ::  DISCOGS

Wisti & Co.'s nine albums probably would have been music-blogger favorites if music blogs had been around for most of them. Their live sets are like small-scale Guided by Voices shows, with a canon of catchy but punchy songs worth geeking out over, many featuring obtuse titles and razor-wry lyrics. "The topics Mike writes about are very intelligent and not very obvious, and his arrangements also cover a lot of uncharted territory," says Grant Hart. "They sort of seem like the eternal underground band. They've been blessed by not having a large amount of popularity. It means they can keep evolving." [Star Tribune, March 2011]