Nashville post-hardcore trio Apollo Up! blends punky aggression with a fondness for tricky song structures and unexpected dynamic shifts, creating a cerebral but impassioned sound equally akin to the deceptively accessible experimentalism of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and the cool intensity of Fugazi. After several years spent slogging through a variety of minor local outfits with names like Lotushalo and the Shakedown Cruise, Alabama-born singer and guitarist Jay Leo Phillips, bassist Mike Shepherd, and drummer Jerome Frey formed Apollo Up! in late 2002. The group signed with ...