Breaking out in 2008

There’s no scientific way to measure when a band breaks out. For the band itself, it might mean touring in a rental van and staying in hotels instead of cramming into an old station wagon and couch-surfing.

It could mean breaking out of genre charts into the mainstream. This year’s big breakout happened early, when the Columbia University quartet Vampire Weekend released its self-titled debut in late January - and instantaneously became a cool signifier for sexagenarian pundits and preteen hipster wannabes alike. Listening Station reviewed its share of debuts and albums by young artists and bands on the verge of mainstream success. Here are four that, in retrospect, we might have included.

Bon Iver

For Emma, Forever Ago

Jagjaguwar

Justin Vernon sings with a spooky falsetto, like a charismatic Dust Bowl preacher out of Steinbeck, croaking out Armageddon on parched, paper-thin lips. The circumstances surrounding the composition of “For Emma, Forever Ago” have similarly mythic proportions. The album reportedly was written during a three-month sequestration in a remote cabin in Wisconsin. The result is a wintry album of songs that recall the bleak, depressive beauty of Elliott Smith. Like Mr. Smith, Mr. Vernon has the ability to sum up existential crises in pithy, elegant lines, as on “Re: Stacks,” in which he sings, “I’m twisting to the sun/ I needed to replace.” Check out “Skinny Love” and “Flume.”

TV on the Radio

Dear Science,

Interscope Records

With the September release of “Dear Science,” TV on the Radio went from alternative-rock darlings to full-fledged pop stars. The album is also one of the few unifying elements on otherwise wildly disparate top-10 album rankings from critics. What’s all the fuss about? The band coolly crosses over effects-driven dance music with funk jams to create one of the most satisfying rock sounds since the Isley Brothers. The musicians keep in touch with their alt-rock influences on the mopey, shoe-gazing “Family Tree” and “Stork and Owl.” The album’s true strength, though, comes from such tracks as “Golden Age” and “Red Dress” that recombine the guitar licks, beats, harmonies and idiosyncratic lyrics of classic soul with an undercurrent of electronic fury.

My Morning Jacket

Evil Urges

ATO

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