Something exciting began to happen to music in 2002, as bands like the Strokes, the White Stripes, and B.R.M.C. became bona fide rock stars. Of course, all of the aforementioned took most of their cues from vintage “punk” (using the term loosely to apply to everyone from the Velvet Underground to Siouxsie & the Banshees), and updated the sound accordingly to fit the post-millennium mainstream. What makes the Brett Rosenberg Problem so entertaining, then, is that Rosenberg — who was a mere 23 at the time of the album’s release — takes cues from more pop-oriented acts of that same period, like Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, and occasionally Marshall Crenshaw. But while Rosenberg sounds a lot like these acts, he delivers the dozen songs on Destroyer with youthful panache, bashing through them in just over a half hour. His youthful adoration of acts whose peak periods were a few years before he was born is refreshing; Rosenberg has done his homework, and while he knows his stuff, he never tries to blatantly imitate his idols. Sure, most of Destroyer recalls the heyday of post-punk power pop, but it always sounds endlessly current. And, as further evidence of Rosenberg’s talent, he manages to strike an emotional chord on several spots here. He plays earnest characters — from a guy mentioned in two songs who is into someone named Kelly or an obsessed fan to a guy who forms a meaningful relationship with his girlfriend’s daughter. The end result is that Rosenberg, a short, red-headed kid from Boston, has crafted one memorable jewel of a sophomore record that easily connects on both a musical and emotional level. – Jason Damas
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