Hinder

Joining the ranks of Breaking Benjamin and Nickleback in the ever-evolving-but-poorly-named active rock arena is Oklahoma City quintet Hinder. The band originally came together around the college campus in OKC, when lead singer Austin Winkler was playing for a cover act. A few years, a self-released CD and many gigs later, Hinder was being eagerly courted by the majors, and they finally settled on Universal to release their official debut, 2006's Extreme Behavior. Without much hype and much to the coastal states' surprise, the hard-partying band became one of 2006's biggest success stories thanks to the cynical, sentimental power ballad "Lips of an Angel."