In less than half a year, Milwaukee’s Atlatl has transformed itself from virtual unknowns to one of the city’s most likeable bands. Of course, they’ve had some help. Radio Milwaukee 88.9 has all but adopted the band, giving their day-dreamy single “Hey Man” the kind of airplay the station usually reserves for Atmosphere and Curtis Mayfield. The song deserves the exposure: Sweet and effortlessly hooky, it evokes one of Modest Mouse’s long drives with nothing to think about.

Stateside, raves seem harder and harder to come by these days. Still, the rain-slicked aluminum bleachers of Summerfest seemed an oddly perilous dance venue for the return performance of the low-profile big beat pioneers, The Crystal Method. Taking the helm from DJ Dieselboy in mid-beat, Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan arrived with a blasé casualness that seemed to pervade the whole evening, underscoring the intensely omnipresent volume. Kirkland, as the Pesci to Jordan’s De Niro, played the group’s flamboyantly mischievous half, tagging out of duty frequently to stalk the stage and giving himself devil horns while the more stoic Jordan manned the decks.