“Whatever” is an appropriate title for Hot Chelle Rae’s generic second album. The Nashville-based quartet’s style of dance-pop/wannabe-rock has been done before, and it certainly has been done better by more talented pop-punk acts. Each track is basically just a slight variation on the last, the lyrics are clichéd and often cringe-worthy, and the vocals are decent at best. Yet despite the fact that there is nothing particularly good or original about the album, these choruses will indubitably get stuck in your head. They are just so catchy. Ultimately though, it’s fluff — enjoyable enough for a tween party or getting down on the dance floor, but not an album that is going to have any sort of lasting influence.

Hot Chelle Rae released their debut (“Lovesick Electric”) in 2009, but it wasn’t until the obnoxious yet also strangely infectious “Tonight Tonight” off of “Whatever” started blowing up the radio airwaves this year that they really gained popularity. An actual sample of lyrics from this song: “I woke up with a strange tattoo / Not sure how I got it, not a dollar in my pocket / And it kinda looks just like you / Mixed with Zach Galifianakis / La la la, whatever, la la la.” You’ll probably be rolling your eyes at least a few times in every song, but then the hooks will start back up and suck you in again. It’s a vicious cycle.

Somehow, the band managed to win the New Artist of the Year Award at the American Music Awards last month. Snide comments about what this says about today’s music scene aside, Hot Chelle Rae is by no means the worst thing on the radio right now. The glossy pop is certainly a guilty pleasure, and perfect for those who don’t look much further than Katy Perry and Lady Gaga for their music collection. But if you’re looking for a creative and inspiring new record to listen to, “Whatever” is definitely not it.

After touring almost non-stop for the past few years, the members of The Airborne Toxic Event are understandably worn out, but that does not stop frontman Mikel Jollett from goofing around during interviews.

“Wouldn’t it be great if I gave you a bunch of misinformation and stuck with it?” he said, before launching into an epic (and made up) tale of bonding over music in Bangladesh with drummer Daren Taylor. Then, with barely a beat in-between, he switches angles: “I was raised by wolves. We would ritualistically and tribally chant every night before bed as a way of trying to further stay in touch with our roots. My introduction to rock ‘n roll – it makes sense if you think about it.”

The Los Angeles-based quintet is in the middle of yet another tour promoting their second full-length album, “All At Once,” and there is no rest in sight. As one of the hardest working groups in the current rock scene, fans have gotten used to seeing Jollett and his band mates roll through town every few months. But despite being away from home so often, the group still manages to retain that sense of humor and passion for music, no matter what.

The real version of how the band formed is more tragic. Back in 2006, Jollett’s mom found out she had pancreatic cancer, and he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that, in Jollett’s words, “makes you look like Moby.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, he broke up with his girlfriend the same week.

“I just started playing guitar as a way of dealing, I guess,” Jollett said. “It started off almost like a joke, but I started playing every day for like four hours, and then four became five, and five became six, until all I did was play guitar, play piano, and write songs. So I thought ‘Well, looks like this thing is not just a hobby and maybe I should try and do something with it.’”

Looking back now that the band is successful, the decision makes sense, but at the time, Jollett said nothing could have been more absurd.

“Now it’s like, ‘Well obviously you were going to be a musician,’ but it was like no, people thought I was fucking nuts. I went to tell my folks and it was exactly as if I was telling them I was going to join the circus,” he said. He had been accepted into Yaddo, an artists’ community in New York. “It was like, ‘Here, go become the writer you always wanted to be. Go become one of the – and this is in all caps – exciting young writers of your generation!’” But about two months before he was scheduled to go, he decided to start a rock band instead. “It was like saying, ‘I’m going to follow my dream of training elephants.’”

But somehow, everything clicked into place as one by one, Jollett connected with Taylor, viola player Anna Bulbrook, guitarist Steven Chen and bassist Noah Harmon. “We just clicked. We all had other things that we were thinking about doing but right from the first show, it was just a thing.”

Two studio albums, a live CD/DVD, and four years of touring later, and the band members are a bit drained.

“You want to be polite, and say it’s all awesome and you’re so grateful. And you are, and it is. But we are tired,” Jollett said. “It’s not like we’re not grateful for it. It’s just hard to see which way is up right now. You lose track of reality pretty easily.”

That’s not to say that the band is not enjoying touring; in fact, they are still having a blast performing every night. The Airborne Toxic Event is one of those rare bands that may be even better live than recorded, simply because everyone appears to genuinely enjoy being onstage. The live shows are not a chore or an excuse to sell overpriced merchandise to fans. Rather, the band members are having as good of a time as the audience.

“The shows themselves are just playtime, like let’s go fuck around with the crowd,” Jollett said.

Recently, Jollett uncovered a particularly rewarding experience. On this past spring’s tour, they avoided playing the acoustic “The Graveyard Near The House,” off of “All At Once.” They assumed fans wanted loud, screaming guitars, not soft songs about death and decay. But when the band was inundated with requests to play that exact song, they decided to include it on the set list this time around.

“I’m just really, really enjoying this. After four years on the road of loud guitars to have this quiet moment with the audience…it’s really cool,” Jollett said.

Songs about death are not unusual for the Airborne Toxic Event, a band which takes its name from Don DeLillo’s novel, “White Noise,” about a chemical spill and the resulting noxious cloud that forces characters to confront their mortality.

“Fear and uncertainty are my way of dealing with songwriting,” Jollett said. “For me, the ideas that are compelling are the ones about being afraid to die, the way that being afraid to die makes you more excited about being alive. And knowing that the clock is ticking has the effect of forcing you to make decisions. Having the realization that your life is short makes you make some decisions not to waste that time and that’s a good thing.”

The band is finding non-musical ways to have fun and celebrate life as well; in fact, their fascination with fireworks has gotten them into trouble with the police in multiple cities while touring. “We blew up a piano in Boise once in a big concrete parking lot,” Jollett said while mimicking the sound of fireworks going off. “We stuffed it full of explosives and exploded it. As awesome as it could be, it was literally even more awesome. The fire department, as they pulled up, they looked at it and they were laughing.”

Ultimately, The Airborne Toxic Event works so well simply because they are all actually friends.

“It’s funny, we’re out on the road and we get so sick of each other and then we’re home for a few days and we’ll sort-of sheepishly call each other. ‘Hey man. So what are you doing? Want to hang out?’” Jollett said. “You know, after hanging out with the same people, you get so sick of one another but we are actually pretty good friends. We know that our fates are entwined and we take that part pretty seriously.”

Swedish trio Movits! makes music best described as “hip-hop-swing-jazz.” Seriously. Get ready America, because you haven’t heard anything like this before.

With song titles like “Ta På Dig Dansskorna” and “Huvudvärken,” the band did not even realize there was a market in the United States for their music until after Stephen Colbert invited them onto the Colbert Report in 2009. Even now, I have to conduct this interview through email because the band does not have a U.S. cell phone with them while touring the Midwest and West Coast. But armed with two albums worth of infectious dance material, including their latest single, “Sammy Davis Jr.,” (a song that would fit in easily with one of those old iPod commercials with silhouettes dancing against colored backgrounds), it should not be long before Movits! attracts even more attention all over the world.

Originally, the guys started out playing acoustic hip-hop and touring around Sweden. However, at an after-party in 2005, they were dancing to Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing” and realized what kind of music they really wanted to be making.

“That song started everything,” said saxophone player Joakim Nilsson. Other influences include everyone from Outkast and Lil’ Wayne to Maskinen and Lykke Li. “I think hip-hop in Sweden is a bit more experimental. It fuses a lot of different styles together.”

No doubt this atmosphere is conducive to the band’s own musical experimentation.

Taking their name from a character in old folk music songs, the band (which also includes brothers Johan and Anders Rensfeldt) released their first album, Äppelknyckarjazz (roughly translated, it means “apple stealing jazz,” and refers to street kids back in the 1930s and 40s in Sweden who wore “apple-stealing pants”). But despite the old-time appeal, the lyrics do focus on modern day issues. Many of the songs are subtly written about social matters and injustices. For example, translated from “Sammy Davis Jr.”: “This is what we in Lulea call a James Brown Moment / They call it a daydream, sayin’ it was different / But grandma, it’s alright / That I should grow up, cut my hair and get a job and not tryin’ to be James Brown / But was it not the same / For young mom and dad, when it happened.”

The first album earned Movits! more attention than they expected. “We didn’t really plan on touring at all in the U.S.,” Nilsson says. “But the Internet has made it a lot easier to discover new music from different parts of the world and I guess that people are more used to hearing languages they don’t understand.” As far as the group’s performance on the Colbert Report, Nilsson joked, “Oh, it was just another day at work,” before adding, “No, seriously, it was a groundbreaking moment for us. After that, our album came out and reached number one on the iTunes hip-hop chart in the U.S. I guess it’s true what they say about the Colbert Bump.”

In fact, according to a follow-up show, Colbert reported that before the band’s appearance, their first album was number 93,400 on the Amazon.com sales charts. After the broadcast, the album shot up to number 75.

Now, the band’s second album, Out of My Head, has been well received in Sweden, and the band has logged many miles traveling around the U.S., playing festivals like South by Southwest and the Lotus Festival. Next up, they will be touring Europe and hopefully by the end of the year, the band will be headed back to the studio. “We have some new ideas that need to come out,” Nilsson said.

Until then, Movits! is enjoying their time in the U.S., although they are still occasionally reminded how much they still have to learn.

“We had an amazing show last night at a festival in Bloomington, Indiana,” Nilsson said, “but one thing that we’ve learned on this trip is that you guys tend to give different cities the same name. Apparently there’s a Bloomington in Illinois as well and of course we booked all our train and plane tickets to that place!”

Amy Vitale is a busy woman. Best known as a professional wrestling manager, Vitale also models, acts in commercials and music videos, and she appears in this month’s Playboy Magazine.  On top of that, she’s featured as a character in the Red Skye Comics book, "Aurora Stone."  Oh, and she devotes a significant portion of her time working with Patriot Girls for the Troops, a group that raises money for the troops through sexy photos, calendars and fun events like car washes.

After getting involved with the wrestling industry when she was just 16-years-old, Vitale has spent the last 14 years working towards the recognition she is finally receiving now.  A few days ago, the sweet and extremely friendly Vitale took a few minutes out of her day to chat with Blast over the phone.  Turns out the hectic schedule won’t slow Vitale down.  In fact, she’s just gearing up for all the opportunities that lie ahead.

BLAST:  Could you explain what you do with wrestling a little bit for those who don’t know much about it?

AMY VITALE: I come out by ringside with the wrestlers. I play the sidekick. My character is an Italian spoiled princess. It’s a lot of girl power but also a lot of comedy too because I always want my own way and it never goes my way. It’s a lot of fun.  It’s a great, great way to take out your aggression if you’ve had a bad day.

BLAST: I bet. How did you get involved with wrestling?

AV: Basically, I started out as a fan. I grew up watching Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Eddie Gilbert.  I really liked it a lot, especially the girls.  The girls were gorgeous, like Miss Elizabeth and Missy Hyatt. They came out like Barbie dolls, dressed up and with make-up and hair and everything, and I said, "That’s something I would like to be." I liked the story lines. It was just like a male soap opera. I first started writing about it for newsletters in high school, giving my opinions and comments. I got to know a lot of people that way, and I started going to local shows around Florida. I started working at some promotions and the rest is history.

BLAST: That sounds pretty awesome.

AV: Yeah, it’s a lot of hard work though.

BLAST: How does it feel to be recognized for your hard work with all this press now?

AV: It’s great. I can’t explain it better than that. I’ve been doing this for quite a while now and it’s a really nice feeling that all my hard work is paying off and that people are getting what I do and people are actually spreading the word about me. I’m really excited because I know everyone is enjoying what I do out there with my modeling and wrestling and acting, and it’s just a wonderful thing.  I hope more opportunities come my way. I’m staying positive, because I have accomplished so much, but there’s just so much more that I can do.  So I’m really excited about the future.

BLAST: Along those lines, do you have a dream job or a particular goal with your career?

AV: I just want to continue being successful with what I’m doing. I know that wrestling has a shelf life. I can only do it for so long. But acting and modeling, I can keep doing forever.  I mean, look at Clint Eastwood and Julia Roberts and everyone like that.  I think I can broaden my horizons to a lot of unique things, so I’m hoping a lot of different opportunities come my way. I just want to continue to grow and continue to get my name and face out there.

BLAST: Can you tell me a little bit about your work with Patriot Girls for the Troops?

AV: I am one of the spokesmodels for Patriot Girls. We’re basically a modeling group that represents pride in America and support for our troops. What we basically do is we help raise awareness and money for the troops … It’s really been catching on, actually. At the wrestling shows I’ve worked at, I’ve had families come up and say, "Thank you for all the work you’ve been doing with the Patriot Girls." We’re not affiliated with any political party or anything. We’re just out there to raise awareness for the troops…I’m kind-of the new kid on the block with the Patriot Girls. I’ve been there about a year.  I’m really, really proud of what we’re doing.

BLAST: What’s next for you? Do you have projects lined up or are you waiting to see what comes your way?

AV: I’m basically waiting to see what comes my way but I do have shows coming up with the wrestling.  I have a couple modeling projects coming up.  I also have a comic book out. I’m really excited about it.  I love comic books. I’m trying to branch out and do all kinds of different things that people normally don’t do. I’m trying to branch out to everything.  I’m a Gemini, so I’m a little crazy.  I like a little bit of everything.  We can’t make up our minds.

BLAST: Well, it seems like it is working out for you, especially after 14 years of different activities.

AV: Yeah, it’s been a lot of hard work.  No matter what anybody says, it takes time, it takes hard work.  Anybody who says "Oh yeah, I was just lucky," they’re lying.   They worked their butt off too. You have to really work hard to get somewhere.

For someone who writes such sad music, Alison Sudol certainly puts on a fun show. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter and pianist, who performs under the name A Fine Frenzy, wowed fans at The Paradise with an emotional yet lighthearted performance during her November 2 show. The show proved Sudol may be one of the few artists who actually sounds better live rather than recorded.

The first opening act was Between the Oak and Ash, a folk-indie duo from New York. Next up was Landon Pigg, most recognized for his role in “Whip It” as Ellen Page’s love interest, and for his song “Falling In Love at a Coffee Shop,” which is featured in an AT&T commercial. Both acts were enjoyable and well-received by the audience.

But at 10 p.m., the real performance began. “Hello Boston!” Sudol called out excitedly from the stage. She went on to lament how long it had been since A Fine Frenzy had last visited.

Indeed, the last time the band was in town was back in March 2008. Quite a few things have changed since then. For starters, the band released their second full-length album, “Bomb in a Birdcage” back in September. The CD introduced the new, more upbeat version of Sudol (although never fear, there are still plenty of melancholy songs too). There were some changes to her live performance as well. Two new band members have been added. On the last tour, Sudol stayed seated at a piano for the majority of the set. But this time, she switched to a keyboard, allowing her to move around more and show off her dance moves.

One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is Sudol’s genuine gratitude towards her fans. No matter how emotional the lyrics, and now matter how torn up she appeared while singing, she’d break into an adorable giddy grin during the last few strains of each song. As the audience roared with cheers and applause after each number, she’d laugh and thank everyone in an awed voice, as if she couldn’t believe so many people liked her music. At the end of her set, she spent a few minutes elaborating on how much each and every fan meant to her and the rest of the band. Sudol is so sincere and appreciative; it makes it extra satisfying to see her succeed.

As if being sweet and cute weren’t enough, Sudol also has one of the most powerful singing voices of her generation. She sounds great on CD, but if that’s all you’ve heard, be prepared to be blown away. At live shows, she really lets loose. It’s enough to give fans goose bumps. One minute, she’ll be singing so soft it’s almost a whisper, and next she’ll be belting out the words. Think Fiona Apple, but less crazy. (No offense Fiona, we still love you).

The set included tracks from both “Bomb in a Birdcage” and A Fine Frenzy’s debut album, “One Cell In The Sea.” They also played a few b-sides: “Silent War,” “Coming Around” and “From Whence You Came.”

Ironically, one of the highlights of the show was when A Fine Frenzy played someone else’s song. “There are brunettes. There are girls with lovely raven hair,” Sudol began to introduce the track in a dreamy voice. “There are people with purple hair, and blue hair, and orange hair. There are people with red hair,” she said, lifting her own bright red locks. “But I have to say, I really, really, really love a little bit of Blondie.”

And with that, she launched into a rambunctious cover of “Heart of Glass” by, uh, Blondie (if you really need it spelled out for you). This is where Sudol really hit her stride. She skipped around the stage, shaking her hips and clapping her hands. She’d let out periodic cries of “woo!” before rocking out more. As the audience sang along, the band members exchanged grins. They may have played this cover on every date of the tour so far, but it was clear they were still having a blast up on stage.

Every song played during A Fine Frenzy’s set was absolutely phenomenal. All the back-up band members are extremely talented, and Sudol has pipes rivaled by few others. But the most refreshing aspect was simply how much Sudol seemed to be enjoying herself. Sure, she writes gorgeous songs about heartbreak, but it’s nice to see she can still have a good time.

Here’s hoping A Fine Frenzy returns to Boston sooner than last time.

Orianthi has wavy blond hair, a warm smile and a cute Aussie accent. But whatever you do, don’t underestimate her. She’s only 24, but she can already shred on a guitar better than rock stars twice her age. She’s so good, in fact, by the time she was 18, she had already opened for Steve Vai and jammed with Carlos Santana. And as if that weren’t cool enough, Michael Jackson selected her to be his lead guitarist for his “This Is It” tour. Dreams really do come true.

Sadly, Orianthi’s time with Jackson was cut short after his tragic death, but she always sticks to her mantra: Don’t let negativity hold you down.

She reflects on the three months she spent with Jackson positively, albeit a little wistfully. “He was encouraging and wanted all of us to do our best, project our energy and just put on an amazing show,” she says. Jackson helped build her confidence, and made her believe in herself. “It was an amazing and really, really surreal experience.”

Despite the cancelled Jackson tour, Orianthi is keeping busy. Her debut album, “Believe,” hit shelves October 27, just one day before “This Is It,” the Jackson documentary opened in theaters. Orianthi is featured extensively throughout the film.

“Believe” is an energetic, invigorating mix of pop and rock that could easily fit between Kelly Clarkson and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz on Top 40 radio, or after The Donnas on a rock station. There’s also a heavy 80s influence, and of course, a shrieking and wailing guitar solo in every song. But unlike some of her contemporary female singer-songwriters who only throw on a guitar to strum a few chords for a music video, Orianthi really knows how to rock. Avril Lavigne only wishes she could make an album like this.

Growing up in Adelaide, Australia, Orianthi was surrounded by music from a very young age. At age 6, she picked up one of her dad’s guitars and hasn’t put it down since. She recalls sitting for hours, just playing song after song on her acoustic guitar.

“I think in life, you should go with what you get and what you’re passionate for,” she says. “I didn’t really get math, and I didn’t really get science or anything in school but I felt music was my calling.”

It was Carlos Santana’s soulful live performance that really inspired her at age 11. “After watching him perform, I didn’t want to play classical anymore because it was kind-of boring,” she says with a small laugh. She quickly switched to electric guitar.

Three years ago, Orianthi was offered a record deal by Geffen and moved to L.A. to write and record. “Believe”has been a long time in the making, but her hard work really shines through in the finished project.

When she first got a Myspace message from Jackson’s music director inviting her to audition for the band, she didn’t think it was real. But soon enough, she was playing in front of Jackson himself. She had never been so nervous in her entire life.

After Jackson hired her, Orianthi worked hard to learn all the songs and make sure all the music sounded just right. “Every time he’d come in the room, I’d get nervous because I wanted to make him happy,” she says.

His death hit everyone in the band hard. Seeing “This Is It”once it was released to the public was tough but as usual, Orianthi tries to stay upbeat. “It was very emotional but fun looking back on some amazing memories working with the ultimate entertainer,” she says.

Just like Jackson, Vai, and Santana influenced Orianthi, she hopes to be an inspiration to kids around the world. “I really hope to inspire more young girls to pick up the guitar and keep at it,” she says.”It wasn’t easy being a female guitar player growing up and lining up at the auditions with the guys at school. It was pretty difficult but if I can inspire more females to get started, that would be amazing.”

Next up for Orianthi: a tour. She’s excited to go out on the road and start playing some of her new songs. No matter what happens, she knows everything will work out. “If I can play guitar every day, I’ll be happy,” she says.

Orianthi’s “Believe” is available in major music retailers everywhere, including iTunes and Amazon.