Over five years and as many albums, Brooklyn's the Men have evolved from one of the city's most trangressive rock bands to—with last spring's roadhouse-ready LP, Tomorrow's Hits—its most traditionalist. Now, that exploratory spirit has spawned not just another record, but another band. Formed in 2010, Dream Police is fronted by main-Men Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi, and, at first glance, the Cheap Trick nod seems to fall in line with the pronounced 1970s power-pop influence that first took root on 2012’s Open Your Heart.-=-=-=-

But, really, if they were going to pull a band name from their record collection, a more accurate descriptor of their sound would be "Eliminator Jr.": marrying tremoloed, blues-battered guitar fuzz to a boisterous drum-machined boogie, the opening title track of Dream Police’s upcoming debut, Hypnotized, imagines a parallel universe where mid-'80s ZZ Top signed to SST. "Grab a hold of my steering wheel/ Let's go for a ride," Perro sings, as if daydreaming about rescuing some spandexed beauty from her boring strip-mall shoe-store job; hopefully, the promotional budget includes room for a Ford Coupe rental.