OK, so who are The Harlots? A four-piece rock band from Winnipeg, a city of about 700,000 in the middle of the Canadian Prairies. Their sound is straight-up and generally melodic, despite vestigial influences of metal and punk-pop.

Why should I care about The Harlots? In Winnipeg and other parts of the Canadian Prairies, this quartet has made a name for itself as a live band. More importantly, the new album - Connoisseur Of Ruin - is the best the band has ever made.

How many others have they made? Two. The Harlots in 1998 and Crawl Spaces in 2003. The latter album was distributed by Universal and produced a single, Alien, that wound up in the low-budget but well-regarded movie Phil The Alien. The new album, also distributed by Universal, is way better, quite frankly.

Who’s in The Harlots? Three brothers, who sing and play guitars and a very close friend on drums. Lee Charles Garinger (b. Fairbanks, Alaska) plays bass and keys, Lane Bradley Garinger (b. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) plays guitar and keys, Buck Garinger (b. Whitehorse, Yukon) plays guitar and Mark Sawatzky (b. Winnipeg, Manitoba) plays drums.