By now, most local music fans should know the stories on both Jeff Hanson and One for the Team. He's the St. Paul neo-folk tunesmith who sings like a girl. They're the impishly young indie-rock band whose frontman also fronts the busybody local label Afternoon Records.

Hanson and OFTT each issued new albums this week on national-level indie labels, so more fans nationwide might get to know them a little better. Here's a look at both records.

Jeff Hanson, "Madam Owl" It's certainly not right to think of a hand injury as a good thing. But after Paul Westerberg's delightfully dizzying "49:00" and now Hanson's third album, Twin Cities musicians might be gently sticking their hands down the garbage disposal or rolling them up in car windows just for a little of the spark it seemed to bring them.

In Hanson's case, an injury from trying to poke a hole in a dog collar (!) sidelined him for several months but might have led to a stockpile of great songs. "Madam Owl" is the most thoroughly compelling of his albums (all issued on the celebrated Kill Rock Stars label out of Olympia, Wash.). Once you get past his freakishly falsetto voice -- which, three years since his last album, takes some getting used to again -- it's easy to fade into the album. Hanson has grown beyond but certainly not abandoned his Elliott Smith influence, and the album's liberal use of strings, piano and horns is tastefully done.

Standouts include the banjo-tinged, Iron & Wine-like number "If I Only Knew" and the stirringly serene opener, "Night," in which Hanson spikes a lost stroll through a city/relationship with the line, "Careful now, the bridge is out." And the dramatic "I Don't Quite Remember" sounds like Morrissey and Jens Lekman slow-dancing with a chamber orchestra. It should be a rare treat hearing these songs come to life at the Triple Rock release party Saturday.

One for the Team, "Built It Up" Even though he runs his own label -- or maybe because of it -- Ian Anderson jumped at the chance to sign his earnest, noisemaking band to Southern California-based indie imprint Militia Group, home to Cartel, Juliette & the Licks and Jill Cunniff. At the same time, he upped the hi-fi quality for OFTT's second album.

In a word, this record sounds BIG. The guitars are big. The choruses are big. And the vocals are enormous.

The improvement over the first record, however, is modest at best. Anderson and Co. hit the ground running with their 2006 debut, "Good Boys Don't Make Noise," which overflowed with electric guitar and smart, Death Cab-ian songwriting. That's all on this record, and so is a lot more. Ela's Bill Caperton brings a lot more fuzz and Britpoppy melody to the guitar work. Keyboardist Grace Fidler also plays a pivotal role this time, helping turn exuberant gems like "Dress Up Party" and the single "Best Supporting Actor" into charming boy/girl pop of the Imperial Teen vein.

No fault of Fidler's, but the vocals are simply too much. In general, the singing on "Built It Up" was built too far up, almost to Def Leppard proportions in songs like "Hey Kid." Let the guitars do more of the singing next time, kids.

Hey, if Scarlett gets to sing ... There's probably a snarky comment to be made about a few local bands who are acting every time they take the stage, but over the next month we'll have the chance to see several real and well-known musicians give it a try as actors in two different stage productions.

Andrew Broder of Fog fame and Andrew Bird/Fog bassist Mark Erickson will perform in a little comedy show called "Good Morning, Gentlemen," written by Erickson and being staged every Sunday night in September at Bryant-Lake Bowl. Their pal Jeremy Ylvisaker is providing music, and other musical guests are expected to appear.

Meanwhile, local folk singer Ellis has the lead role in "Babe: An Olympic Musical," a Theatre Unbound musical about LPGA co-founder and Olympic medalist Babe Didrikson, showing Sept. 11-13 at the College of St. Catherine's Jeanne d' Arc Auditorium. Details at TheatreUnbound.com.

Random mix Here's one of the cleverest gig ideas I've heard in a while: The Strange Lights, Cadillac Kolstad, So It Goes, Raven and others will perform in front of vintage 3-D sci-fi movies -- and under the banner of charity -- at Thursday's "Attack of the 50-Foot Rocker" show at the Varsity Theater (7:30 p.m., $12-$15). B-movie attire is encouraged. The show benefits Peace House Africa (an AIDS relief fund) and is brought to us by the fledgling nonprofit Rock the Cause, which also has a fun Beatles tribute coming up Sept. 17 at First Ave. ...

The Modest Mouse-y, South Dakota-reared quintet Welcome to the Cinema opens for the Hopefuls on Saturday at the 400 Bar to promote its debut CD, "Blocks and Hills," full of nervously energized, wiry rockers and a few catchy pop ditties. Darren Jackson, a fellow Dakota kid, produced the record. ...

After it opens for Gnarls Barkley at the fair on Wednesday, Cloud Cult will have another big gig in mid-September at the Monolith Festival outside Denver. It's the only band asked to play the fest two years in a row. Before that, bassist Shawn Neary has a gig with his new band the Wapsipinicon (named after a river in Iowa), Aug. 30 at the Kitty Cat Klub. ...

The RNC-timed ProVention concert on Sept. 2 with the Honeydogs, New Standards, Dan Wilson, et al., now has its fourth and almost-certainly final home: The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Tickets ($17-$20) are on sale at ProventionConcert.org. ...

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will join Morris Day Sept. 12 for the first local show by the all-original Time since the '80s, in a celebration for the opening of the Hotel Minneapolis. Tickets, which benefit a charity, are a whopping $150. Fans might be giving them "The Bird."

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658