After seven long days, Skellerpalooza is back at Rathskeller All American, 108 S. Pugh St., with two bands that are new to the State College music scene.

Philadelphia-based The Nodd will take the stage second tonight with one face that may be familiar to some super-seniors that could be in the audience.

Drummer and vocalist Joel Roberts, a 1998 Penn State graduate, is a former member of State College bar band of yore, Catfish Soup.

"The original music scene [in State College] was a lot better then than it is today," Roberts said. "It doesn't seem like there's much of an opening for outside artists anymore."

Unlike a lot of bands that are less than a year old, The Nodd plays mostly its own original music, not covers, Roberts said.

"We do a few select covers," he said. "If we feel it has some sort of meaning or is entertaining enough to do, we'll do it."

Eastern Pennsylvania resident Dug (vocals, guitar, keyboard) met Orange County transplant Abhi Taranath (vocals, lead guitar) through an "internet dating-type networking Web site for musicians" a year and a half ago, Dug said.

On Groundhog Day 2003, the two got together with Brandon "Brando" Lee (vocals, bass) and Roberts, and The Nodd was born.

"All four of us know what a good song is about, and that's what hopefully is coming back into style," Dug said. "Not that there isn't any good stuff out there."

With influences like Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Steely Dan and Depeche Mode, the band's musical style varies from song to song, Roberts said.

"We kind of run the gamut and hit every rock genre with a couple of outside influences as well, like blues or swing or even jazz at times," Roberts said.

The Nodd is making the rounds at Philadelphia venues like the Grape Street Pub and South Street spots Club 218 and Abilene's.

While this is The Nodd's first State College appearance, the band hopes it is not the last.

"We'd like to come back and play an all-ages show sometime, if anybody likes us," Dug said.

Skellerpalooza organizer Jeff Sabarese said that he is not familiar with tonight's first band, the presumably-local group Calocity. The band was booked by Sabarese's e-Nation bandmate Seth Richardson, Sabarese said in an e-mail message. Calocity could not be reached for comment.