Trying to stay hip

So I usually find bands I like a few years later and the ones I really really like have broken up by the time I'm clicking on their myspace to see if they're doing a show near my house. So this year for the first time I'm gonna try to keep up with the cool kids and listen the good stuff that comes out this year. However, I have no idea where to start.

If anybody has any good suggestions, post a comment. I'm sure everyone will want to know

2010's been pretty lame so far, if you ask me...aside from one amazing release, which is the new She & Him - Volume Two. I don't know if you're in the mood for that kind of stuff, but it's definitely worth a listen.

On the hardcore/metal side of things, I've been digging the new Cancer Bats album, Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones. It's nothing revolutionary, but it's fun.

On a side note: have you heard the new Against Me? It leaked super early (like four months early), and I'm sorry to say this, but it sucks. I'm perfectly fine with bands changing and maturing and "selling out" as so many people talk about them doing, but only if the new stuff is good, ya know? And this isn't. It's just boring. It's like mewithoutYou all over again.

OH GAWD DAMMIT! Why do all the bands I love produce such crap! Mewithoutyou, propagandhi, motion city, AND NOW AGAINST ME! ugh... oh well, at least we'll always have there bazillion other albums.

So what is She & Him like? I've never heard of them but I'm willing to give them a try.

The new Against Me was awful boring.

If you haven't listened to the Phenomenauts you should check 'em out. They're like the Aquabats. They put on a great show and it's all science themed.

Phenomenauts are great. They were the first LEGITIMATE band I saw live (I'm not counting that christian band I accidentally saw because I left way early.) Are they releasing anything new this year?

Party Stew wrote:

OH GAWD DAMMIT! Why do all the bands I love produce such crap! Mewithoutyou, propagandhi, motion city, AND NOW AGAINST ME! ugh... oh well, at least we'll always have there bazillion other albums.

So what is She & Him like? I've never heard of them but I'm willing to give them a try.

Seriously! The next thing I'm waiting for is Minus the Bear, and if they mess up too, that's too much to handle.

She & Him is really chill, mostly upbeat and old-school pop/rock, I guess, but I really don't know how to describe them. I always get images of '50s girls when I listen though. Check it out: http://www.myspace.com/sheandhim

Holy crap! Zooey Deschanel! Didn't expect that one. I'm digging it so far. Chiller then what I usually listen to but my musical tastes have calmed down a bit since high school. (Essentially, they've expanded beyond 80's hardcore.) Minus the bear hopefully won't suck. I'm finally getting into them and I don't want to add them to my list of bands that I liked and then they released a shit album. When is their new album supposed to come out?

On a side note, I'm randomly excited for the new beastie boys' album. I don't know why as I rarely ever listen to them but I feel like getting excited for it. Again, random.

Haha yeah, Zooey! Myspace is streaming the whole new album, so check out a few tracks and see what you think, and if you really like it, I can sendspace the album to you, if you want.

The new Minus the Bear comes out May 4th, it's called Omni. They have one new song on their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/minusthebear It's way more synth than the last album, but I heard it's supposed to have a wide range of styles, so we'll see.

When's the new Beastie Boys album coming out? I dug their last (?) album, the instrumental one, so it should be cool to hear some new stuff.

Ianp told me they were coming out with something so we'll see what happens. I don't have much else to be excited for so why not beastie boys?

Sendspace would be cool. I've been listening to it on myspcae since you recommended it. I feel like it'll be very good driving to work music.
Did you ever see that jim carry movie with zoey dischspellingishard? Yes man? Well she is in a band in it and everytime there are background vocals it makes me think of that movie and the only thing that's weird about it is that is that it's a whole weird costumed band thing. It's a strange thought to have keep popping in my head.

Rock with "poppy, girly vocals":
http://www.myspace.com/kittyandthelostboys

A little more rock, a little less pop:
http://www.myspace.com/grammatics

Spacey electronic, almost psychedelic pop:
http://www.myspace.com/bearinheaven

These guys are awesome. They're like a jangly jazz hard rock experimental progressive group. Definitely music you can't dance to. I liked "6" a lot:
http://www.myspace.com/threetrappedtigers

And yeah, The Phenomonauts ruled. They're this sci-fi rockabilly new wave band and they were lots of fun. The bass player had a stand up bass and was fun to watch. Saw them open for The Aquabats! (with Stew and Jojo and Christine) and they were great (the toilet paper gun was genius). They're actually based out of Oakland (Earth's Capitol).
http://www.myspace.com/thephenomenauts

I feel like more rock, less pop is a good album name but it sounds just like the propagandhi album "More rock, less talk" So maybe that's why I like it so much. On another note, the previously mentioned album is the best punk album of all time so if you're looking for something great, there you go but its not current since their new stuff is awful.

I'm still really digging she and him. Still recommending it to everyone else out there since Ryguy recommended it to me.

Hey Stew, I sendspace'd that S&H album for you. I'm really glad you're enjoying it

muchos gracias. Hopefully this topic will get a lot bigger over the rest of the year. So far we have She and him for this year and we're a quarter in... should be interesting making a top 10 list lol

Okay, I've been listening to The Dead Weather. Apparently, this is Jack White's new group. Kinda rockin'

If you're in a more mellow mood, try The xx. I also like a few things by MGMT, although sometimes their vocals are a bit too squeaky and too much falsetto.

I've been digging the new Foxy Shazam. Check it out, especially the video for "Oh Lord" -- www.myspace.com/foxyshazam

Holy crap, I totally forgot about these guys. they have new stuff coming out this year?

The sound changes from album to album but the mustache remains awesome

Haha yeah, they've really calmed down with the new album and made the music more accessible, but I'm totally fine with that. The new album is super catchy and fun...I just wish I could see them live again.

Yeah i heard about the show they put on. It sounds really fun. I listened to the whole album that they had on their myspace last night. That was pretty good. "Oh lord" is still surprisingly good, in fact i have it stuck in my head right now.

It's weird listening to this album though and thinking about their older stuff like "Don't shoot." Very very different

I've had "Oh Lord" stuck in my head for like a week now, it's crazy catchy. I really like the album, I was never really able to listen to their old stuff on repeat, just random listens here and there. This one's a lot easier to latch onto, in my opinion.

On a separate note: the new Minus the Bear AND the new Gaslight Anthem albums leaked a few days ago.

Ha I'm in the same boat. I don't really know any of their other stuff beyond "don't shoot" and "Dangerous man" Both great songs but I don't know if it really reflects the album they're on as a whole.

Ah and how are the albums? more importantly how is minus the bear?

Minus the Bear is pretty good. I've only listened to it once all the way through, but it's a lot more relaxed, and way more synthy than their last album.

That's good to hear. The only album I've really listened to is planet of ice which was alright but i heard there are better albums. Any recommendations?

Recommendations for Minus the Bear albums? Planet of Ice is probably my favorite, but they're all so different.