When I first heard Long Beach's Avi Buffalo, I swore the guy singing (Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg... or, you know, Avi Buffalo) was at least forty years old. He just had that forty-year-old dude's voice. Imagine my surprise when I found out he was barely twenty-one. Ok, surprise is the wrong word. I wasn't like "GASP!!!!!" I was more like, "Huh."

Anyway, I then found out that their debut is coming out on Sub Pop. And I thought, "Of course it is!" and wasn't surprised at all. Because, you see, Avi Buffalo's pleasant country pop fits nicely alongside Band Of Horses and those Grand Archives guys, both Sub Pop peeps.

Adding to my misperception, both of those bands also sound old (because they both sound like Neil Young, and that dude is OLD), so maybe that's why I thought Avi Buffalo (also a band... there're 4 of them including Avi) was such an oldie olson.

But moving on from the old thing, the main thing you should take away from Avi Buffalo is that their songs will make you happy. Perhaps that's the biggest difference between these guys and those other country-pop guys. Band of Horses always made me feel kind of melancholy and stuff.

As of this writing, Avi Buffalo is touring it up with Japandroids. That band makes me happy too. So let's hear it for young happy guys that... sound old!

Denton, TX's Fur is Bryce Isbell. I do not know the man, so therefore I cannot claim that he was abducted by aliens at a young age and while on their massive metallic mothership learned the joys of electronic music before they peacefully sent him back down to his bedroom to spread to the underground music world all that had been taught to him (he, of course, wouldn't remember any of this).

I can't claim that, but it seems to be a more than plausible theory. How else to explain these otherworldly sounds the man makes as Fur? When this gets cranking, I find myself wanting to make a tower out of my mashed potatoes and search for the hidden meanings of the universe. Of course, I also just kind of just want to dance too. It would be a freaky dance, but a dance nonetheless.

And hey, no one ever said aliens couldn't have bouncy beats just because The X-Files theme song didn't use 'em. That was a TV show, Fur is real life. Not all spaceships have theramin rooms. The ship Fur was (possibly) on just had a whole bunch of sweet synth dens.

Fur's latest album is called Witches and it's got Alan Palomo from Neon Indian on it. Other special guests include Mork, Superman, Jar Jar Binks, The Predator and Barbarella.

I have a friend who's always depressed. I mean, he's straight up Eeyore. He claims that one of the few things that can pull him out of his sorry state is putting on a Ted Leo album. I don't blame him. Teddy's a rock star who's tonic for the soul. One of the most beloved indie musicians today, Teddy doesn't just have fans. He has FANS.

Leo has gained widespread admiration and respect for his unbelievable melodic ear and his socially conscious songwriting. From 1990-1997 he honed his chops in the legendary DC mod-punk band Chisel. And as a solo artist, his songwriting continues to flourish.

Live, he's even more upbeat. When his soaring tenor isn't belting out the money notes, and he's not brutally attacking the guitar, he's bopping his head and handclapping away, working his FANS into frenzy with typical Leo showmanship. Ah, if only my friend could live his life with Ted Leo on repeat.

I'm really energized about Titus Andronicus. These New Jersey guys make music that makes me happy. And before too long, all the world shall know their joy. They rock a lo-fi punk sound reminiscent of The Thermals, but with perhaps slightly more skewed melodies.

There are all sorts of things going on in a Titus Andronicus song besides indie rock riffs: horns, harmonicas, vocal distortion, a cappella refrains, and joyful shoe stomps to name but a few. And the end result is just so damn delightful, it's enough to soften even the shells of die-hard "Spiderland" fans.

So everyone was talking about this band Harlem (well not everyone... my mom certainly wasn't... she's still fixated on Wavves) and I was all like, "Why is everyone talking about this band Harlem? I better check them out!"

So I checked them out. And I learned three things: 1.) This band isn't even from NYC, much less from Harlem! Austin, Texas? Get a rope! 2.) They're a duo that switch off on guitar and drums... promising. And 3.) Ahhh, so that's why everyone is talking about Harlem... they're so darn catchy!

Everyone loves garage-pop-rock with lots of good guitar jingle-jangle, after all (except mom, she likes glo-fi and glo-fi only). And Harlem does indeed have catchy songs. They make me want to get dirtied up. Dirtied up in what, I do not know. But it just might be rhythm and booze.

Harlem is a band you want to get sweaty to. A band you want to ride the mechanical bull to. A band you want to watch and then breezily look over at your stranger concert neighbor and go, "Rock 'n roll, mannnnn... rock... and... roll." And they'll nod slowly back at you and be like, "Hellllllllllllllllll yeah," and might even throw in a "wreck-a-check-check!" And then you'll ask them if they'll buy you a beer and they'll say no. But you won't be hurt or offended, because Harlem's cheery jingle-jangle will more than offset any human companion rejection.

Now I know why everyone is talking about Harlem! I gotta get my mom hip to this. I mean, Wavves is pretty good and all but... there're other distorted bands in the sea to make you happy, Mom.

Wham City this ain't. Nope, they may be from Baltimore, but Thrushes remind me of those ALT bands (but still radio-ready) I used to listen to in the 19-Naughtys: big, guitar power-pop with lots of distortion and soaring feelings. Soaring feelings used to be SO naughty!

Fronted by Anna Conner, this quartet likes to rock a sound grand in scale. Their songs have (shockingly, for 2010) building intros and meaty middles and sticky refrains and graceful endings. In other words, Thrushes' layered pop is fully realized.

Whether or not you're down with their sound kind of depends on you. Do you like Slumberland Records (from Black Tambourine to The Pains)? Were you into Velocity Girl? Feel good when you hear Autolux? How about sweet and lush-y shoegaze? Are you into the lushness? If you said yes to any of the above, then will you be my friend? I need more friends into those above things. I also need more friends who will give me money.

Oh, and check out Thrushes' nice cover of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You." It kind of nicely sums up what this nice band is all about. Tick-Tock, You Don't Stop. I Wanna Thrush You Up... ALLLLL NIGHT! 19-Naughtys foreva.

Finally, something different. Whew! So yeah, I'm really into NYC's (by way of Tacoma) Oberhofer lately. This happy, scattered eccentric bedroom-pop is straight from the imagination of Brad Oberhofer, who writes, plays, and records all of these songs (live, he has a full band).

And let me tell you, he's a pretty imaginative dude when it comes to songwriting. Oberhofer is a wonderfully wacky journey through pop catchiness, and these interesting, off-kilter melodies just sort of scream...innovation. In a way this kind of reminds me of what Deastro is doing, but perhaps a bit brighter and a little rougher around the edges (in that rough way I often want). And there have been comparisons made to The Unicorns (but they're a little more wack on the wacky scale).

Maybe he should try to hook up a show with that band Grandchildren we recently profiled. They might be a good stage/sound partner too. Call me crazy, but I can even see Oberhofer playing with The Drums, too. It's that whole solid melodies thing.

But honestly, it's hard to play the comparison game. Just have an Oberhofer listen and you'll see what I mean. I bet you'll be into it though, especially the guitars. Lots of good guitars going on here. (BTW, is this guy really only nineteen? That's crazy. He just might very well be "the shit" in his twenties.)

I thought Zach Morris was every teen girl's fantasy. I guess I was wrong. Should've known it was electro! Stupid! Stupid! No wonder I never got any dates in 7th grade.

Teengirl Fantasy is Logan Takahashi and Nick Weiss, two students from some school called Oberlin in a state called Ohio (they've also spent some time studying in this place called Amsterdam, also known as Hamsterdam to fictional Baltimore residents... speaking of which, these guys would fit in very nicely with that whole Wham City scene).

Together, they use their synths and machines and mircrophones and mighty gear to mix it up, build it up, tear it down, and get those glitches going all over the place. If you like your electro with some disco POP drone, Teengirl Fantasy is the duo for you. You'd like them if you like Fuck Buttons, too.

Anyway, you can't help to NOT help to not dance to this. That's our way of saying Teengirl Fantasy is very danceable indeed. This crew of two has recently played shows with bands like Neon Indian, Beach Fossils and Dan Deacon, and they have an album coming out on the stellar True Panther record label (Girls, Lemonade and lots more bands we like).

That all being said, Teengirl Fantasy is definitely a dream come true (we just HAD to end this with a cheesy tagline... we're looking to make our next million making bumper stickers).

Imagine sludge rock mixed with pretty male/female harmonies and then throw in some punk and a heavy dose of soul. I think your imagination would conjure up something very close to the sound of Ava Luna. This band uses a bass (lots of bass in this band... that's where things get nice and sludgy), synth/keys, drums, and four part vocal harmonies to create something similar to, well, what I just outlined above.

I've never really heard anything like this, to be slightly sure. Sometimes Ava Luna hits hard and overall just kind of rocks out, and at other times they're like a stop-start doo-wop group that could also moonlight as cast members in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Maybe. You know what; maybe I should just stop trying.

But, no. No! That's the wrong attitude. I must push forward in describing this eclectic sound. Well, here's what I know. I know that Ava Luna makes me want to both "dance with my face" (that's what we call head-banging in our household) and kick like a Rockette. Er, Rocketter. Whatever the male version of Rockette is. How's that? Ava Luna is a chorus line head bang. Boom. Nailed it. They've recently played shows with Twin Sister, btw. We like that band, too.

This is good stuff from just one dude. No, the dude in question is not "The Dude," but rather Los Angeles' Pat Grossi. Using the moniker Active Child, Grossi creates electro bedroom recordings (actually, I have no clue if it's in his bedroom, or not -- he could record in his utility room for all I know) that synthetically soar on the wings of Grossi's sublime vocal range. Sometimes he'll go all low like Ian Curtis, and other times he'll explode into pretty falsettos like Antony. Not many dudes can do that.

With Active Child, there is a plethora of layered keyboard (+ other tech gear) lushness (including some harp action, I believe) going on here. And that's all coupled with these deep, almost club-style beats that make for a singularly unique musical world. A world I want to hang out in for a bit, maybe play a little hop-scotch.

In a way, this kind of reminds me of TV On The Radio, but opting for a little less rock and a little more folk, and a lot more electro-ness. And not to belabor this point, but we feel we should mention again those Grossi vocals. They are the key to this whole operation. Well, that and the synths... and the beats.

As I say, Active Child is good stuff. Yes, we're being entirely redundant about all this. Don't get mad about it. This aggression will not stand, man.

Here's some warmness right here. Twin Sister is a NYC band led by front-woman Andrea Estella. And her luminescent laid-back vocals are the main source of that melodic warmness. The carefree bass thumps (played by Gabel D'Amico), chilled-out guitar riffs (Eric Cardona), sweet keys (Udbhav Gupta) and well-timed drum taps (Bryan Ujueta) don't hurt the warmness either.

But we're not just talking moderate temperature here. With Twin Sister, there's lots of illumination going on, too. Their catchy songs are bright like a contained living room fireplace. Their twinkling choruses glitter like a well-behaved backyard 4th of July celebration.

No, Twin Sister's melodic warmth and heat won't produce shock and awe. But they will produce calm and contentment. And sometimes that's what you want out of your rock 'n roll band. You can watch stage SEX and DRUGS and BOOZE all the time. With Twin Sister, you'll get radiated by rock that brims with soft light and comfortable heat. Light and heat. Just think light and heat.

Tan Dollar is a beautifully noisy trio (Chris Throne, Chris Balingit, Liz Suh) from Irvine, California that rock two keyboards and one set of drums to make loud, blissful, experimental goodness. From what I can tell, this is what the kids call "lo-fi." I guess. I'm going to call it "good-fi" though. You know, for a "hoot."

Now, I'm not going to spend time analyzing and deconstructing the meaning of Tan Dollar's lyrics for you because a.) that's never really been my thing... blame not going to Grad School and b.) I can't really hear any of the lyrics anyway. There's too much distortion and stuff going on to make out what these guys/girl are singing about. But it sure sounds like they're singing about something, well, experimental. Maybe it's just about donuts.

When I listen to Tan Dollar, I do hear crazy falsettos over all this wonderfully blown-out distortion, and those always sound nice together. And I also hear really pretty keyboard solos that give these songs some solid melodic overtones. Melodic overtones rule. But yeah, I keep listening to these guys and keep finding new things to like about them. It's... what's that word? Oh yeah, interesting. When I first put Tan Dollar on the old player, I thought I heard a little bit of Blank Dogs. I don't think that so much anymore. I don't know what I think. I think I need to see them live.

Here's a band that's excellent to listen to when you're feeling sad, but not in the, "There's a tear in my beer" sort of way -- more in the, "Ah, life..." sort of way. Back in the day (mid '90s to be somewhat exact) L.A.'s The Delta Mirror was two dudes making hip-hop jams. I'm not sure if they wore their clothes backward, but it would've been a lot cooler if they did.

But here, now in 2010 (2010?!), The Delta Mirror are definitely not hip-hop. They are the same two dudes, though (Craig Gordon on voice/guitar/synth, and David Bolt on a lot of keys and other assorted electro things -- and live, Karrie K. on bass).

Yes, they still kind of have some of those hip-hop-ish machine beats building the foundation for their songs. But The Delta Mirror of today is pretty much straight-up shoegazer pop. Their songs are epic too, like any good shoegazer band, with many of them clocking in at the 6- to 8-minute mark. So there's plenty of time to feel wistful between bridges and choruses.

But yeah, The Delta Mirror's long melodic musical forays into electro pop exploration just give off an overall vibe of melancholy. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the synthetic layers of keys, or the hollowness of the machine-made beats, maybe it's the swirls and fuzz of a lonely sounding guitar. But it all works together to just sort of make me feel, what's the word, heartbroken? But heartbroken in a positive way, if that makes sense, which it really doesn't.

Craig Gordon's voice sometimes reminds me of Paul Banks of Interpol too, and he always seemed like a sad guy. Anyway, don't leave here with the impression that The Delta Mirror is a downer in the traditional sense. The songs are solid and highly melodic and they're pretty much exactly what you want to listen to when you're feeling that, "Ah, life..." vibe. That vibe isn't always bad.

Trippy, man. Trippy. Los Angeles' Pearl Harbor is a laid-back, breezy band comprised of two sisters; Piper and Skyler. Piper is in her early twenties, and Sky (as of this writing) is 14 years old. Yes, 14 years old. Woah.

Anyway, the two sisters make swirling shoegaze-y music that's hazy and harmonious and dreamy and sunshine-y and, well, you don't need more adjectives to get the gist. Like most leisurely, dreamy and swirly pop music, this can be a cerebral head trip where all you want to think about is the fleeting, drifting days under the relaxation of the mighty sun's rays. Told you. It's trippy, man. Trippy.

Pearl Harbor will probably appeal to fans of all those old '80s shoegaze bands (you know the bands I mean... let's not get into it) and Best Coast for sure, that band Dunes, and First Aid Kit maybe (but really that's just because they're two young sisters too). Comparisons foreva!

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a pool raft with my name on it (I like to put my name on all my pool accessories for some reason... it's weird).

Philip Seymour Hoffman is a guy I know nothing about. Not the actor. I know lots about him, like how he was the bully in Scent of a Woman. And he likes to eat at this one cafe in Chelsea, like, EVERY DAY. What's up with that, man? There are other places in NYC to eat!

But enough about that other dude. The guy in this band called Philip Seymour Hoffman is the unknown one. Now, don't you go blaming me for not knowing much about PSH the band. This guy often wears a mask when he twiddles his tech knobs and sticks a microphone down his throat. Mystery is kind of the thing he's going for here. And the lo-fi machine wonderment made here is indeed mysterious and haunting, and probably a bit creepy.

It's the kind of music that makes you feel slightly on edge, sort of like how Former Ghosts, another one of my recent favorites, makes me feel. PSH is just sort of overall bizarre and hard to pin down. Perhaps he's like a less accessible Animal Collective, maybe? But it's less pop and more drone and more, well, creepy.

While PSH doesn't have any radio-ready straight-up JAMS that would make good background music for cell phone commercials, this music definitely has the power to suck you in and make you feel something. And hey, if that something is creepiness, well, that's better than feeling nothing at all, right? I'm into this. I don't exactly know why. But I'm into it.

Sweden's Love is All is a festive band that delightfully riffs their way through catchy choruses. These four guys and one woman (she sings) play post-punk that prefers "fun" and "jangly" over "angst" and "gloomy." Of course you probably already know that, considering the name they chose for their band. What I hear most when listening to Love is All is The Wedding Present's strums crossed with The Go! Team's affirmative temperament. Love is All's music defies these cynical times, making them the most optimistic of rebels.

Oh, boo-hoo, another indie super-group... of sorts (YOINKS... just did what every other music writer does and attached "of sorts" right after mentioning a somewhat super band that has members of other bands in that band... YOINKS! But we've talked about this problem of ours extensively on these pages... enough is enough, wasn't remotely funny the eighth time).

The Babies are a super-group OF SORTS (YEEE HAWWW!) featuring Kevin from that band Woods, Cassie from that band Vivian Girls, and Justin from that band Bossy.

I like The Babies. They've got that nice, lo-fi sunny swirling '60s sound you've heard from some of the members' other bands, and they've also got that muffled punk thing going on too. You know, muffled booze punk. Not the punk that goes "ARF! ARF! ARF!" but the kind of punk that goes "YELP! YELP! YELP!"

Yep, The Babies are just what you want sometimes. My biggest complaint with this band though, is that that no matter HOW MANY TIMES I tell them not to play with Daddy's records, they STILL pull them all out and stomp and spin and dance all over the gatefolds. And I won't even begin to help you imagine what 180 grams of vinyl looks like after it's served as a giant teething ring. GOD!

Professor Calculus! Yes! 8-bit video game music made by future rock stars! If you like Anamanaguchi as much as we like Anamanaguchi (and oh-oh, oh what a GAL!), then you'll like this Professor Calculus four-dude crew from Los Angeles in the California.

This is super electro math-rock (Math like Calculus! That means this stuff is hard! I hope I get it! I barely passed Geometry. It was only because of my famous 'protractor protruding from the cheek' trick that my merciful teacher passed me... she was a fan of old time vaudeville, I think.).

But this Calculus isn't too hard for me to understand, really. What's so hard to like about sweetly distorted guitar riffs and splashes of ambience before coming around to a big time arcade chorus!? God, I've always wanted to rock like an arcade.

Anyway, if you like instrumental video game rhythms that appear to go all over the place, but are really on a completely focused trek to one high holy and elusive destination --- Happy Mountain --- then you'll surely be into these dudes. Never heard of Happy Mountain? Well, it's the place in the sky where angst and brooding and boring rock 'n roll aren't allowed. Happy Mountain is a place full of music like Professor Calculus's music; their BOOM BOOM BOOM bass lines and pretty, epic 8-bit bleeps that scream youthful joy.

That's the kind of place Happy Mountain is. And if I'm ever so lucky to get there, I know with all of my heart's hope they'll be playing these guys on the sound system when the other first guests and I arrive for the passing of hors d'oeuvres.

Ayisha Abyss is the first track from Serena Maneesh's new album "S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor," out March 23rd on 4AD.

Norway's Serena Maneesh can, at times, be musically manic-depressive. Sometimes they rock high and sometimes they rock low. Most of the time, they are a purely guttural band out to slay you with their spiky guitars, dangerous rhythms, and distorted samples. But the band does have their lonely moments of reflection, incorporating sparse piano hymns and hushed, dark atmospherics, between instrumental explosions.

Main man Emil Nikolaisen sings sparingly, and often turns over vocal duties to his sister, Elvira, when the songs need the serene, dreamy quality her fragile voice conveys. Serena Maneesh has been compared to wall-of-noise bands like Sonic Youth and The Jesus and Mary Chain, mixed with the grand orchestration of Sigur Ros and M83. They even had their friend Sufjan Stevens play the flute and marimba on their 2006 self-titled album. Not too many bands can kill you with feedback AND flutes. If that's not musically manic-depressive, I don't know what is.

London's The Joy Formidable are a swirling, dream pop band comprised of singer/guitarist Ritzy, bassist Rhydian, and drummer Matt (it's always the drummer that has the boring name...always the drummer).

So what exactly is a dream pop band anyway? I don't know. I thought you knew! Maybe dream pop is about having lots of hooky choruses under layers of fuzzily unthreatening guitar distortion. Maybe it's about those pretty vocals over that nicely put together noise that makes it dream pop. You know, because without the pretty vocals, maybe it would just be rock 'n roll?

Maybe dream pop is... well, maybe you should ask The Pains of Being Pure at Heart or something, because I don't really know what dream pop is. I just wanted to say it. Dream pop. It feels good on the teeth and the lips and the tongue.

But I DO know that The Joy Formidable are definitely catchy. You can't go on tour with Passion Pit if you're not catchy. That's Rule #1. Rule #2 is that there IS no Passion Pit.

Anyway, The Joy Formidable has a pretty good name too. Their name means they are happy when they cause fear, I guess. Whatever. They are also dream pop. Good dream pop. We think.

Brooklyn's Diehard are an exceptionally catchy foursome that play ALT power-pop seemingly straight from 1993-1996. Yeah! Now, harkening back to the past is not necessarily a bad thing (it's a BAND thing, man... everyone lifts from everyone... and that's why we're all high on POP, baby..., especially when the era you're lending your listeners' ears to was a pretty damn good era.

Yeah, I'm talking about the power-pop era of Weezer's Blue Period. And hmm, maybe the power-pop era of Chicago's Veruca Salt. Diehard kind of reminds me of Veruca Salt for some reason. And heck it, maybe Diehard even reminds me a bit of the indie-pop era of Velocity Girl meets the power-pop era of The Poster Children. Yeah, that's it! Boy, that was one good era.

Of course, this mid-'90s FM-friendly era also had countless ALT bands that employed only deep baritone singers ("AND I FEEL ITTTTTT... WHERE YA GOIN' WITH THE MASK I FOUNDDDDD...), but thankfully Diehard isn't one of those ALT bands from that ALT era.

Ezra Selove and Liz Schroeter trade off very pleasant vocal melodies, actually. And their pretty pop power chords might even make Scott Stapp lay down his crucified arms (for a minute, anyway) in appreciation... not that Diehard sounds like Creed or anything. Creed RULEZ though!

Diehard has played shows recently with Free Energy and Small Black, and should try to jump on a tour with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, if only to relive the magic that was Flight 151. Anyway, Diehard and ALT ERAS FOREVA!

Now I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone before. But you can't tell ANYONE! At the college I went to, in a hidden corner of a forgotten building, there was this small room called "The Heaven Room." The room was all mirrors; the floor, the four walls, the ceilings. And on the mirrored ceiling there were little patches of painted-on clouds hovering slightly above you, just like little wisps of a dream.

The effect was that it appeared you were floating in the firmament somewhere beyond this universe's borders. And as you stood, solitary, and looked at your image reflected back at you from heaven, soft angelic music played in the background apparently to calm any and all of your earthly cares. It was all very cheesy, of course. And I kind of loved it.

"The Heaven Room" was definitely a guilty pleasure, kind of like how Blink-182 is a guilty pleasure... but not really like that at all.

My point is this; when I listen to the effortlessly ethereal (and dare I say, angelic) voice and dreamlike melodies of Brooklyn's Julianna Barwick, I think of that "Heaven Room." THIS is the music I wish would have been playing in there. Then I wouldn't have felt guilty at all for ditching class to stare up at my image above the clouds and above space and above time. THIS is the music I wish would have been playing in "The Heaven Room." Now, please don't tell anyone I told you this about my college days... ever.

L.A.'s Local Natives play grand and lush guitar pop with plenty of pretty harmonies. Hmm, that seems like all of the elements you need to be huge, don't you think? What's that? Do they have keys and strings and things, too? Why... yes, they DO have keys and strings and things! Does that convince you of their forthcoming hugeness? Ok, good.

When I listen to these five guys (it's always such a pleasant listen), I sometimes hear a bit of Band of Horses. going on. But, you know, less twang-y. I think it's the harmonies mostly that make my brain go BOH! And sometimes when I listen to Local Natives, I hear a bit of that band, Wild Light. Anyone out there listen to that band?

Anyway, THIS band's jam of the moment is this song "Camera Talk." So if you're interested in checking Local Natives out, start with that nice little ditty. You'll hear their grandness and the lushness and the harmonies and the keys and strings and things all encapsulated in that one three-minute-and- forty-five-seconds song.

And if you like it, get their debut album on Frenchkiss (The Dodos, Passion Pit, The Antlers). If you don't like it, sorry for wasting almost four minutes of your life. What else would you have done? Eat ding-dongs and watch Dr. Zhivago in your underwear? That's what we would have done.

If you refer back to my profile on Denmark's Oh No Ono (don't go back and read it - subjecting yourself to these profiles one time around is plenty painful as it is), you'll find that I implied that all bands from Denmark sound like Mew.

Well, I'll be the first to admit when I'm wrong (every time a space shuttle launches into space, that doesn't mean astronauts get out and walk on the moon... who knew... not me.).

The Kissaway Trail sounds absolutely nothing like Mew (except for a little bit of melodic bells). Nope, The Kissaway Trail sounds like a dash of Scandinavian heaven. And Scandinavian heaven sounds remarkably like good pop music. We know; we've been to Norway.

You can sing along to this band very easily, and hey you might even want to try kissing to them too! I mean, why not? Epic pop music that's all pretty and stuff has always been for lovers, after all. Now all you need is someone to love you! Wahhhhh!

The Kissaway Trail says they're influenced by Daniel Johnston and Sunny Day Real Estate. Hmmm, now there are two influences you don't often see lined up next to each other (they also say they're influenced by Grandaddy too, and we definitely hear that).

But really, they should just say they are NOT influenced by Mew. But then Mew would make a counter-claim that THEY are NOT influenced by The Kissaway Trail. And then things would just get ugly up there in Scandinavia. And Scandinavia is normally so pretty. We know. We've been to Norway.

Why, MNDR (pronounced Man Dar) could stand for anything! Could it be Mistress New Disco Rocker? I guess I could do some research and try to find out what MNDR stands for, but 1.) I'm too lazy and 2.) I don't really care. I guess those 2 points are sort of the same point, maybe.

Anyway, what's MNDR all about? It's about NYC's (via LA, via SF) Amanda Warner singing and rapping and making the big time dance beats using some advanced synth tricks, that's what it's about!

Call this gadget-rock. Call it PC-techno-pop. Call it future-blip-core. Call it an electro-geek out. Call it Mistress New Disco Rocker. Call it whatever! But just call it only after you see MNDR in action. You'll have a GOOD time. Why is GOOD all in caps? Because our HAND SLIPPED.

A few more fun facts: MNDR has recently played shows with Neon Indian and Javelin and These Are Powers. And word on the street is she also designed and programmed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' touring keyboard rig. What's, like, a rig? Is that, like, a download? But enough writing, we're going to crunk this MNDR UP! (Maybe it's My Notes Do Rule?)

Former Ghosts' music haunts me. And yes, I know this is a cutesy thing to say because of their name and all, but it's also true. This is a band that gets under your skin and does something strange down there before rising again to the surface. It's no surprise that Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu is in this band, because Xiu Xiu always liked to plunge into my pores too.

Freddy Ruppert is the primary singer/songwriter/synth maker in Former Ghosts. Stewart helps out on the synths and vocals too, but it's Ruppert's show. And man, this music he makes certainly sticks with you... more like clings to you... more like leeches onto you. I don't even know what to call this; dark goth industrial pop of some kind? Whatever it is, the music doesn't make me feel happy. Then again, it doesn't make me feel sad either. It just makes me feel... off.

Sure, the melodies are pretty and everything (this IS a synth band, after all) but prettiness doesn't always lead to godliness. And boy, I don't even know what that means! You see? You see what Former Ghosts does to me? I'm all mixed up. As of this writing, the band is on tour with Cold Cave. And if Cold Cave isn't the perfect touring partner for Former Ghosts, I don't know who is (except maybe some Trent Reznor side project should he ever decide to go in a more peaceful direction).

I like this. I think. But it makes me anxious.

When I first listened to Oh No Ono I thought, "Wow this band sounds a lot like Mew." And then I learned they were from Denmark and I was all like, "Ohhh that explains it!" Isn't it funny when bands from the same location start to mimic each other? What's that all about really? Is it intentional or some sort of zeitgeist subconscious thing? But, of course, this is a long and involved pseudo-intellectual socio-philosophical discussion for another time (like when you and I are both bored to tears and have a few hundred hours to kill).

So going back to where we began, Oh No Ono sounds a lot like Mew; especially the precious elfin vocals we all know and love. Careful now, an ewok riding a unicorn is going to jump out at you from the dense forest at any moment! Oh wait no, that's just the big chorus kicking in. My bad.

Does this description of Oh No Ono sound derogatory? If so, allow me to step back and say I am a big fan of Mew and I do happen to like what I've heard of Oh No Ono. Besides the aforementioned vocals, they've got those grand, swelling melodies that are filled out with lots of pretty strings and things. It's all very epic in its popness! And you'd be crazy not to like epic pop! Right? You'd also be crazy to NOT believe in magic fairy dust. I've been sprinkled with it. It's real and it's spectacular. I should go to Denmark some day.

If you've never had the pleasure of hearing or seeing San Francisco's Tycho, but you just so happened to glance upon his song titles (I don't know why this would happen, but just go with it) --- "Adrift" and "Cascade" and "The Daydream," to name a few of these titles ---- you'd pretty much know what kind of listening experience you'd be in for. Relaxing, ambient, low key, pleasant electro-chill that doesn't suck; that's what you're in for. Ah, I'm much calmer simply after writing that sentence fragment.

Tycho is Scott Hansen, who's also made a big name for himself in the design world as ISO50. When he's not rocking the visuals, he's making pretty, machine melodies and beats that immediately remind me of Ulrich Schnauss, one of the foremost Master Relaxers currently in electronic music.

Yet what's particularly nice about Tycho specifically is how all of his songs flow together effortlessly. His set is like one long smooth wave of electronic warmth. Watch and listen and observe the rough edges around your mood smoothing out. Your once abrasive day will slowly turn to silk with each Tycho bleep, click and soft snare tap. I guarantee it.

Oh, and I want to make this statement too: this is that rare "mellow" electro music that is NOT boring. Who knew there could be such a thing! Pretty, pretty stuff.

Shout Out Louds are four lads and one lady from Sweden and they sound a whole lot like The Cure. Seriously. Singer Adam Olenius does a spot-on impersonation of Robert Smith at his most happy. And I guess that's the biggest difference between the two groups (besides, you know, millions and millions of album sales). Shout Out Louds don't reach for that anguished diary drama like The Cure often did.

This band instead opts for those fun, catchy cowbells and hyper-melodic choruses (more like "Friday, I'm in Love" maybe). Yee haw! And it's a good thing Olenius doesn't incessantly sing about hearbreak, because The Shout Out Louds don't have a whole lot to be sad about these days. I mean, they're on Merge Records, after all. Many people also like to compare Shout Out Louds to their compatriots, Peter Bjorn and John. But whatever, these guys are The Cure.

We enter shows well in advance here at Oh My Rockness. As soon as the venues list them, we list them. But Miike Snow's shows take the cake for "advance warning." On his upcoming 2010 tour, Miike Snow's shows were confirmed like nine months before they were to actually take the stage. What is this, Pavement?

We were all, like, "Who the hell is Miike Snow and why do people need to buy tickets so far ahead of time?" So we did some digging and listening and the first thing we realized is that Miike Snow is a little trickster. You see, Miike Snow isn't a man. Miike Snow is a band! Ohhhhh, so this is like a Milli Vanilli thing, is it?

Listen, Mr. Snow... or should I say Mr. Andrew Wyatt and your beat-making production team of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (they've written hits for Britney Spears and J-Lo... serious!)... no one around here likes tricksters. Trixter, on the other hand, had a good jam with "Surrender."

Apparently, you have your own jam on your hands with a song called "Animal." Miike Snow the band's (from Sweden, nonetheless) hit jam "Animal" was played on "Gossip Girl!" Not that we watch that show. Why would we watch "Gossip Girl" when it conflicts with '80s re-runs of Supermarket Sweep on the Gameshow Network? "No, you idiots! Don't go for the diapers! Go for the hams! The hams, I tell you!"

So who does Miike Snow sound like? Well if you don't know by now, it's probably too late to fall in love with them, because all those upcoming shows of his --- sorry, of "theirs" ---- are most likely sold out. And if you know what Miike Snow sounds like, why are you reading this bad band profile? You should be popping out to their hit jamz. (PS. If you really want to know, Miike Snow sound like catchy popster hit makers.)

Brooklyn's Class Actress is some pretty perfect popness from the exceptionally talented singer/songwriter Elizabeth Harper. With the recent additions of machine players/producers Mark Richardson & Scott Rosenthal, Class Actress is now a full-blown band sent directly from heaven to bring ecstasy to your electro-pop bodies. (Wow, that was dramatic.)

Harper's perfectly catchy but slightly melancholy pop --- with just the right dash of intoxicating seduction --- has drawn comparisons to old pop heavyweights like The Smiths and New Order. And a more contemporary Chairlift comparison seems to crop up regularly when musing melodically about Class Actress.

Well whoever they might sound like, Class Actress is what I want to listen to on the dance floor --- because their songs are kind of slow in that slow, dance-y way --- and I can't dance to those fast dance songs that go BOOM BOOM CRASH BOOM very well. Quick boom-boom rhythms just aren't my body's forte.