Brooklyn's Birthday Boyz are an exciting and explosive band that has a particular affection for guitars. I was instantly sucked into the swirl of these slayful songs. Their mostly metal rock-outs have plenty of screams and sway towards sludge, so think of them as something similar to Boris and Torche.

These four guys have somehow managed to slip under-the-radar for way too long. Well, the North American radar that is. Birthday Boyz did a stealth (i.e. non-Government sponsored) ten-city tour of China late last year. How badass is that? VBS.TV has a superb 6-part documentary of their trip which you can view here. I definitely recommend it.

Ontario's Basia Bulat is an incredibly talented songstress who plays the guitar, the flute, the autoharp, the ukulele, the sax and probably a dozen other instruments. She'd give Sufjan a run for his money.

Her ragtime indie-folk with a good dose of soul has been compared to everyone from Feist to Joanna Newsom to the suddenly-huge-due-to-Juno Kimya Dawson. I think her voice sounds like Natalie Merchant. And maybe you've seen her crazy cool cover of The Strokes' "Someday" on YouTube?

Basia can count the members of Arcade Fire as friends and fans, which has definitely helped get her buzz train up and running. Live, she has a revolving cast of musicians to help with the swelling strings/keys orchestration that she could probably create all herself in the studio.

Bulat has recently played shows with Final Fantasy, Sondre Lerche and Loney, Dear, and her new album is out in February of 2008 on the mighty Rough Trade Records.

Seattle's Pwrfl Power is one man, Kazutaka Nomura, and his spotless electric guitar. He composes simple songs that, for lack of a better term, are precious. They have titles like "Coffee Girl Song" and "Chopstix Song" and "Peach Song." You get it.

In a tender voice that literally cracks with a boyish earnestness, Nomura skillfully picks and softly strums his way into your musical heart. Now I can just hear you saying that all this sounds grating. Yet in this case, it's sort of hard to resist a guy who so sweetly sings the stuff of his diary to you.

Mostly, resistance is hard because Nomura can't really sing all that well. It's not that he can't hold a tune, he just doesn't sound polished. And sometimes, a few wrinkles are just what you want in song. However, whatever he may lack in vocal training, he more than makes up for with his guitar technique. The kid can play.

Pwrfl Power reminds me a lot of those first couple Palace (Will Oldham) records. It's simple, it's honest, and it's just nice. And to preempt some of you anonymous music blog commenters out there; relax. A dose of nice might do you some good.

Philadelphia's Pattern is Movement is a vibrant guitar/drum duo that creates completely original pop sounds based on looping musical, well, patterns. The result is something other-worldly and entirely engaging. Singer (and bass/Rhodes/mellotron player) Andrew Thiboldeaux has a beautifully floating voice that eases these strange structures into accessibility, and Chris Ward's complex drum dances utilize his classical training.

When I first heard these two, I thought they sounded a little like a less abrasive Oneida, maybe because these rhythms can sometimes seem psych/drone. But the band says they are influenced by much more melodic folks like Beirut and Bjork. And listening more, you can really hear how they effectively combine complexity with catchiness. It's not easy.

Pattern is Movement has toured with St. Vincent, The Forms and David Bazan, and they recently released their debut full-length record All Together.

New Jersey's Thing One are a young five-piece band that play soulful indie-pop made possible by machines. And these guys aren't afraid to sing about love. Their upbeat synth-centric melodies sound similar to what their touring mates and best buddies Ra Ra Riot are doing, and their vocals kind of remind me of Baby Dayliner's laid-back croon.

Sometimes, they like to bust out the programmed beats and big bass grooves above all their swirling synth stuff to give the songs a certain flair for the dance-matic. This is easygoing pop with some zip on it.

With a name like Twi (rhymes with 'high') the Humble Feather, you might be able to guess what these guys sound like. That's right, DECIBEL DESTRUCTION AND ANARCHY! Actually, no. This harmonious trio, in fact, makes music that does sound rather humble and does seem as gentle as a feather.

This is tender dream-fantasy-pop (or whatever the kids are calling it these days) full of falsettos and made mostly with acoustic guitars and some computers. It's similar to that of Animal Collective, Panda Bear and Miracle Fortress (mixed with some Philip Glass). But of all those bands, Twi's music is the mildest in a calming, placid sort of way.

Listening to this is as relaxing as reading Walden Pond on a porch somewhere far away from here. They sound as if something very smart and trained and classical is going on. And even though I am none of these things, thankfully I can still enjoy what I hear. It's precious, not pretentious. Check them out and just wait for all your worried knots to surely unravel.

Tel Aviv's Monotonix are a punk trio that likes to set fires, hang from ceiling lights, spit and throw beer at fans and friends, and just generally get all "crazy" from the floor during their sets. They are one of those bands.

This is sweaty and raucous rock that's virtually impossible to feel indifferent about. Either you will thank the rock gods for bringing you the riffs and antics that Monotonix bring to every performance, or you will laugh that rockers still think it's fun to set fires and spit and do the splits and such (ok, I don't know if they do the splits on stage, but they should).

But no matter what your opinion of Monotonix may be after a listen, you're guaranteed to feel some type of glee after watching them perform. And when was the last time you came home from a show and said, "Well, that was gleeful." For fans of Wolfmother, Early Man and every other band that sort of sounds like Led Zeppelin.

Seattle's stripped-down acoustic blues-y folk duo who loftily call themselves The Dutchess and The Duke are childhood pals who are better known to their family and friends by the more commoner monikers, Kimberly Morrison and Jesse Lortz.

You hear a whole lot of influences here, most rooted in the '60s. There's The Rolling Stones, the Mamas and the Papas, a little Lou Reed and Bob Dylan to be sure. And all of these rock influences are blended together and played with a complete lack of bombast. The duo's measured songs are lazy in the best way. Their guitars pluck and strum along to mellow tambourine taps and deliberate drums, making melodies that are sung without a care in the world.

Your head might feel slightly hazy after listening to these two, but your mind will get expanded man! The Dutchess and The Duke would make most excellent music to accompany a long magic carpet ride. Their debut is out now on Hardly Art which is a Sub Pop imprint and also a lyric of The Thermals. Groovy!

Vivian Girls are three D.I.Y. ladies from Brooklyn that play something like doo-wop-punk-gaze. The trio makes music that's like The Muslims meets The Shangri-las meets My Bloody Valentine meets The Ronettes. They like to use lots of tech effects too, which sometimes make these short and snappy songs tread lightly into psych, and maybe even tap a toe or two into drone. So yeah, this is just more than three chords.

All three members (Cassie Ramone, Kickball Katy and Ali) sing, harmonizing over these raw, swirling sounds. Vivian Girls most recently played excellent shows with Love Is All and with Crystal Stilts (a perfect show partner). In The Red Records (The Ponys, Jay Reatard, Black Lips) will be re-issuing their debut album in the fall of '08. You'll keep hearing about this band.

Now I've never claimed to be much of an alt-country kind of guy, but Brooklyn's Motel Motel are just weird enough to make this wacky alt-ness interesting. Don't get me wrong, the band isn't yet going to make me go out and finally fall in love with Wilco or Ryan Adams or any of those other totally awesome alt guys, but maybe Motel Motel is the gateway drug to the genre that will change my hardened city heart into something a bit more rural.

This band makes eccentric pop music that slides towards the skewed. And it's all done, of course, with some warble and some twang. If you like Evangelicals, you should definitely check out Motel Motel. The four guys (and their string section entourage) create a jolly Americana mood that may also appeal to fans of other bands like O'Death, Two Gallants, Cold War Kids, Elvis Perkins and Bon Iver.

Strangely, I'm into it. And now, if only I can pick out this piece of straw that's stuck between my teeth, I might just sing along, too.

Boston's Hooray for Earth sound big and famous even if they are still relatively unknown. But even if they aren't a band on a billboard just quite yet, they sure write songs catchy enough to ensure that one day their mugs will grin down on the great asphalt sea of commuters.

These four guys incorporate plenty of guitars and keys to create big anthems that the whole family can enjoy. After all, even my grandma likes soaring choruses. Hooray for Earth can be considered slightly new-wave (synths) in a rock 'n roll (riffs) kind of way. Perhaps they're like a less fabricated The Killers meets the French Kicks.

There's no doubt these guys could be FM radio-ready if they wanted to be, which is due in no small part to Hooray for Earth having a singer (Noel Heroux) that can actually, you know, sing. It's just a perfectly enjoyable listen.

Passion Pit is an instantly likeable (bordering on joyful) new band out of Boston that's the product of Michael Angelakos' inventive imagination. This guy must dance when he dreams. Passion Pit's story goes that Angelakos made a mixtape (featuring original work and samples... not "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel) for his girlfriend for Valentines Day. She must have REALLY liked it, because it became the EP that Frenchkiss (The Dodos, Les Savy Fav) is properly putting out in Fall of '08.

Passion Pit features original electro melodies combined with happy samples from all over the previously recorded place. Live, Passion Pit is an exuberant experience, featuring a full band of five that uses a mix of guitars, drums and synths that will make you smile and dance and simply smile some more. They've played recently with Girl Talk (a perfect stage partner) and just opened a show for Death Cab. Think of a cross between Professor Murder and The Go! Team. They seem to get a lot of MGMT comparisons too. These guys are good. We just want to hear more.

We know there's little to no point in writing about Sigur Ros right now in 2008. They've been huge forever, and a long time ago you probably decided if you were into them or not. It's either one or the other. But, you know, it's never too late. Someone once asked Michael Jordan why he plays so hard every night. And he said something like, "Because there may be one kid in the stands who has never seen me play before." So there you go.

That's why we're writing about Sigur Ros now. Sigur Ros are the Michael Jordan of indie-orchestral-chamber-unintelligble-Icelandic-pop. I liked these guys enough when that one record with the weird alien baby thing on the cover came out, but I didn't really start to appreciate what they do and what they're all about until I saw Sigur Ros play (not too long ago and sitting right behind Sufjan, no less).

Seeing them live, you get it... the lights, the pageantry, the cool stage scrim, the other-worldly choral tricks. Granted, it helped immensely that there were assigned seats at this particular performance, because Sigur Ros is definitely best listened while you're comfortably seated. After all, if you're standing, your tears may blind you and you just may pass out from the beauty of it all. Or, your arches might really start to hurt.

I first came across Brooklyn's Creaky Boards because of that story circulating that the great Coldplay copied one of their songs. And you know I've never hidden the fact that I am the biggest Coldplay fan so I just had to listen and find out if this shocking news was true. If it was, I was never going to mail Chris Martin clippings of my leg hair EVER again (he never even thanked me for the first half-dozen deliveries anyway).

It was a weird way to get introduced to a new band, but as I listened to that song in question and others, I was like "Well, I'm not sure what Apple Paltrow-Martin would think about Creaky Boards, but I like this."

Creaky Boards is the wacky folk-y bedroom-y electro-y one-man show of Andrew Hoepfner and his rotating cast of friends. The melodic music sounds optimistically bizarre, like skewed sunshine pop. Their sound is like what might happen if Brian Wilson and Phil Spector were to suddenly just flip out. Oh wait...

Anyway, back to Coldplay. I'm not sure if Chris Martin is a cheat, but I'll be faithful to him and only him until the day I die, or until the day Mike and the Mechanics finally decide to get back together. All I need is a miracle for that to ever happen.

Death Vessel is the alias of current Brooklyn resident (by way of all over the place) Joel Thibodeau. The absolute centerpiece of any Death Vessel song is Thibodeau's soaring soprano. No, not his tenor. His soprano. The guy sings so high even Jeff Hanson (he had his moment), Devendra Banhart, or the singer dude in Lukestar would go "Yow!" For awhile into my first listen, I thought Death Vessel was an unreleased Joanna Newsom song. That's pretty high.

Death Vessel sets his unique vocals against a mostly bluegrass backdrop, with some finger-picking folk and country-pop mixed in. Overall, it's pretty happy if haunting stuff. Thibodeau plays all the primary guitars, but he gets lots of help from a revolving cast of musicians when he's in need of mandolins, ukeleles, banjos, violas, and well, lots of other instruments.

Sub Pop is putting out his album in August of 2008 and because of that he's touring up a storm, recently with Iron & Wine, Jose Gonzalez and St. Vincent. If you're in the right mood for laid-back reflection, this is the man for you.

This Berlin (formerly from Canada) band is crazy. Led by the destructively dynamic showman King Khan, the dozen (give or take a few) musicians in King Khan and The Shrines create raucous '60s soul-garage rock that drips with maniacal energy. The source of electricity is Khan himself. He sweats, flails, shimmies, tears his vocal chords, and just gets down like James Brown with the fanatically fun music he's making.

You may remember he's done it before with the BBQ Show. In this Shrines show, there's a whole bunch of horns (all those other members got to do something) to go along with the dirty riffs you instantly recall from your parents record bin (if they were cool, of course).

Consider King Khan and The Shrines the bar band to end all bar bands (which, for the most part, might not be a bad thing). The Black Lips love these guys. And if you love them too, check out Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears. They do it like this too.

NYC's Oxford Collapse play noisy, spazz rock that puts on emphasis on disjointed, spiky guitars, yelps and howls, tambourines, and bass-induced grooves. Fans of early Dischord stuff will see an obvious (and successful) homage to the stripped-down sound of Nation of Ulysses and Fugazi, yet Oxford Collapse also seamlessly incorporate the dancier aspects of bands like Radio 4 and Q and Not U with the "artiness" of Liars and Oneida. Phew, that's a whole lot of bands. It may take a little effort to keep up with this band, but your sweat will be well spent.

I've always loved Cheetahs. Sorry, Chee-tos. I never really thought about Jaguars too much, but now I know that I love them, too. Seattle's Jaguar Love is Johnny Whitney (of The Blood Brothers!), Cody Votolato (of The Blood Brothers!) and J Clark (our favorite guitar player in Pretty Girls Make Graves!). With these three dudes joining up, there's no way this new project could suck.

And Jaguar Love does not suck. Does not suck, indeed. This is melodic punk with plenty of bounce and lots of refrains where you want to raise your hands over your head and clap really fast. You know, Ted Leo style. This is music meant to be played only by insanely talented guitar players and absurdly high-register vocalists.

Good thing Jaguar Love's got both of those covered. They sound like a little less spazzy The Blood Brothers crossed with a little more spazzy Pretty Girls Make Graves. Were really stepping out on a limb, eh? Oh yeah, Matador is putting out their debut full-length, so it will probably sell a bajillion copies.

Brooklyn's four-named young wonder makes eccentrically electric psych-folk that comes with a little bit of twang, a little bit of the blues, and a little bit of bar-band rhythm and booze. There's a swagger in Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's songs that makes one ponder if he just might be a rock star one day soon.

He's already had musical help from his almost-rock star friends when he released a record in 2006 that featured guest appearances from members of Grizzly Bear and Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio. So that definitely helped his momentum.

His full-length comes out in July of 2008 on Say Hey Records (White Rabbits, Shy Child) and it will have many songs that are almost as long as his name.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson has been known to do the extended guitar jam on occasion. But that's ok. At least it's interesting. And he kind of reminds me of Will Oldham if Oldham ever got real rowdy.

Baltimore's Ponytail rock it hard, fast and all over the place. With relentless tribal drums, unrestrained vocal wails, and rapid-quick guitar riffs that slide all over the scales, this is an arty rock party in a jewel case. Singer Molly Siegel really lets it rip too, shrieking incomprehensible commands that make Ponytail sound like they're leading a punked-up Witch hunt.

For the casual music fan, Ponytail might seriously dip into your Advil supply, but for those who appreciate math-rock that's not particularly poppy (like Lightning Bolt, perhaps), this is the band for you.

Their latest, Ice Cream Spiritual, was just released on the new We Are Free label (home to Yeasayer and Indian Jewelry). Most recently Ponytail has played dates with Joan of Arc, Titus Andronicus and Abe Vigoda.

They seem to tour a TON, so you should have many chances to catch these guys. But bring your compass in case you get entirely lost in these rhythms and can't find your way home.

Annuals are a six-piece from North Carolina that play sprawling and perfectly poppy indie rock. They recently signed to Ace Fu Records (Pinback, Man Man) and should fit right at home with their current roster of odd rock.

Adam Baker vocals sound similar to the tenor of Superchunk's Mac McCaughan, who is also from that fine land of Jordan. But they've most often been compared to Arcade Fire for their epic and imaginative instrumentation. There are tons of strings, keys and percussion going on here. Music like this tends to be messy, but Annuals are tight. No matter how far they stray, they never lose sight of their strong melodies. This is optimistic stuff. Annuals will have none of The Knife's doom and gloom.

CSS represents Sub Pop's first South American signing. These girls and boys from Brazil rock the sexy synths. Actually their name is short for "Cansei De Ser Sexy" which translates to "I'm tired of being sexy." Somewhere, Right Said Fred is demanding royalties.

How do describe CSS... think Peaches on her best behavior accompanied by that song "Do the Hustle," and you're close to experiencing what they're all about. The title of one of their songs, "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" pretty much says it all. But are they talking about the DFA or Death From Above 1979? Either way, someone's getting their ass sued. In the meantime, if YOU are tired of being sexy, you'll probably enjoy CSS. Me? I'm just tired of writing the word "synth."

Brooklyn's catchy as hell rock-electronic duo, Ratatat, was born with a silver spoon in its mouth. First, they have a really cool name. With a cool moniker you immediately have a leg up on the competition. Who knew it would be so hard to think of a decent name for your band? It's like, just think a little bit, guys.

Second, guitarist Mike Stroud plays guitar for Ben Kweller's band and Dashboard Confessional (Chris Carraba they aint!). Third, they've already shared the stage with such buzz kings as Franz Ferdinand, !!!, Tortoise and Battles. Fourth and definitely not least, Paul Banks of Interpol essentially discovered them.

But even with these advantages, it's still all good. You know why? Ratatat's debut album is really, really good. With Evan's beats and Mike's guitar, Ratatat's energetic live shows have them quickly becoming known as the band that gets a party started.

We thought for sure we'd written about these guys on Rockness, considering we've been into The Notwist for so long. But we hadn't written a word and we finally figured out why. The last time Germany's The Notwist played our shores was shortly before the birth of Oh My Rockness (are we wrong on this?). Well, that explains it. To paraphrase a song by Oxford Collapse, time is certainly marching away.

It's hard to believe this band's modern classic Neon Golden album came out six years ago. Six years! If you remember, it was the Funeral of 2002 before anyone knew Arcade Fire. Everyone loved it.

The Notwist released a ton of albums before that great one, but they were all weird and not very rock at all. But something sure clicked for them in 2002 and they became one of the oldest "it" bands. But that's all history. Now, finally, The Notwist are playing again in support of a new record. It's called The Devil, You + Me and while it's too early to tell if it's good enough for them to take another six year hiatus, it's good to know they're around again.

Oh yeah, what do they sound like? Well, good old glitchy melodic pop with a bit of ambience. In other words, they sound like The Notwist.

DC's Jukebox the Ghost are an extremely entertaining piano-pop trio that writes cleverly optimistic songs. Their music gives off an aura that vaguely resembles happiness. Imagine!

Upon first listen to these guys you will probably think two things (depending on how in touch with the '90s you are); "Ben" and "Folds." It's true that singer/piano player Ben Thornewill shares strong vocal similarities to that other Ben's tenor. And, of course, it doesn't quell comparisons when they're both piano men. But Jukebox the Ghost probably lean a little more towards the dramatic flair (a la Queen) than Folds did (or does?).

People go crazy for these guys at their shows. Maybe you will, too?

Grand Archives is the perfect record to put on at 4:30pm on a Sunday. It's not exactly sunshine-pop; it's more like twilight-pop. It's not exactly happy, but it's not mournful either. This wonderful Seattle five-piece is headed-up by Mat Brooke, who was the former guitarist of Band of Horses and of the lesser known Carissa's Weird.

There's definitely an element of Band of Horses on Grand Archives' debut for Sub Pop (yep, same label), but really it's just the impressive pop melodies that are similar. The whole country vibe the Horses rock isn't really present here. Instead Grand Archives opt to cop those great 60's harmony bands. Sub Pop says they're like Mamas and Papas and The Turtles and Sub Pop is right, but these guys seem to carry more regret. Throw in some Rogue Wave, too. If you like choruses featuring whistles, harmonicas, and horns, this is the band for you. I really like these guys.

Columbus, Ohio's Times New Viking made the weirdest recording decision on their most recent album Rip It Off for Matador Records. Basically, they decided to make it sound like shit. To say they went a little crazy with the treble would be an understatement. Describing the recording as "messy" gives dirty rich hipsters a bad name. Equating this with lo-fi is an offense to the $15 dollar Radioshack microphone I got when I was 12. Saying Rip It Off sounds like it was recorded in a dented and corroded tin garbage can does not do it justice.

I just thought it was an odd choice, considering how good these songs are. But it's hard to rock out to Times New Viking when you get traces of a headache when your mouse even hovers near this album. Anyway, I guess it's supposed to capture the glory of old-school lo-fi punk rock like The Muslims and Titus Andronicus are currently doing. Or maybe it's just intentionally supposed to be annoying as a statement against technology... or something. Either way, hopefully they've changed their stage mix so these songs can shine through the madness. Otherwise, the club's bar and bathrooms are going to be VERY crowded.

So I guess I'm still rocking my screamo phase, because the same week that I was finally able to stop listening to Genghis Tron (for now anyway...), I discover Houston's The jonbenet. While as a general rule, I'm not a fan of naming your band after a dead little kid, I must admit that these guys are pretty sick (in a musical way).

This is more of that spazzy noise that is akin to canned peaches -- either you love them or you don't. If you like GUITARS, doom, death, destruction, and singers who permanently impair their vocal chords, check out The jonbenet. Somehow I don't think the blogs will be all over this band, but screw those guys. This is for fans of Swing Kids (and if you think I'm referring to the movie Swing Kids, you would definitely HATE the jonbenet), and for those who aren't easily frightened.

Chicago's The Cool Kids are the hyped-up hip-hop duo consisting of Antoine "Mikey Rocks" Reed (he represents Matteson, I represent Park Forest) and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll. The kids go crazy for these two young guys who met each other just a couple years ago on MySpace. But though they're down with a most modern way to start a band, their music is all relaxed retro raps and beats. And by retro, we mean 1988 (as evidenced in their appropriately titled song "88").

The Cool Kids model their style after Erik B. and Rakim, EPMD and colorfully fun '80s fashion (they make neon look NICE). Their smooth, humorous rhymes over back-to-the-basics beats and simple synths have fans and record label execs clamoring for more. They recently opened for M.I.A. to great acclaim and rocked the house at 2007's Pitchfork Fest and, most recently, Coachella.

The Cool Kids are not only taking it back, they're also injecting a huge dose of fun into the underground hip-hop world.

This is music for your next beach party (hope Johnny and his gang don't show up!). Or, this is music to listen to while you have a fiesta on a yacht in Monte Carlo. Or, you know, just music for getting wasted alone at home. Barcelona's El Guincho is the optimistic one-man band of one Pablo Díaz-Reixa. Under the El Guincho moniker, Díaz-Reixa creates sunny songs full of peppy tribal percussion, lovely programmed drum loops, delightful dub, cheery Tropicalia and a whole lot of repetitive "world" rhythms that are strangely addictive.

His hypnotic dream-pop has often been compared to Animal Collective, but really this is closer to Panda Bear's Brian Wilson-inspired solo work. I also hear some Talking Heads influence in this too, though this is a lot more dance-y. El Guincho would be good to groove to as you sip the milk out of a freshly fallen coconut.

Díaz-Reixa has recently played shows with Architecture in Helsinki and HEALTH and is tapped to play one of our favorite music fests, 2008's Oya Festival in Oslo, Norway. One thing is for certain, there's nothing depressing about this guy's songs. This makes me feel HOT HOT HOT!

Beirut is 20-something wunderkind Zach Condon, one of Brooklyn's newest residents. The multi-talented and multi-instrumentalist Condon sounds like Devendra Banhart meets Antony meets Neutral Milk Hotel meets, well, you get it.

This is post-folk with horns, strings, accordions and glockenspiels (and no guitars) that find their sonic inspiration in the mystical sounds of Eastern Europe. Imagine an old school carnival crossed with the music they play when you eat at the Olive Garden (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about). Condon's pleasant vibrato floats effortlessly over his melting pot of rhythms as he sings songs about minstrels and gypsies (somewhere Colin Meloy is demanding residuals).

You're either going to eat this stuff up or not care for it at all. But people who like Beirut REALLY like it. Condon should be around the music scene for quite some time.