Sure, there are plenty of poppy punk bands that mistake Halloween for Valentine’s Day, and take pleasure in describing their heartbreak in visceral terms cribbed from horror films.
Frightened Rabbit began as a vehicle for a mopey Scot named Scott to vent his post breakup angst, but the band has outgrown its humble, therapeutic beginnings.
Even those who defend the inoffensive “innovation” in mainstream country circa 2010 might take issue with Lady Antebellum, a Nashville trio that pulls off the semantic trick of being both utterly tasteful and completely bland.
Two years ago, the Afropop-dabbling prepsters in Vampire Weekend exploded from their Columbia University dorm into what passes for superfame these days: magazine covers, Saturday Night Live appearances, Internet acclaim, and then, naturally, Internet backlash.
Hot Chip, named for a well warmed french fry, is certainly unique: five shy, bespectacled Brits bashing out sweet-natured disco tunes about monkeys with miniature cymbals.
Buffalo hardcore band Every Time I Die has survived label changes, personnel turnover, and the trails of the road to deliver the strongest album of their career - the ferocious, swinging New Junk Aesthetic.
