Bands you just want people to get really into

[the shortest route to the sea]

Do you have a band that people don't know about, that thinks deserve a lot more attention? Post it here. Be thorough.
Future of the Left
Grizzly Bear
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Count Zero
Opeth
The Living End
Why?
Mew



For me, I'm starting with Future of the Left

The way I describe them to most people is this: back in the early 2000s, the whole indie rock aesthetic got started, and no one was too caught up in the hilarious cliches or irritating attitudes of effeminate frontliners crooning catchily over who the fuck knows what. McClusky was the opposite of that. They were pissed off, and released a few albums and caught a lot of attention. They broke up, sadly, but a Mr. Falcous, guitarist, and a Mr. Egglestone, drummer, teamed up with a Mr. Mathias, keyboardist of Jarcrew. They formed Future of the Left, and started writing songs and touring around England. They hooked onto Ted Leo and Against Me! to tour the US (which is where I first heard them), after releasing their debut, Curses!, followed by Travels With Myself and Another. They're currently touring Europe.

I love this band to death. A lot of heavy McClusky fans got pissed off that Falcous softened up, and even used synth on some of the songs. They got a bit more melodic and a bit less intense with their second album, while adding layers of complexity. But they are an incredibly tight, wildly inventive, unpredictably funny, and very energetic band. They're almost primal in the way that they use rhythm to drive their songs along: Kelson's bass playing, Falco's singing and guitaring/keyboarding, and Jack's simple yet perfect power drumming combine to really draw you into their crazy, indie rock / punk, hilarious world.

Their lyricism runs from very simple to rather deep, from the incredibly frustrated over who the fuck knows what to wildly funny for who the fuck knows what reason. But undearneath it all is their devotion to being tight, inventive players who put everything out there. It's very raw and masculine, and at the same time very detailed, catchy, and attention-grabbing. I always come back to the way they mix rhythm, though. A song that doesn't go much of anywhere suddenly becomes wildly interesting. I love the crazy world I get into when I listen to them.

Examples:

[youtube]1_XbYz9J4W0[/youtube]
[youtube]tAwliet2vqo[/youtube]

Curses is a fantastic album, varied and intense with only a few low points. Travels With Myself And Another is, in my mind, much more accessible, and much more chordy. It's different, but I got used to it and I'm really into it now. Some wonderful tunes, a few bad ones. Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires isn't just a novelty for heavy fans; although their musicianship clearly diminishes when intoxicated, you get a sense for their energy very clearly. I also have a few singles hidden away, which are gems, if anyone wants them. I'm a bit biased, because I'm practically engaged to Kelson and he is one of my favorite people on the planet (he did pushups over his bass guitar during the last song of his set). Their humor is a bit out there, but great (since the Orpheum has a balcony and a floor, Falco had us do cries, with one floor starting, the other ending: "TED! - LEO!" "AGAINST! - ME!" "PRINCE - RULES!" "KELSON IS - WELL HUNG!")

Just listen to this shit, please.  

[Commander Fuckass]

Im trying to get friends into Grizzly Bear

[Mando Pandango]

I still have not listened to the album you recommended. SORRY.

I'll get to this later. I already have at least one in mind.

[sans culottes]

I tell everyone 'bout the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

[Boogus Epirus Aurelius]

I tell everyone 'bout the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

I was just going to post this.
No tour until 2010 though.

I generally get positive reactions when I bring them up and have people listen to them for the first time.

[Mando Pandango]

Okay okay I'm doing this.

Count Zero

I don't know about you guys, but I think Boston is the new Seattle, in the sense that more and more great music seems to be coming from there every day. Count Zero is a great example of that.

I think I should preface this by saying that I got into this band after hearing "Sail Your Ship By" as a bonus track in Guitar Hero. It makes sense that a lot of bands found in the bonus tracks of that game are great, since almost all of them are local Boston bands. But I digress. The fact of the matter is, even if you hate Guitar Hero, you should still give these guys a shot.

Their debut album, Affluenza, I have not listened to. It was intended to be a commercial success, but flopped. From what I understand, it's really nothing special, either. But, the failure of their commercial sound was exactly what they needed in order to become something new and brilliant.

The following album, Robots Anonymous, is my personal favorite album of theirs. It's clear that they were trying to target a specific audience, and that I am a part of that audience. Although the tracks flow straight from one to the next, it it seems that they're a bit all over the place. This might be a bit of a turnoff for some, and those people will prefer their next album. The album begins relatively straightforward, then dives into the delightfully weird, then to the just plain odd, but comes back together in the wonderfully written "Cure Of A Kiss."

Their most recent, but not really that recent, album, Little Minds, is less on the weird side but still has its fair share of oddities. It's definitely easier to listen to, and the album I would recommend listening to first if you're interested in getting into this band.

The most striking thing about this band is their ability to write songs with odd rhythms and melodies, and manage to be catchy at the same time.

[spoiler=VIDEOS!][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKbk6TvHYxE[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otu7UW05P1c[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9W7AQcGpzQ[/youtube][/spoiler]

Count Zero is absolutely underrated and pretty damn great, if I say so myself. I would recommend them to just about anyone who likes experimental/indie music.

[Hiro]

Don't they sing "Radium Eyes" from Guitar Hero 2 

[Geno]

At my school: Opeth
Everyone's like "lol opeth sux bro i've nvr listend 2 them so they suk. listen 2 lamb of gawd dood"

[Mando Pandango]

Don't they sing "Radium Eyes" from Guitar Hero 2 

Yes they sung that too. Not one of their better songs, IMO.

[sans culottes]

Add the Flying Burrito Brothers to this list. Forty years ago, they beautifully fused elements of hippie rock'n'roll into raw country and made an amazing album called the Gilded Palace of Sin. To date, it has sold less than 500,000 copies.

oh and i used to always try to get everyone into mother love bone and still would, but i forget about them a lot because i rarely listen to them lately

...One more thing. It might help to add info on the list. Maybe the genre, and a suggested song? IE, "The Brian Jonestown Massacre / Psychedelic / Going To Hell".

[strongbad]

Miike Snow
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niKT-kJfUz4[/youtube]

[Mando Pandango]

Miike Snow
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niKT-kJfUz4[/youtube]

My local alternative station plays this song.

Also I added some videos to the Count Zero post.

[Daddy]

The Mountain Goats

also almost everything i have so i could have more concerts to go

[strongbad]

My local alternative station plays this song.

I love them so much. I saw them in concert too it's kind of a big deal

[Cookie]

Why?
I really hated their stuff when I first heard it, but the lyrics are so ingenious that I kept listening. Now I can't stop listening, it takes a little bit for their music to grow on you, but once it does you can't stop listening to it. The lyrics are just insane, Yoni Wolf is brillant.