If you poll the top alternative bands of today and ask them who were their most influential band, most would mention The Cure. Robert Smith introduced himself to a new generation when he sand on a Blink-182’s “All Of This.” Even though the self-titled Blink-182 album wasn’t a huge success Robert Smith proved that he was still able to be “current.” The Cure’s self-titled album came out later in 2004 and did better than expected.

The Cure is set to released “13” later this year and will be touring the country. They haven’t went on a national tour in awhile and catch them while you can. Their single “The Only One” is doing pretty well and let’s hope The Cure sticks around for many more years.

Here is the video for “The Only One.”

I have to give some dap to this season’s “American Idol” winner, David Cook. I have a couple girl roommates and so avoiding “American Idol” is impossible. I think I watched 90% of the episodes this season and David Cook brought it every week. The finals was up to him and this 13-year old David Cassidy look-a-like, David Archuleta. AI could be on its last legs if Cook doesn’t sell millions of albums, but I think he probably will.

Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are the only winners to go from Idol to Superstar. The male winners haven’t done so well, but Cook sounds more like Chris Daughtry, and Daughtry outsold 99.9% of the albums last year.

This should be my final mention of “American Idol” on here, I don’t want to wuss this blog up.

One final note, Cook went on a date with Kimberly Caldwell, a former contestant on American Idol. If he doesn’t sell a single album, he can at least thank the show for helping him bag this girl.

Here is David Cook’s studio version of “Always Be My Baby”

I got the new Ministry of Sound 2008 album and I’m re-learning what I like about trance/dance music. I took a hiatus for a few years because everything was sounding the same. I think a lot of the genres are starting to merge together and I’m finding new things that I like by listening to a trance/dance remix album.

I don’t know much about Dan Le Sac or Scroobius Pip, but I do like the song “Thou Shalt Always Kill.” They mention a lot of things that I agree with and it’s more of a talking word track over a solid beat.

You have to check out the video for this song, the dude looks like Matisyahu.

You may have heard the name Cisco Adler before, but mostly for the wrong reasons. Adler has been linked to many ladies, mostly Mischa Barton, and he is known for showing off his junk at a concert for his band Whitestarr. I have to give dap for Adler for landing Barton in her prime (I’m thinking it could be over after her O.C. days), but he teamed up with Shwayze and made a pretty catch song called “Buzzin.” The track emcompasses summertime happiness and could be a major player on the airwaves this summer.

I want to say this song sounds like an old Rehab song called “It Don’t Matter.” I think I only say this ’cause I liked the song and also I was deeply entrenched in the music scene with that particular song came out. Rehab did okay that summer, but I think they aren’t together anymore.

Here is the video for “Buzzin”

I’ve been a casual fan of Brandtson for the past few years. They are on a indie label, The Militia Group, which started out as a management group. The Militia Group was the management group for bands like Slick Shoes and then they decided that they wanted to expand to a label. The band Acceptance, now defunct, started their career on TMG. I always liked Acceptance, but seemed like once the band released their debut major label album, “Phantoms,” they broke up a week later.

I like the track “Nobody Dances Anymore,” because it’s a very true statement. If you go to a club, no one dances anymore. They are always looking around waiting for something to pop off or they don’t want to make a fool of themselves. I’m a big fan of letting it all loose and try and have a good time. I’m the guy that drives down the road and bobs around in the car as he drives. (Yeah, I’m that dude).

Here is the video for “Nobody Dances Anymore” by Brandtson.

The Starting Line played their “final” show at Bamboozle on May 4th, 2008. I’ve always been a fan of the band since I saw them at Warped Tour in 2001. I had the chance to see them a couple times and I’ve corresponded with their manager over AIM many times. The band is going to concentrate on their two side-projects, Person L and The 76.

The Starting Line have been signed to three different major labels, but couldn’t match their success that they had with Drive-Thru/MCA. MCA disbanded and they moved over to Geffen/Interscope. The band didn’t think Geffen marketed them very well and they ended their relationship after one album with the label. They released their final album on Virgin Records, which they thought was a better artist/label situation. Their album didn’t do as well as planned.

I don’t think this will be the end of The Starting Line. They will try their side-projects out and probably release material independently as a band in a few years. I don’t think they trust major labels anymore, which I don’t blame anyone for that.

Here is their video for “Island”

I know what you’re thinking, “It’s Mother’s Day, where is Boyz II Men’s “Song For Mama” at?” Well, I didn’t want to wuss up the page today.

Above & Beyond are a techno/trance group from London and their song “Can’t Sleep” always rings a bell with me. You may notice that I don’t really post from 9am-5pm like most sports/music blogs. I have an extreme case of the “I can’t sleep worth craps,” which doctors like to call insomnia. Sometimes I like to think that I live a double-life when I think I’m sleeping, a.k.a. Tyler Durden. I think I’ve watched Fight Club way too much. Note to self: I think I’m breaking the first rule of Fight Club by speaking out it.

When I have trouble sleeping, I apparently enjoy songs that deal with people who can’t sleep either.

Here is the song “Can’t Sleep (Original Mix)” by Above & Beyond.s

Chromeo was featured as MTV’s band of the week in October of 2007. That means that there were many vignettes of them playing in-between commercial breaks. MTV is known for their lengthy and many commercial breaks, so they received a lot of exposure. Their style is electro meets keytar, which I can say they are pretty unique. I got their album in October, after seeing them repeatedly on said channel, and I was quite pleased. It’s one of those albums that you can’t sit around and play it and do something. When you play their album “Fancy Footwork” you will notice a lot of bobbing of your head.

Chromeo may never be the biggest band, but you will like them for what they are, an awesome duo.

Here’s the funny video for “Fancy Footwork.”