My friends Cheech and Shitgoose love Forever The Sickest Kids. I haven’t listened to them much, but I’ve heard a lot about them. Their EP was a huge hit among people who like the genre of pop punk, I would compare them to the band All Time Low, but with the use of electronic loops.

Forever The Sickest Kids just released their debut full-length album, “Underdog Alma Mater,” and I’m sure their record label are hoping they will help resurrect album sales. I saw an entire section at Hot Topic dedicated to their merchandise. They will be on Vans Warped Tour this summer, so make sure you see them now before they blow up and charge $50 a ticket.

Here’s the track “Whoa Oh (Me vs. Everyone)

America’s White Boy is an aficionado of the works of Shakespeare and any song with Juliet in the name will get some dap. Don’t hate, I had to take a course on Billy Shakespeare in college and after awhile I started to realize that the dude knew what he was talking about.

Anyways, We The Kings is a new band that is getting a lot of airplay for their new single “Check Yes Juliet.” They released a single in late 2007 called “Skyway Avenue,” but sadly it didn’t catch on. You can’t feel sorry for them, they are becoming successful with “Juliet.” They have opened for many pop-punk/emo bands in the past and will soon be headlining tours. You can see them this summer, they will be on every stop of the Van Warped Tour.

Check out the video for “Check Yes Juliet”

I’ve been a fan of Atmosphere since “Trying To Find A Balance,” hit the airwaves a few years ago. I am not much of a fan of the entire genre of underground hip-hop, like Sage Francis, but Atmosphere is great. The lyrics of their songs are thought-provoking and he enunciates so well on the microphone. “You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having” album has many single-worthy tracks on it, but only a couple were able to hit the airwaves. Their new album, “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold,” is in the same boat, although the beats on the new album aren’t as solid as the previous one. That observation is moot, only because Atmosphere’s lyrics are so potent. You get lost in them and the beat doesn’t matter as much.

I think Atmosphere’s new album is more for true fans, but it is worth picking up.

Here is the video for their single “Shoulda Known.”

I first noticed Biffy Clyro when I was up late about six months ago. I had the television on MTV Hits and they had an hour of MTV2 Hits when “Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies” started to play. The song was amazing and I instantly got the album and it stayed playing on my laptop for many days in a row. I went around telling all my friends about them and still to this day I’m not sure if it is pronounced like “Slyro” or “Klyro.”

They are from the UK and very popular across the pond. On YouTube you can find many videos of them playing major music festivals like Reading Festival. If you have a chance to listen to more Biffy Clyro, I suggest that you do so.

Here is the video for their new video, “Saturday Superhouse.”

I first heard “Calling You” on the soundtrack for “American Wedding.” I didn’t hear the band again until they released “Hate Me,” and was a pretty big hit for them. Blue October has been a band for awhile, I just didn’t know it. They’ve released three albums, plus a live album, that’s a lot for a band that seemingly has only a couple hits. Major record labels don’t usually stick with a band that long, but they must have seen something in them.

I picked “Calling You” as the Song Of The Day because I used to listen to their albums while writing. The lead singer went through a mental breakdown and much of his material is based off of mental instability and emotional breakdown. Okay, I used to write more in-depth, but now I’m sticking to things that are fun.

If any of my guys out there are ever in a pickle, write down the lyrics to this song in a nice Hallmark card and it should smooth things over for awhile. If the lyrics don’t do the trick, go get some chocolate, son.

Here is a video for Blue October’s “Calling You.

I have always been a fan of celtic punk, but when I heard “I’m Shipping Up To Boston,” I gained respect for the Dropkick Murphys. I still like Flogging Molly more, but that’s because I’ve seen them play live more times. I did see the Dropkick Murphys once and it was an experience. It was at the Warped Tour a few years ago and they had a ton of celtic dancers on stage with them and it was one big party. I would like to see an actual show of theirs, since they only played 30 minutes at Warped Tour.

If you’re a fan of Flogging Molly, you will love the Dropkick Murphys. (Chances are if you like one, you’ve heard of the other.)

Here is the video for “I’m Shipping Up To Boston. If you watched the movie “The Departed,” this song was played prominently in the movie.

Anyone with thick-rimmed glasses and western print button-up shirts are anxious for the new Death Cab For Cutie album to drop on May 13th, 2008. “I Will Possess Your Heart” is the first single of Death Cab’s new album, “Narrow Stairs.” It is pretty typical Death Cab, with a slow start and haunting melody. Ben Gibbard has been the man of the last half decade in the indie-music scene. Not only has Death Cab been a monster, but his side project The Postal Service did very well. The Postal Service’s sophomore album is still in the works, but many are eagerly waiting that album as they are for “Narrow Stairs.”

I haven’t heard anything off the new album yet, except for this track. I am guessing that the album will be leaked very soon. All the material on the internet isn’t the real album. I know the pirates of the internet are foaming at the mouth awaiting this album.

Here is the video for “I Will Possess Your Heart.”

I hate to admit it, but I watch VH1 sometimes late at night. It is a pretty bad choice, but sometimes it is the only channel that is showing something new at 4am, which is usually a couple hour block of music videos. I was up pretty late a few nights ago and a “You Ought To Know” artist video was about to come on and it was Justin Nozuka’s “After Tonight.” I sat there during the whole video and I really liked what I watched/viewed.

From what I know about the guy, he’s 18 and sounds a lot like Jack Johnson/Matt Costa. I think he should sell quite a few albums since the chill/acoustic/surfer jam music has been doing well the last couple years. I think everyone should check out this song and make an opinion for yourself…or just trust mine and say you like him, that would work.

A friend of mine messaged me a few months about this band called the “Flobots.” She just went to a concert and she was all pumped that she got to see them. With me being a person that thrives on his music knowledge, I never heard of them and I was intrigued. She sent me a song off of their album called “Handlebars.” I have to admit that I didn’t give the Flobots much dap when I first listened to them. They were just “okay” to me, but the song kept creeping into my playlist and I started to really like it.

With this newfound enjoyment of “Flobots,” I started finding out more and more about the band. They were recently signed to a major label, which is good news for you guys ’cause you will be hearing more from them in the near future.

What is their sound, you ask? I would say that it is a mix between Atmosphere and Cake. I only say Cake ’cause the lead singer’s voice sounds like John McCrea’s, but they have a violin and trumpet in the band. The Atmosphere comparison comes from his lyrics. He spits them out very angry in some songs, but it doesn’t overpower you enough that you would be turned off.

Check out Flobots – “Handlebars”