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.”

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.