Top 10: New(-ish) Bands of 2008 I Am Thankful For

(AKA: Best New Artists 2008; note all other year-end lists will be coming in December)

It seems this year with the economy in turmoil and more and more people spending less and less on Christmas gifts that companies have picked up on this trend and adjusted their marketing accordingly. More of the commercials from big companies like Target and WalMart have focused on friends and family during the holiday season by spotlighting food and drink rather then the normal easy to market products like iPods and DVD players. So it seems to these eyes that this holiday season is being bred to be the resurgence of a family oriented holiday, where the gathering means more then the gifts. It's actually a nice change from the ridiculous, stressful times recent Christmases have become. So as we kick off the holiday season with Thanksgiving tomorrow I'd like to take a moment to recognize some of the newer additions to the musical family this year. These bands have all made significant contributions to the world of music this year and should have places set at your listening table for many years to come.

10. Dream Bitches; The music scene is always in flux here in New York with bands coming and going faster then you can change your Facebook picture. Luckily for us there is never shortage of good new bands emerging from any one of the five boroughs and this year that band for me has been Dream Bitches. Their version of angelic, rocking, pop music has hooked my ear for a good portion of 2008, and though I have been thwarted by their hectic and busy schedule so far I am sure they will be playing one of my Staten Island shows in the near future. At least I hope so.
Dream Bitches - "Bad Luck Bill"

9. Passion Pit; If you happened to live the life of Michael Angelakos then 2008 would certainly be one of the stranger, more important years of your life. You started the year by making an EP of music as a late Valentine's Day gift for your girlfriend and by the end you wound up with a record deal and scores of music journalists asking you about that very same EP. It's been a meteoric rise through the ranks of the indie elite, but Passion Pit seem to be just getting started. They have toured relentlessly since the re-release of the Chunk of Change EP and have a full length in the works for early on in 2009. Basically, Passion Pit is just getting started and we should fully expect to see them on all the blogs and music magazines once again next year.
Passion Pit - "Better Things"

8. Lykke Li; What can I say about Lykke Li that has not already been said about a million times? Seriously, this girl has been everywhere, dropping songs all over the place, getting remixed by everyone! Lykke Li has had an amazing 2008 and to consider that she's still just an emerging artist is absolutely baffling. It feels like she's been around for forever.
Lykke Li - "Breaking It Up"

7. Women; Women didn't come to our attention till around September when their self-titled debut started making the early rounds, but since then they have done nothing but push themselves further and further into our ears. Between a killer album and playing an absolutely frightening amount of shows during this year's CMJ Music Marathon, the band has become one of the indie bands of the moment and it's all very well deserved as their album has been one of the most compelling listens of the year. I'm sure Women will be hitting most of the important year end lists (including my own) and will be a touchstone for indie rock for years to come.
Women - "Shaking Hands"

6. Hercules and Love Affair; Like most of you I was blown away by Hercules and Love Affair's DFA debut. This record is stunning in its beauty and the way it makes me want to move if only I knew how to move that way. There have been few electronic albums that were as immediate or as popular on my own personal iPod and I'm sure a shit ton of you feel the same way.
Hercules and Love Affair - "Blind"

5. Fiasco; Attempting to put some of my own personal bias aside for a second, when Fiasco took the stage during this year's After the Jump Festival it was absolutely one of the brightest moments I have seen from rock music all year long. Three teen-aged kids, who care more about playing for all-ages then making money, cranking out aggressive, punk music often times leaving the vocals to stew on the sidelines. This is what music should be. It should be held in the palms of the teens who listen to it, crafted with care and aggression to relate their feelings to a mass crowd of anyone who would dare to listen. Fiasco are doing just that, they are making music for themselves and people like them, they are letting anyone listen to it by playing almost exclusively for all-ages shows, and they are doing it all by themselves. This band would be impressive even if they weren't as young as they are, but when you throw that into the mix it becomes even more awesome.
Fiasco - "Oh, You Horny Monster!"

4. Vivian Girls; At this point you're probably tired of hearing about Vivian Girls, but such is the double edged sword of popularity. Like Vampire Weekend last year, the Girls are just now starting to face the backlash of their own success and even I have had a hand in that with my tepid review of their CMJ performance. But forget that one instance of less then stellar rock and you'll see a band that played a bajillion shows this year and recorded one of the finest rock albums of the year. Their self-titled debut is a heavy, dirty ode to the girl groups of the 50's and 60's that sang about loving their men and using their sexuality as a weapon. It's like Riot Grrrl - with a sex drive - empowering women everywhere through their rock riffs and their willingness to pen a song about relationships without looking weak. Yeah a lot of people have spent far too much time writing about them, but honestly that usually only happens when it's deserved.
Vivian Girls - "Tell the World"

3. Fuck Buttons; To be fair, Fuck Buttons have been around for a couple of years now, but let's face it this is the year that you first heard of them and that's certainly true for myself as well. The band was a constant in my regular iPod rotation with their album Street Horrrsing being one of the best of the year. Besides that I went to see this band on four different occasions this year. Now normally that wouldn't be too outlandish as I see bands repeated times pretty regularly, but considering they are from England and have toured through the country that many times already is pretty freakin' amazing. Easily one of the most important bands of the year and really this is just the tip of the ice berg for this duo.
Fuck Buttons - "Ribs Out"

2. New Bloods; The definition of punk music has become a very poorly defined idea since it's late 70's heyday, but every decade seems to have bands that adhere to a stricter sense of the words punk. Whether it's in their political views or their "fuck the man" attitudes, punk somehow thrives in different shapes and forms through people that are willing to stand up for whatever it is they believe in. In 2008 we got a new version of punk music, one that is completely devoid of guitars and stands up for a totally different belief then ever before. New Bloods, with a sound that is propelled by the violin rather then the three chord attack that has been abused for decades, have reshaped punk music into it's billionth different incarnation but it is definitely punk no matter how you slice it. This is aggressive, biting music that fights for a cause and an idea. It's not just regurgitated crap that you can package and sell at Hot Topic, it's far more and way better then any of that.
New Bloods - "Oh, Deadly Nightshade"

1. Titus Andronicus; There are very few bands that had more of an impact on me throughout this year then Titus Andronicus did. Playing the After the Jump festival, serving up one of the only decent sets at this year's Pitchfork Music Fest, playing show after show in New York, I'm pretty sure I saw this band a dozen times this year and each time they put on absolutely frantic, energetic, and immensely enjoyable shows. But really it was their album, The Airing of Grievances that impacted me the most. I have no idea how many times I listened to this record, but it has to be amongst the top 5 most played this year so that probably puts it at around the 50 or 60 listens mark. And that's not just for one track it's for the whole freakin' thing. Titus Andronicus are the real deal and I think they're here to stay around for a while.
Titus Andronicus - "No Future"