Top Ten Thursday: Bands I Don't Like Talking About

In May, I will be taking a road trip from Oklahoma to Long Beach with a friend of mine. We've taken a couple of road trips in the past, and one of my pre-road trip rituals is to make a massive playlist. Since this is my job and she is terrible with computers, I recently obtained 200 new songs and have begun sifting through them putting my playlist together. Every time I put a new playlist together, I hesitate to include certain bands or certain songs because I don't want people to know about them. I know, you're thinking "hipster."

I went through the dreaded hipster phase last year---saggy nipple beanie and all. As time went on, the hipsterness was too much for me to handle. Much like my white-washed Mexican ethnicity, I became the worst hipster in the hip universe. I can't do the weird food and I am not hip to the cardigans or funky sunglasses. The only thing that I've always been into is weird indie music.

By now, I'm sure you are aware that I like many different types of music, but ever since I can remember, I have really been into the bands that no one I know likes or talks about. Throughout the years I have introduced many friends to different bands and artists but there are a handful that I like to keep to myself because I have a fear that once they get mainstream, they'll change their sound and get really shitty *coughsorrydeathcabcough*. My iPod is packed with weird artist titles that confuse my friends when they go through it and it totally explains why I needed a 160 GB iPod. 

Today's Top Ten Thursday will introduce you to a select few of the bands that I don't like talking about. I'm breaking my moral code because I'm tired of people talking about One Direction, so listen to some of these groups and expand your music library.

10. Bishop Allen

Bishop Allen might be most memorable from their brief appearance in the movie "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist." What's weird is that their song "Middle Management" from the film is completely different than every other song on their album "The Broken String". I like the inconsistency because I'll never know what to expect from this band. "Middle Management" is a good song, but another good song to check out is "Like Castanets". 

9.  Let's Go Sailing

This band reminds me of early Rilo Kiley. They have only released one album and that was in 2007, but I'm hoping they'll come out with a follow-up someday. I remember buying this album in a record store that I used to frequent. I picked it up simply because I liked the cover and it was $5. I've heard one or two of their songs on Grey's Anatomy so I know that I'm not their only fan because I haven't met anyone who knows who they are. A couple of good tracks to check out off of their album "The Chaos in Order" are "Icicles" and "We Get Along". They remind me of rainbows and unicorns and lollipops.  

8.  Reptar 

I found this band not too long ago because I was looking at a list of the top-something indie albums for 2012 and I was intrigued by the name. Any '90s kid would be, right? I don't even know how to explain how cool this band is. They have a very raw quality to them that I really like. "Orifice Origami"  is a pretty solid track to listen to. I'm pretty sure that this is actually Tommy Pickle's band.  

7. Does It Offend You? Yeah

Most people will remember the song "We Are Rockstars" from "The Fast and the Furious" movies. I like this band because I can't pinpoint who they sound like. Every song on their album, "You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into", is completely different. This British electro-rock band is way too cool. One of my favorite songs by them is "Let's Make Out" because it is hilarious. But if you listen to it loud in your car with the windows down, prepare for creepy semi-truck drivers to stare and mouth inappropriate things at you. 

6. Coconut Records

I'm shocked that I've only met one person who knows who this band is. Coconut Records is a band headlined by the actor Jason Schwartzman. If you've seen any of the Wes Anderson films, you'll know who he is. This band has a Weezer vibe to their sound. They're poppy and their lyrics are very catchy. I love to listen to them when I drive to San Diego because coconuts remind me of the beach. All of their songs are good, but two of my favorites are "West Coast" and "Any Fun".

5. Darkstar

Matt sent me a link to this band's website because he thought they "sound like Death Cab". I don't think they sound like them at all, but I like them anyway. "Gold" is probably my favorite track off of their album "North". They're dark lyrically but they have a little bit of an electronic-ish sound to them. 

4. Peter Bjorn and John

This is probably one of the more mainstream of the bands that I've chosen for this list. In late-2006/early 2007, you might remember a song on the radio called "Young Folks".    Over the years, I have accumulated most of their albums because I can't get enough of  this weird Swedish band. 

3. The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up

The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up is lyrically a very dark band. Their overall sound is very similar to Death Cab in their pre-Plans days (aka when they were incredible). Come to think of it, I have not listened to TJYPU in a very long time even though they were one of the first bands to come to mind when I thought of this list.  I found them way back when iTunes was the 'cool' way to download music off the internet. I had some iTunes gift cards and after downloading the music that I actually wanted, I started searching random words. One of them had something to do with Super Mario and Jim Yoshii popped up. I downloaded the song "3+1" and was hooked.

2. We Are Scientists

My junior year of high school, a friend handed me a CD  with a cover of three men in suits holding kittens in front of their faces. I was immediately intrigued out of sheer adorableness. We Are Scientists is a band that I have loved for many years now, and over time I have accumulated all of their albums. All of them are awesome. We Are Scientists is a band to listen to if you need to wake up or are full of energy. Although they do a bone-chillingly amazing cover of Sigur Ros' "Hoppipola", one of my favorite songs from this band is called "This Scene is Dead" off of their album "With Love and Squalor". Actually, that whole album is pretty fantastic. They're pretty fast paced with a very New York kind of vibe. Just listen to them and you'll get it.

1. Blind Pilot

This is one of my favorite finds so far. Sometimes, I don't even like listening to them because I'm afraid of other people asking me what I'm listening to, liking them and making them big. It's a whole thing. One of my favorite songs by Blind Pilot is "3 Rounds and a Sound" from the album of the same name. They're definitely a band to check out if you're into folk-rocky type sounds.

Some Honorable Mentions:

I'm just going to list some tracks that I really like. You don't like them? Too bad. The world does not revolve around you.

Japandroids: "The Nights of Wine and Roses"

Mellowdrone: "Fashionably Uninvited", "Tinylittle"

First Aid Kit: "The Lion's Roar", "Emmylou", and "King of the World"

Say Hi To Your Mom: "Hooplas Involving Circus Tricks", "Pop Music of the Future", and "Let's Talk About Spaceships".

Army Navy: "Silvery Sleds"and "Snakes of Hawaii

Go listen to some new music people. Expand your minds or whatever.