They Might Be Giants (although they do the Grammy award-winning theme song to Malcolm in the Middle, which is pretty mainstream already.)
And a few people have mentioned Dar Williams. I second/third/whatever that nomination.
However, I’m not sure I’d want to expose ANY band to the mainstream. In fact, I quite regret the fact that I wasn’t into Barenaked Ladies when they were an obscure little band from Canada. There’s nothing like going to a small club, seeing your favorite band, and interacting with the members of said band afterwards. It seems to make the music more personal, to me.
On the other hand, it’d be nice if people knew who the heck I was talking about when I said my favorite band are They Might Be Giants and Moxy Fruvous.
It is a crime before God and man that not only am I not currently sick of hearing these guys on the radio constantly, they don’t even have a label anymore. What is wrong with this country? FoW makes great catchy hook-laden power-pop. How is this NOT on the radio?
I would issue copies of Ignorance Is Bliss to everyone. If I could only have one CD with me on a deserted island, it would be this one. And I own over 600 CDs. I can’t say it enough, this album is simply remarkable.
Anything Box - used to be happy synthpop but have evolved into an electronic rock outfit. Great stuff, very catchy and I definitely think there’s an audience for it out there.
Mesh - Their newest album Who Watches Over Me? is amazing, and unfortunately it probably won’t be released in the US. People who like Depeche Mode will almost certainly like these guys. They have a sound similar to DM, but I really think they’ve got their own feel and are awesome songwriters.
The Demons of Stupidity. Hey, they’re friends of mine; I figure I owe 'em. In all seriousness, download the sample pack on the website, which includes “Generic Rock Song,” (their greatest hit!) and “The Hits of Techno,” actually more of a sketch in the style of Vestibule (formerly known as Radio Free Vestibule). In any case, they are a comedy act… but they have some definite potential. The best moments of their CDs really are excellent.
The beloved Fountains suffer from the same lack of exposure that all power-pop acts seem to have. Example: the other night I was looking at Power Pop Radio and the webmaster’s Top Five lists. I thought of my own all-time top five:
Sloan, Twice Removed
The Super Friendz, Mock Up, Scale Down
Matthew Sweet, In Reverse
Fountains of Wayne, Utopia Parkway
Teenage Fanclub, Howdy!
…and realised that two of the albums (Super Friendz and TF) were never released in the US, and the other three acts lost their record label immediately after releasing the above albums.
So, yeah, all five of those, plus The Flashing Lights and Elevator.
I vote for Cowboy Mouth too. They are the best concert band ever yet they don’t get the radio play that they deserve for some reason. It may be because their style is hard to pigeon-hole because they have several lead singers/writers that come up with very differnt songs.
I don’t know what stations you guys listen to, but most of these bands have been on the stations I listen to… Especially Cowboy Mouth. They’ve several singles that were played frequently, deservingly but they’re not unknowns. (" Whatcha gonna do" was on the top five for weeks on WCYY; " Jenny says" was on the countdowns even longer on the Boston/Providence stations I used to listen to…) They could use more exposure, of course, but they’ve had at the OP’s at least a month of regular exposure already…same thing goes for Face to Face, Guster(had a song on " Andy Richter" this week, whoo hoo!) and Fountains of Wayne.
Anyway, I’d love to expose 6Gig and Jeremiah Freed to the masses. The first is a hardcore/punk band, the second is more alternative/folk. JF just released their 1st major label debute, so maybe they’ll find their way into mainstream eventually.
Marah- The last Rock and Roll band. I love these guys. True straight forward roots rock with a bit of alt-country and Philly soul. Their new album will be out in June and I heard most of it. They arr doing a much more mainstream sound this time around, so you may be hearing them on the radio soon. The first single will feature Bruce Springsteen backing up the vocals and playing the guitar solo. Check these guys out…they truly rock!
I’ll second the O.A.R. nomination. They are such an energetic, loose band. Alot of fun and I hope they make it around my area sometime, I would love to see them live.
Everyone must hear Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer ! They describe themselves as postmodern mythic American music. I don’t know if that means anything, actually. I’d say they’re on the contry end of folk, but way cooler than anything else I’ve ever heard in either genre. Their musicianship and vocals are competent, and their lyrics are absolutely brilliant. novacaine, I listen to the Crow soundtrack obsessively, and I love "After the Flesh.’
“I am the new way to go. I am the way of the future.” Picture Podkayne headbanging alone in her office “There are a lot of innocent people being . . . crucified.”
I’d love to hear some more MLWTTKK. (You know, if they really want to broaden their appeal, the first thing they need to do is shorten their name. ) Can you recommend an album?
Eerie Ln. They are a metal group from Fort Worth that combine '80s speed metal riffs with death metal-style singing. Their songs are unusually catchy, obviously strongly influenced by The Misfits, and the band doesn’t take itself very seriously and are obviously having tons of fun.
I discovered them on mp3.com and when I wrote them an email asking about when they were going to play gigs locally they sent me a CD, a bunch of old concert flyers, pins, and other nifty stuff. They deserve a lot more attention than they are getting.
The Dirty Three - Ten years on, it’s about time somebody picked these youngsters up and gave them a go. Sure they don’t have a singer, but having no singer is better than having a bad singer, and there’s more space for music.
) Can you recommend an album?