Five Indie Rock Songs You Should Hear If You Haven't Already)

Right, so.

1. Gotta Have You - The Weepies.

2. Radio Kaliningrad - Handsome Furs

3. Dinner Bells - Wolf Parade

4. Leaves in the River - Sea Wolf

5. Charlotte Mittnacht (The Fabulous Destiny Of...) - DeVotchKa

If you haven't heard of any of these bands, PLEASE get yourself to iTunes and buy at least one of the albums that these songs are on. A few details on each song...

1: Oh. My. GOD. This song is good. If anyone is familiar with the schedule classification of drugs, this song should be Schedule I. It's catchy beyond belief, and really, really, REALLY good. There's no superstar singing it, the guitar doesn't cost 50,000 dollars, and it wasn't produced by Rick Rubin, but this is one song that will quickly reach your iTunes top 100 played.

2. The Last song on Handsome Furs albums always seem to be my favorite (I say this from two albums, but whatever). A well-driven song, with strange, enigmatic vocals and fun guitar/synth parts. Definitely something to wake you up in the morning or to keep you going on a long drive. The main theme gets stuck in my head for, literally, days.

3. This is an interesting song. It's very dark if you listen to the lyrics closely...no more dinner bells to ring? Has someone died? Left? Abandoned? Not to mention the bleak, ethereal sound of Spencer Krug's vocals. Chillingly good.

4. Another song along the lines of #1, the soft vocals and simple melodies of this haunting love ballad will easily capture your ears and having you playing it over and over again. And besides, we've all (hopefully) had a night like the one he describes.

5. Oh, last but not least, DeVotchKa. No day is complete for me without the blend of gypsy-punk and classical music, that this classic Denver band that truly delivers. This song is an instrumental, but is nonetheless evocative of a magical stroll through a central European city... Worth a listen.

Enjoy!