
Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet. This week: a few choice picks from the charts at BlogFreshRadio.
The Band: Radio Dept.
The Buzz: Swedish indie poppers who've edged gradually away from shoegaze toward some coy approximation of the Cure's Disintegration
Listen If: You wear black on the outside, because black is how you feel on the inside.
Key Track: "Freddie & the Trojan Horse," from their forthcoming EP of the same name, where dour vocals do battle with thwacking percussion and neon-blue guitars.
The Band: Mr. Gnome
The Buzz: OK, full confession: we didn't even know there was a band called Mr. Gnome until we looked at the BFR charts. And we keep up on this stuff. So, buzz? They're a duo from Cleveland named Mr. Gnome. Any questions?
Listen If: Good god, man, they're called Mr. Gnome! How many more reasons do you need?
Key Track: The excellent "Night of the Crickets," where great swipes of serrated guitar slash across Nicole Barille's gooey vocals. The absolute antidote to all those shrinking violets we've been big upping lately.
The Band: Brendan Canning
The Buzz: Canning is a member of Broken Social Scene, whose solo record Something for All of Us will be released in July.
Listen If: You like pop music scuffed up with grimy guitars, or you are Facebook friends with someone who plays in Broken Social Scene (which, let's face it, you probably are).
Key Track: "Hit the Wall" is the one that's turning up, and it buries Canning's tiny voice deep beneath squawking guitars and groaning bass. It's fevered and frenetic and contains exactly the measure of paranoia you'd expect from someone who belongs to what's essentially a musical cult.

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- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
D.B. | July 28, 2008 8:47 PM
"Listen If: You wear black on the outside, because black is how you feel on the inside."
The Radio Dept. makes me feel the exact opposite.
Rich | May 16, 2008 10:49 AM
I checked out Mr.Gnome 2 weeks ago at the Knitting Factory in NYC. I was amazed by the huge amounts of noise coming out of only 2 instruments. Their sound is so unique and can't wait to see them perform again.
krunk pirate | May 16, 2008 2:01 AM
mr.gnome is the bomb
Tom | May 15, 2008 11:37 PM
Mr. Gnome good stuff, good stuff.
krista | May 15, 2008 7:11 PM
mr. gnome is a great band! catch them live if you can, you won't be dissapointed.
Candida | May 15, 2008 6:42 PM
I definitely agree with JP. This doesn't really help me decide if I want to go through the trouble of listening or not.
jp | May 15, 2008 3:16 PM
i liked it better when this was called hit or hype and there was critical thoughts.
into new bands too! | May 15, 2008 2:30 PM
I'm always looking for new music, especially since I lost my Ipod pretty bummed I lost ALL my music. Let me know whats new! I'm into acoustics, and right now talented chick bands are rockin' me. Karmina for instance, check them out on their myspace they're awesome and that's what I'm into...