The first tune to drop off Michael Nau's (who was once known as Page France and is now making music under the moniker Cotton Jones) January 27, 2009 LP Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze) is a Doors-esque Sixties groove with a recession-ready title. Check it out right here:

"Gotta Cheer Up"

Photograph by Arion Doerr for RollingStone.Com

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Passion Pit
The Buzz: Squirrely electropop where speedy beats carry high, girlish vocals across bands of synthesizer.
Listen If: You wonder what Built to Spill might sound like if someone stole all of Doug Martsch's guitars.
Key Track: "Cuddle Fuddle," which uses a plinking piano loop to singlehandedly invent 25th century ragtime.

The Band: FM Belfast
The Buzz: It's electric! Stern, keyboard-driven robopop — the sound of a zillion traffic lights blinking above empty streets.
Listen If: You find the Knife a bit too cheerful, or think big beats are better for brooding than grooving.
Key Track: "Lotus," which flash-freezes Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" in shivery synths.

The Band: The High Wire
The Buzz: Spacious, somber indie rock that shrouds broad guitar strumming and long, languid keyboard lines in warm, gentle mist.
Listen If: You always liked Slowdive a little more than My Bloody Valentine.
Key Track: "Saint Bees," where a curlicue melodica turns tricks over whispery vocals.

Who: The Subways, a British trio who turned two years on the road touring with the likes of Foo Fighters and Oasis and a potentially career-ending throat ailment into their edgier second album All Or Nothing.

Sounds Like: Led by singer/guitarist Billy Lunn, the Subways are a pop-perfect combo of three of the band's favorite artists, mixing together Nirvana's power chords, Smashing Pumpkins' ferocious tribal drumming and Shirley Manson's vocal prowess for a fantastic alt-rock throwback stew. The common bond between all three bands? Producer Butch Vig, who also produced the Subways' new album. "The songs on All Or Nothing are like diary entries, essentially," Lunn says. "We felt compelled that we had to open ourselves up, and Butch Vig was clearly the guy who was gonna do that for us."

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Ex-Mellowdrone rocker Camila Grey and The L Word's Leisha Hailey, who cut her alt-rock teeth in '90s band the Murmurs, are the duo behind the thumpy, glittery electro-pop of this year's Common Reaction. Click below to download their lush single "Not a Love Song," and keep reading for the rest of their fall tour dates.

"Not a Love Song"
[right click and select "save as"]

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Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Crystal Stilts
The Buzz: Gloomy New Yorkers drench guitar-pop in echo, making songs that are both dour and irresistible.
Listen If: You like your pop songs slow, dark, and low low low.
Key Track: "Shattered Shine," where caverns of guitar become a showcase for lovable, off-key vocals.

The Band: Mammut
The Buzz: Icelandic quartet goes for the sterner stuff, kicking out tense, terse post-punk.
Listen If: You always wished Bjork was just a tiny bit angrier.
Key Track: "Svenfnsykt," where vocalist Kata pouts and huffs and coos over loop after loop of razor-wire riffage.

The Band: Little Boots
The Buzz: London vocalist makes hyperkenetic dance music with fat streaks of synths and big, booming beats.
Listen If: You want your electronic music to be imposing instead of inviting.
Key Track: "Meddle," fast and frantic, full of odd synth squiggles and dubstep bass booms, all window dressing for Little Boots' little pout.

Who: Jack's Mannequin, the SoCal quartet fronted by piano player Andrew McMahon (formerly of pop-punkers Something Corporate) whose second album The Glass Passenger has already scored a top-ten debut.

Sounds Like: Known for his intimate lyrics — the band's debut record aired the details of a break-up with a long-term girlfriend — Passenger tracks McMahon's life following his 2005 Leukemia diagnosis and blends sunny Beach Boys pop with stout piano rock. McMahon adds he was "hugely inspired" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Tegan and Sara's The Con, which can be heard on the anthemic "American Love" and the layered orchestration of "Annie Use Your Telescope."

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Photo: Soren Solkaer Starbird

Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Jones is back. The smooth new tune "If He Should Ever Leave You" is the debut cut from 24 Hours (S-Curve Records), due November 25th and you can hear it right here. The track, produced by Future Cut (Lily Allen, Estelle), will appear alongside a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "The Hitter" on the crooner's first fresh studio set in 15 years.

"If He Should Ever Leave You"

Three former members of Seattle screamers Blood Brothers (Jordan Blilie, Morgan Henderson and Mark Gajadhar) plus Devin Welch (who was with the group briefly) recently unveiled their new project, Past Lives. The band's debut EP Strange Symmetry is due November 4th via Suicide Squeeze, and its title track has a dance-punk groove with a David Bowie-esque swagger. Check it out for free right here:

"Strange Symmetry" [right click and select "save as"]

Photo: Amelia Bauer

Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet.

The Band: Department of Eagles
The Buzz: Two pals meet in an NYU dorm, make a bunch of sample-fueled keyboard symphonies, accidentally become big in Europe and hit home with spookily beautiful In Ear Park.
Listen If: The Zach Braff association has ruined the Shins for you.
Key Track: "Teenagers," where Fred Nicolaus' off-kilter guitars and keys make way for handclaps that make you sort of nervous.

The Band: Land of Talk
The Buzz: Canadian trio evolve past the jagged noise of their debut EP in favor of subversive melodies, all with foxy Elizabeth Powell at the helm.
Listen If: Sonic Youth is your favorite band and poutine is your favorite late night snack.
Key Track: "Death By Fire," the prettiest little doomsday anthem you've ever heard.

The Band: Big Shug
The Buzz: Gruff, heady Boston-based friend of Guru from Gang Starr throws back to the old school with old fashion beats carrying his street narratives.
Listen If: You think hip-hop peaked at Hard to Earn.
Key Track: "My Boston," which finds Shug making a case for hard living in Beantown before getting out of the way to let DJ Premier scratch.

Who Rachael Yamagata, a Philadelphia singer who, after backing up artists like Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes and Rhett Miller, is ready to step into the spotlight.

Sounds Like: With her second album Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart, Yamagata abandons the chick flick soundtrack feel of her first album with a darker, more intimate double-disc affair. On Elephants, Yamagata channels macabre ballads like Fiona Apple while Teeth… finds her embracing her inner-Chrissie Hynde. "The lyrics were telling me it was going to be different this time, there was backbone," Yamagata says. "I didn't want it to be pretty, and I didn't want it to be safe."

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