Last month, Louisville, Kentucky's electro pop quintet The Pass dropped their DIY debut EP, Colors. The four-piece outfit, with their admiration for 80's synth and pop music, recently signed to SonaBlast Records, and are now recording their debut LP that will be mixed by producer and engineer Alex Aldi (Tokyo Police Club, Passion Pit, and The Walkmen). If The Pass' self-released EP is any indication of what's to come from their first album, it could be a big year for The Pass; they're already one of our Bands to Watch in 2010.

"Crosswalk Stereo" - The Pass from Colors

"Colors" - The Pass from Colors

> The Pass on MySpace


Secret Cities is a psychedelic electro-acoustic indie band from Fargo who recently signed with Western Vinyl Records in Austin. The band recently released a double side single, and in June will drop their debut LP, Pink Graffati.

"Pink Graffati" - Secret Cities from Bright Teeth/Pink Graffitti single (Feb. 23rd)

> Secret Cities on MySpace

City Light is a San Francisco area band born out of the ashes of post hardcore with a knack for mixing 8-bit samples with electro-lush synths and raspy Conor Oberst-like vocals. Stream their new album, Burned Out Bright, on MySpace.

"Some Day Maybe" - City Light from Burned Out Bright (Feb. 1st)

"Apologies" - City Light from Burned Out Bright

> City Light on MySpace

"Stranded" - Sambassadeur from European (Feb. 23rd)

> Sambassadeur website

"Still Again" - The New Monarchs from Blue Prints (Feb. 16th)

> The New Monarchs on MySpace

"Makes Me Happy" - Undersea Poem from s/t debut - (Feb 9th)

> Undersea Poem label page


"We Never Close Our Eyes" - Scanners from Submarine (Feb. 16th)

> Scanners official website

"Eileen" - Lord Numb from Numbskull (out Feb. 15th)

> Lord Numb label page

"Learn How to Hang" - David Vandervelde from Learn How to Hang (Feb. 16th)

> David Vandervelde offical website

"Blue-Eyed Universe" - Fictionist from Lasting Echo (Feb. 19th)

> Fictionist website official website

"I'Itoi" - Mako Sica from Dual Horizon (Feb. 16th)

> Mako Sica on MySpace


Flashtrack: The Japandroids

This is just a little diversion from the theme of this playlist. This next track comes by way of the Japandroids, a Vancouver indie rock duo who broke through the saturated playing field to gain a rather large following in short order, as well as wide praise from bloggers and the mainstream media. Last summer, the two college buddies released their debut LP, Post Nothing, via Polyvinyl Records. The album was subsequently nominated for Canada's prestigious Polaris Music Prize.

"Art Czars" - Japandroids from Post Nothing (2009)

/Japandroids official website/

Labels: Recent Releases 2010