New Tunes to Throw in Your iPod

General Fiasco – Buildings

This is an album that features not only three talented musicians, but quite possibly the most honest tracks you'll ever find. For fans of Death Cab for Cutie and Weezer, General Fiasco ease their way into your hearts with catchy guitar hooks.

The opening lyric of their hit single "Ever So Shy" is "Lets get wasted, it's all we ever do" and it is greatly delivered by frontman Owen Strathern and hits home as being one of those tracks you simply get. Other album standouts are "Rebel Get By" and the title track which shows not only great maturity in the band's sound but surprising versatility for a debut.

If I had only one way to describe this album it'd be "the type of music kids in college SHOULD be listening to."

Standout tracks: Rebel Get By, Buildings, Ever So Shy, and I'm Not Made of Eyes.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

If there were ever a way to define experimentation and solidify it into how it should sound, then Gorillaz have certainly succeeded in doing so. With their third release, Plastic Beach, ex-Blur frontman/Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn over- exceeds every expectation set on him whilst recording the album with his multi-instrumental skills, but also largely due to the vastly impressive cast of musicians who were recruited.

Rappers Gruff Rhys and De La Soul provide laughable yet impressive dynamics to upcoming single "Superfast Jellyfish" as Swedish singer Little Dragon duets with Albarn on tracks "Empire of Ants" and "To Binge" with incredible chemistry and harmony.

The true spectacle on this album is the track "White Flag" which integrates the rap vocals of Bashy and Kano with the mesmerizing skills of The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music in a way that you almost can't bring yourself to believe.

Standout tracks: White Flag, Superfast Jellyfish, Broken, and To Binge.

We Are Scientists – Barbara

I think it should be said how everyone in NYC raves about The Strokes when We Are Scientists exist. Their debut (technically sophomore release) With Love and Squalor is everything you could hope a band could accomplish; catchy tunes that have lyrics which are not ambiguous and that you simply "get".

Frontman Keith Murray did not waste his time on the songwriting for that album and this trait is still prominent on the bands third release, Barbara. The band returned to simple guitar chords followed by Murray's swoonful vocals of partying, revelations, and of course, girls.

I'll quote what bassist Chris Cain said to me earlier this year when meeting him in that "This is a great throwback to college rock, and anyone looking for an enjoyable thirty minutes will find it with our album".

Standout tracks: Nice Guys, Ambition, Pittsburgh, and I Don't Bite.

Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History

It's incredible how fast a band can grow. After meeting together in Bangor, Northern Ireland, band members Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird, and Sam Halliday knew their diverse tastes of music would be an asset and not a road block when it came to writing and recording tunes.

Utilizing aspects of pop, electronica, indie, and alternative the band crafted catchy track after catchy track. Most notably single "Something Good Can Work," which not only produced a massive following in both Ireland and the UK, but allowed the band to tour with Phoenix, Foals, Metronomy, and Delphic before even releasing their debut!

Their tracks are short, fast, and more importantly, the type of tracks you want to be humming to all day.

Standout tracks: I Can Talk, Come Back Home, What You Know, and Do You Want It All?

Deftones – Diamond Eyes

Deftones are that band who are both melodic and heavy in terms of sound yet never make this come off as an oxymoron.

Their career featured them as one of the early "nu-metal bands" (you know, when you were in high school and had to convince yourself Linkin Park and Korn were good) yet most would agree that they were always ahead of their so called "peers" and Diamond Eyes is a clear indication of this.

This track is immensely dense, open, imaginative, and outstandingly the best work the band has put out since their critically acclaimed album White Pony, and the best part is this is shown after only the first three tracks are finished and when track four, "You've Met the Butcher," begins, which is one of the most enjoyable standouts of 2010 alone.

Standout tracks: CMND/CRTL, Diamond Eyes, Rocket Skates, and You've Seen the Butcher

Tokyo Police Club – Champ

Oh Canada, is there anything you can't do? Last year you brought one of the best albums from your heroes Metric, and this year you bring us the downright awesome nerdgasm which is Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

So what else can you offer us? Oh! A new album by Tokyo Police Club! After touring for two years with various acts such as Born Ruffians and Passion Pit, the Canadian indie rockers have learned to become more versatile with their sound as opposed to their quick but enjoyable debut album, Elephants.

This time around frontman David Monks utilizes his easy going Canadian attitude to sing more heartfelt tunes and (this isn't a joke) succeeds in singing "Your coffee's cold, your coffee's icy" in a way that will literally stick in your head all day (Check out "Favourite Food" for this).

Standout tracks: Favourite Food, Breakneck Speed, Wait Up (Boots in Danger), and Bambi.