Four Great Records of 2008.

So, there are two months left in 2008 and you've dug through every record in your collection three times over this year. You're scouring through stuff you forgot you even bought, like Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits. In short, you're desperate for new music. Well, this might provide you with some of the help that you desperately need.

Sons and Daughters - This Gift

Every once in a while, a band figures out how to make an indie-pop record speed into overdrive. Bloc Party's 2005 debut Silent Alarm featured a lot of sped-up riffs that were a nice droning repetition of sound, but it's nothing like the pure fast-paced pleasure of Scotland-based Sons and Daughters's second album This Gift. Much like how Franz Ferdinand brought irony and catchiness to the garage revival of the early 21st century, Sons and Daughters brings the flavor back into indie rock. And after turns like the dark tone of Bloc Party's last album and the diminishing returns of acts like Belle and Sebastian, it's nice to see an album that is just great music backed with a mighty and alluring voice. (That voice being Sons & Daughters' vocalist Adele Bethel.)

Video for "Gilt Complex":

Born Ruffians - Red Yellow and Blue

Another fine example of why 2008 is the year where simplicity is king is on the debut record from Canadian band Born Ruffians. Here is a case where the band comes in with an unpretentious approach to their music and creates perfectly playful jams that just make you feel good. Even their album cover is jokey and playful, and it's cool to see a band that doesn't take itself seriously and yet is still great to listen to. One fantastic example of that is "Badonkadonkey," which is as silly as it sounds.

Video for "I Need A Life":

Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

The sadly defunct Be Your Own Pet's second full length is a blast of punk, as told by kids who have watched two too many George Romero movies or stayed in high school until they were 24. That sounds like a slam, but everything on this second record is tongue-in-cheek. A track like "Becky," which shows how a high school friendship playfully devolves into a murder, taken seriously is not good, but vocalist Jemina Abegg always comes off like she's laughing five seconds after the song is over. And Abegg actually has decent vocal talents for when her former band doesn't thrash up a storm.

Video for "The Kelly Affair."

TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Of all the wonderful bands that drive the New York City independent music scene, TV on the Radio may just be the best. Running with a need for experimentation and taking cues from every imaginable influence they can find, TV on the Radio is completely unpredictable and awe inspiring in keeping with the "wall of sound" indie that was perfected by acts such as beloved British underground icons My Bloody Valentine. The first track, “Halfway Home,” draws from the computer-based sounds of the new millennium and yet vocalist Tunde Adebimpe throws in a chant to open the song that's more reminiscent of the 60s surfer rock classic “Surfin' Bird.” (As in, the bird is the word.) And yet, it is this wild unpredictability that makes Dear Science an amazing release.

Video for "Dancing Choose":

So, hopefully this list of albums helps you out of that oh so painful funk as the year comes to a close.

Trey Irby