If you’re looking for the perfect blend of pop melodies, indie rock, and carefully crafted orchestrations that sound like they should be played by more than five people, you can stop your search. There is already a band that fits all these great qualities and this band goes by the name of Stars. They’ve taken a step beyond Arcade Fire’s sound by writing accessible pop hooks on top of intricate arrangements, and it’s about the greatest thing ever for soothing ears and and pumping up personal adventures.

Stars is a band that writes eloquent but empathetic lyrics that make everyone’s life stories seem like an epic. Songs such as “The Night Stars Here” and “Take Me to the Riot” are our ordinary incidents turned into magnificent tales with music videos that are just as good! Check them out in our BeatCrave Fav series below, and vote for them in Friday’s poll!

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While Brand New is not an up and coming band (in fact, they’re pretty well established), they have always been a very prolific indie-rock band. They’ve been around since 2000, but have not broken into the mainstream music genre despite heavy rotation on Fuse and MTV.

In the past, Brand New has toured with Incubus, Thrice, Taking Back Sunday, and Finch. Their music focuses mainly on finding oneself amidst the adversities of life, and being able to recuperate after losing someone. Brand New’s music would probably fall under what many people call “emo”, but what is emo if it doesn’t stand for emotional? All music comes with emotion, and Brand New is the epitome of expression in its finest form.

Check Brand New out in our  BEATCRAVE FAV series and pick your favorite band this Friday!

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Almost everyone’s heard of Lily Allen by now. Her lyrics are catchy, edgy, and sometimes even crass. Her demeanor is far from professional. Allen is known to be quite mouthy about anything everywhere but she knows how to put her opinions down on a damn good beat.

Her first album, Alright, Still, was so popular in the UK and Europe that fans in the States began illegally downloading it causing her label to release the album here. With songs about dissing guys in the bar (Knock ‘Em Out), a little brother being a lazy pothead (Alfie), pimps and their crack whores (LDN), and ex-boyfriends who overcompensated (Not Big), Allen proved she had her own rhythm without caring what anyone else thought about it. As she wears dresses with high tops, and lays around topless in public areas, Allen continues to be her rad self.

Allen comes out with her new album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, on February 10th and we’ve got all the details on this troublemaker. Check Lily Allen out in our BEATCRAVE FAV series then vote for her at the end of the week if you think she does a good job bitch slapping reality into music!

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