Inspired by obscure pop-psyche acts from the 60's and today, Tom Dechristofaro (vocals, guitar) teamed up with Leia Hohenfeld (vocals, keyboards) to form Afternoon Naps in 2006. The group's sunny, sugary sound has been described by fellow Clevelander John Petkovic (ex-Guided by Voices) as "the Archies if they sounded more like the Smiths".  They've released 2 full length albums ( including "Parade" by Athens own HHBTM) and multiple singles, where the band's soft vocals, 12-string guitars, and vintage combo organ's are put to great use.  With their most recent material drawing welcome comparisons to the Zombies, Aisler's Set, and Felt, a new album scheduled to be released early next year.

Antlered Auntlord is Athens producer/tunesmith Jesse Standard and a rotating cast of local talent. Holed up for the last few years recording himself and others, Jesse returned to live performance last year with a vengeance—think R. Stevie Moore meets the Breeders.  Antlered Aunt Lord in concert is an unpredictable beast. Strings get ripped from their instruments. Microphone stands are circled warily. Towers are built, are climbed, are often destroyed. Struesels are burned virtually inedible.  And sometimes people get hurt. Stand still!

Architecture began modestly one evening with a bottle of wine, two keyboards, and a guitar in a tiny sun room in Chicago. Two years later, Melissa Harris and Rebecca Scott have completed their first album, When We Were Young—a dreamy blend of organic and electronic elements, fused with dark pop and nostalgia. Since finishing the album, the two have become three, adding Erin Dorr on bass.

Like a weird wind blowing, Bird Names sings psychedelic pop in a strange and stirring voice. Founded in 2004 in Chicago, the Bird Names band has released six full length albums and toured heavily across the U.S. & Europe. The music of Bird Names has been critically hailed as among the best and most original voices in modern underground pop. Bird Names moved to Athens, GA, in August 2010, founded an insane new live band, and plays the hits from the newest album, "Metabolism: A Salute to the Energy of the Sun" (out on Brooklyn-based Northern Spy Records).

Bob Mould is arguably one of the most influential musicians of the alternative rock era, first for his early work with post-punk rabble-rousers Husker Du, followed by the college-rock-defining pop of Sugar and finally for his solo albums, notably his first, Workbook, which quieted Mould's previous ire to reveal his fine songwriting in a new light and allowed an introspective glimpse into the inner workings of an evolving artist.

2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the release of Workbook, and also the release of Bob Mould's latest solo work, Life And Times, set for an April 7th street date. Produced and mixed by Mould in his current hometown of Washington D.C, the album is filled with Mould's experiences in relation to friends, lovers, the world at large and himself. It is honest and personal, his voice breaking on "Bad Blood Better," the electronic twitches of earlier work reappearing under signature blazing guitars on "MM 17." Mould appraises the perils of easy self-distraction on "Wasted World" and is not afraid to get explicit on "Argos." The emotional and musical centerpiece of the record, "I'm Sorry Baby, But You Can't Stand In My Light Anymore," is an unflinching look at the sorrow and regret that comes at the end of love.

A follow up to 2008's District Line, which Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music Guide called "a consolidation of Mould's considerable strengths, an album that showcases his gifts as a writer and record-maker, one that touches upon almost every phase of his career, yet it's filtered through a maturity that feels vital because of its unadorned honesty," Bob Mould's new release highlights an artist completing a circle decades in the making, his talent undiminished, his perspective revitalized.

2011 saw the release of Mould's long-awaited biography See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody co-written by Mould and journalist Michael Azerrad.

Athens' BombsBombsBombs is a band making big music with bigger hooks and charm.  Full instrumentation paired with quick, quirky lyrics creates a fun, high-energy show every time.

Bows and Arrows take many of their cues from the lineage that starts with the Velvet Underground, goes through Galaxie 500 and continues into the present, landing somewhere in the vicinity of Belle & Sebastian or Camera Obscura. Like many bands of their ilk, B & A are writing, to some degree, in a parallel universe of the 1960s, in which whirring organs and bright, reverb-tinged guitars make the building blocks of a good pop song, Phil Spector never becomes creepy and a charmingly ramshackle approach is the order of the day.

-Steve Haruch, Nashville Scene

Bunnygrunt is a long-running Sunshine Pop band from St Louis, Missouri. Formed in the heady days of early 90's Indie Pop, their music has expanded over the years to include elements of Punk Rock, Classic Rock, Noise-Improv, Garage & whatever else sounds good to 'em. If it's Bunnygrunt playing it, it's a Bunnygrunt song.

Burns Like Fire is a upstart punk rock n roll act outta Athens, Georgia. Comprised of ex-members of Guff, KarbomB, and Celerity; Burns Like Fire blends melodic punk rock with aggressive, anthematic vocals. Hitting the ground running in 2010 with a balls to the wall D.I.Y attitude, BLF has hit multiple tours of the southeast and has already released an E.P. (The Year of the Rat), a single (King Of ...Satire), and is in the process of finishing up material for a full length (D.F.L.) coming soon.

For such a young band Burns Like Fire has had the privilege of sharing the stage with such bands as: Against Me!, Street Dogs, Dead to Me, The Menzingers, The Casting Out, Blacklist Royals, The Bastard Suns, Devil's Brigade, and Sick of it All.

Burns Like Fire shows no signs of slowing down in 2011 and is always ready to play anywhere & anytime, so keep your eyes and ears open, your beers cold and look for BLF to bring the rock to a town near you.

Buxton is an Americana band from Houston, TX. After playing together for nearly 8 years, they caught the attention of New West Records. Recorded over all of 2010, their debut album Nothing Here Seems Strange will be released November 8th 2011.

Hi, we're Cars Can Be Blue, and we hope that people will like what we like; simple, fun, catchy songs that combine bubblegum pop with a satirical, sometimes even NAUGHTY sense of humor. Think Dressy Bessy with Sarah Silverman singing, Tullycraft meets Adam Sandler, Beat Happening meets Tenacious D. Now you're getting the idea. How do we do it? It all comes from the unique chemistry of Nate Mitchell and Becky Brooks.

Cars Can Be Blue started during the summer of 2002 after the dissolution of Nate's cover band and Becky's improvisational comedy group. Left with enough free time to enter themselves into a local music festival, Nate and Becky used this impromptu performance as the catalyst for their first attempts at songwriting and were surprised by how well they ended up working together. Cars Can Be Blue have shared stages with bands like Mates of State, The Lucksmiths, Jason Anderson/Wolf Colonel and xBxRx, stand-up comedians Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale and even warmed crowds up for the hilarious Found Footage Film Festival. We like to make music, and we like to have fun. We're Cars Can Be Blue.

Cassolette is a 6-piece jangly indie pop band from Sarasota, FL. Cassolette plays synth-laden, upbeat songs in the fun-loving style of Comet Gain, with the feminine romantic sentiment of Go Sailor, and the energy level of Guided by Voices. Singers Ciera Galbraith and Jesse Coleman belt out sugary sweet-nothings about being young and silly and in love—which, incidentally, they are (they are getting married in November). The band is rounded out by keytarist and back-up vocalist, Aimee Guerin—and three rowdy young men: drummer Pete Stolp, bassist Andrew Fleming and second guitarist, Darren Ankersmit.

With a little bit of early 60s pop and a lot of love-related teenage angst, Catnaps has songs that stay in your head and your heart forever. At times it feels like things might fall apart, but that's the appeal. They hold it together by the heart strings while breaking yours.

Art pop that shifts from traditional to twitchy without warning.  We don't fit a specific genre, or maybe we fit several.  We're going to play every Athens Popfest until we're the last band left.

Led by Athens legend David Barbe (Mercyland, Sugar, Buzz Hungry) The Quick Hooks are Jon Mills, Frank MacDonnell (The Glands), Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk), John Neff (Drive By Truckers).

Noisy punk/pop trio from Athens, Georgia by way of Brooklyn and Mississippi.

Lush, post-rock influenced shoegaze with sweet, pop melodies, tender harmonies and shimmering guitars.

A three piece haunting pop music group with minimal instrumentation and ethereal female vocals. el hollin’s songs are upbeat but at the same time wistful and at times filled with melancholy. simple melodic guitar playing over interesting drumming patterns and keys, with lyrics of abstract observations, fantasies & autobiographical tales.

"Eureka California is a local indie band influenced by American indie that sounds like British indie influenced by American indie. Also, it rocks." - Flagpole Magazine

Fishboy is a four-piece eccentric indie pop band from Denton, TX that began as the bedroom solo project of front man Eric Michener. He was given the nickname on a middle-school field trip after a dare to pluck and swallow a fish at the Dallas World Aquarium. Six years and several shoe boxes full of cassette tapes later, Michener moved from the suburbs to the Texas rock-and-roll Mecca of Denton with a handful of low budget recordings. It’s here that the little project became a full-fledged rock band that has since taken on several forms, the most current of which meshes the band’s lo-fi twee pop roots with a loud, energetic rhythm section topped with the occasional horn, piano, or organ, the result of which is somewhere along the lines of fellow Texans Daniel Johnston and Britt Daniel (Spoon) joining the Danielson Famile to play for Anthony Daniels (C3PO) and Daniel Day Lewis (moustache) as they both drink Jack Daniels on a Sunday afternoon.

Flash To Bang Time is a light and sound collage that makes use of bright harmonies and layered instruments. It’s cinematic hard pop in which one member is a projectionist. For Lynda Stipe, this has been her main band since singing and playing with pop acts Oh-Ok and Hetch Hetchy. Co- founded with drummer Charles Greenleaf and bassist Kevin Sims, Flash To Bang Time includes guitarists/vocalist Ritchie Williams and guitarist Matt Tamisin, who honed their sound during their time with Commander Chameleon. The resulting mix is something that eludes any easy labels. Part synesthesia/ part movie soundtrack , it’s a very visual oriented way of creating music that involves spinning shapes, colors and words that run parallel with the vocal driven songs they perform. True to their moniker, the music has a natural visual-aural connect. The Led Balloon 7” is out now on Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records and available through iTunes. Full length vinyl out early 2012.

Four Eyes' songs are simple melodies dressed up in swells of feedback, fuzzed out guitar solos, spastic drum fills, and earnest vocals. Though frequently compared to bands such as the Lemonheads and Superchunk, the end result is usually a much more direct, frenzied, and sometimes neurotic take on pop music.

Formed in Athens, GA in 2008, Gift Horse is Hunter Morris (vocals/keyboards/guitar), Mike Stokes (guitar/vocals), Vaughan Lamb (bass), and Brad Elliott (drums).  In 2010, the band released debut album "Mountain of Youth", produced by Hank Sullivant (Kuroma, The Whigs, MGMT) and engineered and mixed by Nate Nelson (White Violet, Maria Taylor).  The record received positive reviews from Magnet Magazine, Reviewsic, Stomp and Stammer, Performer Magazine, Crawdaddy, and Indie Rock Cafe to name a few.  Live, Gift Horse has been consistently turning heads in the Southeast and along the East Coast with their intense, swallow-you-in performances as they've built a loyal following along the way.

Certainly, "Mountain of Youth" exposed a group that has crafted their very own concoction of melody and atmosphere.  But it is the growth of the band since "MoY" that promises to break Gift Horse to a greater audience.  By further embracing the melody that was blended throughout "Mountain of Youth",  and now using it more as a centerpiece of the songs for their sophomore effort, Gift Horse finds treads a unique line:  pop songs with stick-in-your-head hooks that still retain the atmosphere that has always defined the band.

Gift Horse's second album is due out in Spring of 2012.

Gospel Music is indie-pop songwriter Owen Holmes. His debut EP, 2010's "duettes", found him collaborating with members of The Magnetic Fields, Camera Obscura and Vivian Girls. His first full-length, "How To Get To Heaven From Jacksonville, FL", comes out on Kill Rock Stars on Oct. 25, 2011. Holmes last played Athens Popfest in 2007 as a member of synth-pop band Black Kids.

Brothers Mat (Pocket Rockets, The Max Levine Ensemble) and Ryan Lewis (Kincaid, The Four Corners, Kindercore Records) started this drum-and-organ duo in 2008. All heartfelt hooks and propulsive rhythms, Grape Soda's songs are pop distilled to its purest form, then painted with the sonic palettes of post-punk minimalism and psychedelic noise. The result is catchy, engaging, and highly danceable. Grape Soda released their full-length Form a Sign earlier this year.

Guitarist and front-man for Dead Confederate breaks away from his loud
bootgaze outfit for a special solo show.

After a two LP stint with Sub Pop in the early aughties, Holopaw returned with a new cast for 2009's "Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness." Amidst critical success and broadening touring opportunities, drummer Jody Bilinski and cellist Krista Molinaro then took the next logical step: they moved to New York, opening the door for for multi-instrumentalist Matt Radick and drummer Ryan Quinney (me). The band, from here on known as "we," have just happily recorded our fourth LP at a beach house in St. Augustine, FL. It'll be out this winter, at which point we intend to tour all over. We hope to meet you there.

Rock covers and originals.

Hug Abuse is unpretentious music you can dance to. And smile while you do it. Equal parts surf music, stereolab, and snap beans, Hug Abuse makes you want to skip past cop cars and hold hands in front of the loveless and the afraid.

While playing with various Elephant 6 Collective groups - of Montreal, Great Lakes, Essex Green, Marshmallow Coast - Huggins kept his own recordings exclusively behind the scenes. But now, he has finally opened the vaults of his underground recording project & stepped out as a songwriter & solo artist with the release of James Husband's A Parallax I.

A Parallax I is the sound of a one-man band amplified. A collection of songs that were written and recorded over a demanding twelve-year period of touring and recording with of Montreal (a stretch that has included some of the band's most critically acclaimed works, including Satanic Panic in the Attic and Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?). It is an album that finds Huggins a lush instrumentalist, layering dozens of instruments and vocal tracks over a core of '60s fueled rock with aid from long time musical partner Dottie Alexander (of Montreal), producers Tomas Hakava and Johan Stenstrom and Swedish pop sensation Jenny Wilson.

Pulling inspiration from years of writing, recording and extensive touring, A Parallax I showcases James Husband's adept musicianship he has lent to the recording and live shows of acts ranging from of Montreal to MGMT, Ladybug Transistor, Elf Power, & Ruby Suns...to name a few.

Jane Jane Pollock... a tasty sticky candy coated Thai dried fish treat. We practice in the country in a tin-roof playhouse trailer while our cats listen outside. Three gents and two ladyfolk, we play cooking pots, pianos, higher brass, some winds, banjo, samplers, bent toy keyboards, acoustic guitar, drums, ukulele, lap harp, whistlings, harmonium, melodica, tambourine, bass guitar, wandering genie organ, and mouths.

Joseph Genaro (Joe Jack Talcum) founded The Dead Milkmen in 1983, initially establishing the group as a bedroom-based home-recording project with a mythological back-story prior to their evolution into a traditional four-piece band shortly thereafter. The members of the group regularly employed pseudonyms, and Genaro most frequently called himself "Joe Jack Talcum" (stemming from the character of Jack Talcum that Genaro had imagined as the leader of the band in their mythology) in the context of the group, although he also used the pseudonyms "Butterfly Fairweather" and "Jasper Thread" on certain records. Joe Jack Talcum has consistently recorded solo material since the early 1980s. Between 1984—1999, he self-released eight cassette tapes composed of home recorded songs. A four-piece group calling itself Butterfly Joe (after one of Genaro's pseudonyms, and featuring Dead Milkmen drummer Dean Sabatino) assembled to perform Joe Jack's solo material and released a self-titled, full-length album in 1999. The group went on indefinite hiatus in the immediate years following.

Kleenex Girl Wonder has been a professional band for 17 years. Starting in the land of sticky 4-track tape, emigrating to the city of lyrically complex emotional pop music, branching into the wilds of rap music and finally re-purposing rap methods within the context of Pop-Rock-Ville, they have released 11 full-length albums and assorted other recorded things. Graham Smith is the singer-song-render-er who also plays bass, Thayer McClanahan is the guitar-wielder, Matt LeMay is the drums-abuser and producer of studio-recorded tunes. Their most recent album, "Secret Thinking," came out in March 2011 and was recorded in an architectural oddity (also known as a "partial folly") in Southern Illinois.

Los Meesfits takes the classic songs of The Misfits, translates them into Spanish, and sets them on fire with a salsa beat. The unlikely blend of two very different languages and styles of music makes for one hell of a good time. This mixture alone is enough to pique most people's curiosity, but the truth is you have to see the magical music potion Los Meesfits have
concocted in their dance cauldr...on live. On one hand, you have lifelong Misfits fans discovering the joys of salsa music and shaking their asses to Latinized classic punk tunes. On the other hand, you have Spanish speaking salsa lovers singing along to The Misfits in their own language, experiencing horror punk for the first time. The result is a multicultural, multilingual dance orgy, where "West Side Story" meets "Rocky Horror Picture Show" under the light of the devil's moon among blood soaked palm trees. So do yourself a favor, cast off your inhibitions (and your clothing), and rediscover the meaning of a good time as you sip a mango rum cocktail from the skull of your murdered lover, and dance the night away in the devil's whorehouse.

Madeline Adams has been performing simply as Madeline for the last decade. As a teenager she relocated from her hometown of Athens, Georgia to Bloomington, Indiana to work with the punk label Plan-It-X Records (Japanther, Against Me, Defiance, Ohio). After a few years and many punk tours Madeline moved back home to work with Orange Twin Records releasing several albums in collaboration with Phosphorescent, the Athens based Elephant 6 Collective (Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Nana Grizol), Phil Elverum (Mt. Eerie) and Karl Blau (The Microphones).

Madeline and the Black Velvet band recorded Black Velvet in between national and international tour dates. Inspired by Neil Young's producer David Briggs' work, Madeline followed the strategy of On The Beach and Tonight's the Night - recording whenever and wherever they could find a couple of microphones, and focusing on capturing the energy of a live show. Black Velvet sounds like an Arthur Russel record one minute, all bedroom pop and private crooning, while turning around and twisting into dark Jefferson Airplane-esque psychedelia the next. Madeline's signature Karen Carpenter/Neko Case meets The Carter Family southern ballads still make an appearance with lyrics about everything from Johnny Cash's career as heaven's angel barber to the joy of talking cops out of DUIs. Black Velvet is one of those albums you can see while you hear; a mental music video for every song. Madeline has finally and fearlessly let her mind, mouth and heart open far enough for everyone to get a good look and the results are nothing short of thrilling.

There is an undeniable connection between the South and occurrences of extra-terrestrial form. From other worldly jazz guru Sun Ra, to German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, Alabamahas always had more than an ample share of connections to outer space. Such is the case with Man or Astro-Man?, who arrived in a small college town inAlabamasome years ago. In order to integrate into human society, they would have to downplay their true identities and take on aliases, most conveniently in the form as students. While studying industrial design and film, the group began formulating a mode in which to learn more about their new earthly environment.

Soon the group became immensely attracted to pop culture and decided that the cliché of a being a rock band would provide a perfect vehicle in which to traverse the globe and further their research. Full integration into Earth society would thus commence for what was soon to be known to the world as Man or Astro-Man?

A discovery of records long stashed away at various dilapidated thrift stores inAlabama lead the entities of Man or Astro-Man? to the scratched-up sounds of Link Wray, The Ventures, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, The Marketts, The Safaris, and other instrumental guitar oriented music of the late fifties and early sixties. Instrumental music provided a great escape from the sappy, pretentious lyrical drivel emanating from the (then newly christened) 'alternative' FM radio. At the same time, offbeat stage set ups and designs by Kraftwerk, The Spotniks, The Residents, Devo, Sun Ra, and The B-52s had a great impact on the rapidly developing troupe.

Around this embryonic time, Man or Astro-Man played innumerable shows in the Southeast with a scene of bands that included Southern Culture on the Skids, The Woggles, Hillbilly Frankenstein, The Subsonics, and The Flat Duo Jets. Developing around the liberating resurgence of the no bullshit sounds of surf and garage music, MOAM soon caught the attention of Estrus Records owner Dave Crider. He was taken with the band's teenage caffeine-induced energy and punkish take on instrumental surf music. Crider ended up releasing their debut full-length simply entitled, 'Is it...Man or Astro-Man?' (1993). The Estrus Records aesthetic that revolved around the art and packaging concepts of designer Art Chantry fit perfectly with the Man or Astro-Man? modus operandi. 'Destroy All Astro-Men' (1994) and 'Project Infinity' (1995), and several EP's were released by Estrus.

Faced with licensing issues inEurope, MOAM embarked on a search for a new record label. From their recent shows with The Jesus Lizard and the Mekons, the band was alerted to Touch and Go Records and their artist-friendly business practices. Upon visiting the fine earth people of Touch and Go, the band decided it would indeed be the best possible label on which to release all future albums.

'Experiment Zero' (1996) was Man or Astro-Man's debut for Touch and Go. Recorded in three days with engineer Steve Albini at the Zero Return studio in Alabama, it stands tall among the great modern instrumental guitar records. After its release, the band began to evolve at a greater velocity than ever before. They morphed by extending their use of samples, computer programming, homemade instruments, electronic gadgetry, tape splicing, and other bits of random archaic technology. Both the '1000X' EP (1997) and 'Made From Technetium' (1997) were darker steps into the futuristic soundtrack music realm.

Over time, Man or Astro-Man? has done countless bits of film and soundtrack work including compositions for Nickelodeon and The Cartoon Network(SpaceGhostCoastto Coast and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron). Members of Man or Astro-Man? have started record labels - Warm Electronic Recordings; recording studios - Zero Return; bio-diesel fuel centers -vegenergy.com; and have written for numerous publications including Chunklet, CMJ, and The Melody Maker.

Marc With a C - who was born at a very young age - tends to embrace immediate inspiration over a script designed to help him "make it big." He simply wants to make songs, and he wants you to hear them. Twelve years into his career as a fiercely independent lo-fi recording artist, Marc With a C has just released his ninth (and most ambitious) album to date: Motherfuckers Be Bullshittin'. The album is a ten-song story inspired by the song cycles of The Pretty Things, Pete Townshend and Fishboy about a boy named Brian, his law-student girlfriend Jenny, an anonymous internet message board, and a squid named... Squiddy.

On the surface, what seems to be an uncharacteristically produced record (for Marc, at least) with odes to technological paranoia and inside jokes eventually gives way to a much bigger story arc. And that story is best experienced on a vinyl record set to mimic the presentation of the short-lived RCA VideoDisc, the precursor to the laser disc. VideoDiscs allowed to user to watch their favorite movies at home via vinyl records. Always one to embrace the limitations of forgotten media, Marc even lets the album art pay homage to the VideoDisc version of his favorite comedy film of all time, The Jerk.

Marc has been featured in Wired magazine, has won the Orlando Weekly award for Best Indie Act in 2003, 2010 and 2011, is the host of a record geek radio show called The Real Congregation on WPRK in Orlando, FL, has played major festivals such as Athens PopFest and Nerdapalooza, and his live shows are usually fun, sweaty pop workouts full of monologues and catchy tunes.

Forming in 1996, Masters of the Hemisphere released several albums, EPs and singles before disbanding in 2002. Having remained close friends over the years (and sharing the stage in various bands including Still Flyin' and Je Suis France), the quartet's reunion is less a tiresome exhumation than a happy embracing of the inevitable.

Maybe These Are the Breaks, the watershed new album finds messrs Rawls, Mead, Finch and Griggs in supreme form, building on their strong back catalogue of alluring pop and ambitious conceptual outings, while expanding their sonic landscapes considerably. Recorded in Athens by Ken Henslee and mixed in Gothenburg, Sweden by Wyatt Cusick (The Aislers Set, Trackstar, Love is All), the new album hits on some typically out-there themes and is set to rekindle old Masters flames and ignite new ones amongst a young generation of indiepop fans.

With each member drawing on their myriad influences and contributing to the writing, the Masters sound is as hard to pigeonhole as ever; amongst the new album's confines you'll hear strapping jangle-pop collide with walls of synths, while gorgeous acoustic ballads slow-dance with 80s production, making for a diverse and rewarding listen. Indeed, 'Half a Fool' (the album's quasi-title track) is an unabashed country-folk ditty, complete with steel guitars and tear jerkin' sentiment. Throughout though, big melodies are the common thread and Maybe These Are the Breaks is a welcome return from a great pop group.

Matt Hudgins & His Shit-Hot Country Band are an original ten-piece country band from Athens, Georgia heavily influenced by the classic country of the fifties, sixties and seventies.  Willie Nelson, Marty Robbins and Roger Miller are stylistic touch-points, while contemporary artists like Todd Snider and Dan Reeder also inform their lyrics and work.  The band counts members of Pride Parade, of Montreal, Je Suis France, Mother Jackson, Clay Leverett and Friends, and Vincas among its players.

In 2008, Matt Hudgins spent five months in Xalapa, Mexico and while there learned a number of traditional songs on guitar.  Formerly a drummer, this experience led him to begin writing songs, and upon returning to Athens just before New Year's Day, 2009, Matt played his first show as a solo singer performing original compositions.  After a year of this, he recruited a group of friends -- mostly current and former bandmates -- to form the Shit-Hot Country Band, playing their first show at the Caledonia Lounge on April 15, 2010.  Since late 2010 the band has been working on recording their first full-length at Chase Park Transduction in Athens with engineer Drew Vandenberg.

The last of a dying breed rock band formed in Europe in the 60s-and still alive to tell the story--the MGB has toured all over the world,spearheaded underground guitar rock to a legion of fans worldwide ,and with albums including Direct Hits, Banned In America, Right Honourable Friend,and Live At The Cavern,the band has been described by Rolling Stone as one of the top 10 power pop bands of all time. MGB is thought by many to be an English band--just one more case of carrying coals to Newcastle--with the music that came originally from America. In 2011,what you carry away from an MGB show is not history,nor rock pedigree,but an energy and attitude born of the love of music,not losing the edge of what got them started,but also a determination to break new ground--a fact born out from reaction from young crowds. the long awaited upcoming release of direct hits/banned in America paves the way for new MGB songs for this generation and into tomorrow.

Between the years of 1993 and 2009 inclusive, Mark Monnone was best known as bass player for The Lucksmiths and was responsible for penning such familiar favourites as T-Shirt Weather, Myopic Friends and Take This Lying Down. From their northern corner of Melbourne, armed with songwriting smarts and a warm live rapport, The Lucksmiths gathered a loyal fanbase that stuck with the band for near-on a dozen albums. Since the band's demise, Monnone has kept busy as bassist of choice for Still Flyin', Darren Hanlon and Sally Seltmann, all the while managing to keep his beloved Lost And Lonesome record label afloat. Having maintained a steady songwriting output of his own, Monnone Alone is Mark's way of unwinding after a long day in the office.

NightMovesGold is a sweaty and serious take on plastic soul mixed with 80s sci-fi movie soundtracks. The brainchild of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist PA Finch (Dances with Wolves, Masters of the Hemisphere, Elf Power, Summer Hymns), this sometimes quintet/quartet/trio has been kicking around for years grooving through an ever-growing and extensive repertoire of mainly unreleased music. Concert goers should expect a dreamy and dance-ready set of groovy basslines, sexy melodies, sweeping synths, bongo jamming,
falsetto singing, and thumping robot beats peppered with lyrics about the end of music.

Normandie Wilson is certainly an odd bird. Her mix of modern and vintage influences combine forces to create a unique sound that is undeniably poppy, catchy, and quirky. Normandie’s music has been compared to Burt Bacharach, Cole Porter, Ben Folds, Regina Spektor, Camera Obscura, Astrud Gilberto, Bird and the Bee, and Karen Carpenter. Since 2006, she has played piano/marimba with San Diego/Los Angeles indie-mariachi band Red Pony Clock. She cites everything from bossa nova to unnamed instrumental pop records as influences. Normandie is also an Art Educator with the San Diego Audubon Society and is on a mission to visually represent every living species of bird by the end of her days.

Oh-Ok’s story is that of 100’s of other Athens’ bands over the years. Somebody plays an instrument and someone asks them to form a band cause they need an opening act for a show. Oh-Ok was only around for two years (1981-1983) and there were just two releases a 7” single and 12” EP, but their minimal, bass-driven party anthems still hold up today. And please don’t confuse minimal musical clutter with simple-mindedness because there is nothing simple about writing truly classic pop songs.

One Happy Island is Shannon, Meghan, and Brad. They match intricately constructed songs to gleefully ramshackle performances, armed with toys, arcane instruments, and a joyful disregard for existing notions of structure, instrumentation,and leadership. Everybody sings, everybody writes. Their best shows feel like rehearsals.Formed in 2008, they have recorded a series of cherished, limited-edition EPs, two seven-inch vinylsingles (including a recent split with UK pals Standard Fare), and one full-length album, released by such beloved UK independent record labels as WeePOP! Records, Oddbox Records, and Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation. They have just finished making a new EP (which will be available at Popfest) and album (to be released in early 2012), both of which were recorded entirely live in the studio without overdubs, headphones, or click-tracks. Just three people in a room making music.

Northwest. They make the music of a punk trio if everyone in the band decided to keep their volume low and their tones clean. Leif Anders and Jessica B. created ORCA TEAM with a sparse minimalistic spirit to song writing. Each song is short, sung with a lonesome croon, equipped with a melodic bass line, and drenched in reverb. Songs topics range from wearing a retainer, traveling to foreign cities, being a boring person, letting go of past feelings for a lover, and being a spoiled trust-funded baby. ORCA TEAM began in Portland, OR, but has migrated up to Seattle, WA. The TEAM now consists of Dwayne Cullen, Leif Anders and Jessica B. Top influences include Dusty Springfield, Young Marble Giants, The Flamingos, The Slits, Pylon, Del Shannon, The Smiths, Jan and Dean and The Raincoats.

From the sun-kissed shores of San Diego, CA, comes Red Pony Clock, an ever-shifting musical collective with a penchant for jubilant horn arrangements, effervescent vocal harmonies, and confessional song-writing. Primarily a recording project based on the songs of Gabe Saucedo , the live Red Pony Clock lineup can oftentimes swell into the the double digits, with members switching back and forth between a wide variety of non-traditional instruments, such as trombone, banjo, accordion, & vibraphone. RPC will pretty much try to work with whatever they can get their hands on. The same goes for their song-writing, which has been known to take from such diverse influences as mariachi, disco, country, jazz, & R&B.

Rex Or Regina is a three piece noise pop band from Gainesville, FL. They are fuzzy, loud and fun. Washes over you like a summer slushie tidalwave.

Ruby Kendrick is a folk/pop singer songwriter living in Athens, Georgia. She just recently released her first LP titled "No Weight No Chain" in May 2011. Her honest, piercing lyrics are supported by a backbone of sunny pop melodies. Topped with a cherry of southern charm, her music leaves a sincere impression on the listener.  Ruby's appreciation of strong lyricists and female vocals provide her with an overwhelming amount of inspiration. Jenny Lewis, Conor Oberst, Neko Case, and Thao Nguyen have shaped her style and appreciation of music; and uncountable others have melted her heart and watered her eyes.  She would love nothing more than to sing to you.

Songwriter and banjo-picker Emily Armond leads this endearing folk group with disarming honesty, candid lyrics and warm harmonies. Sea of Dogs "tell uncompromising, emotionally naked tales of love and disappointment; of small triumphs amidst the drudgery of the everyday; of daydreams, and realities." (David Fitzgerald)

Shaved Christ is the sonic equivalent of a sketchy, fast ride through the dark, twisting streets of hardcore history.  Without being derivative, their songwriting spans the time line of aggressive underground music, utilizing the inspiration of four decades of punk evolution  and blending those sounds into something unique.  They confront their audience with all of the frustration and rage of generations past and present and none of the jaded cynicism.  In the era of mimicry and watered down rip offs, Shaved Christ delivers pure and original hardcore punk rock, period.

Formed from a mutual love of songs about unbearably impossible romances, Sourpatch plays in the vein of influences such as Tiger Trap, Rocketship, Velocity Girl, Boyracer, Cub, Heavenly, Go Sailor, Black Tambourine, and so many 1990s west coast babes!

Supercluster's sound is best described as "Appalachian Wave," a combination of electric and acoustic instruments and a blending of bluegrass, European folk, Krautrock, and new wave musical styles. This is a writing and recording project formed from members of the bands Pylon, Casper & the Cookies, New Sound of Numbers, Circulatory System, the Squalls and North
Georgia Bluegrass.  They perform live sporadically and are pleased to be included in the lineup at Athens Popfest.

We're a five piece band from LA and are influenced by jangly guitars, friendships, loneliness, and laughter. Touted as a “full band Softies” and a “calmer Black Tambourine” by Indie Pages, Sweater Girls aim to melt hearts with songs that remind us all of our best friends, saddest & happiest moments, and our favorite songs.

TaterZandraZandra plays moody, melodic and angular post-post-punk. The guitar driven sound tends to force you on a journey that is  multi-dimensional, erratic and constantly in flux. Very dynamic! This experimental band cites some of its influences as Sonic Youth, Colour Revolt, Unwound and Blonde Redhead.  It’s like fish tank fodder, crying petunias and bloody pillow fights taking over the world!

The music of The Bastards of Fate is a dislocated, gospel inflected tangle of synth, grunge, industrial and funk stylings, a pile of guts found in the dry winter grass, smothered in gravy. They have played shows with artists like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Captured! By Robots, and have toured several times with Joe Jack Talcum. Their debut album was recorded by John Thompson of Eternal Summers and The Young Sinclairs. They are from Roanoke, Virginia.

Even from the time The Cavemen Go first emerged as a duo (singer/guitarist Jeremy Sage and drummer Bob Breychak) in 2003 during the fertile days of the New Haven garage-pop mini-explosion, the band was markedly distinct from their peers. Sage's songwriting channeled the no-frills, hook-heavy sounds of early rock'n'roll without coming off as self-consciously retro. His lyrics and singing conveyed an unabashedly hopeful romanticism, but the kind tempered with dry wit and emotional ambiguity.  Those creative tendencies have remained as The Cavemen Go have pushed forward, adding keyboardist/vocalist Emily McMinn and bassist/vocalist Brian LaRue.  The Brill Building/British Invasion/Motown influences are still there, as are nods to the poppier end of contemporary indie rock, and even shades of country and folk-rock.  Their songs are simultaneously modern and classic, nuanced and efficient.  They don't play throwback pop: What they play is timeless.  Last year, The Cavemen Go released their first full length record, “New Lives.”  Showcasing the band's punchiest, most urgent melodies to date, the release brought them to the attention of the rapidly emerging label February Records who asked them to record something new.  Now, “It is happening again.”  With the opening line to their new single, “Someone’s Always Dying to Break My Heart,” The Cavemen Go announce their intention to continue where they left off:  Writing and performing with an attitude that great songs matter.

The Dead Milkmen reformed in 2008 to play the FunFunFun Festival in Austin, TX. Energized by the experience the original band members, Rodney Anonymous, Joe Jack Talcum, Dean Clean along  with new bassist Dan Stevens performed shows in Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago and Philadelphia, while working on new material. The band recorded basic tracks in two weekend sessions in November (South Street Soundz) and December (Miner Street Studios) 2010.  Returning to Miner Street Studios in February 2011 the band and Brian McTear (Mixing) put the final touches on the album. The King In Yellow' has 17 songs that should feel both familiar and new to the Dead Milkmen Fan. Songs like "Meaningless Upbeat Happy Song", "Commodify Your Dissent", "Solvents (For Home and Industry)", "Quality of Death" thematically feel like the bands first three albums.  Where songs like "Fauxhemia", "Caitlin Childs" and "Passport to Depravity" come from a new but not unfamiliar place. The King In Yellow is available now as a digital download at www.deadmilkmen.com/thekinginyellow. Look for the album to be available as a CD in a month as well as iTunes, Amazon, emusic and other outlets.

"...summery Americana is wrapped in a gauzy layer of reverb that gives the songs a subtle beach vibe. But there is just a enough pedal steel calling in the background and jangly banjo to place the band firmly in the South. So, instead of valley girls and big kahunas, The District Attorneys pay homage to the mountains and valleys of South Carolina and the bluesy, boozy energy of the East Coast."

-Flagpole Magazine

The Fuzzlers are the infamous results of The Substance Experiments.

These Human/Critter hybrids were the slaves and whipping boys of the Demented Professor Scientist until one day they escaped! Using only their primal instinct and a nonstop urge to have raw, unadulterated fun, the Fuzzlers have crafted quite an experience for anyone that may find themselves in their presence.

Best Descriped as Foamcore/Goofpunk, The Fuzzlers are here to show you something just a little bit different. Become a part of the interactive Fuzzlers experience.

The Gerbils were formed in Ruston, Louisiana in the early 1990's by college friends and rock gods John D'azzo, Scott Spillane and Will Westbrook, along with friends John Fernandes and Penny Burbank. They rocked and rocked and rocked still more. Soon after, the trio decided to move to Athens, GA and released their first album, titled "Are You Sleepy?" Which most notably features the song "Crayon Box." The band then took a hiatus in 1999 for a couple of years until reforming to create "The Battle Of Electricity."

"The Battle of Electricity" is the Gerbils' second album and only release on Orange Twin Records. It was released in 2001 and features such colossal rock epics as "Meteoroid From the Sun Strikes a Dead Wierdo," "The White Sky" and title track "The Battle of Electricity." It flows from tender and sincere love songs through musical interludes to hard rockers and back again, featuring Scott's ripping horns and rocking guitar, John's additional rocking guitar and keyboard part, Will's instinctual and perfect leads on guitar, melodica and banjo, and adding drummer Jeremy Barnes rocking-the-flock out with only just a snare drum, floor tom and cymbal. The album also imports the talents of Kevin Barnes, Bill Doss, Peter Erchick, Eric Harris, Christina Hogan, Heather McIntosh and Beth Sale.

Formed by Dan Geller of I am The World Trade Center, The Gold Party makes infectious dance rock and heartfelt torch songs, recalling bands like Phoenix, Depeche Mode, and The Smiths.

The Goons is a three piece Rock/Pop band from Athens, GA featuring members of The Glands, Casper and the Cookies & Marshmallow Coast.

The High Fidelics from Birmingham, Alabama play an instrumental hybrid of rock 'n roll that evokes groups like The Ventures, The Monks, Booker T and the MG's or any of a number of lost, unknown or forgotten instrumental/surf groups from days gone by...but with a healthy amount of punk, R&B and humor thrown in.  They are currently mixing down recordings for their debut album.  Their appearance at the AthensPopFest will be their first time playing in Athens.

The Olivia Tremor Control originated in Louisiana around 1988 as the trio of W. Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum. They ended up in Athens, Georgia around 1992 and recorded the “California Demise” EP which they released themselves on seven-inch vinyl.

After a while Jeff Mangum left to focus on his band Neutral Milk Hotel, and another Louisiana native, John Fernandes joined the group to play bass, clarinet, and violin, and they recorded the prelude to their first album called “The Giant Day” EP.

Soon the band convinced Eric Harris, who had played with Bill in Chocolate USA, to move to Athens to join the band as drummer, thereminist, electronics expert and recording engineer. In 1996, their debut double album “Music from the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle” was assembled, from years of 4-track tapes,  in the Denver-based studio of childhood friend Robert Schneider.

After it’s release, Peter Erchick, who had grown up with Eric in New Jersey, and also played in Chocolate USA,  joined the group to play organ and piano.  They then exhaustively toured North America, Europe and Japan opening for the Super Furry Animals, Beck, Stereolab, R.E.M. and Derek Bailey, as well as many tours with Elephant 6 comrades Neutral Milk Hotel, the Music Tapes, the Apples, Elf Power, etc. Following the tours for their 1999 album, “Black Foliage: Animation Music”, the band went on hiatus to focus on various projects. They did some reunion shows in 2005 starting with an invitation from the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival and ending with a joyful noise at the Orange Twin conservation community

A'midst bellows of whales and the smell of diesel and fish a small musical project was born. In the summer of 2008 Patrick Morales took a contract as a marine biologist working on commercial fishing vessels. A host of songs and ideas took shape and were later transformed into a one man act consisting of swaths of loops of bowed banjo, guitars and and am/fm radios; the resulting product being an ambient but folk driven sound.

'The celebratory storytelling and punk-folksy delivery of this four- piece makes you wonder how such clean guitars could get your body shaking so hard. The Wild are a lot of fun, and their approach, defiant in a Bob Dylan sort of way, should give kids everywhere the feeling that they can make a difference in the world, no matter how bad things get in the interim.' -Pine Magazine

Everett True says, ‘If you don’t like Tunabunny then you can fuck off back to the start,’ and who are we to argue with one of the most well-known music critics of the last 20 years? Tunabunny has a new album out called Minima Moralia that will change your life, quite possibly for the better.

With a collection of songs that web male-female vocals of couple Zahira Gutierrez and Cody Swann, as well as pop-infused percussion and string work, Wild Moccasins, a quintet of 20-somethings from Houston, TX, offer a sound that balances a musical guile beyond the band’s
years. Wild Moccasins are perhaps best known in their native Texas for their uncanny ability to sell-out live shows. The mere release of their EP, Microscopic Metronomes & then Full Length, Skin Collision Past, actually resulted in some significant amount of press noting how they are one of the few local acts that have no trouble selling out a show. The explanation behind their passionate fan base can be found in the one aspect of Wild Moccasins that is most prevalent: their energy. The passion for music that all five members emit both in the studio and on
the stage is one to marvel at.

Punk by allegiance and attitude, pop by virtue of their wistful melodicism, Witches are a band borne of singularly American originality. Cara Beth Satalino is a New York-born chanteuse with a rougher than typical edge. Michael Clancy, a fellow Yankee, is a self-taught drummer of natural ability and feel. Jared Gandy, veteran of Athens groups with both DIY punk and Elephant Six Collective pedigree alike, rounds out the band's lineup on bass guitar. The band takes touches of the Breeders' feminine boldness, Des Ark's brusque emotional stance, and the wide-open, true rock n' roll worldliness of Midwestern punk idols the Replacements.

Which brings us to the centerpiece of Witches' appeal: Cara Beth Satalino is what puts the band over the top and sutures their songs into one's memory. She sings with simultaneous pointed honesty and dignified modesty. You can hear barbs and arrows in the songs that make up Forever, Witches' forthcoming full-length album, released on Bakery Outlet Records. Some are directed outwardly; others seem to take aim for the singer herself. All, however, hit their mark with a precision that warrants respect.

Witches have released tapes and seven inches on Vinyl Rites (Gainesville) and Salinas Records (Detroit), and have toured with Nana Grizol, Landlord, and Dead Dog. If they weren't in Witches, they would still be best friends.

-Jeff Tobias

Younger Siblings is an indie-pop/art-punk project from Birmingham, AL. Featuring members of P.S. Eliot, Dolarhyde, The Recluse (and countless other B'ham bands), Younger Siblings is "a farce of pop punk, drenching a penchant for immensely clever song writing in a hail of singalongs and distorted guitars and ukuleles". Influences include the 80's post-punk/twee movement, They Might Be Giants, Adam Green, and Atom and His Package-esque pop-punk.  Live performances are a burst of energy with an electro-autoharp, organ solos, and a pretty punk rock ukulele. Younger Siblings like to have a good time.