Walk the Moon - Anna Sun

Favorite lyric: Live my life without coming up for air.

There's a magnetism toward the force and liveliness behind Anna Sun. This song has incredible hyper-charisma behind every lyric and drumbeat, and it feeds you energy through its chorus - which itself is like a gourmet meal full of spirit and moxie. It's the kind of song you want to listen to before you get on a train or do something spontaneous, because it fills you with a thirst for life.

Reminds us of: grouplove
Listen to: while sitting on your roof
Glitter Pox rating: 88% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Awolnation - Burn It Down

Link.

Favorite lyrics: If you're sick, baby girl, I would love to be your doctor.

There's no way to stay sane while listening to this song. It's the kind of music that lets you fall into hysteria with grace, though. It's fast-paced, heart-pumping, foot-stomping, hair-whipping music with a kind of heated urgency behind it. It pulls you into its desperation and makes you just as desperate. Awolnation in general has that unrivaled passion that makes bands (like Cage the Elephant, in example) become something huge. And these guys will definitely be huge - just in the past few months that we've been listening to them, more and more listeners are recommending their songs and hitting repeat. There's just a kind of hectic, manic flow inside the impossibly electric guitar and too-fast-to-comprehend drumming that the vocalist can almost match in beat, and it's made Awolnation excessively addictive.

Listen to: driving way past the speed limit with your windows down and your speakers up up up.
Reminds us of: 30 Seconds to Mars
Glitter Pox rating: 93% contagious

The Veils - The Letter

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Go wash your heart in the river till the water runs clear.

There's a lot of vague mystery in this song, but the way it's played and sung, that mystique makes absolute sense. There's a film of gritty vocal emotion in it, too, and the song decodes itself through that. It speaks its own kind of language, a kind of calm but rushed impassioned purging. It mixes a classic rock, David-Bowie-era sound with something more modernized, which makes The Veils seem kind of ageless.

Reminds us of: Brandon Flowers' solo music
Listen to: while sketching
Glitter Pox rating: 78% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

My Terrible Friend - When I Decide

Favorite lyrics: And my heart's got a tricky valve that beats for nobody but you.

This songs starts as a smooth easy-listener - the vocals are classy, the acoustics fun, and there's even a harmonica that you can nod your head to. It makes you languorously kick your feet up and listen, until you actually do listen - and once you hear the lyrics, your feet fall very ungracefully and you're instantly in love (unless you're opposed to things like murder.) The lead vocalist, Lauren O'Connell, has a kind of quirky twang to her voice that's entirely endearing. And the other half of My Terrible Friend isn't shy to quirky, either - Nataly Dawn is a singer and musician who's well-known for being half of the duo of Pomplamoose. Together, they make a musically-charged team that's original enough to stand out even on their cover songs.

Reminds us of: The Dixie Chicks' Goodbye Earl
Listen to: while buying gloves
Glitter Pox rating: 80% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Maccabees - Toothpaste Kisses

Link.

Favorite lyrics: put the stars in our eyes

The vocalist for The Maccabees has a deep, resoundingly mellow voice that you wouldn't think you'd hear in a song called Toothpaste Kisses. The song itself has a really innocent, vibrant feel to it; paired with the bold flavor of the lead singer's voice and the upbeat scale of the guitar, it ends with a sort of lighthearted charm. It's happymaking.

Reminds us of: Jack Johnson
Listen to: while brushing your teeth
Glitter Pox rating: 70% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Gardens and Villa - Orange Blossom

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Think of me like a swarm of bees,
buzzing around your leaves.
To pollinate means ecstasy.

Gardens & Villa is a mix of hipster beats, wood flutes, and high energy. We saw these guys live last night, opening for Foster the People, and they had that kind of onstage power that translates straight to your ears. There's some type of backbeat Native American folk-culture thing going on in their music, and it matches the high-noted vocals and synth synergy well. We ended the night by buying their CD, and they signed it "ultra vibes," which is exactly what they give off.

Reminds us of: an electrified Civil Twilight
Listen to: all summer
Glitter Pox rating: 90% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

Tigers That Talked - Black Heart, Blue Eyes

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Like a cat with an insect, you are.

This song is a comforting one, because somehow it sounds familiar the first time you even listen to it. But that's not to say anything against it's originality, because the lyrics and vocal range in Black Heart, Blue Eyes is something different altogether. The style seems to change several times throughout the song, but it has a string holding it all together in a way that makes the transition smooth. It progresses from a salty, bitter start, to an upbeat dance mix to a slow, flow-filled instrumental background and then back around again.

Reminds us of: Colour Revolt
Listen to: while pulling a thread off your tshirt
Glitter Pox rating: 71% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Great Lake Swimmers - Your Rocky Spine

Link.

Favorite lyrics: Could you feel my footsteps? And would you shatter, would you shatter?

'Your Rocky Spine' is a fantastic story and song, told through banjo and analogies. It's a reverse personification - turning a body into mountains and lakes - and the lyrics stringed together to express that is poetry. Folk music in general has grown in popularity for its ability to connect, with Mumford & Sons being the most obvious example, followed up by bands like Fleet Foxes and Sea Wolf, who add modernized sound to their tracks. There's something about the genre of folk music that's able to express emotion in a way separate from others, and The Great Lake Swimmers add growth to the brand.

Reminds us of: Blind Pilot
Listen to: while tracing a map
Glitter Pox rating: 79% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox

The Coral Sea - Lake and Ocean

Link.

Fav Lyrics: Didn't I treat you right, you're breaking me down
Didn't I treat you right, I'm breaking you down
All and all you're just a lake inside my ocean

Though mellow, The Coral Sea's "Lake and Ocean" has a malevolent emotional punch to it. It's like going to the beach and sizing up the waves only to realize you can't compare strengths with mother nature cause she'll knock you on your ass when you least expect it. The lyrics express the idea that love is never ending and even during the worst break up, they'll always just be a lake inside your ocean. The music flows like a wave, too, in the way it tides and recedes; it's a modernized version of a lot of classic golden songs in the easylistening way it plays out. This song, though seemingly somber, is encouraging you to stand back up when that one wave knocks you down. Then face the rest of the ocean.

Reminds us of: Radiohead vocally and musically, The Pixies 'Where Is My Mind'
Listen to: at the ocean
Glitter Pox rating: 68% contagious

Hope you catch it,
The Glitter Pox