Roll out

Because I'm always curious about this site's readership, do me a favor: when you read this entry, make a post in the comments section just to say hey. You're not obligated to do it, of course, but I would be appreciative.

Just so your time isn't totally wasted, here's a new list for you:

Five Bands/Artists Whose Next Albums I Would Really Like to Come Out Soon

Note: this does not include bands or artists with relatively recent albums. For example, I would love it if Ben Folds came out with another album this year, but it would be silly for me to expect him to do so when he just put one out last spring.

5. The Long Winters
They just put out an EP in October that acts as teaser to a new album supposedly out this spring. That will mark a mere three years since the magnificent When I Pretend to Fall, however, after that album followed the group's debut by just a single year. I haven't gotten too heavy into the Ultimatum EP yet, but I haven't sat down and listened to the whole thing yet either; there's still plenty of time, and any band that can put out When I Pretend to Fall deserves a chance on any album.

4. Guster
Every Guster album so far has sounded different, and if the single "Manifest Destiny/Sorority Tears" is anything by which to judge, the eventual new album will not break that pattern. Naturally, "Destiny" is much closer in sound to Keep It Together than it is a return to earlier sound for the band; still, the Beatles changed their sound several times over in a period of just eight years, and Guster's first album is now more than a decade old. (Not to suggest that Guster are as great as the Beatles, of course, though they've yet to make a song I dislike... though "Destiny" has yet to grow on me, but it may still, as I've only really listened to it once or twice.)

3. Steve Burns
Songs for Dustmites bowed in August 2003, meaning that when all is said and done it will probably have taken three years for us to get a follow-up. Given how unjustly the first album seems to have been ignored by the pop audience, though, I guess we can't be surprised that Burns wasn't simply able to churn out a second. And when you get right down to it, there's nothing inherently wrong with taking a little longer to make sure the album sounds how you want it to. Still, three years should have every fan of the first album - one of the most solid debuts in recent memory - plenty ready for the next.

2. The Shins
With Chutes Too Narrow dating to late 2003, the Shins are definitely overdue for another album, especially if they're going to put out another that clocks in at barely over 30 minutes of music. (Although James Mercer's stuff is so good you never feel ripped off, when a 35-minute CD from most other bands would be infuriating.) The name-check in Garden State was a year and a half ago already, so the new fans earned from it (myself among them) have to be starting to get a bit antsy.

1. Snow Patrol
The group's most recent and best album, Final Straw, was released in March of 2004, meaning they should soon be due for another one - or maybe they would be if their usual release schedule didn't involve three-year breaks between albums (When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up came out in April 2001 and Songs for Polar Bears dates to 1998). Hopefully we won't have to wait until spring of 2007 for another album, though, especially if the improved listenability of Final Straw presages the future direction of the band's work. If we can't have a new Snow Patrol album for another year, is there at least a chance the Reindeer Section could reunite?