More albums, please

Time once again for "bands/artists who need to put out another album soon," as most recently organized here, since when four of the five bands/artists have put another album out and Snow Patrol have actually put out two. (God bless 'em, although I've gotten diminishing returns from the two.)

5. Green Day
Say what you will about Green Day, but American Idiot is a pretty great album by mainstream rock standards. And it came out in September 2004, which is a pretty long time ago by general music standards. The next album is scheduled for this coming summer, but that's still a ways off.

4. The Shins
This one's a little greedy since the last Shins album "only" came out a little less than two years ago (which is why they're only #4), but come on, Shins. It can't possibly take three and a half years every time, can it?

3. Doves
Some Cities came out in early 2005. They have a new album apparently coming out in the spring, which is great - but wow, four years. This in spite of the fact that Some Cities apparently went to #1 in the UK. But then, at least they have a new album scheduled, unlike #1 and #2 on this list.

2. The Essex Green
I forget how I stumbled upon them originally - it was via eMusic, I know, so it was probably a recommendation that they were similar to another band I liked and I found it hilarious that their name was the same as a shopping center I often went to in New Jersey. Their last album, Cannibal Sea, came out in March 2006, so they're not at three years yet, which is about the longest amount of time I find generally acceptable from an active band. The thing is, the band members all seem to have relatively new families that may be hampering any recording efforts. I thought I read recently that a new album was in the works, but their official site has nothing on it. Looks like I'm stuck listening to Cannibal Sea over and over for the foreseeable future (not exactly a bad thing, of course).

1. Sufjan Stevens
For a while, Stevens was actually quite prolific, releasing outstanding albums in 2003, 2004 and 2005 (the last of which, Illinois, remains his finest work to date). In 2006, he put out both The Avalanche, advertised as "outtakes and extras from the Illinois album," and Songs for Christmas. Both were great, but both were basically just compilations of older material, meaning that it's now been three and a half years with no new album from a guy who was able to put out three great ones in three years not that long ago. Perhaps he burned out a little. I'd love a new "state" album, but really I'd take just about anything from him at this point.