The Arctic Monkeys are the most promising UK acts finding their way into my collection. This album is superior to countrymen Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. The radio single “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” is one of the album’s highlights and representative of the brash teenage type theme. I don’t think you can make a career out of it, but it works for this album. Hear them on Morning Becomes Eclectic.

I’ve been waiting to post this until I finished The World Is Flat. Until recently, the Arctic Monkeys music only existed online. So why did they succeed? Not because they were on the radio and MTv and shoved down everyone’s throats so many times that people decided it must be good if they heard it that so often. People had access to the music, listened, decided they liked it, and passed it on to their friends. The buzz got big enough, and they got a record deal. While there are going to be problems with the flat world, the state of music won’t be one, if the Arctic Monkeys are any indication.

In the genre of power pop, there’s basically Carl Newman (NP, solo album under A.C. Newman, Zumpano), then Fountains of Wayne, and then a large drop off. Jimmy Eat World stands out from the crowd a bit. NP get bonus points for the inclusion of Neko Case, who provides the fan-favorite female voice on a number of tracks. She has five solo albums to her credit which is more alt-country.

Apparently I don’t understand how music gets into the mainstream, because I feel like the New Pornographers would really take off. People love stuff this catchy. I did hear “Use It” off Twin Cinema back a very long ad on TNT a couple nights back, so maybe it’s around the corner.

I sort of missed the boat on Bloc Party. Last year’s single Banquet garnered quite a bit of attention, but then I read a misleading review and passed on Silent Alarm. Anyway, I finally gave Bloc Party another chance, and it’s better than I rememeber. Does it live up to last summer’s hype? Pitchfork thinks so, AllMusic gave it four stars, and I think the first half is solid, the second half, pretty mediocre. If you’re into Franz Ferdinand, give it a shot.

Now here’s something pretty different. In addition to the normal instruments, i.e. guitars and drums, the Go! Team also play the harmonica, glockenspiel, recorder, and banjo along side samples of trumpet lines while the vocals basically consist of cheerleader or double-dutch type chants. The result is something celebretory and triumphant, reminiscent of the music from a NES game or Rocky movie. And if you still need a reason to listen, the woman on lead vocals is named Ninja. Check out their performance on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. It might even be better than the album.

A few weeks back, I tuned in to Live 105’s new and indie music show, Soundcheck, and thought I was hearing a new Yeah Yeah Yeahs track. I was getting into it, and excited about a new YYYs album. Well, I was way off. The song turned out to be “Monster Hospital” by the east coast based Metric. They have all the trademarks of a “Jer band”: (1) alternative/indie pop, (2) female on lead vocals (Emily Haines, also a member of Broken Social Scene), and (3) liberal/progressive themes (“Glass Ceiling” or “Handshakes”: Buy this car to drive to work / Drive to work to pay for this car). All that adds up to airplay in ol’ 610 Latimer and tickets to the show at the Filmore.