People have different opinions on what they classify as big. With this list of bands, I see them on the edge of being mainstream, but not to that point yet, while some look at this list and see bands that are established in the independent music scene, so they immediately write off the validity of my list. This is just a list of 25 bands that I think should be big and that I hope by the end of 2009 will be in the mainstream spotlight :

-Manchester Orchestra: Their debut full length “I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child” got their foot in the door, but come late April when their sophomore albums “Means Everything To Nothing” drops you’ll be hard pressed to go a day without hearing the name Manchester Orchestra. With the emotion of Brand New and the spiritual nature of Tooth & Nail bands, they are sure to cause an uproar in 2009 and will be bigger than the whole scene by the end of the year

-As Tall As Lions: They keep making layered indie pop with powerful vocals that helps them attract fans of various genres. They’re currently in the studio working on album number three and when it drops this summer, they’ll make a push as one of the scene’s leading acts and rightfully so.

-P.O.S.-Picture a pissed off rapper that lives in the streets at night, but goes to college by day. That’s the best way that I can describe Stef (better known as Pissed Off Stef or P.O.S. for short). Aggressive rap that is inspired by punk bands of the 80s and 90s with the lyrical content and vocabulary of a grad student.

-Sleeping At Last- Back in 2003, they released their debut “Ghosts” on Interscope records, shortly after the CD came out, the label dropped them, but that didn’t slow them down. In 2006, they released their sophomore album “Keep No Score” themselves and their success skyrocketed, picture an orchestra fronted by Aaron Marsh of Copeland, that dabbles in Muse, Coldplay, and other soft indie rock bands.

-Frightened Rabbit- It takes a lot for me to get into bands from overseas, but from the first time I heard the song “Floating in the Forth” by them I was hooked. You get the brash lyrics of Bayside, Alkaline Trio and Saves the Day, mixed with typical indie rock and they’re fronted by a pissed off Scottish man, what else do you need?

-The Graduate- The music scene in my hometown has been going downhill slowly over the past 5 years and the only band left to lead our local scene is none other than The Graduate. Started by the remnants of local acts Best of Winter and J.A.C.K, The Graduate is ready to take the world by storm with their unique brand of dark pop rock. Almost every media outlet has cited The Graduate as a band that is going to be huge and I believe they will as well.

-Pierce The Veil-I dislike bands that make music just for the sake of being “cool” and bands that scream just to sound “badass”. Upon initial review a lot of new listeners to Pierce the Veil may throw them into this category, but that’s an idiotic analysis. Pierce the Veil was formed from the remaining members of Before Today and they have a unique refreshing sound that gives me chills and leaves me refreshed everytime I listen to them, they’re everything right with this type of music, maybe the rest of the garbage bands in the scene should take notes from these guys.

-The Snake The Cross The Crown- Folk and country twang are usually not my desired traits in the music I listen to, but back in 2003, I got my hands on their debut ep and loved it from the first spin, they’ve changed their sound substantially since then, they focus more on the songwriting aspect nowadays than they did back then and they have a more stripped down sound nowadays reminiscent of older Bright Eyes material.

-A Wilhelm Scream-Wait, a punk band, that’s musically talented? That’s not punk rock! Yea, I’ve heard it a million times, but A Wilhelm Scream are the real deal. Fast aggressive punk with crazy guitar riffs, weird structures and a million parts to each one of their songs with very clever lyrics to boot, they’re weathered vets but the scene has yet to weather the storm known as A Wilhelm Scream, be prepared the storm is coming.

-City And Colour- Singer/songwriter Dallas Green (melodic singer of Canadian melodic hardcore outfit Alexisonfire) is back in full swing with his beautiful acoustic songs about love, hate, loss, heart ache, and life in general. He has one of the most amazing voices out there, even if you didn’t like his band, I’m positive that you’ll like City And Colour.

-The Classic Crime-A concept album about life & death and seeing your silvercord right before you die. What else needs to be said? The Classic Crime are an alternative band with punk and religious influences, their lyrics are layered and each song plays off of the next with a lot of variety throughout the album.

-Owen-Mike Kinsella has been around the scene before most of us that listen to this type of music, were alive. While Kinsella has released 5 CDs already under the Owen moniker, he has yet to receive the respect he deserves. In my opinion Owen is Kinsella’s best musical project to date (even though most people would disagree and would pick American Football for the sole reason that it’s the novelty pick of cliche elitists) Owen has never written a song that hasn’t completely left me in awe of it’s beauty and intricateness.

-Facing New York- Every time I listen to Facing New York, I think to myself how can a band that’s so talented and so good, be so funny. I really can’t describe their sound because they sound like them and no one else, just go listen!

-Good Old War- When Days Away broke up many people were disheartened and thought that nothing but bad things would come of it. Well, I’ll be the first to admit that we were all wrong. Good Old War is the best thing that they’ve ever done, an old school sound with heavy Beatles influence and a folk background, with bluesy vocals that leave you wanting more with every listen.

-Between The Trees-A lot of bands out today try and write singles, other bands such as Between The Trees, write singles naturally. Every song on Between The Trees debut album sounds natural and doesn’t sound forced at all and that’s part of the beauty of it all. Not to mention that their live set this past summer at Warped Tour completely stole the show from all the other bands playing, chills went running up my spine, it was amazing.

-Valencia-This generation’s next great pop-punk band, everyone has read at least one article hyping up Valencia’s future success and I will not be any exception. Valencia write fast, clever songs that leave you screaming the words at the top of your lungs without any remorse.

-Nightmare Of You- When The Movielife broke up in 2003, everyone was disappointed, but with Nightmare of You you get a dark pop British invasion that fuses dance pop, synth rock, and overall pop goodness all together for the ultimate aphrodisiac. Once their sophomore album drops later this year, they will be all over the media, you’ve been warned.

-Rx Bandits- They fuse the experimental tendencies of The Mars Volta, with the horn section of Less Than Jake, soulful bluesy and reggae vocals, and a pop-punk backbone all together. They’ve been around for over a decade and still do not get any respect, even if they have the best drummer of this generation in Chris Tsagakis and one of the greatest songwriters of this generation in Matt Embree, not to discredit the rest of the members.

-Punchline-It has taken Punchline over a decade to get their name out there but thanks to the success of “37 Everywhere” and now “Just Say Yes”, Punchline are finally in the media’s eyes and they’re taking no prisoners. Pop-punk’s satirical misfit bandwagon of Punch Kids are ready to make the world say “Who just reunited?”

-MeWithoutYou- Far from accessible on their first two full lengths, MeWithoutYou had been thrown to the side for being different and too experimental, but when “Brother, Sister” dropped people couldn’t stop listening, it was a spiritual rollercoaster and people didn’t want to get off of the ride, and when their 4th album drops in April, more people will hop on the ride.

-Set Your Goals- A great accessible pop-punk band in the same vein as Blink 182 fueled by the energy of New Found Glory

-Mansions-Their lead singer gets hyped up to be the next Jesse Lacey and while I don’t back that statement entirely, there is definitely a spark in their live show and a sense of emotion that will lead them to success

-Forgive Durden-A musical about a guy’s undying love for this girl, perfectly orchestrated and written right after all of his band members left him, what else do I need to say? To say that Thomas Dutton is ambitious, would be an understatement.

-The Matches-With a motto that states “a band that’s weirder than you are”, you’re bound to expect obscure lyrics and weird songs and they definitely deliver and they upstaged Bayside when I saw them tour together and that’s hard to do.

-House Of Heroes-A band that’s been around for awhile, that finally wrote their defining album last year called “The End Is Not The End”, it’s hard to describe their sound except it’s a rock record fueled by religious influences, pop vocals and it has a pretty cool vibe all throughout the album.