Trevor Bivens
I’ve been listening to way too much lately. Stuff sticking out on the un-signed front comes from The Real You(think Acceptance meets Ivory) and The Thief. And if you’re into electronic-ish stuff, Murfreesboro, TN’s Mr. Satisfaction has totally been rocking my world. Best party music ever. Awesome live show, too. New Archie Star and All Time Low songs are up and amazing, too.

Bryce Jacobson
Pop punk, pop rock… whatever you want to call has been a big part of my life ever since Blink 182 broke it to me a decade ago. This year has been filled with a lot of pop rock releases and there is still more to come. This week is the release of Barley Blind‘s new EP, The Way We Operate. This is a great EP for fans of the genre.

How many of you were disappointed with Cartel‘s sophomore album? I found it rather a disappointment with only a few catchy songs like “Lose It”, “The Fortunate”, and “Tonight.” Other then that the album seriously put me to sleep, something I didn’t expect from a band who’s EP and first album I loved and promoted to everyone. There has been several bands in the past that I believe that this site has helped break to the mainstream and that has been Cartel and Boys Like Girls. With Cartel’s self-titled album coming in as a disappointment for me, I’m still not sure weather to blame “The Bubble” or just call it off as a sophomore slump. In the wake of this Cartel void there is a need of a great new band that we can promote here at DFO that hasn’t yet hit the radars of anyone else. Today I would like to tell you about We The Kings. The band hails from Florida and they bring a sound that I can literally say consists of a van crash between Cartel and Boys Like Girls. Crazy right? Well it happened and We The Kings will be on everyones radar in the near future but I wanted you all to know about them now before your friends do. If you have ever wondered what we really do here at Driven Far Off this is what we do, we tell you about upcoming bands before anyone else. Enjoy!

Julie Watanabe
It’s been incredibly long since I’ve shown face here, let alone had time to show face here, but before I head back to Washington, here’s a quick pop-rock rec for everyone.  From the great country that brought you Sick Puppies, Parkway Drive, and The Veronicas(!) as well as Vegemite comes Aussie’s new rock sensation The Mission In Motion.  Their EP The Window debuted about 5 months ago, but its tracks have had a considerable staying power on my playlist over the past few weeks. With great riffs, high energy deliveries, fetching lyrics, and a breed of polished cohesiveness that’s rare in a young band, The Mission In Motion are certainly living up to their moniker.  Check out “The Window” and “Don’t You Just Love Theater” to hear TMIM at their best.