You wonder if the twin brothers Blaze and Reid Bateh and their longtime friend William Brookshire decided to name their band after the beetle, the groundnut, or the ethnic group in Mali. Well however they were inspired to self-identify as Bambara, the group is certain to inspire some indie noise acts out there. “Dog Ear Days” is a manic EP of creepy compositions made up of feedback, distortion, beats, airiness and noise, and lots of delay. Thrilling and suspenseful, each song seems to build on the last further tightening their grasp around your entire body. While everyone else seems to focus first on melody and then build from the ground up, it seems as if Bambara’s approach is more visceral with an intelligent ear honed to crafting a cinematic and moody backdrop and then Lego-ing the various pieces together unlike most of their fellow Athens, Georgia based bands.

Kadman sounds like a mellow Pearl Jam album at times; often melodic and meandering (in a good way), extremely lonely and trying to find its feet. “These Old Bones” shakes off stereotypes with a vocally-led drive, sparse rhythm, coffeehouse centric guitars, and intriguing lyrics. An intricate and incredible album to say the very least. Another perfect notch on the belt for Baltimore’s best indie label, The Beechfields.

Indie rock that’s busy bridging gaps and forging in the forest of dissonance and chaos, “Instant Everything” by Untied States (that’s not a typo English majors, thanks) is a whirlwind and cacophony of noise, both spazzy and delightful. Post-punk noise nuance is a great way to describe this Atlanta-based five-piece. Experimental jam sessions gone awry and hectic, lunging from unexpected to predictable seemingly in the same stanza of prose. I hear a lot of yesteryear Sonic Youth influences minus Kim Gordon but plus David Yow of the Jesus Lizard. Loud and abrasive guitar-centric noise machines Untied States write raw and authentic college rock anthems that are sometimes hard to follow but always pleasing to the appreciative ear.

Polish emo? You bet, and Keira Is You is in the vein of true emo, ala The Appleseed Cast, Engine Down, and perhaps even a little Sunny Day Real Estate. “Nothing Else Will Happen” casts its net far and wide with powerfully experimental nuances like children’s choirs, elements of New Wave, cello, and synthesizers. Indie rock should be a little challenging, now shouldn’t it?

Watch this video for “Madness”:

Art-pop magicians Parlour Steps hail from Vancouver, a music scene that has already garnered a lot of attention in the past few years but simply now is a requisite for music lovers and critics alike. Caleb Stull not only writes beautiful poetry for lyrics but stirs the emotions with his fantastically melodic approach at the microphone. Intelligent indie pop that is this stunning is hard to find these days, so shine this gem up and wear it with pride I say! To think that they were able to release something as incredible as “The Hidden Names” so quickly on the heels of 2008’s “Ambiguoso” is astonishing and showcases the true talent of this quintet.