Brian: Houston, Texas's The JonBenét may owe a lot of their spazzy, frantic hardcore sound to The Blood Brothers and screamo legends of the past, but frankly, I really can't complain. The band changes pace and tempo on the drop of a dime, either hyperactively strumming their guitars to the point of total amp raping or abruptly dancing along crescending chord progressions and dizzy bass lines. Check out these three tracks from their Five Stories Retold EP, self-released this past June:
The JonBenét - Stolen Home, Stolen Home
The JonBenét - Eleventh Century Folklore
The JonBenét - Trophy Wives Adam: The rootsy Toronto-based FemBots have been in the news recently due to their increasing integration into the Weakerthans family. Not only have Brian Poirier and Dave MacKinnon played acoustic guitar and keyboards for that band on this year's Airfields And Woodlands tour, but Weakerthans drummer Jason Tait has been behind the kit for the FemBots for a few years now. They put on a really engaging performance when I saw them earlier this month with the Constantines as part of said tour. This is the title track to 2003's much celebrated Small Town Murder Scene:
FemBots - Small Town Murder Scene
More info is available from Paper Bag Records.

Scott: I worship at the Temple Of Walter. Come join me. Walter Schreifels' new band, Walking Concert, is not only the brainchild of the former Quicksand/Rival Schools frontman, it features the guitarist of the criminally underrated J. Majesty as well as the drummer of Into Another. Their quirky, concise pop songs are the stuff dreams are made of:
Walking Concert - What's Your New Thing? Walking Concert - Hands Up!
These songs are taken from Run To Be Born, Walking Concert's debut album on Some Records.