Having great music delivered right to your inbox is certainly one of the perks of writing a blog such as this one. Most of the time you find yourself sifting through music submissions that don’t quite cut it, or don’t cut it at all, so when you come across some wonderful ear candy it makes it all worth it. Some of this ear candy came to us by way of Wisconsin from a rock band called The Cost of Living.

The Poet Serves Her Sentence is the most recent release from the punky duo made up of Colin Bares and Jesse Nowaczyk, and upon first listen it immediately evokes thoughts of Built To Spill and Modest Mouse. The 6-song album is a carefree expedition that is noticeably influenced by mid-90s punk and alternative rock, making it an easy favorite for the M&T crew.

The group plans to embark on an ambitious tour at the end of the month, crossing the country eastward from Wisconsin and returning back again by the end of July while doing some WWOOFing along the way. Check out “The Way Things Are Shaking Up” below and visit The Cost of Living’s bandcamp page to grab the whole album for FREE, can’t get any better than that people…literally.

It’s that time of the month again, time for our monthly Spotify playlist. Each month we update our Spotify playlist with 20 brand spanking new tracks for your listening pleasure. All you have to do is subscribe to the most recent playlist and it will refresh every month with 20 new M&T jams recommended for listening. All of our old playlists are archived under the link on the left sidebar of our homepage so no need to worry about losing any of your favorite tracks from the previous months.

Our June playlist features fresh tracks from artists like Father John Misty, Alcoholic Faith Mission, Radiation City and more. Take a look at the track listen below and click the link to listen, don’t forget to subscribe for new tracks every month!

Maimed & Tamed June 2012

1. Father John Misty- “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”

2. Alcoholic Faith Mission- “Running with Insanity” (for a live version of this song recorded on our porch click here)

3. The Cribs- “Come On, Be a No-One”

4. Caged Animals- “This Summer I’ll Make It Up To You”

5. Young Jesus- “Family and Friends”

6. Jim Hanft- “Run My Love” (Join us TONIGHT to see Jim and Jake Hill in action at Cafe 939, more info here)

7. You Won’t- “Who Knew”

8. Tu Fawning- “Anchor”

9. Dirt Farmer- “Show Girl”

10. Miles Kane- “First of My Kind”

11. Coke Weed- “Magpie”

12. Bobby Tank- “Afterburn”

13. Ryan Montbleau- “Dead Set’”

14. Admiral Fallow- “Squealing Pigs”

15. Sonnymoon- “Greatness”

16. Best Coast- “How They Want Me To Be”

17. Zulu Winter- “Silver Tongue”

18. Fort Atlantic- “Career Advice”

19. Radiation City- “Winter Blind”

20. Passion Pit- “Take A Walk”

[Eric's Note: Although I wish I could take responsibility for this wonderful piece of writing, I've got to give our wonderful DC contributor Tess O the credit here]

I fully expect Of Monsters and Men to follow in the footsteps of fellow folk-pop acts Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (in 2010) and The Head and the Heart (in 2011) in drawing a big crowd at this year’s Newport Folk Festival. All three bands bring catchy melodies and great chemistry between the male and female vocalists, not to mention a large ensemble.

This six-piece consists of co-singer/guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, co-singer/guitarist Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, piano/accordion player Árni Guðjónsson, and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson. If you’re like me and don’t know how to pronounce any of those names, you can just call them a bunch of cool Icelanders (pun completely unintended). The band’s rise has been rapid; Nanna and Raggi started writing songs together in 2010, the band won Iceland’s annual battle of the bands competition in the same year, and their song “Little Talks” hit number one in Iceland in the summer of 2011.

With “Little Talks” and many of the other songs off of their debut album, Of Monsters and Men have proven themselves quite capable at the art of the crescendo. Their buildups to exuberant sing-along choruses are what they do best, but they also know how to slow it down, as they do on “Love Love Love.”

I caught Of Monsters and Men at the Black Cat in DC back in April before My Head Is An Animal was released in the US, but the venue was still packed with fans that belted out the lyrics along with the band. It was a fun show and I can’t wait to see this group of talented musicians bring their songs to life once again at Newport.

Honeyhoney is sure to give one of the most electrifying performances at this year’s Newport Folk Festival. Vocalist Suzanne Santo can turn a stage into an emotional fireworks show complete with banjo and violin. I can see any chorus turn into a passionate sing-along, filling Fort Adams with sounds of love and redemption.

Honeyhoney was noticed early by actor Kiefer Sutherland who promptly signed them to his label Ironworks. The release of First Rodeo in 2008 was met with critical praise and the band was quickly launched into the spotlight. Four years later they’re still touring hard, hitting SXSW and Coachella this spring. Their second effort Billy Jack came out late last year and has rapidly been gaining steam in the indie rock community.

Billy Jack is a revelation of Americana. What’s amazing is the emotion and ferocity in every performance. Santo’s voice is so strong and the songwriting partnership between her and guitarist Ben Jaffe is unmatched in music today. Their command over a multitude of instruments makes every performance a surprise and gives each song its own unique vibe. Let’s just say that shit is going to get real.

It’s no secret that we love local quintet Darlingside and as the anticipation builds for their new LP Pilot Machines, we can’t help but contain our excitement when new tracks start to surface ahead of the July release date. We previously spoke to Darlingside violin/mandolin player Auyon Mukharji about the concept of releasing Pilot Machines as a subscription album and now we have the pleasure of enjoying the final pre-release- The Edge Of The Earth 7″.

The pre-release disc features the title track as well as a song named “Sweet and Low” which highlights the band’s trademark harmonies and gorgeous arrangements. Check out a live video of “Sweet and Low” below and make sure to get your Pilot Machines subscription so that you can enjoy everything that Darlingside has to offer.