2010 - WHOSE YEAR WILL IT BE?

There's no doubt in my mind that 2009 was conquered by the unsuspecting Baltimore trio, Animal Collective. 'The Post Meriweather Pavilion' is years ahead of its time and while it's an experimental mind-bloggling acid trip of epic proportions its pop credentials remain relatively in tact and their commercial heart beat remains steady and healthy.

We also had The XX. Now I'm not a huge fan. I think their debut is a good record, but that's where it stops for me. Florence stormed it with her debut, Grizzly Bear hit the critics with a heavy talk topic and Wild Beasts demonstrated their simplicity and quirk was all it needed to create 'Two Dancers' and send music hacks into a indie-folk left field-pop frenzy.

The Maccabees followed up their fantastic first album, 'Colour It In', with a mature response in the form of 'Wall Of Arms'. Jamie T's second effort has near-trumpt his first with an ambidextrous foreplay of genre-swapping, ska-hoping, rap-tapping gold dust and The Horrors are still shit.

So. 2010 hey. Well this is what I think.

Reigning Sound are a gang of husky whiskey swiggin' southern rockers who are beginning to make a dent in the music world. Bar room rock and roll without the cliches, they're a full-frontal rocking up-tempo strained out distorted race who have already served me well and I feel that the best is yet to come.

Southampton's multi-birthed and soon-to-be lovingly nurtured love child, Montage Populaire, are the most exciting band on the South coast at the moment. To find wit and intelligence integrated into such a technicolour kaleidoscopic musical back bone is a rarity but here it's evident that this is only the beginning. It's indie-pop at its finest and with recognition come from the left, right, above and fucking below the six-piece can clear their diary as they've got a busy year ahead.

The Crookes vintage swing folk-pop has proved rather popular thus far and can only continue to breed. There's literally nothing to dislike about this Sheffield four-piece. Barber shop swoons, foot-tapping jigs, wholesome home-cooked lyrics and a clear direction of where they're going and what they want means that The Revs favourite new band are going to produce a great debut effort.

As I've said before, I can see the people at This Feeling going pretty ape for Portsmouth's guitar-based indie five-piece The Rubicon. No frills or gimmicks or image-based scams, this is good indie-rock with a sold backbone that includes a gaggle of sing-alongs, five cool-as-fuck lads and an ambitious drive. 'On The Left Side' was one of my favourite songs of the year - for fans of Jersey Budd, recognise. But better, lots better.

Pheonix are going to get bigger and bigger.

Orange County folksters Local Natives are going to grow and grow. Their roots'n'country debut fused the bearded Fleet Foxes influx with the likes of My Morning Jacket and The Shins to create of melodic yet pacing debut, with 'Sun Hands' being a particular favourite with its floating rise and smash'n'grab peak.

Lavishly lo-fi indie pups The Darlings should also be set for a similar rise that we saw with Drums only a few months back. Their East Coast beach-bound surf-chirps gleam with a youthful grin - wide eyed and ready for a party, but maybe they've missed the boat with the success of Drums - despite being around longer than them, the inevitable backlash will ensue.

I think everybody who has ever spoken to me will know that I think Them:Youth are the greatest thing since oxygen. Exploding indie-dance with a brit-rock spine that will send your mind racing and your heart skipping a beat, they're heroic. Pure heroic.

Or maybe even Goldheart Assembly. I've been aching to get this London band in for a long time. Their debut single, 'So Long St. Christopher', is a harmony laced slice of sweet melodic lazy-morning pop that subtly yearns like a creeping love sick hangover until it bursts like rays of sunshine through a dispursing blanket of grey clouds.



Give me time and I'll try to come up with some more. But don't take it as gospel, aseptically after bigging up Hockey and then they decided to let us all down with their debut, polished up shit on a plate.