Excitement and despair are familiar emotions in the heart of a music lover. Bands can often be unstable and difficult and sometimes they break up. But for every breakup, there is a light that shines from bands who are either new or still going strong and producing exciting new material. I‰’d like to talk a bit about some recent sad farewells, as well as those that are teasing us with possible new releases.

The first goodbye is perhaps the most upsetting and that is the disbanding of We Were Skeletons. WWS is a post-hardcore group from Lancaster, PA. They released their most recent LP, Blame & Aging, last year with Topshelf Records. I had heard of these guys before the release of Blame & Aging and had not been very impressed with the sound. When I got my hands on the LP though, I did a complete 180. These dudes are some of the only post-hardcore/screamo groups that still embrace the sound of classic bands of its genre such as Fugazi and Slint. Blame & Aging quickly became one of my favorite albums of 2012 due to its ability to take inspiration from classics but add a completely unique sound to the music. I was very excited to see where this band would go with this new direction, but no such luck. The group has announced their final tour dates, which are scheduled for late April and early July.

Next up is Tigers Jaw. This band has been a long-time favorite for the indie/emo scene. The four-piece group, also from Pennsylvania, broke onto the scene with their self-titled LP back in 2008 and have done nothing but grow in popularity. Although I mourn the loss, the band has run its course. Tigers Jaw didn‰’t seem to be going anywhere new with their sound, which for me peaked on the band’s first release. Tigers Jaw will be featured on a four-way split, along with Code Orange Kids, The World Is‰Û_ and Self Defense Family later this year. After that, the band will go on an indefinite hiatus following its current tour. Although I criticized TJ’s poppy nature at times, I sure will miss those funky bass lines.

Speaking of great bass lines, I now move on to much happier news. Their/They‰’re/There, the trio I wrote a piece about some weeks ago, has released a teaser track called, “Concession Speech Writer.‰” The band also announced that its first EP will be released on record store day (April 20th) on Polyvinyl Records. The track features Mike Kinsella on drums, Matthew Frank on guitar and Evan Weiss on bass and vocals. Although not as experimental as I‰’d expected, the musicianship for this song is 100% top-notch. The guitar is mathy, the drums are complex and driving and that bassline…who knew Evan could rock the bass like that, and while singing too! Dang! Make sure to check out the newly released track.

The other recent single comes from Iceland’s post-rock ambient legends, Sigur Rüs. The band has been defining post-rock since they entered the scene and its most recent ambient voyage, Valtari, was one of my favorite albums of 2012. Coming from the soft energy of Valtari, the new track, “Brennisteinn,” completely knocked my socks off. The track is very drone and metallic, and it really packs a wallop on the power. It is completely different from anything the band has done before and I couldn‰’t be more excited to see where they take this sound.

Last but not least is a duo that I have recently discovered. The Uncluded is a project formed by singer/songwriter Kimya Dawson and rapper Aesop Rock. Aesop was one of the pioneers of the white-boy rap sound that has been adopted by newer (and in my opinion less talented) performers such as Macklemore. Kimya Dawson is someone who is near and dear to my heart. Her album, Remember That I Love You, was huge for me emotionally and introduced me to a lot of great acoustic indie projects. I‰’m always glad to see two artists that I respect from different genres working together and I think this duo will definitely make some killer tunes.