The Appleseed Cast - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Graveface Records
Why We're Anticipating: Not much is known about this upcoming release, but if the past is any indication, one thing is clear: this is one of the most consistent bands making music, and this album should be no different from the previous masterpieces that they have put out. If you're still unfamiliar with this band, then you should find the Low Level Owl albums, as well as their most recent release, Sagarmatha, and you will be joining the rest of us in anticipating what should be one of the better releases of 2011.


A Wilhelm Scream – TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Paper+Plastick
Why We’re Anticipating: A Wilhelm Scream's self-titled EP was a picture perfect demonstration of how to combine the gritty with the melodic. After a song like "Bulletproof Tiger," how could we not anticipate what promises to be a beast of an album?


Blaqk Audio - Bright Black Heaven
Release Date: Early 2011
Record Label: Interscope (?)
Why We're Anticipating: Taking cues from acts such as Depeche Mode and Erasure, Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI crafted their own unique brand of synthpop in-between their work with AFI. The brilliant CexCells, released in 2007, showed just how deep and varied their influences were with each and every track. Since then, they've seen fit to tease us with new tracks like "Ill Lit Ships" and "Bon Voyeurs" that are full to the brim with energy and emotion. If the rest of Bright Black Heaven follows suit, the music scene is in store for another ambient masterpiece.


Blueprint - Adventures in Counter-Culture
Release Date: March 1
Record Label: Rhymesayers Entertainment
Why We're Anticipating: While fellow Rhymesayers members Brother Ali and P.O.S. may get all the press, Blueprint has carved a very special niche in the hip-hop landscape. After impressive showings in groups Soul Position and Greenhouse Effect, Blueprint forged his own path as a special producer/rapper with unique beats and heartfelt lyrics about the world around him. Adventures in Counter-Culture promises to blend and mix genres with reckless abandon, and if the track "Radio-Inactive" is any indication, Blueprint may have very well succeeded.


Circle Takes the Square - TBA
Release Date: Spring/Summer
Record Label: TBA
Why We're Anticipating: One of the most insane live shows I've ever seen in such a confined space. Circle Takes the Square's As the Roots Undo is one of the most talked about, praised, and hated albums in the post-hardcore scene. It's solid, sorry if you disagree. This will be an obscure victory for few, but we're going to be awaiting patiently. I mean, we've waited so long, some of us forgot.


The Devil Wears Prada - TBA
Release Date: Summer 2011
Record Label: Warner/Ferret
Why We're Anticipating: The band has progressed so much over the course of three albums and one massive EP that I am expecting this album to destroy everyone. Mike Hranica is quickly emerging as one of the best vocalists in the metalcore scene, and if they can progress from their epic Zombie EP, you can expect more people to become fans of Prada.


Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (D.R.U.G.S.) - Self-Titled
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Record Label: Decaydance
Why We're Anticipating: Featuring members from Matchbook Romance, From First To Last, Story of the Year, and Underminded, D.R.U.G.S. is the album that will intrigued many (and you know the haters are secretly anticipating this baby as well). Their first song, "If You Think This Song Is About You, It Probably Is" is a lightning jolt of chaotic catchiness, but judging from the small clips in their updates, we can expect their debut to be a little heavier than that. Love him or hate him, Craig Owens' name always draws a huge thread here. 2011 is the year Owens shows everyone that Chiodos made a huge mistake.


Every Time I Die - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Epitaph
Why We're Anticipating: It may be hard to believe that Every Time I Die could create something heavier than 2009’s behemoth New Junk Aesthetic, but I’m here to give everyone fair warning: prepare yourselves for destruction. After spending most of 2010 rocking out with The Damned Things, leadman Keith Buckley is ready to unleash some god-forsaken screams. You should also expect ax-masters Andy Williams and Jordan Buckley to build upon the spectacular guitar work heard on NJA. Basically, it’s time to rise the threat level color to red.


Former Theives - The Language That We Speak
Release Date: Spring
Record Label: No Sleep
Why We're Anticipating: Aggressively, Former Thieves are poised to be that next band you tell your "bros" about. Easily comparable to Botch, the band harness a little less noggin' and lot more clobberin' with their material though, and it may just be too much for the regular "hate mosher" in your life. While the brute force was a little held back in production on their last EP, the full-length will hopefully knock more than a few out.


fun. - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Nettwerk
Why We're Anticipating: At this point, I don't think it's a far reach to say that Nate Ruess is one of the best things going on in the pop music world. Smart, clever, interesting. Many of us were crushed when The Format broke up, but in 2009, Ruess returned with fun.'s debut Aim & Ignite. Full of anxious pop melodies and driven by Ruess' unmistakable vocals, fun. was a new beginning. Rest assured, fun.'s sophomore album will without a doubt further cement Ruess as a monument of modern pop music.


Gatsbys American Dream - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Equal Vision
Why We're Anticipating: If you’re like me, you probably did some sort of dance once word got out that Gatsby’s American Dream were getting back together (personally I went with the Aaron Rodgers “title belt” celebration). It’s been 4 years since their last album, so saying that we’ve missed their spastic, intense, and smart rock and roll would be quite the understatement. The Seattle sextet is out to kill all the bullshit music that has been polluting our airwaves. Neon music, you’ve been warned.


Glassjaw - TBA
Release Date: Early 2011
Record Label: Warner Bros. Records
Why We're Anticipating: I think it goes past simple anticipation at this point. The hype that's been building ever since the track "You Think You're (John Fucking Lennon)" hit the scene in 2008 finally culminated in the release of Our Color Green (The Singles). The EP, while short, provides a fantastic look into future. While their last full-length was released just a year short of a decade ago, it's apparent that Daryl Palumbo and company still have the same essence that made their band so special.


Grizzly Bear - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Warp Records
Why We're Anticipating: Much like Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear is one of those "indie" bands that actually live up to their hype and more. Since we're not getting anything new on the Blue Valentine OST, a new LP must be in the works, and all signs point to it happening this year. I wonder what location will be the muse this time around?


I Am The Avalanche - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: TBA
Why We're Anticipating: I Am The Avalanche hasn't put out a proper release since 2005 and have been in contractual limbo with Drive-Thru for years. After talking with Vinnie personally and seeing him play live, they have been recording and are planning to get a record out in 2011. No one knows what 6 years between records will give us, but we're patiently waiting for Vinnie's voice to grace our ears again.


La Dispute - TBA
Release Date: Late Fall/Early Winter
Record Label: No Sleep Records
Why We're Anticipating: La Dispute are poised to be the next big thing in the #tourlife scene, and their follow-up to their first LP may just solidify that. I've been hearing talks that some of the songs the band are demoing are even darker than previous efforts, and if their tracks on the Touche Amore split are anything of a sign, this may be the release that washes out the rest of that bad taste left by the scream-sing-syth bands.


Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Release Date: March 2
Record Label: LL Recordings
Why We're Anticipating: Youth Novels was one of the best debuts to come out in 2008, so it's no surprise that hopes and expectations for her follow-up are extremely high. Judging by her newest song "Get Some," this album should be just as good, if not better, than Youth Novels. If anything, it should be a record with beautiful and catchy melodies accompanied by a unique voice; what more could one want?


The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
Release Date: February 22
Record Label: Nonesuch
Why We're Anticipating: If the praise for their previous release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, is any indication, 2011 will be the year that this band gets the attention it deserves. This trio has been around for a while, making beautiful folk music that should have appealed to fans Bon Iver and Iron & Wine, but perhaps Smart Flesh will finally put them on the map. February promises to be cold, and this promises to be the perfect album to listen to in the meantime, so keep an eye out for it.


The Maccabees - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Fiction
Why We're Anticipating: After a great year full of headlining tours, main stage festival slots and many new fans through the release of their superb, game-changing second album, Wall Of Arms, things are only going to get bigger and better for the band, much like the music itself. Whether it's melancholy sounds, sing-a-long choruses or heartfelt tones you want...this band delivers it all to the highest standard. The Maccabees really do hold their own as one of the best British bands around right now and if we go on live performances and videos of new tracks "Child" and "Forever, I've Known", it seems as though they are not only going to maintain that position but raise the bar even higher.


Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
Release Date: Spring/Summer
Record Label: Favorite Gentlemen Recordings
Why We're Anticipating: Mean Everything to Nothing was a behemoth of a record not only for long time fans, but for the band's crossover into mainstream. Seriously, did you expect to hear that on the radio? While we may not get videos for every song on the album this time around, the band have said to me at this year's Austin City Limits that the album will be heavier on some ends and even more melodic on others. A polarizing album? I think we've heard that before. With Hull still writing for the conclusion of his Right Away, Great Captain! saga, and the release of the Bad Books album with fellow song-writing friend and "muse" Kevin Devine, I think expectations will be high on this one for many of us.


New Found Glory – TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Epitaph
Why We’re Anticipating: As expected, 2010 was another huge year for Epitaph records. It looks like 2011 will be no different, as NFG’s highly anticipated follow up to Not Without A Fight will provide even further proof that pop-punk is not dead. They've never let us down before, and they surely won't this time.


Original Silence - The Third Original Silence
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Smalltown Superjazz
Why We're Anticipating: There's something about a band that disappears for an undisclosed amount of time, and then reappears casually in a magazine record label advertisement. I'm not even positive if the third release from super-group Original Silence -- containing Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Terrie Ex (The Ex), ubiquitous free jazz performers Mats Gustafsson (sax) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), some dude named Jim O'Rourke, and Massimo Pupillo (Zu) -- will be called The Third Original Silence, but given the first two installments, I can't imagine an aberration. No, the band saves the unpredictability for the songs themselves: a violent strain of noise rock-influenced free-jazz often referred to as "skronk." What live performance this recording will feature is also a mystery, but as the label rightly says, "This is 100% improvised rock. A spontaneous, monumental, raw and harshly beautiful out-rock masterpiece!"


Pharoahe Monch - W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)
Release Date: March 22, 2011
Record Label: Duck Down
Why We're Anticipating: As he is one the best lyricists East Coast hip-hop has ever seen, we wait with bated breath for Pharoahe Monch's third full-length. Even if he had just released '99's Internal Affairs, his legacy would be mighty. Yes, his debut contained the hit "Simon Says," but that song was not representative of the album; it was not about club bangers. Instead, he predicated his unique style on pushing metaphor and the deployment of "information" to new limits, and, in the process, challenged the listener with speed, dexterity, and concept. Highlights included everything from the savage collaboration with M.O.P., "No Mercy," to the lushly produced narrative "Queens." In addition to his novel approach, he situates his subject matter somewhere between the socially conscious and grimy murder tales associated with Queensbrige MCs -- and he delivers it all in a multisyllabic, shape-shifting delivery. He also couples his heady subject matter with plenty of charisma (like that of Ghostface Killah), and also like Tony Starks, his larger-than-life presence doesn't make up for or disguise any lyrical shortcomings. His sophmore effort, 2007's Desire, contained the expected vivid, acrobatic lyricism but lacked consistently compelling beats. Luckily, Monch promises W.A.R. (We Are Renegades) will be a throwback to early 90s East Coast hip-hop, and one hopes he returns with the unslakeable hunger of his debut.


Portugal. The Man - TBA
Release Date: Spring/Summer
Record Label: Atlantic Records
Why We're Anticipating: This is the one band I have been following since the beginning. One band I've seen more than any other. One band that sits above all in my vinyl collection. Even if their last two records took a few spins to sink in, they sunk in wonderfully. After talking with Zac Carothers at Austin City Limits this year, the band's major label debut may blend everything they've ever done and blend it again into something new. If five albums haven't been a disappointment, I can't see their Bowie-eqsue shape shifting being a let down on their sixth.


Set Your Goals - Burning At Both Ends
Release Date: Spring 2011
Record Label: Epitaph
Why We're Anticipating: When the thermostat starts rising, you just know that a new Set Your Goals album is around the corner. The Bay Area punk rock group has cemented their place as one of the best in the genre, and they’ll look to continue their ascension this spring when they release their third full length album, Burning At Both Ends. The sextet will once again go to work with producer Brian McTernan, so you should expect some crunchy riffs with some incredibly catchy sing-along choruses. I’m sweating already.


Saves the Day - Daybreak
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: TBA
Why We're Anticipating: These guys and Glassjaw have been vying for the scene's Chinese Democracy for some time now. Saves the Day have at least put out three records in that time though, but we're still waiting up for this one to wrap-up the trilogy with Sound the Alarm and Under the Boards. It's supposed to be more vibrant and poppy I hear. I'm not sure if I really care if it sounds like a drone record at this point. I just want to hear the damn thing already.


Thrice - TBA
Release Date: TBA
Record Label: Vagrant Records
Why We're Anticipating: Arguably one of the biggest bands on this entire website. One of the site's creator's top 3 favorite bands ever. Album after album, Thrice have done no wrong. Dustin Kensrue is one of the most powerful vocalists of his kind, and the man pens some of the most conscious lyrics of any artist. After Beggars, the expectations are insanely high. But honestly, it's Thrice - we all know it will be a great record.


Thursday - TBA
Release Date: Spring
Record Label: Epitaph Records
Why We're Anticipating: While Common Existence was a let down for some and a throwback to others, it still contained the bite and urgency we've all come to know and love from the band. Its major flaw: lack of cohesion. Whether that will be a problem this time around, or we'll see a better flow of an album, I foresee Thursday once again proving why so many call them a major influence among the young music scene.


We Still Dream - Chapters
Release Date: March
Record Label: Eulogy Records
Why We're Anticipating: The band made a splash in 2008 with their debut EP Oh Snap! that caught the attention of the pop-punk scene. They've shed the Four Year Strong-esque style by returning to an old school pop-punk sound reminiscent of Take This To Your Grave. If the few songs that have been released online are any indication of what the entire album is going to be, We Still Dream could be one of the bands in the forefront of the pop-punk scene.

I can't wait for a lot of these.

Yay! 2011 is gonna be a brilliant year for me musically.

It's awesome to see Mockingbird on this list. They are great

I had no idea Gaslight was looking to put out another album this year. So excited

I'm also excited to hear Born This Way idgaf

I am also anticipating 14 of those. The others I either don't or I don't know them. Solid list though.

Stoked for I Call Fives, The Wonder Years, Bayside, Taking Back Sunday and The Dangerous Summer. Will give All Time Low a listen, but I'm not expecting much.

No Set Your Goals? Transit? Man Overboard? Handguns?

Good list otherwise.

drooling.

The new Rise Against is called "Endgame"

Originally Posted by Cøltøn

No Set Your Goals? Transit? Man Overboard? Handguns?

Good list otherwise.

This is only part one...

Also, I'm suprised the site didn't have New Found Glory on here.

How come Thrice is not on this list?

that list doesn't knock my socks off...