In the violet hour.

Occasionally (ok, fine, very very very rarely), I'll stumble across something in the Bright Eyes/Decemberists genre (and yes, they are in the same genre; don't fight me on this) that I can actually recommend without feeling like I've somehow betrayed the aforementioned artists. As everyone knows, folky-indie-rock-y-experimental-y-pop tends to come out pretentious and ridiculously forced...so it is with extreme trepidation that I present for your inspection

Sea Wolf

Now, they've been around since 2003...and are currently signed to Dangerbird Records. But having released the glorious album White Water, White Bloom just a mere 3 months ago entitles them to a mention...as well as the ridiculously catchy "Violet Hour" which I currently can't get out of my head. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. If Conor Oberst lost just a tad of his freaky-genius vibe and mellowed out his tone a bit, you'd end up with these guys. And let's just be honest: everyone's been hoping that C.O. would do both of those things for years, so it's a good thing we've got Sea Wolf.