First off, we're not quite sure why Blogger isn't giving us a title box. So, for now please deal with no titles.

Yes, yes, we're still moving things in, organizing the rooms, figuring out where to hang the velvet Elvis paintings, etc., but here is a little bit more about us.

As we've mentioned, our tastes will cross with We Shot JR, Dallas Observer, Gorilla vs. Bear, etc.; however, we're seeking to expose the bands that normally go under the radar because they aren't considered weird or artsy. We promise not to be as broad as Texas Gigs, but we're not going to limit ourselves to writing only about our friends' bands and hip-hop (re: Observer).

We're putting another voice out there because we believe that the North Texas area harbors some of the best bands in the nation and that most of them go unnoticed because they're not hitting you over the head with their experimental style. Most write good, solid songs that most hipsters find "boring," we admit, but we'd rather watch and listen to a band like Titanmoon with their Texas' Keane persona than two people playing "weird" music while reading out loud from a book on stage.

Indie music has hit that stage where a lot of the time, one band is trying to be more experimental or cutesy than the next one. And when that happens, more often than not, the craft of good songwriting gets lost in the mix.

"I think people often forget that while some of the more popular bands in Dallas right now (The Valentines, Deathray Davies, Belafonte, Chemistry Set, etc.) might have sounds that are more commercially viable than the Strategies gang, their chances of going very far outside of being cool on lower Greenville probably aren't very good," We Shot JR said. "Why? Well, its not so much that they're just completely terrible (which several of them are), but more because there are similar bands with very similar sounds in pretty much every large to mid sized city in the United States, and they're all fighting for that one Volkswagen commercial, or that one opening slot on the next Death Cab tour."

Our response to that is it's the same for those artsy bands that get written about. Look at any U.S. city (especially ones with several colleges in one area), and you'll find the same kind of experimental bands that come out of Denton. They're also fighting for a spot in the art band pool, which is just as crowded as the other, indie-size pool.

"And while the Dallas version of a watered down Strokes might not be much worse (and could be much better) than the Kansas City or Sacramento versions, it just seems that the competition to reach the markets they are aiming for is much tighter than that for the market that say, Notes from Undergound, Shiny Around the Edges or Eat Avery's Bones might be able to interest," We Shot JR continues. "In short, many of the Strategies groups (and a handful of other local acts) seem to offer something relatively unique, something that might actually catch a Matador rep off guard at SXSW next year. I guess that is why I thought Strategies was sort of a big deal."

What is the market for the Strategies gang? We can't figure out how tight the market is until we define it. Maybe Eat Avery's Bones wants to sign to a big label. Have you asked them? What, aren't they like 20 years old. Don't tell me they wouldn't be greatly tempted by big money. We're older than that, and we're still tempted by loads of cash, though that amount has gotten much higher. And is it really so terrible if say The Valentines want to "make it?"

In sum, local artists that we like at the moment include: Record Hop, Happy Bullets, Blackheart Society, Undoing of David Wright, Tah-Dahs, Hourly Radio and Doug Burr.

A few local artists we're still on the fence about: Titanmoon, the Valentines, the Angelus, Max Cady and Voot Cha Index

A few local artists that we think should hang it up: Chemistry Set, Golden Falcons, Bosque Brown, and Idi Amin.

More tomorrow.