THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES...

10. The Neighborhoods (Toko Tasi, Philieano and Paulie Nugent)

Album Title: Not Yet Known

Released when: Summer/Fall and could be a CD/DVD release

Recorded By: Kyle McDonald (Slightly Stoopid) and Miguel (Skunk)

Sounds Like: This will be a one off collaboration in the style of the Wu-Tang Clan or Tribe Called Quest. Paulie Nugent says, "Miguel has had this concept for this album for a while. Back in 2002, we actually already recorded some jams with Kyle that has never been released so far. It's going to be cool."

Interesting Tidbit: Skunk Records is also looking to release in 2009, The Skunk Story DVD!

Why The Pier is excited: Kyle and Miguel producing!!! Plus in recent times all three artists have released killer albums on Skunk and proven they all collaborate well together.

Visit Skunk here: Skunk Web-Site

9. Mike Pinto

Album Title: Everything I Got (acoustic album)

Released when: February at the latest

Recorded at: Tommy Dubs (Gadfly) garage/studio

Sounds Like: Mike Pinto says, "Pretty raw. Has a sitting in your living room, drinking beers feel. I am trying not to take myself seriously on this one."

Songs Include: 15 songs total, five new tracks; Tornado, Heartbreak, Closer to Me, Everything I Got, Bill Song/Bill Song #2 (Crime and Punishment)

Interesting Tidbits: All songs were recorded in one take through, though some were re-done due to airplane noise flying over head.

Why The Pier is excited: By the sounds of things, this album should get to the heart of what makes Mike Pinto great - his soulful voice and natural guitar playing gift. Way excited for this!

Visit Mike here: Mike Pinto MySpace

8. Stick Figure

Album Title: Not Yet Known

Released when: Spring/Summer

Recording at: Written, recorded, and produced by Scott Woodruff (Stick Figure) in home studio

Sounds Like: Reggae Dub - Stick Figure says, "Trying to keep the same old reggae dub sound...just some brand new music, but this time better than ever before."

Songs Include: Fallen Down, Hawaii song, Vibes Alive, Fight the Feeling, Cocaine and Livin' It

Interesting Tidbit: All the music is by Scott Woodruff. Stick Figure says, "Each song is written and recorded one at a time. When a song is finished, I begin writing/recording another. The album will be released when about 14 or 15 songs are complete."

Why The Pier is excited: The musical growth between Stick Figure's first two albums was the talking point of 2008. His music is haunting, original and amazingly beautiful. Now if we could only get him to tour more!

Visit him here: Stick Figure MySpace

7. Tomorrow's Bad Seeds

Album Title: The band says, "We are thinking about releasing our greatest hits/anthology as our sophomore album, but we can't seem to create the right masterpiece/ballad to accompany our roster of new tracks (haha). No, seriously though we've been thinking about naming it after a few different new songs entitled False Belief or Sacred for Sale."

Released when: Fall or maybe end of Summer

Recording at: TBS says, "We most definitely are gonna be back in The Lair with the man Larry Goetz for some sessions, and there is talk of doing some other tracks elsewhere just to get a different feeling or vibe for other songs."

Sounds Like: "You know, we always try to be innovative and fresh with it when taking into consideration the creative processes that go along with producing a new song or an entire album, whether it be tones for guitars or drums or melodies for the vocals - we definitely explore and utilize our options for finding what we are looking for.

Also, we always try to evoke, not provoke each other, into thinking outside of the box when we are writing or arranging; it's all about constructive criticism and self discovery and maybe unlocking doors or avenues that exist in our own minds that we didn't know existed (or hadn't been created yet). We have been growing as a band so the sound has evolved quite a bit. We are all obviously influenced by Rock 'n' Roll, but we also try and channel our primal roots in music to make a diverse mixture or blend of genres. In the end we are mainly going for that Bad Seed sound."

Songs Include: We have quite a few new tracks in the making and some complete, to name a few... Ill Repute, Tell Me Why, Uplift, False Belief and Sacred for Sale

Why The Pier is excited: Put simply, just a great band that makes great music. Must be witnessed live to see the power it can muster these days.

Visit the band here: Tomorrow's Bad Seeds MySpace

6. Unwritten Law

Album Title: Not Yet Known

Released when: February/March on Suburban Noize Records

Recording at: Various recording studios around SoCal

Sounds Like: Vocalist Scott Russo says, "The sound is reverting back to an 80's style Clash offbeat record, with lots of reggae verses into these mean grindy choruses. We are not trying to re-invent the wheel, we are just trying to make a really good record we can play for our families and friends without any disclaimers. We are just trying to give each song the attention it deserves and we are pretty confident people are going to be stoked on this record."

Interesting Tidbit: Scott says, "For this record we are also doing a cover and as weird as it sounds, like The Blues Brothers I had a vision from God and he told me to do a cover on this record. So for this past eight months I have been trying to work out which one to do. A few months ago I was driving home from Arizona and this song came on this oldie station, opening with this massive riff - it was Frida from Abba and Phil Collins doing I Know There's Something Going On. Our version sounds retarded, people are freaking out about it. You can't go wrong with Phil Collins."

Why The Pier is excited: Unwritten Law is at its best when it is at its most fun and that is certainly what the band sounds like it is going for here. Could be the surprise package of 2009.

Visit the group here: Unwritten Law MySpace

5. Iration

Album Title: Very tentative title - Brutal Heat

Released when: Hopefully before the end of the year ha!

Recording at: Iration says, "Undecided but we have a couple of offers and ideas."

Sounds Like: The band says, "The album will be a lot closer to our new EP than No Time for Rest. Better song-writing, heavier guitars, lots of synth as we will be exploring the depths of Cayson's instruments a lot more, tighter vocal melodies and harmonies and of course driving bass and drums which we feel is the signature of our band. All this with a pop sensibility and basically trying to push the realm of reggae/rock to something that hasn't been done before.

We're not interested in making the same old reggae songs that everyone has heard before. We want to bring something new to the equation and define our style as something completely unique from the other bands in our genre. We want to make a record that reggae fans, rock fans, punk fans, metal fans, pop fans, hip hop fans, country fans, electronic fans, and acoustic fans can all listen to and enjoy."

Songs Include: We'll probably be taking a couple of the songs from the EP though we haven't decided which ones yet. Probably Falling and another. Other songs are Love Hate Thing, Dream, All this Time and some others that we'll begin playing live within the next month or so.

Interesting Tidbit: We definitely want to incorporate some acoustic music into this album as well as possibly have some guest appearances. We had Mikey Dread and Dub Nasty from Sabotage Sound System on the last album, so hopefully this time we get some more guests of that stature.

Why The Pier is excited: The Sample This EP was probably close to the perfect four songs you could release together at the one time. The Pier is quitely confident the band can step up and re-produce this magic for a full-length.

Visit Iration here: Iration MySpace

4. The B Foundation

Album Title: Bassist Jason Moorehead says, "We don't have an album title right now, but we may consider a self-titled, but I'm pulling for The Adventures of Doctor Weird Beard."

Released when: We're hoping to have the album out in March but no definitive date... This Spring for sure though.

Recording at: We are looking at a few different studios, we did Trouble Standing and The Deep End at The Den Recorders in Pasadena, but we feel it's a good idea to get away from our element to record this album, somewhere we can get weird and not have our homes right around the corner. Lock ourselves up with a bottle of Jack and our instruments.

Sounds Like: The B Foundation has a new member (Tyler Lewis) on lead guitar, so we expect the sound to change a little bit, but we're still delivering the same vibe. Feel good tunes with an aggressive edge, this album will be one you can skate to, surf to, make babies to, and do your homework to... I don't know, I always listen to music when doing homework...

Songs Include: Some of the tunes haven't been named, but look forward to hearing ripping versions of Too Damn Tough and The Cure and some new stuff that we are super proud of... maybe our cover of Land Down Under

Final Thoughts: Jason says, "Look for ripping guitar leads, melodic harmonizing riffs, pounding bass lines and vocals melodies. The new album from The B is going to be one for everyone to relate to. Break out the champagne and blunt wraps."

Why The Pier is excited: As one of the most experienced reggae rock bands around today, The B Foundation needs (and we think will) make an amazing album to stay ahead of the hungry younger reggae rock pack. This third album should take the band to the next level.

Visit The B here: The B Foundation MySpace

3. Authority Zero

Album Title: "As of now...we have no clue!"

Released when: Vocalist Jason DeVore says, "We're aiming for a summer release. Hopefully June or July."

Recording with: We're still looking into producers as well. We'd like to self produce it possibly this time around, but things may change the closer we get.

Sounds Like: Jason says, "The overall sound of the album will be in true Authority Zero form... everything from old school to new school punk, rock, reggae and ska..who knows what else? As always, it will probably even surprise us what gets tossed in by the time all's said and done."

Songs Include: Big Bad World and No Way Home

Why The Pier is excited: Still going strong after all these years, AZ is one band you can expect zero bulls@#t from. Just go listen to the band's incredible debut (A Passage in Time) if you want to get excited for any new material from Authority Zero.

Visit Authority Zero here: Authority Zero MySpace

2. 311

Album Title: Not Yet Known

Released when: Spring

Recording with: Producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi & The Cult). Vocalist/guitarist Nick Hexum says, "Bob brings a fresh point of view to our music. It's the perfect fit. There have been countless times where Bob makes a suggestion and the bandmembers look at each other and say, "Why didn't we think of that?" He's an amazing engineer that is getting the best tones, but he's also very much a song guy."

Sounds Like: Nick says, "The new songs build on themes that we have started before but take them leaps and bounds further. I cannot think of a time that we have worked as hard for so long on a collection of songs. Personally, I have been expanding my knowledge of theory and learned many new jazz guitar chords so the textures are getting more complex without losing the catchiness and groove of our previous stuff. One thing we have been mindful of is writing grooves that make people want to dance. The songs are going to be great live and also interesting to just listen to on headphones."

Interesting Tidbit: This will be the band's ninth studio full-length album.

Why The Pier is excited: It's 311. Who has been around longer and more successful today? At the very least, with Bob Rock on board you can bet this will be 311's biggest sounding record. Prepare to bang those heads.

Visit 311 here: 311 Web-Site

1. The Expendables

Album Title: Not Yet Known

Released when: Summer/Fall

Recording with: Guitarist Raul Bianchi says, "It looks like we will be down at Total Access Studios in LA, working with Paul Leary (Sublime and Pepper) and El Hefe from NOFX. Hopefully we will be doing some co-writing and have El Hefe produce as well. Producing is something he is a big fan of and he works with a lot of hip hop artists and other bands."

Sounds Like: Drummer Adam Patterson says, "Right now we have already written over half the songs for it." Raul continues, "Structurely it looks like a lot of the songs are going to be more similar to our second album, Open Container. We have a lot of straight reggae songs and lot of straight heavier songs. We don't have a lot of mixture songs like we had on the last album."

Songs Include: Brother, Mind Control, Corpoarte Cafetiere and I Ain't Ready - Raul says, "That will be the radio hit (haha)." Bassist Ryan Demar says, "We tend to come up with weird titles for all of our songs when they are in their early stages. Sometimes they stick like New Ska and Ryan Song."

Final Thoughts: Adam says, "We are going to just try and make the best album we can and find that right sound. We really want to think this one through as it is a big album for us. We are not getting any younger so we might want to make a good one (haha)." Raul chimes in, "We are actually going to spend some money on making this one (haha)."

Why The Pier is excited: The band said it themselves, this album could/should be the one that catapults it into the big leagues. There is no doubting the talent is there. Anyone who has seen the band live recently can attest to that.

Visit the band here: The Expendables MySpace

2008 NO-SHOWS

The following is the list of band's that were planning on releasing albums in 2008 and made last year's Pier's Most Anticipated Album's list - but didn't get them out. The Pier still eagerly awaits...

No Doubt - Don't hold your breath that this will drop this year. It is a positive sign that the band is touring again in '09, but if this much anticipated album does appear on shelves expect it around Christmas time. Would still love to see a co-headlining 311 and No Doubt Tour.

Part One Tribe - Obvious As Ever will be released in the first quarter of 2009 on Long Beach Records. From all reports it sounds like this could be one amazing record.

Chapter 11 - As mentioned at No.20 above, Chapter 11's Premium Blend will be released state-side in March, featuring 12 new songs and with one being the incredible House Party, makes this already a MUST purchase for all. Look for guest appearances from Marshall Goodman, Tim Wu, Philieano and J-Ross Parrelli.

Badfish (not the cover band) - The couple of tracks The Pier has already heard sound wicked - Rob U Blind is a destined classic. Expect a first quarter release from these veterans.

THE BEST OF THE REST

The Pier is also stoked about the following band's releasing albums in 2009, unfortunately at time of publishing there was not enough detail to consider them for the Top 20 Most Anticipated Releases.

As a minimum you can expect The Pier to review all these albums listed in this feature, so make sure to visit regularly for Exclusive MP3 Leaks and CD Reviews. Here is some more 'must buy' albums dropping in '09:

Slightly Stoopid - Silverback says, "There have been talks about Slightly Stoopid releasing a new album, EP, or another form of recorded music for it's die-hard fans, but nothing official is currently on the books for 2009." You know if anything drops, The Pier will be there with everyone else for sure!

Passafire - With what was possibly the best reggae rock band release of 2007, hopes are high for Passafire's sophomore album. With songs like Illuminate already revealed, I think we can expect some more fantastic musical odysseys.

Ozomatli - Hopefully this genre-crossing band will recruit original member Chali2na not just to its recent live show, but on its newest album too. The band never sounded better with him as MC.

Dirty Heads - One thing is for sure, after speaking to the band, the Dirty Heads are committed to releasing another album in 2009. Will it be a strictly acoustic affair? At this stage, I don't think the band itself knows. A few songs have already been written, The Pier has learnt that much, so let's just wait and see.

SOJA - East Coast live favorites should finally get around to releasing its next full-length album. Sweet!

Pepper - In 2009, the Hawaiian band is looking to release Kona Town as Kona Gold, complete with a bonus CD worth of material.

Fishbone - Another live Fishbone album is due in the first quarter of 2009. If this band wasn't one of the more amazing live bands in the world today we might be bored with yet another live release from this LA ska/punk crew. Where is a new studio album already?

Seth Davis - This is a forthcoming collaboration between members of familiar groups (to be revealed later), who are starting a new project with a way different sound than what you are used to hearing from these artists. They are thinking out of their normal box and trying to create something entirely fresh and new. Get excited!

Mishka - Solo reggae artist Mishka will drop an album (Above the Bones) on February 17th through Matthew McConaughey's record label j. k. livin.

Rebelution - No details forthcoming yet, but expect a new release in the Spring from this ever-growing in popularity Santa Barbara reggae rock four-piece.

86 the Effort - One of The Pier's favorite new bands to emerge in 2008, displaying great song-writing and a powerful original sound. This band's full-length will be worth the wait.

Nobody Cares - Old school Long Beach Crew thankfully returning in 2009, with its follow-up album to its debut album which dropped way back in 2002.

Knowledgeborn07 - Will have a couple of albums to be released in 2009. One is the Knowledgeborn07 and Ras Zackary: The Inity Tribe (Peace E.P.); produced by Toby and Johnny genius of the now defunt band the KGB. The second album is currently untitled, but is a collaboration between Knowledgeborn07 and Johnny Cosmic of the band Fluid Minds.

Green Day - Should be a great year for decent punk releases, starting with a new release from pop punk grandfathers Green Day. The album is rumored to be broken up into two Acts.

NOFX - There will probably be no great surprises here, just some of the most fun and sometimes politically charged punk you could want to hear.

Puget Sound System - Expect big things from this Seattle-based reggae rock rap outfit. The band's debut album will drop in the first half of 2009.

The Pier Summer Sampler 2009 - A little self-promotion. We are really taking our time with our next compilation album release, as we want to make it the best representation of the scene we possibly can - that means the biggest/best bands and the most exclusive songs! What The Pier can reveal is that next time round physical hard copies will also be available. Start letting us know who you want to see featured!

As you can see there is much to look forward to in 2009. This could easily be be the biggest year for reggae rock music ever! Especially if those Sublime reunion rumors are also true. Thanks to the bands who participated in this year's feature and letting our Pier readers in for a sneak preview of 2009. Make sure to jump onto The Pier Chat Boards and let us know what albums you are looking forward to. Did we miss any? Lastly, The Pier wants to wish you all a wonderful 2009!!!