The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

Post-punk, New Wave band, The Cure, has been around since the late 70's. The band lineup has changed many times with front-man, Robert Smith, being the lone constant member. Early Cure music was more of a goth-rock sound with dark lyrics. They released an album per year from 1979 throughout the 80's, slowly gaining popularity. In 1982, Smith wanted to move past the gloomy sound the band was know for and inject more of a pop sound with songs like In Between Days and Let's Go To Bed.

They finally broke through to the mainstream with the 1987 release Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me which had the song Why Can't I Be You. In 1989, they brought back some of the goth-rock sound from the early days with the release, Disintegration. It built on that success with the track, Love Song, making it to #2 on the US charts. The Cure was now a world-wide success and the 1992 release, Wish, made it to #2 on the US album charts.

Although they continued to record and release albums, it was much more spread out than their early career. The band line up also changed quite a bit through the 90's. Recent releases, 2004's self-titled release and 2008's, 4:13 Dream, have continued to be successful and the band routinely sells out live shows.

In 2009, received the Shockwaves NME Award for Godlike Genius.

For today's Hump Day Retro-Closet track, I chose one of my favorite Cure songs, the track, Boys Don't Cry, off their 2nd release, 1980's album of the same name.

The Swell Season - I Have Loved You Wrong

The Swell Season is the musical duo of Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová. The duo were approached by the Czech film director Jan Hřebejk while touring in the Czech Republic, and were asked by him to record songs for his upcoming film Beauty in Trouble. It was the first album that Hansard, the singer for The Frames, had released independently of his band. This led to them recording their first full length album, a self-titled release.

Their popularity rose when they recorded the the soundtrack for the movie Once, in which both starred. The album when gold and they received an Oscar for Best Original Song. Hansard and Irglová were a couple on stage and off. Although they broke up earlier this year, they continue to record and perform together.

I Have Loved You Wrong is a haunting beautiful song off their sophomore release, Strict Joy.

Trivia: The group's name is derived from Hansard's favorite novel by Josef Škvorecký from 1975 bearing the same title.

Will Dailey - Eliza

Boston based singer-songwriter, Will Dailey has released three full-length albums since 2000. But his most recent project is unique. The project, Torrent, is being digitally released as a burst of new music approximately every 3 months, and then compiled, along with bonus material, as a physical and digital audio package twice a year. He has released Torrents 1 and 2 this year.

To raise money for his first release, GoodbyeRedBullet, Dailey sold his car. Although he made enough to fund the release, he did not have any money to pay for a tour. He relied on his family and friends to generate publicity, and built up a mailing list of more than 25,000 worldwide. The release sold more sold more than 10,000 copies.

Eliza is off his 2006 release, Back Flipping Forward.

Beck - Orphans

Beck is one of the most creative and idiosyncratic musicians around. He grew up in Los Angeles and was strongly influenced by all the music that LA brings. Struggling early, he became a sudden success with the single, Loser. His success also brought criticism that he was a one-hit wonder.

With the release of his Grammy winning 1996 release, Odelay, the critics were silenced. Beck continued to create unique music, taking inspiration from anything and everything around. This mashup of musical tastes has allowed Beck a freedom many artists don't have; namely he can record almost anything and it's accepted as Beck's sound.

Orphans is off his 2008 release, Modern Guilt. This is the first collaboration between Beck and producer, Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton). The pairing works well and the album shows.

Interesting Note; Beck is second-generation Scientologist. His wife, Marissa and her twin brother, Giovanni Ribisi, were delivered by Beck's mother, Bibbe.

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

Kings of Leon is a family affair, consisting of brothers Anthony "Caleb" Followill, Ivan "Nathan" Followill, and Michael "Jared" Followill, with their cousin Cameron "Matthew" Followill. Each member of the family group is known by their second name as opposed to their first name.

The brothers spent their childhood traveling the south while their father, a preacher, preached at churches and tent revivals. They were essentially home schooled until 1997 when their parents divorced and they moved to Nashville. Here, they honed their songwriting skills and the two older brothers, Caleb and Nathan signed on with RCA Records, but the label wanted them to have a band.

In an interview, Caleb admitted to "kidnapping" their cousin Matthew from his hometown in Mississippi in order for him to join the band. They told his mother that he was just staying for a week, but they just never let him return home. Drummer Nathan added, "When we signed the deal with RCA, it was just me and Caleb. The label told us they were going to put a band together, but we said, 'We're going to buy our little brother a bass, he's a freshman in high school. Caleb will teach himself the guitar. Our cousin Matthew played guitar when he was 10 and I'll play drums.' The record label agreed,". Jared was just 16 when they released their first album, and EP titled Holy Roller Novocaine.

From there, they're fan base grew and since 2003, they have released four albums. Use Somebody, is off their fourth full release, Only by the Night.

Useless trivia: They named themselves Kings of Leon in honor of Nathan, Caleb, and Jared's father and grandfather, who were both named Leon.

Bell X1 - The Great Defector

Bell X1 is a great Irish band that creates wonderful music with witty and whimsical lyrics. The began as the band Juniper, which was a success ground in Ireland in the 1990s. The group included Damien Rice before he became a solo artist.

Bell X1 (named after the Bell X-1 - the first plane to break the sound barrier) has a definite Talking Heads sound which can be easily pick up on any of their four studio albums. After their third studio release, Flock, keyboardist Brian Crosby left the band to persue writing music for TV and film. The three remaining members, drummer Paul Noonan, bassist Dominic Philips and guitarist Dave Geraghty.

The Great Defector is off their 2009 release Blue Lights On The Runway.

Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun

Born outside Chicago, Eddie Vedder grew up in San Diego. Vedder had a rough childhood with his parents divorcing when he was 1. He grew up thinking his step-father was his real father and did not find out until his mother divorced from his step-father. By then his real father has already died after suffering from multiple sclerosis.

After re-locating briefly back to Chicago, Vedder returned to San Diego and played in several local bands. By 1990, he was without a band, but he continued to write and record demos. After hearing Vedder's tape, former Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament invited Vedder to come to Seattle to audition for their new band. The band, Temple of the Dog, released only one album. The members also formed another band Pearl Jam (originally calling itself Mookie Blaylock).

They recorded and released their debut album, Ten, which became one of the best selling alternative albums of the 1990s and the rest is history.

Hard Sun is a remake of the 1989 song by Indio and is one of the tracks on the first solo project by Vedder, the Into The Wild soundtrack.

Guggenheim Grotto - Her Beautiful Ideas

Uniquely named band, Guggenheim Grotto, hails from Dublin Ireland. Kevin May (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Mick Lynch (vocals, guitar, bass, viola) played together in Dublin and soon recruited Shane Power (drums, keyboard) who helped with the band's first EP. As you can see each member of the trio is multi-instrumental.

You can hear this multi-instrumentalism in their 2005 debut release, …Waltzing Alone. The self-released album garnered critical acclaim in their native Ireland. After touring extensively in the US for several years, playing at SXSW, performing in every venue from listening rooms to large festivals and doing interviews and performances on small radio programs to nationally syndicated shows like Charleston's Mountain Stage radio/TV show, they built up a large faithful U.S. following.

After all this touring, they did not take a break, going back to the studio and recording their follow up, Happy the Man. This release shows how their sounds has expanded as they delve into more sampling and electronic techniques.

Her Beautiful Ideas is a fantastic tune off this sophomore release.

Carbon Leaf - Life Less Ordinary

Richmond, Virgina based band, Carbon Leaf, began playing mixers and parties while attending college at Randolph-Macon College in 1992. After graduating, they began to tour the college circuit and released their first album, Meander, in 1995.

They have the same rootsy, Celtic-influenced sound (e.g. Dave Matthews Band and Pat McGee Band) that originates in the Richmond, VA music scene. They built up a fairly loyal following and released their first five albums on their own label.

Life Less Ordinary is off their Vangard Records release, Indian Summer. It was their first release not on their own label.

Ben Folds - Landed

In one of those stars aligning moments, Ben Folds learned to play piano because his father brought one home when he was 9, the result of a barter trade he made with a customer who was unable to pay for his work.

During his early career, he played piano, bass and drums eventually settling in as bassist in a band called Majosha in the late 80's. The band had a strong following in the college towns of North Carolina but eventually broke up.

He moved to Nashville. Then attended the University of Miami - Frost School of Music on a percussion scholarship, but dropped out with one credit to go before graduating. Then moved to New Jersey, decided to give up music and work in theater. Then moved back to North Carolina.

It was back in North Carolina that he met up with bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee and with him playing piano, formed Ben Folds Five. They enjoyed much success, mainly on the adult contemporary and modern rock charts. The group disbanded and Folds went on to release several solo albums. He continues to record and work on many side projects recording and producing.

I love piano intro for Landed which is off his Songs for Silverman release. Something to look forward to: Folds announced that he plans to record an album with English author Nick Hornby, with Hornby writing the lyrics and Folds writing the music.

Scarlett Johansson - Green Grass

People know Scarlett Johansson for her prominent film roles in movies like Lost in Translation and Girl With A Pearl Earring. But recently, Johansson has begun to build up quite a music career also. In 2008, she released an album of ten cover versions of Tom Waits songs and one original song. It was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio and features David Bowie, members from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration. The album was named the "23rd best album of 2008" by NME.

Green Grass is off this album, Anywhere I Lay My Head. In September, Johanssson is releasing a duet album with Pete Yorn.

Janelle Monáe- Many Moons

Janelle Monáe originally planned to pursue a Broadway career, but found her love for music too strong. In 2007, Monáe was ready to release her first solo album, entitled "Metropolis." It was originally conceived as a concept album in four parts, or "suites," which were to be released only through her website and mp3 download sites. The plans changed when she signed with Sean "Diddy" Combs' label, Bad Boy Records. She released the album Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) in August of 2008 and it was well-received and garnering her a 2009 Grammy nomination in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance for her song Many Moons.