The New Year is the “new” band (now 10 years old) from the main guys of Bedhead, one of my all-time favorite bands. Lucky for us, they don’t try that much new stuff with this new band.
Shearwater is the former side project (now main project) of former Okkervil River member Jonathan Meiburg. Each of their albums are good for their own reasons.
Phantom Planet was a band that featured Jason Schwartzman on drums for a while, as well as having a song featured as The O.C.’s theme song. They went on “indefinite hiatus” last year.