"We wanted to sound a lot different than [on] the first record," Cold War Kids vocalist Nathan Willett tells Spinner of their latest record, 'Loyalty Loyalty,' the follow-up to 2006's 'Robbers and Cowards.' "It's a darker sounding, rounder sounding ... it's a little more serious of an album. More refined, grittier, dirtier, slower and faster."

Don't think that "dark" sounds are born of complete despair. Try something as simple as equipment problems, as found on the first single, 'Something Is Not Right With Me.' "Microphones were falling all over the place and [Nate] was trying to get his chord around a microphone stand, and he just said, 'Something's not right with me,'" bassist Mike Maust says. "I was like, 'That's a great thing there.'"

When MGMT performed on the Interface, they supplied some wise and valuable advice for concertgoers everywhere: Have fun and get excited!

The Brooklyn-based band, formerly known as the Management, has evolved from unknown indie rock act to earning spots on hit TV series ('Gossip Girl') and movies ('Sex Drive,' 'How to Lose Friends and Alienate People').

We took MGMT's advice to heart: We're excited about their '70s-inspired turn in our studio. Download the Interface video podcast and you'll be excited, too.

Musical troupe Margot and the Nuclear So and So's recently stopped by the Interface for a scaled back performance, reducing the players from the normal eight down to three. It was a unique take on a typically chaotic show, particularly in support of their latest simultaneously released albums, 'Animal!' and 'Not Animal!'

"'Animal!' is our record that we made with the songs that we wanted to put on the new record," frontman Richard Edwards tells Spinner of the difference between 'Animal!' and 'Not Animal!'"We recorded all songs for both records in Chicago and Indianapolis, and turned in 'Animal!' and [the label] didn't like it. So 'Animal!' is our record, and 'Not Animal' is their record."

We'll let the music do the talking.

Passion Pit started merely as a guy, a computer and an impending Valentine's Day gift. You see, Michael Angelakos wrote the 'Chunk of Change' EP for his girlfriend as a belated V-Day gift, and later took his heartfelt collection to his friends and classmates at Emerson College. Add to that an interest from Frenchkiss records, a backing live band and voila -- a new indie buzz band with a full-on dance rock explosion.

"To make it clear, [Passion Pit] is not the porn film," keyboardist Ayad Al Adhamy exclaims while chuckling at the thought. "It's just where kids would go and make out ... the drive in, movie theater," Angelakas chimes.

Before heading out on tour with the acclaimed Yelle, the guys stopped by the Interface to share their Moog enthusiasm, nerves about the upcoming election and four hot tracks. Catch it all after the jump.

To say Memphis punk Jay Reatard is prolific would be an understatement. In his decade-long career, Reatard has unleashed more than sixty releases, his most recent being a series of 7" singles for Matador Records. Reatard's Black Flag meets the Soft Boys approach to making hook-laden, lo-fi rambunctious punk has positioned him near the forefront of DIY music.

"I've always done tons of singles," Reatard tells Spinner. "It's kind of been the most prominent format in my career. I've probably done 18-19 full-length records, and probably 40 or 50 singles. It just made sense when I was going to work with then out the door leading up to the first album. When I was talking to a few major labels, they said they were going to market me as the next Kurt Cobain. I was supposed to be the guy that's going to kill emo. I'm not inspired to do that."

With that expansive catalog, Reatard admits to having trouble keeping up with his own discography. "I don't collect records," he says. "I used to. I just don't have the time anymore. More recently, I've been trying to collect my own records because I don't own a lot of my own discography. I get eBay bidding orders from people over my own records. It's pretty funny."

Watch Reatard belt out three tunes on the Interface after the jump.

Sun-burnt, dirty surf rock is what this Costa Mesa, Calif. band Japanese Motors does best. The SoCal quartet that made their name on the local party circuit some time ago, and is now readying their sites on the rest of the world with the release of their self-titled debut album. "We'll pretty much play anywhere at anytime," singer Alex Knopst tells Spinner.

Their Beach Boys meets Black Lips sound is no doubt influenced by their hometown roots. "We go to the beach a lot," Knopst says. "We all surf and just enjoy the sun." To that end, the band's breezy tunes shine like the Orange County sun. Meet the Japanese Motors after the jump.

John Reis drills down some of the most interesting and influential post-punk around. His latest venture, the Night Marchers, is no exception. With Reis, it's not just about the music being shorter, faster and louder, it's about precision and innovation.

"It is kind of like everything all rolled into one burrito," Reis tells Spinner of his music. "I've been in bands since I was in junior high school and it really doesn't feel any different or anymore less important now than it did when I was making songs in my parent's garage." Reis, along with former Delta 72 drummer Jason Kourkounis, Beehive and the Barracudas' Gar Wood and CPC Gangbangs' Tommy Kitsos, slash up the Interface with relentess post-punk from their debut, 'See You in Magic.'

The boisterous Canadian four-piece known as Tokyo Police Club recently stopped by our Los Angeles studio to perform songs from their exhaustingly catchy debut LP, 'Elephant Shell.' The band stripped away the bombastic drums and frontman Dave Monks' fuzzy basslines that define their album, instead letting the songs be heard in bare form.

With all members still in their early 20's, the band seems to have struck a chord with fans by balancing youthful punk rock exuberance with a more mature songwriting style akin to some of their indie rock contemporaries.

Part of the band's chemistry stems from the fact that they are lifelong friends, having performed music together since they were children. "They're my band and they're my friends, it feels natural and comfortable for me," Monks tells Spinner. "I feel like after so much touring we've just worked out a really good dynamic."

Check out the Tokyo Police Club acoustic performance and the full interview after the jump.

Jonathan Meiburg and his shoegazing post-rock troupe Shearwater have quietly strung together some of the most haunting and intricate melodies on the independent music scene. This year Meiburg has turned his full attention to Shearwater, resulting in his most focused effort to date, 'Rook.' With full band in tow, the multi-instrumentalist laid down the finest tunes in their catalog at the Interface.

"I feel like there's sort of a zeitgeist right now of people mediating more about the natural world and the loss of it, and also there's been a lot more apocalyptic imagery in songs that I'm hearing now," Meiburg explains of the narratives on 'Rook.' It's not all doom and gloom though. Meiburg's fascination for birds and wildlife make their way into the songwriting and album art. He even gave us his best bird call. True story.

One would be hard-pressed to find rockers from this generation that have prompted more covered eyes and ears, slack jaws and overall parental disgust than Marilyn Manson. It should be noted, however, that this is the same guy who once painted Avril Lavigne's nails while the two, as she put it, were "kickin' it." See? He's nice, gentle and plays well with others. That said, it may come as no surprise that the erstwhile Brian Warner suffers a little fright himself. Namely, that of Alkaline Trio.

"Marilyn Manson is a hero of ours," Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba told Spinner when the band stopped by the Interface. "We've asked him to do videos with us and stuff, which he's also agreed to do. He was very nice about it and then we blew it somehow."

"Being too frightening," drummer Derek Grant chimed.

"He heard we did way too much drugs and never slept," Skiba said, " which isn't true. So he didn't want to do it."

Alkaline Trio have since one-upped their dream collaborations with Tegan Quin, one-half of sister duo Tegan and Sara, who joined the band at the Interface for a rendition of T&S's 'Wake Up Exhausted.' "Being able to work with Tegan has been tops on our list," Skiba said.

Catch the Sister Quin in action with the boys, along with the full interview, after the jump.