Pinback

This one is for you Steven, but I hope others will give the video below a try also (if they aren't familiar with Pinback already).
Brief history Lesson: I first heard of this band while I was on my mission. I heard the song Penelope and immediately fell in love with it. I forgot to look the band up when I got home from my mission though (as happens), and it wasn't until Cody--bless his mutilated soul--got home from his mission that I was reminded of this band that I had planned on looking into. Cody let me borrow his copy of Blue Screen Life--Pinback's second album--and I fell further in love with the band. Strangely though, I had never gone on to purchase/listen to any of their other records until last week when I checked out their newest album Autumn of the Seraphs from the library. Well, I am now hooked on that one too.
Brief Awesome Lesson: this band is awesome. It is two guys (although they perform with a full band) and they have created a very unique sound for themselves. Rob Crow handles the guitar work for the most part, Zach Smith is the bass master, and they both share the vocals. By share the vocals I don't really mean that they take turns singing songs, I mean that they are both constantly in and out of each individual song doing lots of intricate and layered vocals. Their guitar work (both guitar and bass I mean) is incredible and easily transfers from frantic to grooving to haunting to smooth. They are the type of band that you get excited to listen to and sort of dissect into its parts. They are also the type of band that you are excited to just put on in the background and chill to. I have no clue what their songs are about lyrically and I admit that half the time I don't even know the words. So, I guess that they are also the type of band that are so musically intriguing that after a few years of listening to them I still haven't even bothered to "understand" the lyrics. I highly recommend them to all and especially their album, Blue Screen Life.
I had a hard time finding actual videos from their earlier albums (most were fan-made vids you see), but I think this one ought to do nicely. It is "From Nothing to Nowhere" from their 2007 album Autumn of the Seraphs.