20 bands to not miss at CMJ 2008

Foals at CMJ 2007

Screw the haters, CMJ is as relevant as ever, with over 500 bands playing at nearly 70 New York-area venues from October 21-25. Remember last year when then little known bands Kid Sister, No Age, Bon Iver and Black Kids played their first NYC shows? We do.

So, OK, we'll give it to you haters. There are some terrible band names that roll into town—we're scared to confirm on MySpace that Dam Funk, Five Finger Death Punch and I Wrestled A Bear Once play music for a living. But hell, maybe Violent Sex are the next Black Kids? That's a pretty terrible name and we see where they ended up.

Bottom line: there are some great bands that cannot be missed—20, in fact. Here's our picks....

Compiled by: Matt Rodbard, Kirk Miller, Hal Bienstock, Joey Hood, Jason Newman, David Callicott