Any specific type of music you're looking for? Or just in general?

One of my favourite "friend's bands" in my life of being friends with musicians is Statues. (I hope that makes sense...I mean, it is always weird for me when someone tells me that their friend's band it good - I think these guys really ARE good).

They are total power pop, dig Husker Du, the Replacements, etc. and write short songs. I like 'em a lot.

Tony D

Awesome blues guitar player and a really nice man. He has toured Europe several times.

Oh, man, just one??? Okay:

Sera Cahoone, local singer/songwriter with an album out almost now.

Slender Means - great Britpop band with hooks for days.

The Village Green - great guitar band from Portland.

I have spoken.

Five off the top of my head, in no particular order:

Smoosh – two sisters playing cute (in the best sense of the word) pop
The Ruby Doe – Pop math rock, sorta.
Maktub – Soul music for now.
Kinski – Instrumental art/garage rock. Psyche, krautrock, Stooges in a blender.
Invisible Eyes – Psyche garage stuff.

My nephew is in this band and they're pretty good - fun pop, very raucous and energetic and yet in a way it's kind of twee. Earwormy. And he would kill me if he read my description. They're really popular here in the Philadelphia area but nowhere else, as far as I know. Both links play their music.

Here they are on Last.fm.

They're not from my city, (they're from Riverside, California actually) but I fucking love the un-major-signed Bell Rays. Lisa Kekaula, the sexxxy lead vocalist has a fearsome soul sister growl and the band churns behind her in vintage MC5/Who/Stooges fashion. And the songwriting is as good as the sound.

Here's some tunes:

Mind's Eye
Stupid Fuckin' People
Street Corner
Rocket Ship Santa

Enjoy. Like a motherfucker.

A good friend & ex of mine (who also built my computer)- bluegrass.
More friends, more raucous rock & bluegrass
The Duhks who I don't know, but I heard them at the bar where I used to work, bought their CD and fell madly in love.
Malcolm. Relatively indescribable.
RB Morris a kickass singer/songwriter/alt country type guy who moonlights as a poetry professor at U Tenn Knoxville. And who is also extremely sexy, but I know that's not what you're looking for. ;-)

Stovokor

I'll vouch for Kinski...

and I'll throw in:

Viking screamo/punk. They keep getting better.:
Lake of Falcons (Seattle, WA).

Can't put my finger on it... somewhat progressive "alternative" and decent live:
Oxford Collapse (Brooklyn, NY)

R&B/Garage/Trash. The drummer is excellent. Check out the B.Childish/D.Melchior cover Length of Pipe for dirty beats:
The Fucking Eagles (Tacoma, WA)

Instrumental Explosions in the Sky / Mogwai / Tristeza, etc. . Beautiful music. Hopefully they'll start playing out again.
NMVGPTS (no moving parts) (Tacoma/Seattle, WA)

Politi-Punk, boy and girl singing, good stuff:
SHLSHKD (shellshocked) (Brooklyn, NY)

Indie, early Modest Mouse meets something else, played a few times with them. Nice guys.: Juhu Beach

My last mefiswap CD was filled with demos and low-radar type bands except for one or two exceptions. Full disclosure: I'm pimping people I know or that are friends of friends.

Juhu Beach is from Seattle, WA.

Some from Adelaide, South Australia

The Mark of Cain - these guys have been around for decades, and they put on the greatest live show I've ever seen. Think Joy Division meets Helmet meets Big Black. Hardcore motherfuckers. They've gone though 12 drummers so far - they leave just a battered husk. And their bass player plays the bass hung on a belt around his waist, instead of over his shoulder. You can't mess with that shit.

Also, everything by Jason Sweeny for something completely different.

From the city of my birth: The Zambonis. Fun music, and nice guys, too.

Tulsa Drone from Richmond. Kinda Badalamenti-ish with a mountain dulcimer.

Also, ENE from Richmond. More here (warning - self link). Weird great electronic stuff - first link more beat oriented, second is more chill. I guess they're not actually a band though.

310 is a NY/Seattle/L.A. electronic trio that's just getting better and better, imo.

All the above are friends, BTW.

Dub Trio is an amazing (real-time!) dub group from NY.

Wow, kinda sad that I could've named at least a dozen more a decade ago. I should really get out more.

Oh and Jimbob - I remember Steve Albini did that belt-bass thing when I saw Flour years ago. Don't think I would've ever remembered that ever again if you hadn't mentioned it.

Califone, baby! Imagine the concept of "rustic electronica" -- a blend of alt-blues, folk, and experimental noise. Hell, get a few drinks in me and I will make a convincing argument for them being the best band in America today. For a long time they were exclusively Chicago-based, but now their membership's split between Chi and L.A. (which, as a former Chicagoan now in L.A., makes me an awfully happy camper -- I'm already counting the days to their performance at the Getty in March).

(and oh yeah, full disclosure: all the guys in Califone are friends of friends, some of which have either recorded and/or played live with Califone in the past.)

The Star Spangles are pretty great. Crappy website and it doesn't look like much is going on with them these days. I caught them in Denver a couple times and their album Bazooka!!! is one of the best new(er) albums I've picked up in a long.

Jimbob, Mark of Cain rules! I have a track of theirs from a 2.13.61 sampler that's around a decade old.

A couple more:

Truman's Water meets the Minutemen:
Minaret (Brooklyn, NY)

Ex-Faraquet sounding like that band only more open, better. Their latest is in heavy rotation at the fork's house.
Medications (Washington D.C.) on Dischord Records.

Ok...one maybe two more, then I'll stop for now...:

Progressive hardcore, Dazzling Killmen playing early Yes, or a tougher less salsa and funk influenced Mars Volta. Insane drummer.:
GOSPEL (NYC)

Ex-Juno frontman coordinates a roster of other west coast indie rockers to do mellower indie, ambient folk?
Ghost Wars (he's now in LA, CA -- I think.)