Totally unrelated

So, besides watching TV, and rediscovering U2, I've been doing what I usually do. Here's the coolest from the past few days:
First, if you love QOTSA, check out this link. Well worth your time.
I just caught up to Germany's Ritual. Awesome band, and you should hear "Paper Skin" their new CD. Post-hardcore is becoming boring, with everyone referencing the same stuff- Fugazi and Snapcase, you know? But Ritual don't exactly sound like that. I can tell they've got some of the same influences as Fugazi and Snapcase, but... this is more like if early Refused rand head on into later Quicksand, with a yen to play "Revelations" era Killing Joke. In other words, you've got the punky-slayer hoarse screeching vocals and chuggy guitar breakdowns, mixed with strange layered rhythms covered in a frosty sheen of alternate-turned guitars. I could see them playing with Early Neurosis- to a draw, and that's saying something. Really excellent post-hardcore- and they're one of the few bands who I think are getting post-hardcore right.
Finally, I also have just got caught up with Ha Ha Tonka. Yes, they play Southern-fried Country-tinged indie rock, which is a sound you've heard before, but if Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket and the Arcade Fire sounded like Ha Ha Tonka, I'd like them, too. Instead, only Ha Ha Tonka have the punky-indie rock drive of the Arcade Fire, married to bluegrass influenced southern rock, with superb vocal harmonies. I don't know why it took me so long to find them, but they're really good. They're so good, I would suggest them even to my friends who don't care for either indie rock nor Appalachian country. Much, much better than the similarly-sounding Mumford and Sons. I just got Death of a Decade , but I'm sure I'm getting more by them, soon.

Now, yes, these three are suggestions, and that's the only binding tie between them. However, as always, I know my taste is no better than yours- if you don't agree with any or all, that's fine. However, I hope it expands your tastes just a little- that is, I hope that an indie rock fan can get a little something from Ritual, and I hope a hardcore Punker can get a little high lonesome harmony from Ha Ha Tonka, and seriously, who doesn't like Queens of the Stone Age?