By Luke Wilusz

Both Streetlight Manifesto and Suburban Legends have announced new albums in the past week. Or, to be more accurate, they have announced that they would soon announce said new albums.

While new, good, innovative ska music is something of a rare commodity these days, this kind of gimmick is little more than a cheap, annoying publicity stunt. Unless the bands plan to drop the albums immediately after they are “officially” announced, there’s no reason not to make the real announcement right off the bat. Teasing something in order to build anticipation for an announcement which will in turn (hopefully) build even more anticipation for an actual, substantial new development might be a great way to get some buzz, but it ultimately seems like a way to string fans along.

That being said, new music from both bands in the coming year is an exciting prospect, especially since they both put a unique spin on an oversaturated genre—Suburban Legends with their unique brand of disco-funk-ska and Streetlight with their jazzy, intricate horn arrangements. The new albums will be Suburban Legends’ first full album since 2008 and Streetlight’s first album of original music since 2007. Suburban Legends’ announcement is scheduled to hit the Web on Feb. 18.