Indie rock and summer go together like beer and the beach. In honor of the summer, here's a list of the 4 best indie rock bands in New Jersey, and yes as surprising as it may seem NJ does not disappoint.

4. Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend is one of the best indie bands of the past ten years. The only reason I have them this high on the list, is because 1. they have become too obvious of a choice by this point 2. they are critically acclaimed and playing at venues like Madison Square Garden, and 3. only "Ezra Koenig" the lead singer is from (Glen- Rock) New Jersey. The band combines the easily approachable catchiness of pop with an infusion of orchestras and experimental keyboarding. The bands first album "Vampire weekend" is easily their most accessible and simplistic one, with songs like "A-Punk" and "Oxford Coma" which were signs of bigger and better things to come. Their next album "Contra" was critically acclaimed, and their third album "Modern Vampires of the City" was ranked by pitchfork.com as the best album of that year. Vampire Weekend is a band anyone can find some amount of enjoyment from at least one of their songs.

3. Real Estate

Real Estate is the kind of band that's perfect for driving or barbecues or just lounging around. Their combination of soft vocals from "Martin Courtney, IV" and the easy folkish almost surfer rockish sound of his guitar is enough to make you just look up at the clouds and think. When listening to their debut album of the same name "Real Estate," I find myself drifting off into another void forgetting where I am completely. With songs like "It's real" and "Out of tune," I find myself completely mellow. Their second album "Atlas" is a bit more complex. It is still an album to lay back to, but maybe not a happy one. My recommendation is grabbing a beer and watching the sunset will feel even more complete with these guys in the background

2. Titus Andronicus

If the beard of lead singer of Titus Andronicus, Patrick Stickles, doesn't say we freak in rock- I don't know what does. Titus Andronicus, the power punk rock Oprah group, comes screeching out of Glen-Rock New Jersey like a mad dog. The combination of Stickles violent vocals and Adam Reich blasting lead guitar is a force to be reckoned with. Their debut album of the same name can be summed up by the lyrics of the six track of the album with lyrics like "Throw my guitar down on the floor/ No one cares what I've got to say anymore/I didn't come here to be damned with faint praise/I'll write my masterpiece some other day;" and, "There'll be no more cigarettes/No more having sex/No more drinking until you fall on the floor/No more indie rock/Just a ticking clock." It makes you just wanna smash something. Their second album, "The Monitor," a masterpiece in my opinion. It manages to combine the power of pure indie punk rock guitar with quotes from Abraham Lincoln, while celebrating and degrading New Jersey. If you know another band that can do that I'd have to see it to believe it.

1. The Wrens

It's hard to find a better more obscure band than The Wrens. It's been thirteen years since they released their follow up groundbreaking self-recorded album "The meadow lands," which helped solidify themselves as indie rock gods alongside groups like "Pavement" and "Neutral Milk Hotel." The album itself was delayed for quite some time with the bands refusal to sign with the record company for fear of their ideas being messed with. "The Meadows" is the kind of album that will break you bit by bit through its 13 track, over an hour runtime. It's filled with heartbreak, failed relationships and the pain of life. After it's done and you reassemble yourself and check your pulse to make sure your still here, you will turn the album back on and shatter yourself again, like a junkie who just can't enough. You won't be able to get enough know matter how much it hurts you. The album opens with the slow guitar strumming of Greg Whelan, and the beautiful and sadness drenched vocals of drummer Jerry MacDonald on the opening track the house guilt built "It's been so long /Since you heard from me/Got a wife and kid/That I never see/And I'm nowhere near/What I dreamed I'd be/I can't believe/What life has done to me."

Lead singer, Charles Bissel, takes over from their and leads you down a trail of pain in tracks like "She Sends Kisses" and "Hopeless." Then there's the painful relationships mentioned in the skin crawling track "Ex Girl collection." The opening lyrics which Bissel sings in a dry and quite whisper: "4 Fourth floor room each girl I've brought back home to bloom/All fold on close inspection;" to the loud repeating chorus, "Why/Play sex on the cuff does Beth like it rough/And learn your dirty lines?And keep her hair cropped (the other shoe dropped)Is this how men mark time in couples?" are just amazing. "The Meadowland" will leave you with a feeling of self-doubt and pain that only art can create. The band is expected to finally release a follow-up album this year.

Rock on on N.J!