And then sometimes, something really awesome happens, like the unsolicited friend request from a really good band that you never would have heard about otherwise. Case in point: Ex Norwegian, a Miami trio that lives in this magical place where ’90s power pop is still going strong and nu metal and emo never happened. They sent us a friend request, and we asked if we could hear more. The kindly sent us their first album Standby. We liked. We posted a song from it in our download column Me, Myself and iPod. A little bit later, they sent us a link to download their recently completed new album Sketch.

Damn, it’s even better than their first album. Sweet.

Here’s the video for opening track and first single “Jet Lag.” We love the way it opens with a clear nod to grunge rock (that opening bass line and guitar chord is none more Alice in Chains), then gives way to a sky-high chorus that Sloan would be proud to call their own. If you like this, there is plenty more where it came from on Sketch, so do something you probably haven’t done in a couple years and hit a MySpace page, namely theirs. You won’t regret it.