Rise Records' Curious New Signings

Seemingly just days after I rag on them in the Decoder post, Rise Records will add two of the best pop-punk bands of 2010. Man Overboard and Transit announced today their signing to Rise. The promised "WTF Week" has definitely been full of WTFs so far, with an expected more to come in the next few days. Man Overboard released one of my favorite albums in the year, the superbly catchy Real Talk, though it will fall just outside my top ten while Transit has been praised for their honest and hard hitting Keep This To Yourself. What make these signings surprising is that these bands just don't fit the Rise standard. It definitely seems that Rise is trying to break their awful reputation by signing some credible bands, while diversifying in the process. I'm extremely curious to see what the next signings are, and if the label will stay on this hot streak. Check out Man Overboard on Bandcamp here and Transit on Myspace here.