I've been listening to a lot of Cloud Cult lately, thanks to a co-worker letting me borrow a couple of albums, "Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus (2005)", and "The Meaning of 8 (2007)". I previously knew their "Lucky Today" song from the Esurance commercial, but not much beyond that.
"The Meaning of 8" is a rawer, more authentic album, largely because a lot of the content deals thematically with the somber and celebratory exploration of what it would have been like if front man Craig Minowa's son had reached 8 years old (he sadly died unexpectedly at the age of 2 in 2002). I'm not sure if the songs for the album were new for the album, or pulled from the nearly 100 songs Minowa allegedly wrote as he grieved for his son.
This is one of the those bands I don't like to say a lot about, because it's kind of hard for me to articulate why I like them, and I don't want to sell there sound or messages short. If you thematically like groups like Bear in Heaven or Cymbals Eat Guitars, you may like particularly like Cloud Cult.
All of their albums are available for streaming from their official (very indie) site.
