Well, the nominations are out for the annual awards bash that old people like me insist on still calling the Brats but which should really be referred to as ShockWaves NME Awards 2006.
And following on from their five nominations at the Brits, Kaiser Chiefs have again topped the shortlist proceedings, getting an unprecedented six nominations: Best British Band, Best Track, Best Video, Best Music DVD, Best Live Band and Best Website.
Elsewhere, Franz Ferdinand, who dominated at last year's NME awards, are up for five gongs, as are Oasis. Newcomers and current UK chart toppers Arctic Monkeys are up for four awards - a considerable achievement given that their debut album was only released yesterday. NME readers will now vote in each category before the final awards are presented on 23 Feb in London.
Commenting on their latest nominations achievement, Kaiser Chiefs drummer Nick Hodgson told reporters: "Obviously we're very pleased. It's great to be up for the best album and best live band awards. I hope people vote for us because we've never won anything we've been nominated for before."
Commenting on this year's shortlists, NME Associate Editor Dan Silver said: "This year's nominations reflect what has been an exceptional 12 months for rock music. When the Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party performed at last year's ceremony, they were relative unknowns. This year both will return as conquering heroes. And with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Maximo Park and We Are Scientists all showing strongly, that cycle looks set to continue in 2006."
Should you make it as far as the bottom of today's CMU Daily, you'll find a full list of nominations. You can vote, obviously, at http://www.nme.com.