Recommend me some more "modern" sounding prog.

It does, and I feel your pain. As someone who has been writing reviews for the best part of the past 9 years, I have come across my share of "old-sounding" prog, in some cause bordering on plagiarism. Anyway, the good news is that there is a lot of what I call the "new frontier" of prog available on the market - bands and artists whose music is based on the song form rather than on the extended epic format, and shares some of the features of good pop while retaining a lot of the complexity of progressive rock. Some suggestions:

The Tea Club (US) - all of their three albums are highly recommended, though their first (General Winter's Secret Museum) is the most modern and approachable
Thank You Scientist (US) - a very dynamic seven-piece with a strong punk and funk element - think The Mars Volta with shorter, punchier songs. They are fantastic on stage.
MoeTar (US) - outstanding modern art rock with subtle Avant overtones and a trained jazz singer (a lady by the name of Moorea Dickason) as a lead vocalist.
Schooltree (US) - more female-fronted art-rock goodness, with hints of Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Queen, but  a very modern vibe.
3RDegree (US) - the kind of prog you can sing along to! Like a modern Steely Dan, with a vocalist sounding more like Stevie Wonder than Jon Anderson.

I'll post more when I feel a bit better than today!

Superdensecrushloadfactor's One In The Flood leans heavily on a proggy take on the garage rock revival.

Lindsay Lohan wrote: What I'm looking for is bands that sound more like modern "pop" bands but still retaining the complexity usually found in prog. To take a example  of what I mean a good example could be The Reign of Kindo which could be considered a more proggy version of Maroon 5 (which I also like).  It does not have to restricted to "pop" sounding bands though, as I found for example The Ocean to be a good example of a modern sounding metal band.

Raff wrote: MoeTar (US) - outstanding modern art rock with subtle Avant overtones and a trained jazz singer (a lady by the name of Moorea Dickason) as a lead vocalist.

Falls of Rauros..........The Light That Dwells In Rotten Wood

Roland113 wrote: I would strongly recommend Milliontown by Frost*, inmy mind it has the complexities of the seventies but actually sounds like it was recorded in the 2000's.

Raff wrote: 'PiphanyRambler wrote: This thread contains a lot of interesting suggestions already. I listened to Chrome Hoof and I was intrigued. That video tho. Chrome Hoof are fantastic, one of the few truly original new bands around. They also share members with Guapo and Knifeworld - which is in itself a mark of quality.

Indeed Knifeworld are brilliant!

While I've been linking a lot to this band this year - I'd place Major Parkinson within this context too. Even if they do use something that sounds like a Mellotron here and there. Listen on bandcamp if you're curious.

HolyMoly wrote: Sagichim wrote: Raff wrote: 'PiphanyRambler wrote: This thread contains a lot of interesting suggestions already. I listened to Chrome Hoof and I was intrigued. That video tho. Chrome Hoof are fantastic, one of the few truly original new bands around. They also share members with Guapo and Knifeworld - which is in itself a mark of quality. Indeed Knifeworld are brilliant! I just got my first Chrome Hoof CD a week ago.  It's an old EP of theirs from a few years back called Beyond Zade.  It's eclectic to the point of schizophrenia.  From what I've heard of their newer material, they got a bit more focused and tight recently.  Still plan on getting that newest album.  I've still never heard Knifeworld either.  I tend to take a while to catch up to "new" releases.  There's just too much old stuff I want to discover, and not just prog stuff either.  Moan moan, I know, first world problem city.