Junos Nominations 2013: Japandroids, Leonard Cohen, Carly Rae Jepsen, Metric Score Nods

Carly Rae Jepsen may be leading the Juno Awards pack with five nominations thanks to her hit single "Call Me Maybe," but fellow Juno nominee Louis-Jean Cormier from Karkwa definitely has no clue who she is.

"I've never heard of Carly Rae Jepsen," Cormier tells Spinner. His band of Quebecois rockers -- who won best Francophone Album in 2011 (as well as the 2010 Polaris Prize) -- are nominated again this year in the same category for his solo album, Le treizième étage. Cormier hopes to finally hear the "Call Me Maybe" phenom when he tunes in on April 21 to watch the show from his home in Quebec. "If anything, this helps us discover new artists and it helps to be discovered by others."

Perhaps the Karkwa boys are more familiar with their fellow Polaris nominees who dominate the alternative and breakthrough categories. Indie rockers Metric are nominated for both Artist of the Year and Best Alternative Album, in which they're going up against their friends Stars, Said the Whale, Hannah Georgas and Japandroids, the duo behind Spinner's number one song and number three album of 2012.

Indie fans will be just as happy with adult alternative, which includes nominations for Kathleen Edwards Bahamas, Royal Wood, the Barr Brothers and Serena Ryder and the breakthrough artist/band of the year, which includes Grimes, Cold Specks, the Weeknd, Yukon Blonde and the Pack AD alongside other up-and-comers Hey Ocean!, Monster Truck, Elisapie and Walk Off the Earth (who also got a nod for their amazing "Little Boxes" music video).

At the very least, we can guarantee that Cormier is familiar with two of Carly Rae's biggest competitors: Celine Dion and Leonard Cohen. The latter may have been robbed of a best album nomination, but the living legend did get noms for Artist of the Year, best songwriter and the audience-voted Juno Fan Choice Award all for his latest album Old Ideas.

First-time nominees Monster Truck see this Juno recognition as a reward for all the hard work they've finally started putting in.

"The first year or two was just spent getting drunk and not actually working too hard," admits singer Jon Harvey. "Moving forward, we started really working on things and that's when we had all this stuff happen.

"It's exciting for us and hopefully this sets us up for rock album of the year next."

Another newcomer to the Juno Awards is East Coast singer-songwriter Rose Cousins, who is no stranger to awards shows, having been nominated for a number of Canadian Folk Music Awards and East Coast Music Awards, but says that the Junos are a whole other level of recognition.

"The Junos are our national award and it brings you up to a new light, amongst the top in Canada," says Cousins, who is up for solo roots and traditional album of the year. "Which is a big deal for a farm girl from PEI, and there are a lot of amazing artists from the east coast being recognized on the national stage right now."

Cousins shares her category with other folk artists, Amelia Curran, Corb Lund, Annabelle Chvostek, and Old Man Leudecke.

Indie rockers the Rural Alberta Advantage, who were up for two awards last year and whose drummer even worked the red carpet for Spinner, were on hand to announce a number of this year's nominees. Though they weren't nominated, they are confident that they've discovered a loophole that'll guarantee them more nominations.

"We'll release a remastered special edition!" jokes lead singer Nils Endenloff. He adds some real advice for newcomers, though, telling them to "just go there and be yourself; I felt very overdressed when we went so dress down!"

The Juno Awards will be hosted in Regina and Moose Jaw for the first time on April 21, airing on CTV. Performers so far include Marianas Trench, Billy Talent and Carly Rae Jepsen.

Leonard Cohen's 'Show Me the Place' -- Listen