J-14 is scouting out the hottest bands around... and this week's pick is Transmit Now!

Here are five things you need to know about Transmit Now, whose new album, Merry-Go-Round, drops May 4!

1. The Orlando, Florida-based band left their group name up to the fate of fortune cookies at their fave restaurant, Pei Wei! "They have a basket full of of fortune cookies and we each took one," singer Andy Brooks explains. "We started putting words together from each of our fortunes and there it was -- Transmit Now!"

2. Transmit Now is currently playing shows in the South, including a show with Bowling for Soup (yep, the guys who sing "1985") on February 26 in Tallahasse, FL. In June, they'll hit the road for a full tour with their friends, the band Framing Hanley.

3. The guys have trouble picking a fave song off their upcoming album, Merry-Go-Round, but guitarist Kevin Parrow really likes "Fast Ride." "It's built a little different but still has that Transmit Now pop-hook that really makes it our own," Kevin says. "We wanted the record to sound as fun as we had making it."

4. The first live performance Transmit Now ever played was at Van's Warped Tour 2008 -- they got that spot after winning an online "Battle of the Bands" event!

5. When they're on the road, the boys spend a ton of time in Wal-Mart! "82.3% of our time touring is spent at a Wal-Mart somewhere," bassist Lee Gianou says. "This is not an exaggeration. Bathrooms in the back of Walmarts are 82.3% cleaner than the bathrooms at the front of the store. This too, is not an exaggeration."

Check out this exclusive video Trasmit Now made just for J-14:

Let us know what you think of Transmit Now!

Photo: Courteys of JonPaul Douglass