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 | | Putting their own spin on the dance-pop genre by embracing co-ed vocals, oddball experimentation, and a mysterious public image, Fol Chen began attracting blog attention in early 2009. |
 | | The Danish pop act Alphabeat -- comprised of members Anders SG (vocals), Stine Bramsen (vocals), Anders B (guitar), Rasmus Nagel (keyboard), Anders Reinholdt (bass), and Troels Hansen (drums) -- entered the European pop scene in 2007 with a self-titled debut record. |
 | | With its emphasis on synthesizers and impassioned boy-girl vocals, Defend Moscow's retro-minded pop recalls the sounds of Human League, Pet Shop Boys, and other stalwarts of British dance music. |
 | | Disco-pop, off-kilter country, and psychedelic rock find an eccentric home in the music of a Gram Rabbit, a female-led quartet from the deserts of Southern California. |
 | | Jeppe "Senior" Laursen was one-half of over the top Danish pop duo Junior Senior -- the latter half, to be precise; he was the tall gay counterpart to pint-sized straight man Jesper "Junior" Mortensen. |
 | | Falling somewhere between Calvin Harris and Junior Senior, dance-pop singer Tommy Sparks broke through in 2009 with the slick club cut "She's Got Me Dancing. |
 | | Putting a 21st century spin on the hip late-'60s world of Burt Bacharach, Sly Stone, and Barbarella, Denmark's the Asteroids Galaxy Tour had barely let their demo out into the world before fame came calling thanks to Amy Winehouse and the iPod family. |
 | | Originally conceived as the live backing band for her Julie Ruin solo project, Bikini Kill founder and quintessential riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna formed Le Tigre, another bold, feminist-oriented trio, with filmmaker Sadie Benning and zine creator Johanna Fateman in 1998. |
 | | Boston, MA-based electronic indie pop outfit Yes Giantess craft synth-fueled, high-energy dancefloor jams in the vein of Passion Pit, Ratatat, Friendly Fires, and early MGMT. |
 | | An energetic blend of rock, hip-hop, and dance-pop made Junior Senior a U.K. darling in the early 2000s, but the duo's collective heart remained ensconced in Jutland -- the band's homeland in the western peninsula of Denmark. |
 | | The Orion Experience are a bouncy, fun-loving indie pop group whose mischievous songs nod to acts like the Hard Lessons, the Rentals, and Alphabeat. |
 | | New York City quartet TV/TV were formed in 2006 by longtime friends Josh Ocean (vocals and guitar) and Joe Esposito (guitar), taking their name from a group of media-sharp Berkeley students from the 1970s who called themselves "TVTV" and specialized in asking politicians tough questions while filming the responses with handheld cameras. |
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 | | Formerly known as the Wildbunch, the Detroit sextet Electric Six mix garage, disco, punk, new wave, and metal into cleverly dumb, in-your-face songs like "Danger! High Voltage," which reached number two on the British charts early in 2003. |
 | | One of the vanguard artists in the U.K.'s genre-swirling wonky pop movement, Dan Black brought his combination of pop, rock, dance, and hip-hop flavors to light in 2008 with his hit single "Yours. |
 | | Glamorous electro-rock duo Vive la Fête hail from Belgium and are, perhaps, one of the most distinctive European bands to successfully fuse synth pop and electro with a sexy, decadent aesthetic and punky energy. |
 | | Although Skint & Demoralised is technically the pseudonym of Matt Abbott, a former standup poet turned indie rock/rapper, it also references the contributions of David Gledhill (aka MiNI dOG), the British songwriter/producer who first turned Abbott's prose into music. |
 | | Formed in 2005, England's the Ghost Frequency started out working on demos before finally landing the services of drummer Ben Chetwood, at which point the combo began preparations for gigging, the first of which began in 2006. |
 | | Compatriots Bell X1 and U2 are obvious but useful points of reference for Dublin, Ireland's Delorentos. |
 | | The London dance-rock group New Young Pony Club initially featured Tahita Bulmer (vocals), Andy Spence (guitar), Igor Volk (bass), Lou Hayter (keyboards), and Sarah Jones (drums). |
 | | Spirited, quirky Cincinnati, Ohio-based indie rockers Walk the Moon formed in the late 2000s around the talents of Nicholas Petricca, Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman, and Eli Maiman. |
 | | Staines, England's Hard-Fi feature Richard Archer (vocals), Ross Philips (guitar), Kai Stephens (bass), and Steve Kemp (drums). |
 | | Zulu Winter's anthemic pop, syncopated beats, and melancholy lyrics make for a sound as smart as it is danceable. |
 | | Despite almost universal critical hatred, Transvision Vamp briefly rose to the top of the U.K. charts in the late '80s, thanks largely to the media image of lead singer Wendy James, who fashioned herself as a sexually provocative, rebellious, fashion-conscious punk -- sort of a mixture of Madonna, Blondie's Deborah Harry, T. |
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 | | Before she discovered she could write songs, Gwen Stefani was looking forward to a life of marriage, children, and white picket fences. |
 | | Hot Chelle Rae took shape in 2005, balancing the polished sounds of mainstream pop with energized, guitar-heavy dance-rock. |
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 | | Self-described "indietronic" merchants Hybrasil formed in Wicklow, just outside of Dublin, Ireland, in 2003. |
 | | Formed in 2003, New Hampshire-based indie electronic/dance-rock quintet And Then There Were None originally started out as a metalcore outfit whose relentless touring and fierce D. |
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 | | A genre- and gender-defying mix of rock, pop, and dance inspired by burlesque, drag queens, and glam rock, New York's Scissor Sisters made a splash in late 2003/early 2004 with their neon-bright reimagining of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," the B-side to the band's first single, "Electrobix. |
 | | An upbeat and uptempo groove-oriented alternative rock outfit based in the United Kingdom, Two Spot Gobi formed in 2005. |
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 | | After the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets were arguably the third most popular band to emerge from the late-'80s/early-'90s Madchester scene. |
 | | Initially pegged as something as a voice of a generation when “Loser” turned into a smash crossover success, Beck did wind up crystallizing much of the post-modern ruckus of the ‘90s alternative explosion, but in unexpected ways. |
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 | | Puerto Rico native Andrew de Torres (vocals) and Finland native Nico Hartikainen (drums, programming) met in 1999 while attending middle school in Everett, Washington, a city located just north of Seattle. |
 | | With a sound that's as exuberant as it is infectious, Athens, Georgia dance-pop quartet Reptar have been scuffing up dancefloors since they formed in 2008. |
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