 | | Originally conceived as a solo bedroom project in 2009, Cheatahs is the brainchild of Nathan Hewitt (guitar, vocals). |
 | | Gainesville, Florida's delicate indie country-rock group Holopaw features singer/songwriter/guitarist John Orth, who worked with Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock on his side project Ugly Casanova. |
 | | Based out of Birmingham, England, Peace create drifting, melodic indie rock that merges the crawling atmosphere of classic post-punk with the pop-oriented bounce of modern bands like Vampire Weekend. |
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 | | Shadowy New York-based chillwave duo MS MR first caught the public's attention with their infectious single "Hurricane," a dark yet sinfully melodic heartbreak anthem that blended the iciness of Phantogram and Bat for Lashes with the commercial grandeur of Adele and Florence and the Machine. |
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 | | Playing tough, dynamic, roots-conscious rock & roll that references the past and the present in equal measure, the Hounds Below are a Detroit-based group founded by Jason Stollsteimer. |
 | | Twenty One Pilots is a pop duo formed in 2009 by high school friends Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. The pair built an enormous regional following across Ohio and the midwest, spurned on by constant energetic touring as well as shrewd use of interactive social media and reaching out to fans on a grassroots level. |
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 | | After spending several years with the post-punk outfit Sidecar Kisses, vocalist/guitarist Ritzy Bryan and bassist Rhydian Dafydd left the lineup and launched the Joy Formidable, drawing heavily from shoegaze and noisy alt-rock to create their new group's sound. |
 | | Formed in 2008 by singer/songwriter/guitarist Tim Bruns and mandolin player Michael Morter, Denver, Colorado-based indie folk-rock outfit Churchill expanded to a sextet by the time of the group's 2009 live debut, fleshing out Bruns' rustic, Americana-tinged tales of love, life, and loss with cello, piano, bass, and drums. |
 | | Los Angeles indie electro unit Capital Cities first came together as a duo of composer/songwriters Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian. |
 | | Fronted by dynamic lead singer Chloe Chaidez, the Los Angeles-based four-piece Kitten make '80s post-punk-influenced dance-rock. |
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 | | Mississippi-based singer/songwriter and ukulele aficionado Dent May crafts elegant and whimsical pop tunes in the vein of Jens Lekman and Magnetic Fields, with a dash of Serge Gainsbourg and Jonathan Richman thrown in for good measure. |
 | | Gothenburg, Sweden-based indie rock outfit Junip was formed in late '90s by singer/songwriter Jose Gonzalez. |
 | | The Young were conceived in 2005 by Austin, Texas vocalist/guitarist Hans Zimmerman. The band existed as Zimmerman's home recording project until about 2007 when it expanded into a more fully realized punk quartet with the addition of bassist Jason Costanzo, guitarist Kyle Edwards, and drummer Ryan Maloney. |
 | | Cut from the same colorful cloth as upbeat indie pop contemporaries like Fun., Jukebox the Ghost, Walk the Moon, and Imagine Dragons, Youngblood Hawke, named after a 1961 Herman Wouk novel based on the life of Thomas Wolfe, was formed in 2011 by former members of new wave revivalists Iglu and Hartly. |
 | | The alias of electronic musician and producer Harley Streten, Flume makes atmospheric R&B and dance-influenced music. |
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 | | As AlunaGeorge, producer George Reid and vocalist Aluna Francis amalgamate electronic pop, 2-step garage, and left-field R&B. |
 | | Raised on a steady diet of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and the brothers Gallagher, English singer/songwriter Jake Bugg blends the melodious, working-class swagger of the La's and the primal, bluesy simplicity of the White Stripes with the wry, weathered romanticism of Jens Lekman. |
 | | This UK-based hip-hop soul act was formed by Ricky Fabulous (guitar) and DJ Modest (decks), who had been playing live sets on the London club for a number of years before a chance meeting with vocalist Kathrin deBoer prompted them to launch a more song-based project at the start of the new millennium. |
 | | Brooklyn four-piece Chappo make driving, psychedelic and post-punk influenced indie rock. Centered around Baton Rouge native lead singer/songwriter and guitarist Alex Chappo and Seattle-born keyboardist Chris Olson, the band also includes drummer Zac Colwell and guitarist Dave Feddock. |
 | | The nameless lineup that became Atoms for Peace made its public debut at Los Angeles, California's Echoplex on October 2, 2009. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Previously known as the Concept Store and the Concept, Stockholm's Royal Concept features vocalist/guitarist David Larson, guitarist Filip Bekic, bassist Magnus Robert, and drummer Frans Povel. |
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 | | English indie rockers Alt-J, named for the triangle that appears when pressing "Alt" and "J" on a Mac, formed in 2008 under the moniker FILMS. |
 | | Pianist Ben Thornewill, guitarist Tommy Siegel, and drummer Jesse Kristin first came together in 2003 as undergraduate students at George Washington University. |
 | | Chaz Bundick started making bedroom recordings under the name Toro y Moi in his native Columbia, South Carolina in 2001. |
 | | Los Angeles-based electronic musician Robert DeLong mixes dance music with his own singer/songwriter style of craftsmanship. |
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 | | Palma Violets are a four-piece band from London, made up of bassist/vocalist Chilli Jenson, guitarist/vocalist Sam Fryer, keyboardist Peter Mayhew, and drummer Will Doyle, who play their own distinct brand of psychedelic rock & roll. |
 | | Another example of how influential blogs can be in a band's career, sharp-edged Australian indie rockers Atlas Genius experienced a massive surge in their popularity when their song "Trojans" was featured by the site Neon Gold, resulting in offers from record labels and over 45,000 downloads in the U. |
 | | Sunny Los Angeles-based indie pop outfit Family of the Year formed in 2009 around the talents of Welsh brothers Joseph and Sebastian Keefe, Florida native James Buckey, and Orange County, California denizen Christina Schroeter. |
 | | Calexico, a Tucson collective of musicians focused around Joey Burns and John Convertino, forged an eclectic identity through their exploration of Southwestern culture. |
 | | Although formed in sunny California during the early 2000s, Shiny Toy Guns' music flaunts a sleek, '80s-influenced combination of synth-pop and electro-clash. |
 | | Formed in 2006 by vocalist Nick Ward and guitarist Matt Bishop, Hey Marseilles quickly expanded into an eclectic, seven-piece band. |
 | | Rambunctious Danish indie rockers New Politics formed in the late 2000s around the talents of vocalist David Boyd, guitarist/vocalist/keyboard player Søren H, and drummer Poul Amaliel. |
 | | Consisting of DJ Greem and MC 20Syl (from jazz-rap collective Hocus Pocus) and DJs Atom and Pfel (from electro hip-hop duo Beat Torrent), C2C are widely regarded as one of the most accomplished turntablist crews in the world. |
 | | Australian pop outfit Gold Fields make '80s new wave-influenced dance-pop. Formed in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia in 2010, Gold Fields feature vocalist Mark Robert Fuller, guitarist Vin Andanar, keyboardist Rob Clifton, bassist Luke Peldys, and drummer Ryan D'Sylva. |
 | | Fusing low-res electronic noise and pop hooks so effortlessly that it can seem accidental, Crystal Castles began as producer/multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath's solo project in late 2003. |
 | | After serving as opening acts on Brand New's 2007 tour, Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull and solo artist Kevin Devine began working together in spurts. |
 | | Las Vegas-based indie rockers Imagine Dragons formed in Provo, Utah in 2009. Like their desert-born stadium rock contemporaries the Killers, Imagine Dragons blend engaging, synth-based dance-pop with emotionally charged, Brit-pop-inspired alt-rock. |
 | | Much like Iron & Wine and similar indie outfits, Sea Wolf is the project name of a sole singer/songwriter who drafts in other musicians as the occasion warrants. |
 | | One of the most admired guitarists of the early 21st century, Jack White helped restore the popularity of punk-blues as the frontman of the White Stripes. |
 | | Following the dissolution of Laramie, WY, pop-punks the Lillingtons, vocalist/guitarist Kody Templeman was hardly done with music, moving on to form the similarly minded Teenage Bottlerocket, another group of rambunctious, Ramones and Screeching Weasel-loving punks. |
