 | | Bethany Cosentino was no stranger to the stage when she began working on recordings with bandmate Bobb Bruno under the name Best Coast in 2009. |
 | | Cults' twinkling experimental pop arrived in a shroud of mystery early in 2010, when the group posted three songs on their Bandcamp page. |
 | | Despite its summery name, Beach House creates music that is dark, dreamy, and alluringly hypnotic. Baltimore residents Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand (the niece of French composer Michel Legrand) formed the duo in 2005, with Legrand's hushed, Nico-like vocals and Scally's delicate instrumentation paving the way for their first batch of songs. |
 | | Playing garage-flavored punk rock with a Southern accent, a messed-up and bluesy undertow, and the gleefully destructive impact of a 15-year-old with a bag of firecrackers, the Black Lips are an Atlanta-based combo who after their debut in 2000 soon developed a reputation as one of the Peach State's wildest bands. |
 | | New York-based musicians Alex Naidus (bass), Kip Berman (guitar/vocals), Kurt Feldman (drums), and Peggy Wang-East (keyboards/vocals) came together to form the Pains of Being Pure at Heart in 2007. |
 | | An unlikely but undeniably catchy mix of Factory Records-style indie and '50s-inspired melodies, the Drums have roots that can be traced to the childhood friendship of Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham. |
 | | Chicago's the Smith Westerns are a band looking for some teenage kicks with their home-brewed mixture of garage, glam, and punk, and they come by their youthful energy honestly -- none of the group members were old enough to buy a beer when they released their first album. |
 | | Phantogram is an electronic rock duo from upstate New York whose music incorporates psychedelic pop vocals, J Dilla-style hip-hop beats, and shoegazing sensibility. |
 | | The Swedish indie pop artist Lykke Li Zachrisson (better known as Lykke Li) grabbed the attention of international bloggers in the early 2000s with a handful of catchy, retro-chic singles made available on her MySpace profile. |
 | | Formed in 2008, Local Natives craft their dramatic and eclectic brand of indie rock from their home base in Los Angeles, California. |
 | | One of 2006's most unexpected indie success stories, Beirut combines a wide variety of styles, from pre-rock/pop music and Eastern European Gypsy styles to the alternately plaintive and whimsical indie folk of the Decemberists to the lo-fi, homemade psychedelic experimentation of Neutral Milk Hotel. |
 | | Songwriter/producer Derek Miller and vocalist Alexis Krauss comprise Sleigh Bells, an experimental pop duo that began earning its first fans after a breakout performance at the 2009 CMJ Festival. |
 | | The bluesy punk duo the Kills consist of vocalist/guitarist VV, aka Alison Mosshart, formerly of the Florida punk band Discount, and drummer/guitarist/vocalist Hotel, aka Jamie Hince. |
 | | Ernest Greene had been involved in a number of musical endeavors by the time he started putting together a series of recordings as Washed Out. |
 | | In 2003, Frenchmen Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau enjoyed international acclaim for the album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, a luscious blend of shoegaze aesthetics, ambient pop, and progressive textures. |
 | | 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. |
 | | With an ear for Brian Wilson-esque harmony, the irreverently named Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. swirl indie pop, folk, and electronic elements into one breezy package. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Infectious London-based indie rock outfit the Vaccines formed in the late 2000s around the talents of Justin Young (vocals, guitar), Árni Hjörvar (bass), Freddie Cowan (guitar), and Pete Robertson (drums). |
 | | Eccentric indie rock band Maps & Atlases feature Erin Elders (guitar), Shiraz Dada (bass), Chris Hainey (drums), and Dave Davison (guitar/vocals). |
 | | A punk-inflected indie rock group whose bawling, thrashing sound reflected a wide range of influences ranging from the Pixies to Bright Eyes to Bruce Springsteen, Glen Rock, New Jersey's Titus Andronicus formed in 2005 with Liam Betson, Ian Graetzer, Eric Harm, Patrick Stickles, and Dan Tews. |
 | | Atmospheric English indie pop group the xx formed in London in 2008 around the talents of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi, and Jamie Smith, when the bandmembers were still in high school. |
 | | Carving out a space somewhere in the middle of garage punk snarl, shoegaze haze, and Krautrock grooves, Chicago's Disappears feature Brian Case (also of the Ponys and 90 Day Men), Boas members Graeme Gibson and Jonathan van Herik, and Damon Carruesco. |
 | | After the San Diego-based emo outfit Noise Ratchet called it quits in 2004, co-founders Jon Jameson (bass) and Brandon Young (drums) decided to ditch their punk-influenced sound for something more rootsy. |
 | | Brooklyn, NY-based pianist, singer, and songwriter Lia Ices was born and raised in Connecticut, where she began playing piano at the age of five, although she didn't discover her penchant for songwriting until years later while studying at N. |
 | | New Jersey's hazy indie rockers Real Estate feature Titus Andronicus' Martin Courtney, Etienne Duguay (who also records as Predator Vision), Alex Bleeker, and Matthew Mondanile, also of Ducktails. |
 | | The blurry electronic pop project of an initially anonymous composer from Brooklyn and video artist from Austin, Texas, Neon Indian was conceived as a multimedia experience combining their music and video into short films, teasers, and straight-up pop songs. |
 | | Since they emerged at a time when C-86-inspired acts like Vivian Girls and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart were in vogue, it’s little wonder that California’s Dum Dum Girls -- a group whose '60s-inflected lo-fi pop brings to mind acts like Black Tambourine and Dolly Mixture -- became something of a sensation on the indie circuit soon after the release of their first single. |
 | | The Chain Gang of 1974 is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist and DJ Kamtin Mohager’s alternative dance music project. |
 | | Mixing electronic polish with guitar-driven hooks à la Phoenix and the Postal Service, Bangor and Donaghadee, Northern Ireland's Two Door Cinema Club feature singer/guitarist/programmer Alex Trimble, guitarist/singer Sam Halliday, and bassist/singer Kevin Baird. |
 | | Led by songwriter Michael Fitzpatrick, Fitz & the Tantrums brew up a retro sound inspired by Motown and Stax Records. |
 | | Wye Oak, a Baltimore-based indie rock duo comprised of Jenn Wasner (guitar, vocals) and Andy Stack (drums, vocals), took their name from a symbolic 460-year-old tree in their home state of Maryland. |
 | | A lo-fi electro-pop group from Worcester, Massachusetts, Dom are led by a guy named Dom, who prefers not to divulge his last name. |
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 | | A Los Angeles quartet dealing in sparse, atmospheric art rock, Warpaint originally consisted of sisters Jenny Lee Lindberg and Shannyn Sossamon (on bass and drums, respectively), as well as Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman on vocal and guitar. |
 | | Brought to the attention of the indie pop world by two darlings of the genre, Tegan and Sara, An Horse was originally envisioned as a solo vehicle for former Iron On member Kate Cooper. |
 | | New Zealand indie electronic ensemble the Naked and Famous make driving, melodic pop with an '80s post-punk influence. |
 | | Deerhunter are an experimental noise rock band from Atlanta, fronted by the compellingly odd singer Bradford Cox. |
 | | Grizzly Bear began as a home recording project for Boston-bred experimentalist Edward Droste, the son of an elementary school teacher, who laid the groundwork for the band's otherworldly debut album on a small hand-held tape recorder while holed up for 15 months in his Greenpoint, Brooklyn, apartment. |
 | | Indie rock trio Foster the People make atmospheric, psychedelic, and dance-oriented pop. Formed in Los Angeles in 2009, the band features keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Mark Foster, bassist Cubbie Fink, and drummer Mark Pontius. |
 | | The odd combination of an Englishman in the midst of southeastern Texans, Electric Touch emerged following the demise of British band IV Thieves and Houston, TX-based Bojones. |
 | | Deriving their name from the ill-fated characters featured in the work of writer/illustrator Henry Darger, the Vivian Girls (not to be confused with the "craft pop" duo of the same name) are a Brooklyn-based trio whose gritty, lo-fi tunes nod to seminal indie pop acts like Black Tambourine, Talulah Gosh, and Tiger Trap. |
 | | Chaz Bundick started making bedroom recordings under the name Toro y Moi in his native Columbia, South Carolina in 2001. |
 | | Specializing in a classic-sounding Southern rock/Americana style that emphasizes songs and danceable kinetics over empty hipness and trendy pop gimmicks, J. |
 | | San Francisco duo Girls make druggy, ethereal pop in the spirit of Spiritualized and Ariel Pink. Christopher Owens was born in Florida, son to a mother and father who were actively involved as members of the Children of God cult, and spent most of his childhood drifting. |
 | | Kevin Parker (vocals/guitar) and Dominic Simper (bass) formed Tame Impala as 13 year olds in Perth in 1999, sticking to bedroom recordings until 2007, when Jay Watson joined them on drums and backing vocals. |
 | | Lissie Maurus was raised in the riverside town of Rock Island, IL, and she drew upon those blue-collar Midwestern origins to create her own form of indie folk music. |
 | | A combination of indie rock muscle and theatrical, unapologetic bombast turned Arcade Fire into indie royalty in the early 2000s. |
 | | Gold Motel's sunny, '60s-influenced indie pop is made for summer driving and hanging out by the pool. |
 | | Seattle's Fleet Foxes are led by vocalist/guitarist Robin Pecknold, who fashioned his band's earthy, harmony-rich sound in honor of such perennial '60s artists as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Zombies, and the Beach Boys. |
