 | | After winning the nationwide 2010 battle-of-the-bands competition Musiktilraunir in their native Iceland, six-piece chamber pop group Of Monsters and Men were hailed as "the new Arcade Fire" in Rolling Stone magazine. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | London, England musician Alex Clare grew up listening to his father’s jazz records, was drawn to blues and soul (Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder), and eventually drum‘n’bass and U. |
 | | Influenced by Nina Simone, Massive Attack, and Joni Mitchell, jazz-soul artist Emeli Sandé regularly provided guest vocals for several of 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. |
 | | Standing firmly on the middle ground between the quirky, staccato attack of Modest Mouse and the spirited, arena-ready roar of Arcade Fire, Los Angeles-based indie rock outfit Grouplove came to fruition in the late 2000s around the talents of Hannah Hooper, Christian Zucconi, Sean Gadd, Ryan Rabin, and Andrew Wessen. |
 | | The winner of the 11th season of Fox's American Idol, singer Phillip Phillips is a soulful vocalist with a throaty style and a bent toward mixing acoustic singer/songwriter material with jam-oriented rock. |
 | | Genre-crossing outfit the Neighbourhood mix atmospheric indie rock, electronica, and hip-hop beats with melodic R&B-inflected vocals. |
 | | Formed in 2010 around the talents of Michael Vincze, David Applebaum, Spencer Trent, Matt Di Panni, Josh Hogan, Andy Warren, Colin Dieden, and Katie Earl, Los Angeles-based musical collective the Mowgli's blend the Laurel Canyon retro-folk of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros with the quirky indie pop of bands like Fun. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Formerly known as the Jakes, Young the Giant began making eclectic indie rock in Irvine, CA, where bandmates Sameer Gadhia (vocals), Jacob Tilley (guitar), Eric Cannata (guitar), Payam Doostzadeh (bass), and Francois Comtois (drummer) all met each other during high school. |
 | | Flame-haired singer/songwriter, beatboxer, and guitarist Ed Sheeran's eclectic blend of acoustic pop, folk, and hip-hop has been championed by everyone from the underground grime scene to American Oscar winners. |
 | | Following the Format's breakup in 2008, frontman Nate Ruess took his songwriting skills to Steel Train's Jack Antonoff and Anathallo's Andrew Dost, both of whom shared a similar affinity for vintage pop music and quirky, melodic hooks. |
 | | Los Angeles indie electro unit Capital Cities first came together as a duo of composer/songwriters Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian. |
 | | Muscle Shoals-inspired, Athens, Alabama-based quartet Alabama Shakes formed in 2009 around the talents of Brittany Howard, Zac Cockrell, Steve Johnson, and Heath Fogg. |
 | | A folk-pop duo made up of guitarist John Paul White and vocalist Joy Williams, the Civil Wars made a quick name for themselves with the release of a digital album, Live at Eddie's Attic, in 2009. |
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 | | Inspired by folk, rock, country, and bluegrass, the London-based Mumford & Sons feature singer/guitarist/drummer Marcus Mumford, vocalist and banjo/Dobro player Winston Marshall, vocalist/keyboardist Ben Lovett, and vocalist/bassist Ted Dwane. |
 | | Brazilian-bred/American-born siblings Erica and Bruce Driscoll compose the sultry indie pop of Astaire. |
 | | Provo, Utah's poppy dance-punk band Neon Trees features vocalist/keyboardist Tyler Glenn, guitarist Chris Allen, bassist Branden Campbell, and drummer/vocalist Elaine Bradley. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | A solo project of Aaron Bruno, AWOLNATION began as a creative outlet for the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. |
 | | Gotye (pronounced "go-ti-yay" or "Gauthier") is the alias of Australian electronic pop trickster Wally de Backer. |
 | | 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. |
 | | With a "cheeky chappy" persona to match Robbie Williams and vocals reminiscent of original Pop Idol Will Young, former call-center worker Olly Murs was one of the success stories of the 2009 season of The X Factor, finishing runner-up to Joe McElderry in the hotly contested final. |
 | | Formed in Seattle by a group of northwestern transplants, the Head and the Heart is an indie folk band whose influences include Americana, country-rock, and classic Beatlesque pop. |
 | | Formed by novelist Mikel Jollett during a tumultuous period in his life, the Airborne Toxic Event (named after a section in American author Don DeLillo's novel White Noise) combine literate indie rock with real literary cred. |
 | | A DJ, producer, and sometimes singer, Australia's Havana Brown began her career in a band called Fishbowl. |
 | | Formed in Harlow in 2008, the Essex five-piece Morning Parade consists of lead vocalist Steve Sparrow, guitarist Chad Thomas, bassist Phil Titus, keyboardist Ben Giddings, and drummer Andy Hayes. |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
 | | New Zealand indie electronic ensemble the Naked and Famous make driving, melodic pop with an '80s post-punk influence. |
 | | England's Animal Kingdom craft dreamy and emotive stadium pop songs that echo the works of similarly atmospheric modern rock acts like Mercury Rev. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Hailing from South London, Florence Mary Leontine Welch writes songs that occupy the same confessional territory as gossip-loving, genre-bending contemporaries like Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Adele, and Lily Allen and the moody, classic art rock of Kate Bush, blending pop, soul, and baroque arrangements into a sound that earned the young artist considerable buzz in 2007. |
 | | The Boston, Massachusetts-based Passion Pit began as a one-man project of singer and songwriter Michael Angelakos to produce a Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend. |
 | | 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. |
 | | British indie rock trio the Wombats make driving guitar post-punk and electronic-influenced pop. Formed in Liverpool in 2003 while the members were all attending the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, the Wombats feature vocalist/guitarist Matthew Murphy, drummer Dan Haggis, and Norwegian-born bassist Tord Øverland-Knudsen. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Although this psychedelic art pop quartet formed in Dalston, London at the end of 2008, they had met earlier in the decade at the Edinburgh College of Art. |
 | | Swedish electro-pop duo Icona Pop feature best friends Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt. The group first came to notice with the 2010 Kitsuné single "Manners," which was sampled on Chiddy Bang's 2011 song "Mind Your Manners"; the song reached number 19 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and appeared on the hip-hop duo's debut album, Breakfast. |
 | | A British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (piano, trumpet, guitar, bass, drums, and organ among them), Dan Croll combines blending folk elements and classic Paul Simon-like melodies with electronic beats, African polyrhythms, and guitar hooks, giving his work a lot of varying sounds and dimensions. |
 | | 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. |
 | | An indie supergroup featuring Spoon's Britt Daniel, New Bomb Turks drummer Sam Brown, and Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs member Dan Boeckner, Divine Fits announced their existence in May 2012 with a 45-second teaser trailer and the news that a full-length album produced by Nick Launay would arrive later that year. |
 | | The witty, funky pop duo Electric Guest feature Asa Taccone (brother of Lonely Island's Jorma Taccone) and Matthew Compton. |
 | | Formed in 2007 by Ima Robot frontman Alex Ebert after a brief period of existential crisis, the cultish 11-piece indie rock outfit Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros draw their inspiration from the communal musical communities that peppered Southern California (specifically Laurel Canyon) with positive vibrations during the '60s and early '70s. |