Berlin, Germany

Formed in 2003 as an electronics-based group with an emphasis on the dancefloor, the Whitest Boy Alive eventually abandoned all programming and most other forms of synthetic instrumentation for a typical rock band setup. Guitarist/vocalist Erlend Øye (the Kings of Convenience), bassist Marcin Öz, drummer Sebastian Maschat, and keyboardist Daniel Nentwig began playing a form of straightforward and stripped-down indie rock informed by early Talking Heads (particularly the spindly sound of Talking Heads: 77) and Josef K. They released their first album, titled Dreams, in 2006, and followed it up with the more outgoing and uptempo Rules in 2009. ~ Andy Kellman