Barcelona, Spain

With swirling guitar, pastoral-meets-Phil Spector harmonies, and a dash of tape hiss, Aias is Spains answer to the female-centric noise pop explosion. The Barcelona-based trio, comprised of singer/guitarist Gaia Bihr, singer/bassist Miriam Garcia, and singer/drummer Laia Aubia, formed on a whim to play at a friends birthday party. Originally intended to be a one-off project -- the members were empowered by their new creative outlet and inspired by seeing like-minded Vivian Girls at the 2009 Primavera Sound music festival -- and took to a remote village in Catalonia with Cristian Pallejà (Nisei, Sedaiós) to make a record. The band joined the Captured Tracks roster in 2010, releasing a 7 and album A la Piscina later that year. ~ Chrysta Cherrie