Los Hermanos is a Brazilian band from the state of Rio de Janeiro, which mixes up indie rock with mpb and samba elements. The band members are Marcelo Camelo, Rodrigo Amarante (both guitars, lyrics and vocals), Bruno Medina (keyboard) and Rodrigo Barba (drums).

They recorded two demos that eventually found their way into the hands of Paulo André, the producer of the Abril Pro Rock festival, in Recife. The band was then invited to perform on one of the biggest alternative music festivals in Brazil, the Superdemo. Their self-titled album, released in 1999, became a huge seller on the back of the hit single Anna Julia.

Two less financially successful albums, Bloco do Eu Sozinho (2001) and Ventura (2003), followed, changing the punk-rock that highlighted their debut effort to a softer, more laid-back style. Although those two albums did not sell as much as the first one, they consolidated the band as a cult; mainly because of their so-called clever lyrics and mixture of brazilian rhytmhs with rock.

Franz Ferdinand is a indie rock band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2001. Named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band consists of Alex Kapranos (guitar/vocals), Nicholas McCarthy (guitar/backing vocals/keyboard), Paul Thomson (drums/backing vocals), and Robert Hardy (bass). The band has also adopted a new member, Andy Knowles, ex-drummer of The Fiery Furnaces. Andy plays guitar, drums, and keyboard. The band first experienced chart success when their second single “Take Me Out” reached #3 in the UK Charts, followed by their debut album Franz Ferdinand which debuted on the UK album chart at #3. The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act. NME named Franz Ferdinand as their Album of the Year. From the album, three top-ten singles were released, “Take Me Out”, “The Dark of the Matinée” and “This Fire”. The band released their fourth and final single from You Could Have It So Much Better, a re-recorded, more ‘poppish’ version of Eleanor Put Your Boots On, on July 17. They also are participating in the Save the Children charity album “Colours are Brighter” with the song ‘Jackie Jackson’.

Cake is a band formed in 1991 in Sacramento, California. It has had several hits throughout the 1990s and 2000s from its five recorded albums. Although Cake’s music is often classified as alternative or indie rock, it combines multiple musical genres, such as funk, ska, pop, jazz, rap, and country. Cake’s music features droll lyrics rife with word play and syncopation (laconically-voiced in a rap-like style by lead vocalist/guitarist John McCrea), catchy distorted guitar riffs (courtesy of guitarist Greg Brown until 1998, and bass player to Victor Damiani until 1997), and a solo trumpet (played by Vince DiFiore). Cake’s musical style has been compared to They Might Be Giants, Talking Heads, The Cars, and Camper Van Beethoven. Cake’s biggest hits have included “The Distance”, “Never There”, “Sheep Go to Heaven” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle”, “No Phone”, “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”, and an alternative remake of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”. 

Wolf Parade is an indie rock band from Victoria (British Columbia, Canada), now based in Montreal (Canada). Wolf Parade was formed when Spencer Krug (also Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes and Swan Lake) was offered a gig supporting Arcade Fire. He called Dan Boeckner (formerly of notable B.C. band Atlas Strategic, now also part of Handsome Furs) and they wrote songs with a drum machine before calling Arlen Thompson to play drums. Hadji Bakara joined in 2004. Dante DeCaro (formerly of Hot Hot Heat and currently of Johnny and the Moon) joined in Summer 2005 as second guitarist and percussionist.
Wolf Parade released their eponymous debut EP in 2003 with only Spencer, Dan and Arlen performing on it. After Hadji joined the group, they released another independent, self-titled EP in 2004. They were signed to sub pop by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse and released their first widely-distributed record, Wolf Parade EP. In September 2005 their debut album Apologies to the Queen Mary was released.
Apologies to the Queen Mary was given this name because, as in rock and roll tradition, Wolf Parade trashed the Queen Mary hotel. It was said that they trashed the hotel worse than any band before them.

 
The Thirst are an electrifying indie/rock band from Brixton who are emerging as one of the premiere live acts in the UK. Consisting of brothers Mensah (lead guitar) and Kwame (bass), alongside school friends Mark (rhythm guitarist) and Marcus (drummer), The Thirst blend together a vibrant sound and offer a refreshing and uplifting alternative to present youth culture. Inspired and influenced by old punk records, Hendrix, drum n’ bass and hip-hop, the result is uniquely their own.

From the first band rehearsals at Mensah and Kwame’s house to playing at local venues, The Thirst built up their strong fan-base the traditional way, gigging across London up to six times a week. Word soon spread of their talent and it wasn’t long before Ronnie Wood heard of The Thirst making waves in London. The Rolling Stone immediately sent his talent scouts down to one of their gigs. The Thirst blew the crowd away and as soon as Ronnie returned from tour, he along with his family went to see the band at their gig at The Half Moon in Putney. The Thirst was signed on the spot, making them the first band to be signed to Wooden Records.

Dear and the Headlights is an indie rock band from Phoenix, Arizona. They released 2 widely known demos, recorded by future bassist Chuckie Duff, before their debut album was released. These demos included 5 songs re-recorded for the album. The most notable change to the songs upon re-recording was the drop from standard guitar tuning to E-flat standard tuning. Two songs heard on their purevolume.com page, recorded acoustic on a local radio show, also later appeared on Small Steps, Heavy Hooves. Small Steps, Heavy Hooves, the band’s debut album, was released on February 6, 2007 on Equal Vision Records.

Bloc Party are an English indie rock band. Their brand of indie rock has been compared to bands such as The Cure,Gang of Four and The Strokes. The band formed at the 1999 Reading Festival by Okereke and Lissack. They went through a variety of names before settling on Bloc Party in 2003. Bloc Party got their break by giving BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and Franz Ferdinand’s lead singer Alex Kapranos a copy of their demo, “She’s Hearing Voices”, which was later released as a single. In February 2005, the band released their debut album Silent Alarm. In August 2008, the band released their 3rd album, Intimacy with little promotion apart from the preceding single “Mercury”, released digitally via their website. The CD version is to be released in October.

Interpol is an American indie rock band, formed in 1997 in New York City. Interpol is one of the bands associated with the New York indie music scene, being one of several groups that emerged out of the post-punk revival of the 2000s. The band’s sound is generally a mix of bass throb and choppy, sparse guitar, with a snare heavy mix, drawing comparisons to post-punk bands such as Joy Division and The Chameleons.

Leslie Feist (born February 13, 1976 in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada) is a Juno Award-winning and Grammy-nominated Canadian singer-songwriter. She performs as a solo artist under the name Feist and as a member of the indie rock supergroup Broken Social Scene. At the 2008 Juno Awards on April 6, 2008 in Calgary, Alberta, she was the top winner with five awards, including Songwriter, Artist, Pop Album, Album and Single of the Year.