Fischerspooner

The flamboyant performance troupe Fischerspooner personified the polysexual fashion-oriented electroclash dance fad that grew out of the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, club scene. Formed by Art Institute of Chicago grads Casey Spooner and Warren Fischer, Fischerspooner put on elaborate choreographed stage shows that stripped pop music's sexy varnish to a noxious fume -- they get busted lip-synching and have diva-style breakdowns onstage. After fierce bidding wars for all things electro, the U.K.-based Ministry of Sound signed them for a reported $2 million, an unheard-of sum for a techno band. The buzz grew loudest in May 2002, when Fischerspooner staged six shows (at a reported cost of $300,000) at New York's Deitch Projects, a fashionable SoHo art gallery packed with celebrities and journalists. Not bad for a couple of art pranksters who supposedly had their first gig at a Starbucks and shopped for their sound at an East Village record store. After significant delays, Capitol finally released #1 in February 2003, and the new-wave anthem "Emerge" became its first single. Yet, despite Fischerspooner seemingly drowning in its own hype, #1's updated electro manages to stay fresh -- a trans-Euro dance express out of New York City's gritty punk-rock renaissance. (CARLA SPARTOS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide