They're firmly entrenched members of Brooklyn's underground rock scene, but the members of New York City foursome Tigercity have roots that trace back to Western Massachusetts' liberal Hampshire College. The group's core members, singer (and Hampshire alum) Bill Gillim, 30, and bassist Joel Ford, 25, met back in 2004 on the campus blacktop. (Ford had graduated from the University of Massachusetts a few years prior, and, like Gillim, was still living and working in Western Mass.) "We were playing a game of hipster pick-up basketball with about fifteen other people," says Gillim, who goes on to clarify the niche sport as "some throwback Converse sneakers, some long hair, and some guys who aren't very good at basketball." Thus, the earliest incarnation of Tigercity was born. Eventually, Gillim's and Ford's team polished up their game, joined a league and won the championships. It's a story that promises to be mirrored by the trajectory of the band, whose sold-out club gigs have attracted interest from labels big and small and moved even the spazziest of rock nerds to shake their booties.

SOUND With echoes of the Bee Gees, Prince and Roxy Music, Tigercity's funky, electro-driven indie-pop was born of a desire to avoid what Gillim calls the "scratchy post-punk guitar sound" New York bands have been milking for the past few years. The group's earliest tracks relied heavily on synthesizers and computerized beats, but their move to New York brought the addition of drummer Aynsley Powell and guitarist Andrew Brady, and with them a progressively refined combination of New Wave's mechanized sheen and funk's organic grooves.

HE CAN GO FOR THAT: Gillim was deep in the throes of a "sad guy emo" phase when he made a life-altering discovery, care of his college roommate. "He loved Hall & Oates and Michael Jackson without shame," says the singer, whose silky falsetto on tracks like "Solitary Man" and "Let Her Go" is Barry Gibb-caliber. "It took me awhile to get into that stuff un-ironically, because I was this super serious indie-rocker who had black hair and clunky shoes and refused to dance," says Gillim. "Then I started realizing that irony was pretty worthless and dancing was pretty fun."

MUST-HAVE TRACK: On the flawlessly compact disco ditty " Other Girls," Gillim lets loose an upper register that could give Justin Timberlake a run for his money. Bonus points for the lyric, "Girl, you're making me cuh-huh-hum and go."

WHERE TO HEAR IT: The band is getting ready to record a six-song EP that'll be out in late summer. In the meantime, you can go to http://www.myspace.com/tigercity for tracks and info on upcoming tour dates.

SEE THEM NOW: Watch the boys of Tigercity eat, exercise, play Guitar Hero and thrift-shop their way through Austin, Texas during the SXSW music festival.

Nominate your own Artist to watch here!