Bands are rarely led by their drummers – there's too big a risk of 25-minute tom-tom solos. But David Maclean, mastermind of the delightful new group Django Django, is an exception. He and his band take a light, spry approach to their groove-centered music, which is experimental but never dour. On their debut (which came out overseas in January), the Djangos are minimalists, working in the lineage of Stereolab, krautrock and the softly alien sounds of Brian Eno. Guitarist Vincent Neff sings about modern life ("the rattle of drums, the click of my thumbs") and the dazed feeling of getting lost in nature. And wherever they travel, Django Django sound relaxed and joyful.

Listen to Django Django's "Default": 

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• Photos: Random Notes

“The Pretender”

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."