In 2008, these kids made the Brooklyn scene with a song that got heavy iPod-commercial rotation ("Bruises") and an album of spookily sexy, PJ Harvey-meets-Eurythmics synth pop they claim was designed for haunted houses. Four years later, they've set aside such Scooby-Doo-ish pretensions and brightened things up, embracing the refined, airy side of 1980s New Wave with help from alt-rock production heavies Alan Moulder and Dan Carey. Singer Caroline Polachek still plays the towering ice queen on dark-angled ballads like "Cool as a Fire," but there’s tons of swooning bliss here, too – on the majestically crushed-out "I Belong in Your Arms" she beams, "Feelings are good/ Nothing to say," and the synths shine like Molly Ringwald’s earrings.  

Listen to "Met Before":

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“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.