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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“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.