Like the Strokes, the members of the Postelles met at a Manhattan high school and operate under a distinctly retro MO. But where Julian Casablancas and company reference the taut Seventies guitar rock of Television, the Postelles look to the jittery doo-wop of Elvis Costello and the buoyant pop of Motown girl groups. Their debut — co-produced by the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr., who leaves his fingerprints all over the band’s chiming guitars — swaggers with tales of lost love set to memorable melodies. The Postelles get scruffy on “Stella,” unleashing some neatly arranged garage rock, but their lyrics stay amusingly sweet: Frontman Daniel Balk kindly invites a sleepy female guest to spend the night — on the floor next to his bed.

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“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”