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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“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.