The Band: Foreign Born
The Buzz: Their name is a misnomer unless you consider L.A. “foreign” (and, hey, there’s plenty of reason to), but this quartet has been steadily refining their sound since they formed in 2003. And if music doesn’t work out, they could have an estimable second career as video bloggers. Their personal wordpress? YouTube city. Seriously. You could burn like 6 hours on there. We know.
Listen If: You’re looking for a version of the Walkmen with a bit more grandeur and grandiosity, or are looking to get a jump on the next Vampire Weekend.
Key Track: “Early Warning,” where pinging highlife guitars justify the band’s moniker — it’s like if King Sunny Ade suddenly shucked the whole “stylistic pioneer” schtick and decided instead to write a great, reeling indie rock anthem.

The Band: Lightning Dust
The Buzz: A side project of Amber Webber and Josh Wells from stoner rock band Black Mountain, Lightning Dust makes music for witches to cast spells by, fierce and sudden as flashes of lightning. How Webber musters such a mighty level of vibrato is anybody’s guess.
Listen If: You got sad when Cat Power lost her spookiness, or are looking for a female Bonnie “Prince” Billy.
Key Track: The atypically cheery “I Knew,” where Webber’s fantastically tremulous voice glides and warbles over a hyperactive organ line.

The Band: Phantom Ghost
The Buzz: Berlin Duo’s ghostly name belies wry, often fragile songs, rolling piano lines supporting the wry, sub-basement vocals of Dirk Von Lowtzow. “I was thrown out of drama school for giving the finger to the teacher,” he moans at one point. If there is a greater woe, we know it not.
Listen If: You were also thrown out of drama school, or you went to drama school, or you don’t giggle when you hear the words “drama school.” This is all pomp and pretension, my friends, done absolutely right.
Key Track: Not the one about drama school, believe it or not; “Charge of the Light Brigade” is a trembling, tender ballad, one in which Von Lowtzow’s stately European croon glides over a tiny, pirouetting piano part.