Delaware:
Atlas
CITY: Wilmington/Newark
SONG THAT GOT US: "Blue Lake [mp3]"
ON THE TUBES: MySpace
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned
WHY THEM? One thing that all Delaware bands excel at: making like they’re from Philly. Seriously, this state has about as many high-quality bands repping it as it has national parks. (Trust me, down there, that zinger will sting pretty hard.) But, lo! From a statewide swamp of horrible third-gen emo and bar rock rises Atlas, a smart young four-piece who, yes, you can tell enjoy the Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend, but also enjoy having friends, so there’s a bit less tie-tightening austerity and a lot more youthy gusto. Alabaman electro-acoustic wunderkind Friendly Foliage made a sweet-ass remix of “Blue Lake,” but the original version is a good ambassador of their catalogue: explosive post-rock, easily scalable to basement or arena proportions.
BONUS BIT! They were originally thinking of naming the band "Teaser and the Firecat" as a what-up to Cat Stevens, then whatever medications they were mixing wore off.