www.myspace.com/thezutons

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs wrote a slew of songs at their first rehearsal and soon wound up supporting the Strokes and the White Stripes, earning a significant buzz for their arty yet sexy take on garage punk. In late 2001, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their self-titled debut EP, which they recorded with Boss Hog‘s Jerry Teel, on their own Shifty label. Early the next year the band stepped into the international spotlight, appearing at South by Southwest, touring the U.S. with Girls Against Boys and Europe with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and headlining their own U.K. tour. Wichita Recordings distributed the group’s EP in the U.K. and Touch and Go reissued it in the States.

www.yeahyeahyeahs.com

Although the band emerged from Detroit’s burgeoning rock scene, the White Stripes quickly gained a national following after touring alongside Pavement and Sleater-Kinney. Such performances helped support the duo’s self-titled debut album, released in 1999 and dedicated to blues icon Son House. A sophomore effort followed closely behind, as the self-recorded De Stijl appeared in June 2000. However, it was the band’s third release — 2001’s White Blood Cells — that established the White Stripes as forerunners of the garage rock revival. Recorded in Memphis by renowned producer Doug Easley, White Blood Cells was a critical smash, launching the band into the same circle as the Strokes and the Hives. The White Stripes appeared on Late Night with David Lettterman and the MTV Movie Awards program; meanwhile, their music was profiled in such publications as Time, The New Yorker, and Entertainment Weekly.

Faced with a swell in popularity, the musicians made the tough decision to jump to a major label. White Blood Cells was accordingly reissued by V2 Records in January 2002, and the previous two records followed suit in June. The White Stripes’ profile continued to build as the music video for “Fell in Love with a Girl” — a clever piece of Lego-animation directed by Michel Gondry — was nominated for four MTV Video Awards, including Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects in a Video, and Best Video of the Year, the latter of which pitted the band against the likes of Eminem and *NSYNC. While many garage rock revivalists struggled to maintain popularity as the decade progressed, the White Stripes proved to be an enduring presence, with 2003’s Elephant receiving unanimous critical acclaim (and platinum sales in several countries) upon its release.

The White Stripes returned in 2005 with Get Behind Me Satan, a dizzyingly diverse album that spanned disco-metal and light, marimba-driven pop. In keeping with the band’s feverish pace, the album had been written and recorded in two weeks that spring. The Stripes supported its release with a tour, during which they coveredTegan and Sara‘s “Walking with a Ghost” and released the song as a single at the end of 2005. That same year, Jack White and his new wife, model/singer Karen Elson, moved to Nashville, TN. White also formed the Raconteurs with Brendan Benson and the Greenhornes‘Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, and spent much of 2006 touring in support of the group’s debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers.

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Around this time, Lunn met kindred music fan (and future love interest) Charlotte Cooper. Both shared a fondness for Nirvana, the Pixies, the Jam, Mudhoney, and the Sex Pistols — thus, Cooperstarted to learn bass in order to play alongside Lunn, while big brother Morgan took up the drums. The trio soon delivered an energetic, punk-inspired sound, which they captured on a series of homemade recordings. The Subways then used those recordings to secure shows in London, and in 2004, the bandmates cemented their on-the-rise status by winning the Glastonbury Festival Unsigned Performers Competition.

Prior to the year’s end, the Subways began working with producer Ian Broudie (Echo & the Bunnymen, the Coral) for the recording of their debut album. Packed with four Top 40 British singles, Young for Eternity was released in the U.K. in June 2005. An appearance on Fox’s popular sitcom The O.C. (as well as a spot on the show’s soundtrack) followed that fall, and Young for Eternity received an American release in February 2006. The album’s most popular track, “Rock & Roll Queen,” went gold in the U.S., and the group decamped to California to record its follow-up effort. Partially inspired b yLunn‘s breakup with Cooper, 2008’s All or Nothing introduced a harder sound courtesy of veteran producer Butch Vig.

www.thesubways.net

www.thestrokes.com

www.plunderingdesire.com

Comprised of three Followill brothers — Caleb (guitar), Nathan(drums), and Jared (bass) — as well as first cousin Matthew Followill(guitar), Kings of Leon formed in 2000. The Followill siblings had spent their youth traveling across America’s heartland with their evangelist father, decamping at Pentecostal churches and tent revivals for several days at a time before moving onward. When their father resigned from the church and divorced his wife in 1997, the boys relocated to Nashville and embraced the rock music (not to mention the accompanying lifestyle) they’d previously been denied. Cousin Matthew was added to the lineup, and a Southern garage rock sound quickly emerged. RCA took note, signing the band in 2001 and facilitating a partnership with Nashville-based producer Angelo Petraglia, who furthered the band’s rock & roll education and co-wrote the material for 2003’s Holy Roller Novocaine EP.

Tours across North America and the U.K. coincided with the release of the band’s full-length debut, Youth & Young Manhood, that same summer. Buoyed by the single “Molly’s Chambers,” the album saw moderate success in the U.K. However, it was their sophomore effort, 2004’s Aha Shake Heartbreak, that made them European stars, with three songs cracking the U.K. singles charts. The album saw an American release in February 2005, and Kings of Leon toured the country alongside U2 before retreating to work on their third effort. The darker, more expansive Because of the Times followed in 2007. Featuring production from Ethan Johns (who had helmed the band’s previous releases as well), the album proved to be the band’s biggest release, debuting at number 25 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and topping the album charts in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand.

Kings of Leon returned the following year with Only by the Night, another expansive album whose lead single, “Sex on Fire,” gave the band its first number one single in the U.K. The album fared similarly well, topping the U.K. charts upon its release and debuting at number four in America. It eventually gained platinum status in eight countries, including America, and its success allowed the band to tour heavily throughout much of 2008 and 2009. Live at the O2 was released at the tail end of 2009, capturing one of the band’s midsummer performances in London, England.

www.kingsofleon.com

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While showcasing her array of vocal styles at a Stiffed show, Whitewas spotted by Martin Heath, who made her an offer to record a solo record on Lizard King, the label responsible for the successful promotion of the Killers. After failed attempts with a few mainstream pop producers, White and Hill (now calling the projectSantogold) decided to pair up with a crew of likeminded musicians — including Freq Nasty, Disco D, Switch, Spank Rock‘s Naeem,Xxxchange, Steel Pulse guitarist Clifford Moonie Pusey, and none other than M.I.A. herself.

In only three weeks, the full-length Creator was completed and scheduled for release in January of 2008, though it took until April for the album (retitled to simply Santogold) to actually hit shelves. Speaking of re-titling, White decided to change the name of the project to Santigold in early 2009 for reasons possibly related to an impending lawsuit from wrestler and “personality” Santo Gold.

www.myspace.com/santigold

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