Everything Everything – Man Alive

However much we hacks like to moan about the self-fulfilling prophecy of BBC’s Sound Of... poll, the fact remains that wherever a band land on the list, they still need the hooks to make the most of the industry leg-up. Making the longlist for 2010, Everything Everything may still be able to make this their year.  Lead man Jonathan Everything guides the Manchester-based quartet through the urgent electro-pop with a distinctive staccato assault on their lyrics, softened by expertly chosen harmonies, with MY KZ, UR BF most illustrative of the success of this formula.

The result is something along the lines of Vampire Weekend through a Sega Megadrive, or Broken Social Scene scoring a laser fight, see Photoshop Handsome and QWERTY Finger respectively for this. More crooning numbers like Leave That Engine Room are less dependable for kicks, but a couple, Tin (The Manhole) particularly, strike with a convincing elegance. [Oisín Kealy]