Alaska

Alaska:

Pretty Birds That Kill

PHOTO: HOLLY GLENN

CITY: Anchorage
SONG TO DOWNLOAD: "Anarchy in the AK"
WEBSITE: prettybirdsthatkill.bandcamp.com

WHY THEM: Up in the hinterlands, citizens have to rough it with what's around, whether skinning their own dinner or finding a way to create energetic electro-dance jams with a cheap Casio and a crappy guitar. This girl-boy duo is so dedicated to the found-sound aesthetic that they use a telephone as a goddamn mic, and the result of this frugality is a spirited punch that is as infectious as it is dorky. Pretty Birds That Kill's stream-of-consciousness zaniness, the collaboration between guitarist/vocalist Bobby Ziegler and synth agitator Stefanie Vigoren, has been infiltrating the lower 48 as the band's increased touring regiment sees them popping up all over the place.

ALSO CONSIDERED: Wolf Electric — We were almost swayed by the somewhat slicker electro moves of this Chugiak act, but in the end the amateur hour charm of Pretty Birds That Kill won out over Wolf Electric's smooth move grooves.

Arizona

Alabama