Poland

Hailing from Seattle, the chamber pop group Poland crafts a retro-leaning aesthetic strongly shaped by outfits such as the Kinks and the Beach Boys. Songwriter and singer/guitarist Mark Bombara established the central lineup in 2006, after which longtime friend, co-writer, and singer Mark Romanowski came aboard the following year. Rounding out the roster alongside Bombara and Romanowski are drummer Shane Peck, violinist Janet Utterback-Peck, violinist Karen Halliburton, violist Brianna Atwell, bassist Noah Wilson, and percussionist Nanda Wilson. Their initial pair of releases, 2007’s Tuesdays & Wednesdays and 2008’s Schoolboy Crush on Che Guevara, appeared on the band’s self-operated Class M imprint. A 2008 deal with the Nebraska-based indie Series Two Records paved the way for the third album, Most of Them Are Clockwork, followed by 2009’s Please Interstellar Policeman. Departing Series Two in 2010, the industrious ensemble resumed issuing densely textured pop records once more via Class M, starting with 2011’s The Sun and the Sitting Room and 2013’s The Colors of the Merchant Star. A subsequent arrangement with British indie Folkwit Records brought their seventh full-length, The Golden Age of Everything, to market in 2014.