The Whitest Boy Alive

The Whitest Boy Alive came together in 2003 as an electronics-driven ensemble geared toward the dancefloor, yet the group later discarded every programmed element along with nearly all synthetic sounds in favor of a conventional rock-band configuration. Erlend Øye of the Kings of Convenience handled guitar and vocals while Marcin Öz played bass, Sebastian Maschat sat behind the drums, and Daniel Nentwig manned the keyboards; together they pursued a lean, unadorned strain of indie rock shaped by the early work of Talking Heads—most notably the wiry textures of Talking Heads: 77—and by Josef K. Their debut full-length, Dreams, appeared in 2006, after which they issued the brighter, more energetic Rules in 2009.