Mew

The members of space pop innovators Mew first met in the seventh grade in Hellerup, Denmark. Before they could even play instruments, the ambitious youths -- singer Jonas Bjerre, guitarist Bo Madsen, bassist Johan Wohlert, and drummer Silas Graae -- were ready to make music together, although they initially failed as a band called Orange Dog. Madsen briefly spent time in the United States before the guys came back together in their late teens as Mew. Inspired by My Bloody Valentine, the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., the Pet Shop Boys, and Prince, the Danish quartet's first gig impressed a book-publishing agent in the audience so much that he promptly convinced his company to change their business plan and release Mew's debut album.

Limited to only 2,000 copies, A Triumph for Man was issued in 1997 to critical acclaim. Making things even more dramatic for their gigs, the Mew live experience came to incorporate background animations created by Bjerre. The band followed up three years later with Half the World Is Watching Me, released on their own newly created label, Evil Office. The album saw a limited release in Sweden before the band hooked up with Sony for an international deal. As a result of the deal, the album was ultimately pulled so that they could re-record their best work to date for a world-wide release. The resulting well-received Frengers appeared in 2003. That same year, the band picked up Album of the Year and Band of the Year honors at the Danish Music Critics Awards. Mew's expansive pop dramatics, intricate passages, and shimmering atmospheric sound were further elaborated on for album number four, And the Glass Handed Kites. The record was issued in Europe and the U.K. in September 2005; an American release followed in July 2006. Wohlert had exited the group that spring to be with his growing family, though Mew continued touring during the summer on U.S. dates with Bloc Party. The band's fifth full-length album, No More Stories Are Told Today..., arrived in 2009. ~ Corey Apar, Rovi