Kimbra + The Stepkids

CMJ. Heat-seeking New Zealand songstress Kimbra is much more than the crystal-clear-voiced cameo artist on Gotye's viral hit, "Somebody That I Used to Know." The 21-year-old has her own album, Vows (already platinum in Australia), a jazz-and-soul-inflected, heavily rhythmical pop concoction. Arrive early for Connecticut trio the Stepkids, which makes gorgeously woozy funk that suggests Sly Stone and the Temptations, with a fuzz pedal or two thrown in.