The Drums at Club Quattro

For many in the indie community, this Brooklyn-born band were the faces of 2010. The Drums take some familiar sources – The Smiths, Orange Juice, '60s pop – but combine them with such a fine ear for melody that it's hard to complain. And in Jonathan Pierce, they've got a frontman who blows most of his peers off the stage in the charisma stakes. Two prominent releases (The Drums and Summertime) cemented their reputation, although they took a hit when guitarist Adam Kessler left last September; the core trio of Pierce, Jacob Graham and Connor Hanwick are now joined by a pair of touring members when they play live.