The Whitest Boy Alive

Berlin can, by every measure, be considered one of the most fertile cities for explosive musical success right now. Anyone who heads out to Moog or Razzmatazz surely knows of the German dominance of all things house and techno. Lingering just below the bubble of these DJs are a group, meshing danceable beats with soothing vocals and laid-back grooves, a Berlin fusion of a different breed.

The Whitest Boy Alive were founded in 2003 as an electronic music group, but slowly band members watched their musical formula drift away from any pre-programmed genre. Band members Marcin Öz, Sebastian Maschat, Daniel Nentwig, and Erlend Øye—whose vocals you may recognise from oh-so-soft melodies of lo-fi duo Kings of Convenience—have since put together a varied portfolio of tracks. Some bounce with the energy of Germany’s Booka Shade, while others simmer with guitar chords better likened to traditional instrumental rock.

Riding on this blend of styles, The Whitest Boy Alive has enjoyed great international success and since the group signed to the UK’s Modular Records in 2007, they’ve released a new album, Rules (March 2009), toured throughout Europe and had a track featured on the wildly successful FIFA video game soundtrack.

This wave of popularity hasn’t calmed in the past year and it’s taking The Whitest Boy Alive to Spain for the first time. In the confines of Bikini, the highly anticipated show will defy most concepts of the ‘indie-pop’ label that they are so often filed under. Then again what label wouldn’t they defy?