Yet it's virtually certain that even if there wasn't an Internet, Daphne Loves Derby would still have become indiepop stars. PureVolume and MySpace gave the group a platform to bring their songs directly to listeners, sure - but when songs are this irresistible, they're bound to find their way into the marketplace one way or another. What's more, the young members of Daphne Loves Derby look like stars: Kenny Choi and his bandmates are stylish and telegenic, but identifiable and approachable as well. Their frenetic stage show has also distinguished them, as has their commitment to touring - this autumn, they'll be back on the road once again with the Spill Canvas (the band has also recently shared the stage with Jack's Mannequin, Paramore, Anberlin, Copeland, Rocket Summer, among others), bringing their well-crafted songs to ecstatic audiences all over America.

Much like Death Cab For Cutie or Sherwood, the members of Daphne Loves Derby are songwriters first and rockers only after that - but make no mistake, they do rock. Produced by Matt Squire (Panic! At The Disco), Good Night, Witness Light is the band's most accomplished work yet, and it presents Daphne Loves Derby as a group with impeccable indiepop instincts. On songs like "Stranger, You And I", they know just when to hold back and when to turn up the volume, and the band supports Choi's story of heartbreak and romantic disillusionment with music that is alternately stormy and sweet.

The northern suburbs of Philadelphia aren't usually considered an indie haven - but maybe they should be bands like Circa Survive, Dr. Dog, Man Man and many others have demonstrated beyond a doubt that the I-76 towns rock. Keith Goodwin, the vocalist is also one of the singers in the progressive rock outifit The Sound Of Animals Fighting (Equal Vision) along with Anthony Green of Circa Survive, the two grew up together in Philadlephia and continue to play together acoustically. Days Away have taken their music all over America, and shared stages with Circa Survive, RX Bandits, Say Anything, Something Corporate, Finch, Mae and Taking Back Sunday. Mapping An Invisible World, their debut, was one of the best-loved indie-rock records of 2005; Jason Tate of Absolute Punk crowed that the band had "come into a sound with the potential to last through the ages". The thoughtful, reflective Days Away is the sort of band that gets called "literate" by music reviewers, and Shawn Geer's radiant clip for "I'm Sorry I Told You All My Problems" makes that appellation stick. The video opens on a leather-bound book titled "A Long Year"; Goodwin sits on a wooden bench and turns the pages. There, next to the black ballpoint scrawl, he finds his own face, singing the poignant words to "Sorry" right back to him. He's not the only member of Days Away caught in these scrapbook pages - on the contrary, images of the other musicians are here too, held to the notebook paper by masking tape. Words scratch onto the live-action photographs as Goodwin sings them, creating automatic captions for the snapshots. Everything's faded, muted; soft and sepia-toned like half-forgotten recollections.

No doubt Devin Lima picked up some attention-getting tricks during his time as a charter member of chart-toppers LFO. But as visually-appealing as the fashionable Lima is, he recognizes that there are few things in this world quite as eye-catching as two good-looking women flirting with each other. So after taking a well-deserved break from the record industry, Lima returns to the spotlight in high fashion - arm in arm with a pair of stunning friends who dig each other every bit as much as they dig him.

Outrageous? Sure. Then again, the absurdly-catchy "Hangin' With You" clip simply dramatizes Lima's comeback single - a song that addresses a woman with something more than a friendly interest in the singer's girlfriend. Lima's "problem" (if you even want to call it that) is his ambivalence: he's not sure how he feels about his friend's amorous intentions. He's plainly intrigued, though: "you're playing with her hair", he wails, "and my head". His excitement - and his prurient interest - is infectious.

That sort of mischievous enthusiasm pervades Mozart Popart, the debut album by Lima and his band The Cadbury Diesel. It's an uproarious collection of classic rock guitar, R&B beats, clever lyrics, singalong choruses, double-entendres, party-movers and crowd-pleasers, funk, soul, and vintage psychedelia. LFO were an undeniably fun bunch of hitmakers (who could forget "Summer Girls", the song that ruled the airwaves in mid-1999?), but nobody would ever mistake them for a band; The Cadbury Diesel, by contrast, is a legitimate outfit and a fearsome live act. Guitarist Tony Valley cuts a swath through Mozart Popart - his leads are positively electrifying, and wholly consistent with the album's in-your-face aesthetic. Meanwhile, Devin Lima has never sounded better: he croons, raps, toasts, shouts, and testifies with the fervor of a mid-Sixties soul man. No wonder the All-Music Guide boasts in a four-and-a-half star album review that Lima "has all the makings of the next generation's Justin Timberlake".

Jeff Kennedy's playfully erotic clip for "Hangin' With You" is an absolute hoot: everybody seems to be having a fantastic time, and why not?, the cast is sexy, provocative, and out to show off what they've got. It opens outside a beauty salon - Lima's not sure he wants to let his girl go inside, but she twists away from him and takes a seat in the stylist's chair. Her friend is inside, too - and while Lima waits, somewhat nervously, out on the street, the two women flirt wildly, teasing each others' hair, helping out with the shampooing, and getting provocatively close. The whole thing climaxes (so to speak) with a kiss between the girls that couldn't be described as anything other than sweetly exploratory; it's an awfully pretty picture, and no F/X man in Hollywood could craft a more eye-catching conclusion. Finally, we watch Devin Lima leave the salon with both women, determined to make the best of his provocative situation!

The Pennsylvania trio has always been generous; today, they're not only sharing the video for their latest single "The Box", but they've also appended the remarkable spot for "Single Sedative". Like the band's music, both clips are eerie, playful, inventive, and blackly humorous. Plainspoken, direct, gutsy indie rock is their métier - and it's made them a band to watch for 2008. After shaking hands with the indie underground on the sterling Southampton Collection EP, the trio returned to the studio with landmark producer Owen Morris (Oasis, Ash, The Verve) to cut their debut full-length. On Ameritown, the Eastern Conference Champions fulfill the promise of their debut EP and add new dimensions to their already-elastic sound. In frontman Josh Ostrander, ECC possesses one of the most distinctive singers in indie music: a wailer with an emotionally-evocative scrawl of a voice. His bandmates support him with crisp, lacerating, occasionally twisted performances, and bravely follow him down some dark alleys of the soul. While enthusiasm about Ameritown continues to build, Eastern Conference Champions's debut has already been warmly received by critics. David Jeffers of the All-Music Guide praises the band's "wonderfully vibrant brand of cabaret pop". Theatrical they can be, no doubt, but on a song like the strange and bracing album opener "The Box", the group's sound is more psychoactive than cinematic. "Single Sedative", on the other hand, is a wild, Cobain-like rocker, indicative of the kind of heat this combo can bring in performance. Eastern Conference Champions have always showcased their sardonic side in their videos: the Zelig-style clip for "Noel", available on the band's website, slips the images of the three bandmembers onto classic album sleeves. Directed by Elliot Jokelson (TV On The Radio, Pinback), the video for "The Box" is similarly sharp-witted (our friends at MTV2 have already jumped all over it). But although it's funny in places, this clip is no gag. It's a troubling animated spot, drawn in muted colors and set in a psychiatric ward. Patients queue up to get their medication, and sit, spellbound, in front of the television set; maintaining zonked-out order and decorum throughout. We catch a glimpse inside the head of one of the lunatics (a cartoon version of Ostrander, possibly?): not only does he see Eastern Conference Champions in performance, but also a disturbing chorus-line of psych-ward orderlies engaged in showy choreography. Other patients - eyes glazed - beat tambourines against their heads. Later, the band rides a mardi-gras float pulled by guards, as straight-jacketed inmates dance like dervishes. Back in the "real world", we see that he's freaking out - and the guards have noticed. He's disrupted the enforced calm and sedation of the ward, and the orderlies have noticed. Bound and remote, he is led off to the electroshock center. Not content with that powerful statement alone, the Eastern Conference Champions have also appended the engaging clip for "Single Sedative" to this reel. Using kids' toys (and a very cooperative pet), the band turns a typical apartment's living-room into a scene for a mock romance. The main character is a bearded action figure; he courts a Barbie-like doll, but she won't have anything to do with him as long as he's busy hunting the cat. The members of Eastern Conference Champions tape their faces onto toys, and make themselves active participants in this thimble-theatre melodrama. Finally, the hero gives in to his softer side, and makes peace with his girlfriend and the cute feline. "No cats were harmed in the making of this video", ECC assures us at the end. Not to worry, guys - we know that behind all the bluster and barbs, you're big-hearted.

The Pennsylvania trio has always been generous; today, they're not only sharing the video for their latest single "The Box", but they've also appended the remarkable spot for "Single Sedative". Like the band's music, both clips are eerie, playful, inventive, and blackly humorous. Plainspoken, direct, gutsy indie rock is their métier - and it's made them a band to watch for 2008. After shaking hands with the indie underground on the sterling Southampton Collection EP, the trio returned to the studio with landmark producer Owen Morris (Oasis, Ash, The Verve) to cut their debut full-length. On Ameritown, the Eastern Conference Champions fulfill the promise of their debut EP and add new dimensions to their already-elastic sound. In frontman Josh Ostrander, ECC possesses one of the most distinctive singers in indie music: a wailer with an emotionally-evocative scrawl of a voice. His bandmates support him with crisp, lacerating, occasionally twisted performances, and bravely follow him down some dark alleys of the soul. While enthusiasm about Ameritown continues to build, Eastern Conference Champions's debut has already been warmly received by critics. David Jeffers of the All-Music Guide praises the band's "wonderfully vibrant brand of cabaret pop". Theatrical they can be, no doubt, but on a song like the strange and bracing album opener "The Box", the group's sound is more psychoactive than cinematic. "Single Sedative", on the other hand, is a wild, Cobain-like rocker, indicative of the kind of heat this combo can bring in performance. Eastern Conference Champions have always showcased their sardonic side in their videos: the Zelig-style clip for "Noel", available on the band's website, slips the images of the three bandmembers onto classic album sleeves. Directed by Elliot Jokelson (TV On The Radio, Pinback), the video for "The Box" is similarly sharp-witted (our friends at MTV2 have already jumped all over it). But although it's funny in places, this clip is no gag. It's a troubling animated spot, drawn in muted colors and set in a psychiatric ward. Patients queue up to get their medication, and sit, spellbound, in front of the television set; maintaining zonked-out order and decorum throughout. We catch a glimpse inside the head of one of the lunatics (a cartoon version of Ostrander, possibly?): not only does he see Eastern Conference Champions in performance, but also a disturbing chorus-line of psych-ward orderlies engaged in showy choreography. Other patients - eyes glazed - beat tambourines against their heads. Later, the band rides a mardi-gras float pulled by guards, as straight-jacketed inmates dance like dervishes. Back in the "real world", we see that he's freaking out - and the guards have noticed. He's disrupted the enforced calm and sedation of the ward, and the orderlies have noticed. Bound and remote, he is led off to the electroshock center. Not content with that powerful statement alone, the Eastern Conference Champions have also appended the engaging clip for "Single Sedative" to this reel. Using kids' toys (and a very cooperative pet), the band turns a typical apartment's living-room into a scene for a mock romance. The main character is a bearded action figure; he courts a Barbie-like doll, but she won't have anything to do with him as long as he's busy hunting the cat. The members of Eastern Conference Champions tape their faces onto toys, and make themselves active participants in this thimble-theatre melodrama. Finally, the hero gives in to his softer side, and makes peace with his girlfriend and the cute feline. "No cats were harmed in the making of this video", ECC assures us at the end. Not to worry, guys - we know that behind all the bluster and barbs, you're big-hearted.

Eskimo Joe's sound is rich, moody, and engrossing, but bassist Kavyen Temperley's skillful and articulate songwriting is the best weapon in the band's arsenal. Temperley thinks conceptually: A Song Is A City, the band's breakthrough album, is a nuanced and provocative exploration of his hometown of Fremantle, Australia. Through song and story, he captured the strange tensions between cosmopolitan living and geographic isolation so common on the Aussie West Coast; listeners around the country identified, and rewarded the band with their first hit disc. Black Fingernails, Red Wine, by contrast, was a conscious attempt to broaden and streamline the Eskimo Joe approach, and to incorporate elements associated with Eighties rock. Just as he did with The Sleepy Jackson - another Perth-area band that has made international waves - producer Matt Lovell has delivered a polished, radio-ready sound that sacrifices none of the integrity or identity of the band. Old fans adored Black Fingernails, Red Wine, and new fans were made by the thousands: while A Song Is A City went platinum in Australia, the latest Eskimo Joe release has sold four times more.

Video director Nash Edgerton is almost as well-recognized Down Under as the members Eskimo Joe are: he's an actor and performer as well as a filmmaker, and his recently-released first feature was a hit at the Sydney Film Festival. Edgerton has shot clips for many of Australia's finest, including Toni Collette, The Sleepy Jackson, and Ben Lee. For the "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" spot, the young director has taken a dramatic (and black comic) approach: it's a dark night in Western Australia, and the three Joes are out on a kidnapping spree. We watch Temperley and his two bandmates abduct three men, and shove them in the trunk of a vintage automobile; later, as the song arrives at its false ending, they strike the business ends of their spades into fresh earth. They're burying bodies tonight - but whose? All is revealed when the well-dressed musicians pop the boot and Edgerton swings his camera on the faces of the victims: they're Eskimo Joe, or to be more precise, a prior version of Eskimo Joe that's now defunct. Temperley and company have hijacked their own history, forcibly seized it, and sent it into the ground. No clearer metaphor for a band's reinvention has ever been committed to videotape!

The Radical Friend production team - Kirby McClure and Julia Gregorian - understand that archetypes and folk-imagery speak louder than special effects ever can. They work in broad strokes and bright colors, matching offbeat material with fairy-tales and oddly quotidian hallucinations. Their clip for "Requiem For O.M.M.2" by Of Montreal was a love-story between a knight and his missing sword. There's a sword and a knight in the Favourite Sons clip for "Pistols & Girls", too - but this one is no cartoon. Instead, the video for the Brooklyn band's single features live-action melee between a hipster artist-paladin and a dragon of his own creation.

It's an appropriate short for Favourite Sons, a quintet led by an indie-rock stalwart who has been questing for the perfect hybrid of pop, rock, psychedelia, acoustic folk, and stark, Factory Records-inspired weirdness for more than a decade. Ken Griffin first caught the attention of the record-buying public as the guitarist and frontman for Rollerskate Skinny, whose 1996 album Horsedrawn Wishes is now acknowledged as an underground neo-psych classic. No surprise, then, that rock critics have rushed to praise Favourite Sons - Griffin's new collaboration with former members of Philly-based Aspera. "Should you be in search of another pop band that will steal your rock and roll heart as much as Echo & The Bunnymen and The Church did throughout the 1980s heyday of romantic post-punk", raves Mackenzie Wilson in the All Music Guide, "then the Favourite Sons should leave you swooning in no time." Down Beside Your Beauty, their startling debut, flirts with Cure-style new wave and Morrissey goth-pop, but will remind listeners most of Rollerskate Skinny's sharp, focused songwriting and Kid Silver's spooky intimacy. On "Pistols & Girls", the lead single, the emphasis is placed on the gigantic beat and Griffin's deep, pained, and powerful vocals. His singing has often been liked to that of Iggy Pop, and on Down Beside Your Beauty, he lives up to that lofty comparison.