Chairlift

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York (by way of Boulder, Colorado, where they originally came together in 2006), the avant-pop outfit Chairlift formed for the unusual purpose of crafting music for haunted houses. After finding that their work transcended its original purpose, bandmates Aaron Pfenning, Caroline Polachek, and Patrick Wimberly pulled up stakes and headed east, eventually settling in that most musical of locales — not to mention one always looking for new and unique ideas — New York City. Chairlift made a name for themselves during their first two years in the Big Apple, playing shows with similar up-and-comers like MGMT, Yeasayer, and Mixel Pixel while inking a contract with the independent label Kanine. Chairlift's first release on the label, a single entitled "Evident Utensil," featured a remix by the aforementioned MGMT and was a precursor to the group's debut full-length release. Issued in 2008, Does You Inspire You melded the band's space rock influences with a poppy indie aesthetic. The album also received an extra promotional boost when "Bruises" appeared in an iPod commercial. By early 2009, major labels came calling and Chairlift signed to Columbia, which re-released Does You Inspire You that April. Sophomore album Something, recorded in Brooklyn and London over the course of 18 months (and marking the recording debut of Chairlift as a duo of Polachek and Wimberly following the departure of Pfenning), arrived in January 2012, elevating the band's kaleidoscopic pop to a grander scale with assistance from Dan Carey (Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, La Roux).