Irrational Geographic

Bombay Bicycle Club

Canadian Invasion

The Japanese Popstars

The Takeover UK

Of Montreal? Actually, of Athens, Georgia. I’m From Barcelona? Guess what? They’re from Sweden. Behold an epidemic of hometown-fronting bands.

ACTUALLY FROM:
London
ETYMOLOGY:
“We named ourselves this
after a curry restaurant chain
in the hope of receiving free
curry for life,” says guitarist
Jamie MacColl. “We got one.
In hindsight, it’s probably a
bit of a stupid name, but it
was a tasty curry.”
UPSIDE:
Time Out Mumbai ran an
article about them.

ACTUALLY FROM:
Philadelphia
ETYMOLOGY:
“We admire the Canadians for
their health care, their gun
control, their subsidies for
the arts,” says frontman Andy
Paull. “But they’re still
Canadian, you know what I
mean? We wouldn’t want to
be invaded by them.”
UPSIDE:
The Canadian embassy asked
them to perform at a dinner.

AC TUALLY FROM:
Northern Ireland
ETYMOLOGY:
“We are three Irish men mak-
ing dance music,” says Decky
Hedrock. “ ‘Japanese
Popstars’ is pretty ironic. It
re ects our sense of humor
and our fascination with
Japan. Plus, it confuses the
hell out of people.”
UPSIDE:
They played Tokyo last fall—
the Japanese love them.

ACTUALLY FROM:
Pittsburgh
ETYMOLOGY:
“We’re named after the Jay-Z
song ‘Takeover,’ ” says singer-
guitarist Mark Solomich.
“However, the name was
already taken, and ‘U.K.’
sounds much better than
‘USA’ or ‘PA.’ ”
UPSIDE:
Brits actually ask them when
they’re “gonna come take-
over the U. K. for real.”

LISTENING IN

Rashida Jones, daughter of überproducer Quincy and costar of I Love You,
Man and NBC’s untitled Amy Poehler sitcom, on the soundtrack to her life

Given that your dad produced Thriller, did you have any choice but to be a fan of Jacko? It was obligatory for my family to show up to his concerts, so I de nitely had weird access to him. [His chimp] Bubbles bit my hand when I was nine. But I love Michael Jackson. My favorite song changes daily—today it’s “P. Y. T.” What album have you been listening to a lot lately? I am really digging Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago. There’s no pretense with that guy: He sat down and wrote songs about how he felt, and when I listen to them, I feel the same way, which is contemplative and like I want to go for a drive. What’s the best

song that anybody’s put on a mix tape for you? Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” In the ninth grade, I was completely obsessed with my rst boyfriend. When we hung out, I would feel sick to my stomach—that’s how much I liked him. Anyway, he gave me a mix tape with this song. It was the rst white music I heard. To this day, it’s the epitome of teenage heartbreak. Who comes after the Shins on your iPod? Shuggie Otis. The title track on Inspiration Information is my favorite song on that album. The ’70s was the best decade for music, in my opinion, and this is

28 MARCH 2009 ADD 1NCHE$ WI TH SPIN.COM

good, funky soul. When you go out dancing, what song do

you want to hear? Always Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights.” I’m one of those people who believes that hip-hop is dead, but Kanye is doing a good job trying to keep it alive.

Name a band that a costar turned you on to. I had never
heard Rush before, but there is a lot of Rush in I Love You,
Man. Jason [Segel] and Paul [Rudd] were totally into
them, so I was forced to listen to their music. But I
actually enjoyed it. I thought it was…complicated. Do
you remember what song you were listening to
when you first smoked pot? I’m pretty sure it was
Phish, because I was a freshman in college and I was
hanging out with the stoners. It was de nitely
somebody else’s choice. I am not a Phishhead. I was
just, um, appreciating the culture. You went to
grade school with Paris Hilton—did you like
her album? I forgot she had an album. Although
now I remember that Banksy [doctored] it. I love that.
He immortalized her. She should feel lucky, but she

probably doesn’t. PHOEBE REILLY

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