& Then Boom by Iglu & Hartly

& Then Boom, the debut album from Los Angeles band Iglu & Hartly, came out on Mercury on September 29, 2008, and it sounds exactly like a band that spent two years grinding through Southern California clubs and wanted every chorus to count. Jarvis Anderson, Sam Martin and Simon Katz first crossed paths at the University of Colorado at Boulder, bailed on school for Echo Park, and filled out the lineup with drummer Luis Rosiles and bassist Michael Bucher.

The result is fizzy, synth-happy power pop with a new wave sheen and a hook in every corner. "In This City" was the calling card: the band toured it hard, playing over 120 shows in 150 days across 17 countries, and it went top ten in Belgium, Ireland and the UK. Critics couldn't quite decide whether to dance or roll their eyes, and the reviews came out mixed, but even the doubters admitted it was a lot of fun.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.