Voxtrot

For a time, the Austin-based band Voxtrot only existed during summer breaks -- that was when frontman Ramesh Srivastava would come home from studying in Scotland and share his notebook of songs with his bandmates Jason Chronis, Mitch Calvert, Matt Simon and Jared Van Fleet. The band's sprightly Smiths-meets-Housemartins jangle pop made enough noise to convince Srivastava to forgo his studies for a year and give Voxtrot a chance. The highly influential Bus Stop label fell in love with the band's "Start of Something" and released it as a single in late 2004. Within months, it was followed by their debut EP, Raised By Wolves. With their obvious love for '80s jangle pop intact, the disc also showed influences from dancier post-punk pioneers such as Gang of Four and New Order, making an exuberant, bouncy collection of aural gems. Later that year when Voxtrot played at college radio trade journal CMJ's annual music convention, the writers at Spin were suitably impressed, noting that "Singer Ramesh Srivastava's onstage aerobics routine can be dizzying -- bouncy would be an understatement -- but the youthful exuberance of it all proved to be contagious." In 2006, Voxtrot released their Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP.