Young Love

• Genre: Synth Pop
• Hometown: New York

About

Just a few short years ago, singer-songwriter Dan Keyes was plugging away at life as the frontman for the Austin screamo outfit Recover. Sure, Recover was a successful, up-and-coming band and Keyes was helping them sensitively scream their way to the top. But Dan Keyes wanted more. Secretly, Dan Keyes just wanted to -- and we quote, from 2007's Too Young to Fight It -- "dance, dance, dance." So when a friend called to offer Keyes a free room in his New York City apartment, the former rage rocker grabbed his guitar and a suitcase and headed off to the Big Apple to make his dreams come true. There he spent a couple of months waiting tables, writing songs, and creating his one-man synth-rock dance band Young Love, biding his time until Island Def Jam signed the band in late 2005. An EP, some high-profile opening gigs, and a couple YouTube videos later, Young Love released their 2007 debut, Too Young to Fight It, a hyperactive, hypersensitive exhibition of Keyes' affinity for both kinds of music: neo-new wave and emo.

- Rachel Devitt