The Postelles
Like the Strokes, the members of the Postelles met at a Manhattan high school and operate under a distinctly retro MO. But where Julian Casablancas and company reference the taut Seventies guitar rock of Television, the Postelles look to the jittery doo-wop of Elvis Costello and the buoyant pop of Motown girl groups. Their debut — co-produced by the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr., who leaves his fingerprints all over the band’s chiming guitars — swaggers with tales of lost love set to memorable melodies. The Postelles get scruffy on “Stella,” unleashing some neatly arranged garage rock, but their lyrics stay amusingly sweet: Frontman Daniel Balk kindly invites a sleepy female guest to spend the night — on the floor next to his bed.