When Matt Suggs (who was in the '90s indie rock duo Butterglory) wanted a touring band for his 2003 solo album, Amigo Row, he looked no further than former Higher Burning Fire members and fellow Kansans John Anderson, Dustin Than Kinsey, and Zach Holland for help, with whom he had been playing on and off since 2000. They got along together so well that they decided to form their own band, White Whale, bringing ex-Get-Up Kids bassist Robert Pope in, with Anderson on drums, Kinsey on guitar and synths, Holland on guitar and keyboards, and Suggs' Ray Davies-esque voice taking care of the singing. In 2006, Merge, with whom Suggs had been affiliated since his Butterglory days, released WWI, an album that drew comparisons to work from Arcade Fire and the Decemberists, and was followed by a nationwide tour. ~ Marisa Brown