Looking more like L.A. skater punks than typical rappers, the Metermaids mix rock with their rap to make music in the style of N.E.R.D. or the Cool Kids rather than, say, Limp Bizkit. After meeting in 2006, MCs Swell and Sentence found they had a shared love for indie rockers Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse as well as rap groups the Roots and A Tribe Called Quest, and started writing beats and rhymes together. Matt Stine of independent record label and music production company 27 Sound caught their show at a club in N.Y.C. and offered to produce their debut. Besides backing the duo with beats, Stine also played guitar on Nightlife, and with a poppy accessibility to B-boys and indie hipsters alike, the album caught a slight buzz after its release in June of 2008, gaining attention from CMJ, YRB, and URB magazines. ~ Jason Lymangrover