And you thought Queen boasted the most academically-minded musicians in rock? Make way for this LA indie/electro pop trio, which includes within its ranks a qualified doctor and a full-time professor of English at Yale. Thankfully, there’s enough room left in the band’s collective brain to create the kind of dumb-but-smart electro-pop that would turn Two Door Cinema Club green with envy. Factor in their affectionate thumbing of the works of Postal Service, Belle and Sebastian, Essex-era Depeche Mode, very early Human League, and the finer points of Fountains of Wayne’s delicate power pop, and you have a unit that ably manages to sway doubters from walking away. It’s all been done before, of course, but if there is a better collection of synth-pop, indie-influenced tunes out there right now, I’ve yet to hear it. fadedpaperfigures.com

Download: Breathing, Spare Me, Not the End of the World (Even as We Know It)