Who: Anya Marina, a pixie-ish Michigan-born California gal who ditched a sputtering film career (100 Girls, anyone?) to become a local disc jockey. Honing her songwriting chops by immersing herself in music all day allowed her to claim the San Diego local open-mike crown; a song on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack called "Miss Halfway" scored her a national audience.

Sounds Like: The dozen songs on Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II are a mixture of Liz Phair sex appeal and Boswell Sisters cabaret with a dash of Jung. "You can have a side to you that's overt and raw, but usually it's reserved for the bedroom or your innermost thoughts of your mind," she tells Rolling Stone. "Some artists are used to going there and that's part of their shtick. I didn't want to put on airs." She credits the intensity of her singing on "Afterparty At Jimmy's" to turning out the lights in the studio and taking her shirt off. "It was fun; it was nice."

Vital Stats:

• Marina's father is a Jungian psychologist who, instead of asking how her homework was coming along, would probe her about how her relationships were developing. If he were to ask her that question today, the answer would apparently be: slowly. Marina was recently on her fifth date with a guy who was trying to talk through why things weren't working out between them. "It was a fucking three-hour long conversation," she says. "I'm thinking 'dude, you've never even tried to kiss me and we're talking about why we're not dating.' Sometimes you can't talk it out. Just shut the fuck up and throw me on the bed."

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Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet to find the ones you need to hear now.

The Band: Hatcham Social
The Buzz: U.K. outfit revives the old sound of Scotland, bringing back clanging chords, loose percussion and loopy vocals.
Listen If: For you, Orange Juice is more than just a morning beverage.
Key Track: "Wild Creatures," where swooping vocals run loop-de-loops around vibrant, violent guitars.

The Band: Benjy Ferree
The Buzz: Weirdo concept rock from D.C., big banging guitars and huff-n-puff vocals, like Broadway gone bonkers.
Listen If: Your chief requirement for pop music is unpredictability.
Key Track: "Dog Killers," a big, noisy rave-up wrapped up in grainy, grimy guitars.

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Who: The Vivian Girls, three Brooklyn-via-New Jersey gals who went from forming to opening for Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo to landing on year-end critics' list in just over a year.

Sounds Like: With 10 songs clocking in under 25 minutes, their debut album is a flash flood of surf punk, girl group croon and heavy reverb. Inspirations like the Wipers, Nirvana and the Shangri-La's are evident on songs like the poppy but abrasive "Going Insane" and super-catchy "Where Do You Run To." "When we started out, we just wanted to be a really, really fast band with really short songs," guitarist-singer Cassie Ramone jokes. "That was our original game plan. Now we're trying to write songs that are longer than two minutes. We're aiming for two-and-a-half minute songs."

Vital Stats:

• Ramone and bassist Kickball Katy formed the band in 2007 after first meeting in high school. "We met at a Weezer concert," Ramone says. They recently recruited Katy's college friend Ali Koehler to step in as drummer. Cassie Ramone got her nom de rock after what she calls an obsession with the Ramones' Rock N Roll High School, while Katy's nickname has a more mysterious origin. "In 2002, I went to college and joined the Super Secret Kickball Society," Katy says. "But I can't talk about it."

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Scottish band to watch Glasvegas know how to drone, and they do it well on this new cover of Nirvana's "Come As You Are." If you've ever wanted to hear the Nevermind track on 'ludes, now is your chance: the quartet slow the tempo without sacrificing the song's drama, amping up the reverb without losing their guitars in mush. Check it out here: [Listen]

The Breaking Blog doesn't believe in guilty pleasures — if you like something, you like it, and that's that. (We make no apologizes for our T'Pau love here.) But the folks behind the Guilt by Association album series have found a way to mine the concept for greatness — or at least a few interesting albums. Volume 2 brings together a bunch of artists you may not have heard of yet covering songs you're likely very well acquainted with: RS Breaking artist My Brightest Diamond handles Soft Cell's oft-covered "Tainted Love" (download it below!), the Forms tackle Billy Joel's wordy "We Didn't Start the Fire," Takka Takka take a crack at Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." On the more contemporary front, Max Vernon covers Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and Matt Pond PA mellow out My Chemical Romance's "I'm Not Okay." (Full track list after the jump).

• "Tainted Love"
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Every week, Hype Monitor wades through the most buzzed-about bands all across the Internet to find the ones you need to hear now.

The Band: Wavves
The Buzz: What frills? California lo-fi band breaks pop down to a few key ingredients, making for songs with serrated edges.
Listen If: You think recording studios are for suckers.
Key Track: The band's rambunctious theme song "Wavves," smeared with splotches of guitars and wild, wailing vocals.

The Band: N.A.S.A. (pictured above)
The Buzz: California production team use their formidable skills to craft creepy, crawling songs and top them with celebrity vocalists.
Listen If: You feel like you've been waiting forever for a new Avalanches record, or you long for a return of the bygone sample-driven hip-hop aesthetic.
Key Track: "Money," where former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne sounds right at home among clattering percussion and stumbling synths.
Bonus: Read more about the group's mastermind Sam Spiegel (Spike Jonze's bro) here on the Hot List.

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Who: Neo-soulstress Adele, a 20-year-old Londonite whose debut album 19 became the surprise hit of the Grammys after getting nominations for Best New Artist and Record of the Year.

Sounds Like: Like U.K. exports Amy Winehouse and Duffy, Adele brings a retro R&B sound with a hint of "heartbroken soul," as she's dubbed it. The style is evident on her hit "Chasing Pavements." The song was inspired by a bitter breakup that soaks into the fiber of 19: After discovering her boyfriend was cheating on her, Adele punched him in the face at a pub and promptly got thrown out. "As I was running away, the phrase 'chasing pavements' came to me," Adele remembers. "I sang it into my phone, went home and got three chords together."

Vital Stats:

• Adele isn't your typical pop star, with her thick British accent, a heavy Marlboro habit and a relaxed attitude about her un-pop-star body. "She's not going to get anywhere — she's a fat girl," Adele recalls her detractors saying. In fact, Adele first considered a job in A&R before recording a demo, which grabbed the attention of XL Records. "I went from thinking I could get a scouting job — then they said 'We want to sign you.' "

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The Breaking Blog kicked off 2008 with a post about L.A. quartet Bodies of Water, and we're happy to do the same in 2009! Click above to watch the band's creepy but beautiful new video for "Under the Pines," which features a shotgun, a dog, a child burned by lye and the band's thick layers of knotty rock. Last year we said the band's sound recalled "The Arcade Fire as composed by Ennio Morricone. The band funnels roots rock, soaring gospel, the Mamas & the Papas-style harmonies and Spaghetti Western themes into an uplifting, California-baked package." We'll stand by that description in '09.

Irish rockers Bell X1 will return March 3rd with Blue Lights on the Runway, the follow-up to this year's Flock. Singer-guitarist Paul Noonan said the group started recording the new disc last November in a "big, draughty, stately home called Ballycumber House, under the beady gaze of musty portraits of the Lords and Ladies of the estate from the 15th century. We wanted to make something different, something tight and coherent from start to finish. Where we've landed is a little bit electronic, a little bit Bacharach, a little bit New Orleans Funeral March."

Judge for yourself here, with a free download of a band-new Runway track:

"How Your Heart Is Wired"
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Who: The Veronicas, an Australian pop duo named after the Archies Comic featuring twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, who are hoping to bring their huge success Down Under into the States with a little help from the Jonas Brothers.

Sounds Like: On their second album Hook Me Up, the Veronicas make the leap from teenybopper rock to electro-pop similar to the Sounds and CSS. "That whole indie electro scene was coming up and in a mainstream way we wanted to bring that out in our music," Lisa says of the band's new aesthetic, which immediately resulted in a Number One single, Hook's opening track "Untouched," in their home continent. Onstage though, Jessica says, "Our shows are a lot more rock, we like to keep that alive."

Vital Stats:

• Over the span of only two albums, the sisters have already worked with an all-star lineup of talent including Swede pop god Max Martin, new American Idol judge Kara Dioguardi, Grammy-winning songwriter Billy Sternberg and producer Toby Gad. During their first tour of the U.S. in 2006, the Veronicas' opening act was some little known band called the Jonas Brothers. The Veronicas returned the favor, opening for the JoBros during their Burning Up Jaunt in 2008.

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