Via Audio

Via Audio’s sound isn’t as gauzy and laconic as that of your average dreamy band from Brooklyn. With punchy guitar hooks that would appeal to the Shins or Stars, Via Audio adheres to a structured aesthetic, but it’s one that gleams like a cloudless summer day. Bright riffs brush past light rhythmic beats, and keyboards work the melody under singer and guitarist Jessica Martins’ breathy vocals. On the band’s latest release, Animalore, synthetic beats snap and clatter in a funky shimmy around the snug embrace of Martins’ voice. Equally intriguing is energetic avant-pop duo Pattern Is Movement, which crosses Dirty Projectors’ tinkling, bristling eccentricity with Mercury Rev’s meticulously layered beauty.