The Automatic

One of a groundswell of young U.K. bands to emerge in the early 2000s, Welsh quartet the Automatic play catchy, sanguine Britpop. Their debut full-length, NOT ACCEPTED ANYWHERE, released in June 2006, displayed the marked influence of Blur, '70s U.K. power pop, and the Kaiser Chiefs, rather than the detached, angular art-pop of many of their contemporaries. The album spawned the aptly named "Monster" which reached number four on the U.K. singles chart. The Automatic won "Best British Breakthrough Act" at the 2006 Vodaphone Music Awards, beating out the Arctic Monkeys, the Fratellis, and Dirty Pretty Things.

• rock