Artist The Hi-Tones

In its previous incarnation as Dans La Lune, The Hi-Tones recalled the heyday of Shindig! in both sound and personal style. And while frontman Johnny Flores seems to have retired his extensive collection of secondhand Carnaby Street threads, his band still captures all the slick-yet-gritty spirit of the British Invasion. Flores’ beefy voice is the band’s secret weapon, the shot of R&B adrenaline that sets The Hi-Tones’ bubblegum hooks into motion. The band’s 2011 EP TransAudioStasis harnesses its future sock-hop with the of Austin über-producer Frenchie Smith—but fuzz this thick is always better bopped and twisted to live.

Updated 08/18/2011