Hypefactor

For a band that takes pride in unorthodox production, unfashionable influences and ingenius arrangements, one thing can be said about hypefactor: Their strength is in writing pop songs. Its members - F.J. DeSanto, Brandt Gassman, Michael "Ash" Venezia, Charles LaBarbara and Robin Emmet, - are A-list students of pop in all its forms, from 1980s alternative and 1960s soul to British rock and laptop techno.

The group writes, records, works and plays in New York and formed in the summer of 2001 when DeSanto asked his in-house engineer, Gassman, to collaborate on a new studio project. The result was the 2003 EP The Distracted Lover, a collection of six electronic pop tunes inspired by the likes of Oasis, Depeche Mode, Gustavo Cerati, Wax Trax! and Factory. The album's single, "The Sweetest Soul," featured Peter Riley, the lead singer with New York's Saintface, on vocals. The band are currently at work recording a rockier follow-up to The Distracted Lover, due out in 2007.