Who? If a band is a product of its environment, then the Bell has endured more than its share of long cold winters. Three Swedes with a love for brooding, drum machine-fueled alterna-pop, Nicklas Nilsson (instruments), Mathias Stromberg (vocals) and Jan Petterson (instruments) craft an insanely melodic throwback to early '80s Manchester. The Bell's chilling debut LP, Make Some Quiet, drops Feb. 12 via the Badman imprint.

What's the Deal? Nestled between the Swedes' whistling indie cheer and apocalyptic doom metal, the Bell's echoing pop stylings take the Chameleons' raw post-punk and sprinkles it with Mew's sparkling pixie dust. The swirling "Gone For Days" channels early New Order and OMD while staggering through optimistic frailty, while "Leave Me" bounces in wintry shadows (à la Echo & the Bunnymen), buoyed by Stromberg's icy monotone. When the lyrics "You know nothing about me / You think you do / You don't / So leave me," tumble from Stromberg's chapped lips, it's clear the Bell's weathered storm is ready to break free from seasonal restraint. But make no mistake, Make Some Quiet is quintessential for the winter doldrums.

Fun Fact: Originally adopting the moniker You Is Stupid, the band later settled on the Bell because it was "the name (they) hated least." "When it came to actually releasing records, we realised [sic] that we are about as humorous as skin cancer," vocalist Mathias Stromberg tells SPIN.com. "We changed it to the mysterious and very indie-1987 [sounding] 'The Bell,' after long, drunken discussions and almost-fights." 

Now Hear This
The Bell - "On and On" DOWNLOAD MP3

On the Web:
The Bell at MySpace
thebelltheband.com

Talk: What wintry sounds ring your Bell?