3,300 MINI owners have embarked on a cross-country journey that finds them making 17 stops along the way, and SPIN.com is rolling out all the tunes from their trek's companion album, Soundtrack to a Drive. Every song on the compilation is by a band local to each stop along the trek, which begins in Monterey before heading down the Pacific Coast to Santa Barbara. Southwestern cities Las Vegas, Flagstaff, and Albuquerque are the next destinations on the drive, and then the MINI crew heads to Texas, where they'll pull up in Amarillo and Dallas. From there, the drivers swerve over to St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Charleston, WV. Charlottesville, VA, Richmond, VA and Washington, D.C. are the trek's next stops before the roadsters steer up the Eastern seaboard to hit Jersey City and, finally, Lakeville, CT.

TODAY'S STOP: Flagstaff, AZ
TODAY'S BAND: The Format

Peoria, AZ's the Format reportedly came up with their moniker as a not-so-subtle jab at the formulaic sounds they hear the music industry promoting. Formed by Sam Means and Nate Ruess, the band have garnered a solid following thanks to featuring songs on Laguna Beach and making a cameo on My Super Sweet 16.

Song: "Time Bomb" (Download MP3)

Credits: : Written by Nate Ruess and Sam Means Published by Means+Ruess Music (ASCAP)

On SPIN.com: Artist of the Day: The Format

On the Web: theformat.com

Fasten your seatbelts and keep your eyes on SPIN.com for more tunes soundtracking the drive as MINI Takes the States. COMMENT