War Tapes includes Neil Popkin (singer/rhythm guitarist, from Boston), his sister Becca Popkin (bassist, also from Boston), Matt Bennett (lead guitar, from Hawaii) and William Mohler (drummer, from SoCal). They’ve been raking in rave reviews since their 2006 live debut, and the early buzz on War Tapes earned airplay on such tastemaker radio stations as BBC Radio 1 and Live 105 in San Francisco, while “Dreaming of You” was aired on NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly (and “The Night Unfolds” for a week in March).

We caught up to the band for a slew of great recommendations:

1. Mew – their new album is titled: “No more stories Are told today I’m sorry They washed away No more stories The world is grey I’m tired Let’s wash away” I think that pretty much says it all.
2. Passion Pit – just started getting into it and so far I really like what I’m hearing.. really cool drum programming.
3. The Last Shadow Puppets – Arctic Monkeys side project. I really love this band, and pretty much everything they’ve ever done.
4. The Ravonettes – New Album “In and out of control” has been in my car CD player for the last 2 weeks straight – it’s so catchy.
5. Girls – really cool band from sf – one stand out track is “Lust for Life”