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The Heavy
Unlike their peers on this list, the Heavy hail from across the pond, where their high-energy soul captivated the U.K.'s legendary beat-junkie label Ninja Tune. Their rousing full-lengths "Great Vengeance and Furious Fire" and "The House That Dirt Built" have won accolades from kingmakers like Rolling Stone and Spin and landed the Heavy on Letterman, "Entourage" and a Super Bowl commercial (for Kia—the one in which a sock monkey and his posse tear up the town to strains of the Heavy's "How You Like Me Now"). Vocalist Kelvin Swaby (center) brings the sweat to the band's merge of rock, soul and hip-hop, and has been compared to Curtis Mayfield by more than one impressed scribe.
