By all accounts, I should have listened to modwheelmood a lot earlier. After all, Alessandro Cortini, one of my favorite knob-turners is a founder. Alessandro and Pelle Hillstrom make up modwheelmood and they've released two EP's so far, one called "?" and a new one called "Enemies & Immigrants." *UPDATE: "Doh" from me! I don't know how I didn't recognize that Pete was from Abandon Pools. Very cool.Modwheelmood, simply put, is a fantastic blend of synth/guitar/vocals that make an interesting and capable set of almost-pop songs. The closest references I would say are Pitty Sing and Flick (far more the former than the latter) - and perhaps even more significantly I should point out that this is the work of only two people. The familiar-sounding vocal rests against a bed of beats and melodies that a guitar cameos to make a much sweeter combination than I would have expected (I anticipated something much darker, but the result is a very positive brooding, if there is such a feeling).P.S. Alessandro Cortini is one of the incredible members of the newest incarnation of Nine Inch Nails (and an incredible one at that, adding an intriguing and appropriate layer of new sounds and beats into NIN songs with as much trust and care as Trent).