If Coldplay met The Killers, Arcade Fire and Switchfoot in a dark – ok, make that sun-splashed – alley you might end up with something that resonates like the infectious strains of Modern Men.

This Michigan band with genetic ties to Papa Vegas, Miles to Mars and Aventine stands ready to change the very definition of alternative rock, with music that’s at once atmospheric, melodic and fiercely edgy.

Singer-guitarist Cassidy Bisher (Aventine) and renowned bassist and producer Joel Ferguson (Papa Vegas, Miles to Mars, The Cones) lead Modern Men’s musical charge, with drummer Tommy Fawcett (Dry) and keyboard player Aaron Wood (Lyndon Baines) rounding out the Grand Rapids band.

Powered by Bisher’s charismatic vocals, Modern Men have refashioned rock and digital pop into accessible music “that really isn’t how mainstream Top 40 stuff sounds,” the singer asserts. “I love pop music, but I also love heavy music, so it’s a mix between the two. “

The band aims to infuse each song with “moments of greatness in some way, conjuring up strong emotions from the melodies that are sung,” continues Bisher, “Music transcends language so that always has to be number one.”

Influences as far-flung as Smashing Pumpkins, The Police, and Depeche Mode to Arcade Fire, M83 and Radiohead give this band a truly uncommon resume – boasting decades of rock ‘n’ roll seasoning between its members, yet one clearly embracing the future by taking a bold step forward to push the boundaries of alt-rock and pop.

“Why not today, shake it up, make it sway,” Bisher croons on “Here in the Now.”

Shake it up. That’s precisely what Modern Men are uniquely poised to do.

John Sinkevics

Spins on Music

www.localspins.com