Manel

Catalan rock band Manel -- comprised of Guillem Gisbert (lead vocals), Roger Padilla (guitar, vocals), Martí Maymó (bass, vocals), and Arnau Vallvé (drums, vocals) -- were founded in 2007 in Barcelona, Spain. They made their full-length album debut in 2008 with Els Millors Professors Europeus on the Discmedi label. Sung in Catalan, the album was critically acclaimed in publications such as Rockdelux and showed up on numerous Album of the Year lists; the accolades helped drive sales of Els Millors Professors Europeus, which spent much of 2009 on the Spanish albums chart. A promotional video was released for the single "Dona Estrangera." ~ Jason Birchmeier