Poland

Seattle-based band Poland has a pretty clear recipe for its music: start with the baroque pop of Left Banke, mix in some Kinks-like dandy rock, throw in a dash of Love, top it off with some of the sighs of the Shins, and voila, it’s Poland. The band was formed in 2006 by longtime buddies Mark Bombara and Mark Romanowski, and the two multi-instrumentalists split guitar duties while also experimenting with everything from the ukulele to the melodica in the studio.Poland's fourth album, Please Interstellar Policeman, which was released in September, received international play because some of its songs were featured on the BBC 6 podcast and in some Mercedes Benz online promotional content."We are currently writing and recording for the next full-length Poland CD, with a projected release date of late summer 2010," says Bombara of his band's future. Besides the new album, Poland is set to play a number of shows in the Seattle area in the coming weeks and is planning a more comprehensive tour of the West Coast for later this spring.