The Benefits

Claiming Dr. Dre, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Sgt. Pepper's album, and the Muppets' house band as influences, Denmark's the Benefits play high-octane pop-funk-soul-hip-hop with a brass band twist. Singer Ilanguaq Lumholt, an Inuit from Greenland known for his fine taste in suits, and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Stengaard, a Denmark native often seen with a bass drum on his chest, first came on the scene in 2007 when their track "Physical" and its accompanying video began making an impact on YouTube and European radio. The humorous and hyper video -- which the Benefits made on their own -- made it to the U.S. late in the year thanks to the Universal label and an advertising company called Screenvision, which provided content that would be seen before feature films in movie theaters across America. While moviegoers were being treated to the infectious song and its video, Lumholt and Stengaard were busy recording their debut album in a former underground bomb shelter in Copenhagen. Universal soon slated the album for a spring 2008 release.