Vendetta Valentine

Los Angeles new wave revivalists Vendetta Valentine blend punky guitar rock and needly synth pop in a manner akin to contemporaries like the Epoxies or You Say Party! We Say Die! as well as old school acts like Berlin or Missing Persons. Formed in early 2006 in the L.A. suburb of Santa Ana, the trio of singer Thomas Monroe (also a published author with a science fiction novel called Neeva's Gift to his credit), guitarist and drum machine programmer Daniel Powell and keyboardist Anna Judd named their band after a comic character developed by Judd, who moonlights as the band's artist in residence a la Gorillaz' Jamie Hewlett. Barely six months after the trio formed, they won a Best Unsigned Bands contest sponsored by KROQ, Los Angeles' longest-running alternative rock radio station, which put their first single "Let It Burn" into rotation as a result. A five song self-titled EP featuring that song was released in the summer of 2006 on the band's own label. A full length debut, There's Nothing Safe, followed in the spring of 2008, reprising all five songs from the EP along with eight new tracks. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide