Miike Snow, Canon Blue

There’s a great deal that’s confusing about Miike Snow, not the least of which is the fact that the Stockholm-based band uses that enduring symbol of redneck superstition, the jackalope, as its logo. Furthermore, there’s no one named Mike (or Miike) in the group, and in reality, only two of the members hail from Sweden. Singer Andrew Wyatt is actually American—he once played in a band with Greg Kurstin of the Bird and the Bee, and later was the keyboardist for the A.M.—while producers Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg are Scandinavian in heritage, but global in reach. As the songwriting team Bloodshy and Avant, they’ve crafted hits for Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Rob Thomas and Jennifer Lopez among countless others, which goes a long way to explaining the infectiousness of Miike Snow’s songs. Strains of falsetto funk, airy pop and upbeat electronica mix freely in singles like “Animal” and “Black and Blue,” resulting in surprisingly guilt-free radio pleasures.