Shift

If there was one thing that was always missing from new wave, it was women. How many guys really want to get up and dance the night away to the po-faced wankery of groups like Soft Cell or New Order? That's why it's such a relief that the current new-wave/electro revival taking place in the dance scene is putting women right up front. From the potty-mouthed perversions of Peaches to the whip-smart sass of Le Tigre, women are finally having their say in the way we groove.

Even Tommie Sunshine, who was born and raised in Chicago and cut his teeth DJing in Atlanta, is doing his part. Sunshine built his production skills while working with fellow studio magicians like Chris Brann (of Wamdue Project), Mark Verbos, and even Chicago's reigning electro kingpin, Felix Da Housecat (and in the process earning membership in Thee Glitz). Sunshine has been spending more time with the fairer sex lately, however, turning out remixes for the punk-fueled machinations of Glasgow's Bis and Karen O's Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- and even taking on current teen-queen Avril Lavigne. Sunshine's tracks flaunt jacking beats, bass lines that grind harder than the Clipse, and, of course, plenty of pop sensibility -- the same elements that make his DJ sets so explosive. Could there be a better DJ to help Shift, Cleveland's premier underground club night, celebrate its second anniversary?