Best Album/EP in Boston

Freezepop, Imaginary Friends

Freezepop wins Best Music Poll award for best album

A decade into being perhaps the most underappreciated musical act in town, Allston-based synthpoppers Freezepop lost a founding member in 2009 when Kasson Crooker left the band to focus on his day job at Harmonix. Crooker's impact went beyond songwriting — his Harmonix ties allowed Freezepop to tap into the gaming community well before Guitar Hero and Rock Band became a virtual FM dial for a new generation. Remaining members Sean T. Drinkwater and Liz Enthusiasm made a fresh start and re-emerged in fall 2010 as a quartet, enlisting Robert John "Bananas" Foster and Christmas Disco-Marie Sagan. The result was Imaginary Friends, the band's fourth and most polished album, riding high and fast on the sugar-pop pulse of single "Doppleganger" and the hypnotic "Special Effects." Back when Freezepop formed in 1999, few bands were pimping keyboards on stage — let alone a fucking keytar. Now that Boston has caught up with the electronic revolution, one of its true synthpop pioneers are finally getting their due.

RUNNERS-UP:
2. Mean Creek, Hemophiliac
3. Buffalo Tom, Skins
4. Viva Viva, Viva Viva

by MICHAEL MAROTTA

Freezepop