Philadelphia Weekly

"Digging massive holes is something we like to do," says Spinto Band guitarist Nick Krill in a David Byrne-like warble as he clicks through photo after photo of a Flickr account. He's not being arty or making vague, half-formed allusions about his band's songwriting process. He literally likes to dig holes.

You see, the Spintos, like most bands, share a love of archeology. And Krill is taking time out from recording a clutch of B-sides for their U.K. singles at Miner Street Studios to show off pictures of himself and his fellow bandmates tearing up a friend's backyard while reflecting on what a huge year 2006 was for them.

Quick recap: Nice and Nicely Done, the band's brilliant 2005 release, finally made it to U.K. shores via Radiate Records (a Virgin imprint). It arrived to thunderous praise, scoring a nine out of 10 in NME, which included the album on its "Best of 2006" list.

They played on European TV a few times (including Later With Jools Holland), began production on a serial film, swam in the Mediterranean, named their tour van "Jenkins" and met Kelly Osbourne. Twice.

Each member is in his early 20s.

Back in my early 20s, my pal Josh and I used to make cassettes for friends. We dubbed them Mixtape Battle-Tools. The goal: a series of mixtapes that would catalog, once and for all, every essential song any hard-luck guy (or girl) would ever need to woo the ears and heart of their fancy.

If we were making those tapes today (we're not), the Spinto Band's "Oh, Mandy," the breakout single from Nice and Nicely Done the Brits discovered this year, would be side A, track one.

All twinkling guitars and anxious falsetto, its backbeat pulse is the exact heart rate of a young lover catching his breath and trying to play it cool after running four blocks to avoid being late on a crucial first date.

But it's not just the lovesick who obsess over the song. It was used in a Sears commercial, and featured in the trailer for the film Four Eyed Monsters. It also happened to crack the top-25 singles chart in, of all places, the Canary Islands.

The band's tour schedule was equally hectic. "We received gold status in the Holiday Inn rewards program," says Krill. This year they were everywhere, hopping all across America and Europe multiple times while sharing stages with Arctic Monkeys, Fields, Mystery Jets, We Are Scientists, Annuals, Art Brut and fellow Philadelphians Dr. Dog.

The six men who comprise Spinto Band grew up together and share a kind of joke-heavy informality with one another that helps things run smoothly when they're on the road for daunting spells. If familiarity breeds contempt, they're the rare exception.

Because of their success this year, the guys now plan to get their own apartments in Philly (half of them live with their parents in Delaware) where, if you're not careful, they may dig up your backyard. They've begun recording a new full-length that should help provide fuel for future Mixtape Battle-Tools.

Kelly Osbourne, check your mail.