DeVotchKa

It would seem unlikely that indie-rock scensters, art-house film snobs, and video game geeks would converge in the same place at the same time, but those disparate groups will have a common bond Thursday night at the Clubhouse in Tempe. DeVotchKa, a foursome from Denver, started out as a backing band for burlesque shows and began cultivating a buzz in the underground music scene in the early 2000s once they struck out on their own. DeVotchKa's big break came in 2005 when they were tabbed by directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris to score their first feature, a low-budget indie film called Little Miss Sunshine. The film, of course, went on to gross more than $100 million worldwide and garner four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Compilation Soundtrack. DeVotchKa then found themselves reaching out to an even more unlikely audience last year when their song "How It Ends" was used in trailers for the first-person shooter Gears of War 2. It actually seems fitting, though, in light of DeVotchKa's sound. With a mishmash of styles, including nods to Romani, Greek, Slavic, and mariachi, DeVotchKa's music may be as diverse as their audience.