The first year of Hot Damn Jamz saw some of our fledgling jamz turn into full-fledged successes: Bibio, La Roux, Girls, Neon Indian and Japandroids are just a few of the acts we featured that went on to stake their places on 2009 best-of lists on Allmusic and elsewhere. However, for my list, I focused on jamz that are still on the rise — either they didn’t get as much attention as they deserved this year, or they look poised to do big things in 2010. Here are my Hot Damn Jammy nominations:

Battant
Battant clearly loves Siouxsie and the Banshees a lot, but “Radio Rod” was one of my favorite singles in 2009. Party like it’s 1988!

Crystal Fighters
Yes, it’s another Crystal band. But wait! Crystal Fighters’ Basque-tinged dancefloor movers like “I Love London” are strange, kinetic and unlike any of their similarly-named contemporaries.

Débruit
This French producer calls his kinetic sound “post-funk,” but descriptions like “if Aphex Twin and Dilla had a baby” work too. His Spatio Temporel EP is out in January, and judging from the teaser on his MySpace page, it sounds like it’ll be as mind-melting as Let’s Post-Funk was.

Gary War
As far as fuzzed-out noise-pop bands go, Gary War is decidedly weird, sounding like they guzzled a bunch of cough syrup and listened to a bunch of Chrome before committing space oddities like “Reality Protest” to tape. The video for “Highspeed Drift” just adds to the feeling that Gary War’s songs are being beamed to us directly from the Bermuda Triangle:

Gentle Friendly
Dense, atmospheric and above all catchy, Gentle Friendly take a more meticulous approach to the noise-pop sound that dominated 2009. Their video for “Eat Static” makes dreamlike use of clips from the Brothers Quay’s short films, adding to their arty vibe.

Beth Jeans Houghton
Houghton’s voice sounds heavenly no matter what surrounds her, whether it’s sunny British folk ramble “Golden” or the more ethereal, electronic “Nightswimmer.” Fans of Joanna Newsom and the Cocteau Twins, take note!

The Invisible
This Mercury Prize-nominated trio crafts electronic pop that’s bedroom recording-intimate and dancefloor-sleek at the same time; considering that the Invisible’s members have worked with Herbert and Zongamin, that’s not really a surprise, but it’s certainly refreshing.

 
Moon Unit
Moon Unit are now called Boy of Girl, but they’re still an oddly elegant electro-pop duo from Berlin and Dublin who excel at being frosty and sensual at the same time, as on “Hot Chocolate Boy”.

 
The Soft Pack
Formerly known as the Muslims, San Diego’s Soft Pack trade in cranked-up guitars, bashed drums and wry lyrics that sound classic but far from stuffy — fans of the Modern Lovers and Spoon will find a lot to love in songs like “Bright Side” and “Parasites.”

Zambri
The Zambri sisters concoct an unlikely but bewitching brew of post-punk and funky pop on songs like “Bang for Changes” and “Easier.”