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Hundreds applied, but we’ve whittled, argued and championed, and after many long hours, finally chosen seven bands to take part in the vote. Remember, only one of them can win, so cast your vote for the band you want to see taking their place next to The Gossip, The Horrors, New Young Pony Club and The Whip on Sunday 15 July.

Latest news: The ´óÏó´«Ã½ and Manchester International Festival are keen to ensure that the outcome is a fair representation of the public vote. So, with the agreement of all the bands taking part, we are re-setting the vote and extending the deadline by 48 hours. NB The new vote will appear shortly.Ìý

Voting rules

1. Votes must be received by midnight on Sunday 8 July 2007.
2. Multiple or block votes will be disqualified
3. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ reserves the right to amend these rules or cancel the vote at any time if it deems it necessary to do so or if circumstances arise outside its control.
4. The winner will be announced here at midday on Monday 9 July

The bands

Have a listen to one tune by each of the bands and find out more about them below (all biographies are the bands' own work).

Bobbie Peru formed in January 2006 in Manchester. The lead singer relocated to the UK from the States to pursue a musical career. Progressing from his earlier solo acoustic soundscapes, Robert Genovese (Lead Vocal/Guitar) gathered a collection of local musical talents (Ding [PJ Harvey/The Fall] - Bass, Chris Insley - Guitar, Davis Evason - Drums) to form Bobbie Peru, and began to blow minds.

They cook up a particularly demented stew with their ever-changing musical palette, which is an unpredictable mix of stabbing guitars, social commentary and a rhythm section coming through like a freight train. The result: some of the most dynamic, catchy and distinctive compositions which will infiltrate your mind and encompass your soul.

Carlis Star began when brothers Simon and Alf Cowan escaped Cambridge and headed to Manchester, recruiting locals Shona Melvin (vocals), Nick Cooke (drums), Joel Sloan (guitar) and Kris Keep (synth and vocals) to complete their line-up. Carlis Star live carry masses of energy, accompanied by crunchy guitars, complex three part harmonies and catchy synth lines.

This unusual line up has no front man, but instead is lead by male and female vocals and centred around an animated bassist. Carlis Star effortlessly break the stereotypical Manchester band mould. Their enthusiastic live shows have created an underground buzz in the Manchester music scene.

DILE formed a few years ago, originally comprising of the customers from lead singer Dennis's CD shop in Hyde. Since then, they’ve supported the likes of The Undertones, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Hugh Cornwell and The Fall.

They sold out their own headline shows at Academy 3 and are regularly played on XFM and The Revolution, being most famous for our track Garstang.

Gasperilla exploded onto the Manchester music scene in January 2007 at the launch party for Manchester’s hub of new sound recording talent, S-S-R. Hours old, assembled as a showpiece for an audience of the most fine-tuned ears in the UK, Gasperilla baptised the new live bunker fantastic. The band’s mastermind, captivating front man and producer Neil Grainey soon had them back in the studio and two projects later, the band agreed that this should only be the start.

They combine Manc swagger and mighty vocals with stunningly graceful duelling guitars, intricate and potent bass licks and a drummer thunderous enough to sink a battle ship. Think an unpredictable, if not unimaginable Frankenstein’s monster of The Stone Roses, Guns’n’Roses and The Rolling Stones and you may be somewhere close.

When Fi got sick of the big smoke, she headed back to Manchester and acquired a little man by the name of Ted who promised great things in the drumming department. She rocked out so much she sprained her wrist. With the drums in place, Fi headed to her local bass office and found a big man known as Joel of the bass, who she thought looked like a bass player, and indeed he was.

Two became one, one became three and now there is GeEkgiRL, a blend of punkysociorockpopgravel that can't quite be pigeon-holed, but go ahead and try - comparisons have been made to Alanis Morrisette wrestling with the White Stripes and Kate Bush riding a rock’n’roll backline.

Ivan Campo, a nu-folk ensemble who will take you on a journey through the mysteries of their minds. Hitchcock and The Beatles’ White Album are just some of Ivan Campo’s preoccupations. Characterised by a playful suspense, their songs are as likely to be about the unsolved death of Alexander Litvinenko as they are about love and loss.

Based in Preston and Manchester, Ivan Campo produce interweaving melodies combined with a musical unpredictability influenced by artists as varied as Devendra Banhart, Nick Harper and Arcade Fire. The effect is a unique style infused with echoes of films, snatched memories and a healthy sense of the absurd.

Waxplanet are Manchester's newest upstarts to have gatecrashed the city’s DIY club nights, immediately gaining a blowtorch reputation for bringing their futuresonic ‘Galactic Pop’ to the party. The adopted kids of Manchester's Blowout and Akoustik Anarchy nights, Waxplanet’s sound has been nurtured by the resident DJs of the city where today's pick’n’mix ethos reigns supreme.

With a sound equal part Beach Boys to Black Sabbath, LCD Soundsytem to Duran Duran, The Longcut to Gorillaz, they specialise in the Riff, the Rhythm and the Rhyme. Every song is Bam! Bam! Bam! As honest or as dishonest as possible. Waxplanet tell it like it is and sometimes like it isn't.