Make no mistake: Manchester, England's hottest music export of 2009 is the The Whip. The band channels T. Rex, New Order and Primal Scream into an electro-glam rock and pop frenzy resulting in a uniquely modern sound. With the release of their full-length debut X Marks Destination (Razor and Tie), the Whip is finally making the big trans-Atlantic jump.

We caught up with the Whip on their North American tour, and asked them to shed light on the United Kingdom's 'Second City.' Needless to say, with a population of 2.5 million that includes well-known institutes of higher learning, countless museums and the BBC Philharmonic, there was more to the city than our pub knowledge of football and Oasis:

What's the best way to get around Manchester?
There are loads of buses, we still get old-school double-decker buses in some parts. The tough dudes sit at the back upstairs. The center itself is pretty tight and the places I would want to be are pretty close together. There is a tram in the city that’s easy to hop on or off. I say use your trotters and get fit.

Good neighborhood to hang out in?
Chorlton is a pretty cool suburb about a five-minute bus ride from the center of town. There are loads of bohemian arty types in this area. Lots of bars and all-night house parties. Fee and Nath live here and rarely sleep. There is a really nice tapas place just in the city center off Deansgate called El Rincon. It’s really genuine Spanish tucker and the fish is great (surely not from the Manchester ship canal). The lady in there is a tough cookie but I like the abuse when I’m eating good Spanish food. And there are a lot of cool bars around the northern quarter. For years there were just a couple of cool bars that would play cool music around that area. All of a sudden there are 10 or so bars. Trof is my favorite in the area -- it’s got a really relaxed feel. It’s dimly lit and chilled out with some big fat couches and they usually have some nice music playing. Good olives too.

Seems like there are loads of museums and parks in the city. Any particular recommendations?
Yeah, the latest museum that was built is Urbis. It’s a modern building close to the site of the IRA bomb which graced our city in ‘96. They changed the whole area and it looks pretty nice. Skater kids hang out there and get drunk but it’s a nice little garden. They put a stage up there and we played a show last summer. It was a fun night.

Fave music stores?
In the Northern quarter area, again, the best two shops are opposite each other. Vinyl Exchange sells secondhand and promo CDs and vinyl. I used to have scabs on my fingers from flicking through music in the racks there. They really cram the stock in. Picadilly Records is the other shop. It’s over the road and sells more new stuff but they put little write-ups on each record. There is a lot of love and attention that goes in to some of their finds. They got right behind the Whip early on and gave us ‘single of the month’ in their hallowed window. Cheers.

Best places to catch a gig for an up-and-coming band?
On Oldham Street is the Night and Day Cafe. If a band had to graft from the start it’s likely that they came through the doors here. I saw the Rapture there years ago, which was pretty memorable. Actually I think I’ve played the drums, the bass guitar and synth in there with various bands. The other place a couple of streets over is the Roadhouse. It’s a cellar venue, I put my guitar through the low roof once. It was an accident, they had rubbish polystyrene tiles up there.

Favorite place to play a show?
There are four academy venues up by the university buildings on Oxford Road. We just played a sold-out gig there. It was a great night for us at the end of a crazy Euro disco party of a tour. Last summer we played at the Castlefield Arena as part of a big free festival in town. That was a great gig and a lot of Manchester saw us there (10,000 – 15,000) -- it’s a natural-bowl type setting and everyone was right behind us. It’s cheating on home turf though.

Good place for brunch?
Trof does a mean brunch, or the Cornerhouse Cinema-- they do a post beans on toast.

Cool restaurant options for vegetarians?
There is a nice place in Didsbury called Greens. The guy who owns it is one of those TV chefs in the UK. Nice tucker though. They do fake black pudding and fake duck but in a meaty kind of way.

Best restaurant when someone else is picking up the tab?
The Malmaison does Russian with a certain economic sting to the taste. It’s good for drinks before we play the warehouse project. The warehouse project is amazing. It’s a club set under the railway station and it a car park during the week. It used to be a railway shed and has great brick structures inside. There have been many messy Whip nights in there. Love it so much.

Is football a huge part of life (or is that just because the Manchester United fans we meet have convinced us of this)?
Football is huge for me. I actually follow a second division team called Wolverhampton Wanderers, if you cut me a bleed ‘old gold’ (my team’s strip color). We used to have a relative who played for them so my dad always took me there. I love following both City and United though. United are such a good team at the moment. I saw the wolves there a few years ago which was amazing. You get some fierce rivalry that can get pretty ugly. You guys seem to have a more polite and sensible rivalry with sports, but football can get crazy over here.

What is the one thing a person absolutely has to experience when they visit?
Meat pie, chips and gravy from a proper chippy, or some decent old-fashioned food from Sam's Chop House. A nice steak and kidney pie.

Can you tell us a secret/little-known fact about the city?
I think I just gave them all away.

Could you give a few pointers regarding slang?
We constantly make fun of these in a ‘mank’ accent:
No way mate. = I can’t believe it. (people say mate all the time, all the time, you’d think you had a thousand friends)
Proper sound = really nice person
Do one = get out of here
Minger = ugly girl
A made ya = you are my son/daughter

~Abbey Braden