The Black and White Years are an indie art rock band based in Austin, Texas. Formed in 2006, the band consists of Scott Butler, Landon Thompson and John Aldridge. Scott, Landon, and John met while attending college in Nashville, Tennessee. Billy Potts joined the band in January 2008 after their debut album had already been recorded.

The band was discovered at SXSW in 2007 by Talking Heads and Modern Lovers member, Jerry Harrison. Harrison offered to produce the band's debut LP at his personal studio in Sausalito, CA and it was released in 2008. Since then, they've played festivals such as CMJ Music Festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest, Austin City Limits Music Festival, MIDEM, Wireless Festival. The band’s song, “Power to Change,” has received a fair amount of national attention via modern rock and college stations. "Power to Change" was awarded Song of the Year at the 2009 Austin Music Awards. The band received a total of five honors including Best New Band, Best Bassist and Best Rock Band.

They released the follow-up to their Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads and Modern Lovers) produced debut on November 16, 2010. Also, in 2010 their song "To Modern Science" was used in a notable hoax featuring a fake commercial for the next generation of Apple's iPhone; the fake ad accumulated close to a million views across the internet.