Yo! I thought I would drop in and inform all you followers and readers of some new (and already well-established) talent I have recently discovered. I have what I like to call an “open ear” for music, meaning that I am not closed-off to one genre. I understand everyone’s tastes and interests vary, or else we would all be listening to the same thing and life would be a snooze fest!
Below are five bands that I have recently taken an interest in. A few of them are signed to indie labels and some are not. I used my reliable spidey senses to weed out these notable musicians, and now I am very excited to share my selections with you. Please make sure you check these guys out. I will give their myspace URLs and as much info as I feel necessary. It’s up to you to do the rest. I know I will be keeping up with their careers!
Oh, and thanks for reading! I never do give you people enough credit. I am eternally grateful :)
The Swellers
I discovered this Flint, Michigan-based punk rock band at a recent live performance at the Bowery Poetry Club in the lower east side. I had never heard of them before, but a friend of mine encouraged me to check them out, and now I am glad that I did! I must say that I was very impressed with their solid performance, stage presence, and the responses they were receiving from the crowd. I was thoroughly surprised when hearing the lead vocals, as it brought me back to my 90s indie rock days (in a good way, of course). Upon further research, I learned that they are signed to Search and Rescue Records, played Warped Tour in 2005, and have toured with such bands as Less Than Jake and Streetlight Manifesto. While the songs on their myspace playlist do not excite me as much as the live versions did, I am ready to see what happens next with this four-piece band from my home state. If you live in the Detroit area, The Swellers are playing a show on June 19 at the Magic Stick (an AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE venue, restaurant, bar, nightspot, pool hall, and bowling alley conglomerate owned by my family!). Have a listen/buy merch/attend a show! You will be glad you did.
Fat City Auto Wrecker
Okay, here is the story on this one: my friend (and excellent photographer) Siobhan O’Brien invited me to a show at Crash Mansion last night, and told me this was the band she was going to see. At first I was a little skeptical by the sound of their name, but then she informed me that they were “cool guys,” and that she could get me in for free. Sold. After sitting through the first two TERRIBLE performances by bands whose names are escaping me right now, I was anxious to see what this three-piece rock ensemble from Brooklyn was all about. Siobhan warned me that they were a slightly edgier version of Dashboard Confessional, and that the lead singer has been vomiting all day. She did not need to inform me of either of those. I was immediately impressed with the way they presented themselves on stage; very confident and obviously in love with making and performing music. The melodic and raspy vocals were dead-on, and I enjoyed the catchy bass lines as well. While the demos on their myspace are not the greatest, I am anxious to see what this band could produce with some studio-quality recordings. Needless to say, I fully enjoyed their performance and would gladly attend future shows. It does seem they need some help with promoting, myspace plays, and things of that nature. That’s where you come in!
www.myspace.com/fatcityautowrecker
The Talk About
I am actually really disappointed in the fact that I did not hear about this band sooner. I met two of the members at a bar in New York City called Angels & Kings (you may have heard of it), and the guys were nice enough to direct me to their myspace page so that I could give them a listen. Not only do they have a professional appearance and decent-sized fan base, their four tracks are equally incredible. I know you will enjoy the unique vocal melodies mixed with guitar lines that I only assume come from classic rock inspiration. With the perfect amount of pop-ish sound and edgy riffs, I firmly believe this band has what it takes to sell hundreds upon thousands of albums in their near future. I am not a Maroon 5 fan, but they bear a slight resemblance, and they pull it off. Not to mention that after just discovering this band a few days ago, I already catch myself subconsciously humming their tunes. You’d be crazy to not check them out. I’m actually quite shocked that they are not signed yet. Let’s make that happen.
And Then There Was You
Been on pandora.com lately? If so, you may have caught a song or two by this up-and-coming South Florida band that has been featured in AMP Magazine as one of the top indie label pop-punk ensembles, and has performed at Myspace Secret Shows and Warped Tour. They are solely responsible for their nearly 2 million myspace plays, and work harder at promoting and making it from show to show than any band I can think of right now. I find it quite sad that their label is reluctant to give them the praise and assistance they deserve in breaking into the scene. Honestly, they should be much more popular than they already are. With one album in stores and another in the making, ATTWY will be blowing up very soon, just wait and see. I wanted to be one of the first to let you know! From catchy, upbeat vocals to harmonious acoustic tracks, what’s not to love? If you reside along the east coast, be sure to check out their summer tour dates to witness an energetic and impressive live performance. You definitely don’t want to miss out!
Broadway
I’m not going to say I saved the best for last, but if you haven’t already heard of Broadway, you are about to. They will be on tour with Emarosa and a bunch of other amazing bands on The Artery Foundation’s Across the Nation Tour this summer. This central Florida band has a unique sound with vocals that can only be described as epic. At any given live performance I admire each musician’s talent individually and ask myself “how did he do that?” With energy that is off the charts and music so captivating you simply can’t get enough, there is no doubt in my mind that this band has what it takes to blow you away. Though they have been through quite a few member changes in the past, their current cohesiveness and confidence will be enough to win you over. If not, go ahead and purchase their recent release on iTunes and you will be hooked. Love on them.
Now get to work! You have a lot of awesome music listening/myspace adding/merch buying/friend telling to do :)
