Today we’re happy to bring you part two of our “In the Spotlight” feature. We’ve got another group of artists that we think are worthy of your time and ears. Our contributors have made their picks, put together blurbs, and pulled out recommended songs.
If you missed part one, you can find that here.
Read More “In the Spotlight: 50 Bands You Need to Hear in 2018 (Part Two)”
Last year we brought back, and re-branded, one of my favorite features from the AbsolutePunk days: the “Absolute 100.” And as we enter May and the weather finally starts to turn around a little bit, it’s the perfect time to once again team up with our contributors to bring you a whole bunch of new music to check out.
Just like years past we’ve compiled a list of 50 artists we think are worth your time. Some of the artists recently released their debut albums and some have been around for a while now but have flown under the radar. However, the one thing they all have in common is that we think they should be in the spotlight and are worthy of your ears. You’ll find the first group of 25, along with blurbs, recommended songs, and sounds like comparisons, below.
Read More “In the Spotlight: 50 Bands You Need to Hear in 2018 (Part One)”
Speak Your Mind is the debut studio album by British pop singer, Anne-Marie. The 27-year-old singer has attained several charting singles on the UK Singles Chart and she was also featured on Clean Bandit’s “Rockabye,” which peaked at number one. Ever since the release of her first single, “Alarm,” she has been a consistent sensation in the pop world. Every single she released to support the album has charted. Based on that record, it is safe to say that Anne-Marie is a hit maker.
The British singer takes us through 17-tracks as she tries to mask a heartbreaking experience in electro-pop sounds. From “Cry” to “Bad Girlfriend,” she revisits her previous relationship while exposing the deceit and infidelity her ex-lover brought to the relationship. On “Then” and “Alarm” she tells the story of a man who ungratefully ignored the love she had for him while cheating on her.
The Voidz, led by The Strokes’ front-man Julian Casablancas, have gone through a few housekeeping changes since their debut album Tyranny. For starters, they have dropped Casablancas’ name from their moniker, probably for the intention of making it known that they are a true band, rather than just a side project. Additionally, the band has used their second album as an experimental canvas on which to paint with all types of styles. While their debut album came across as abrasive and hard to digest, Virtue brings out the best in this crew and if you can stomach the variety of approaches used on this record, it’s quite a fun and trippy ride.
It’s been more than ten years since Janelle Monáe launched her first project. She has since been identified by her unique sound. Being from a hard-working family and a musically bland city, she has always highlighted the under-appreciated and the outsider with her lyrics. Incorporating an unbelievable range of musical influences, she continues to innovate her own unique sound with her friends in the Wondaland Arts Society – a musical collective of rising artists she oversees. Prior to Dirty Computer, she’s been nominated for six Grammy Awards, of which she won none. However, Janelle’s consistency is a reminder of why this is a promising project.
On Thirty Seconds to Mars’ fifth album, titled America, Jared Leto and his bandmates experiment with big U2-type choruses, patriotic themes, and the deeper meanings of life. The band has long-since been known for their anthemic choruses and there are plenty of those to go around on America, as well as great production and a polished sound fit for a major label and radio outlets alike.
The album itself is front-loaded with the previously released singles “Walk on Water” and “Dangerous Night.” The one-two punch of these tracks play off of each other well, with the latter being the more memorable of the two. Leto sings on the chorus that it’s a “dangerous night to fall in love/don’t know why we fight what we’ve become.” The themes of loss, heartbreak, and longing for a change in the status quo run rampant throughout the album.
Side projects, in general, are healthy for the long-term well being of a band as it allows the multiple band members to experiment with new sounds and ideas that may not be best suited for the main unit. That being said, it’s hard to find too many differences between Billie Joe’s new side gig, The Longshot, and Green Day. Billie Joe sounds just as confident as ever on the new LP and it initially reminded me of the sleek and polish of another recent side project (Foxboro Hottubs) but with more production sheen on The Longshot’s debut album.
The Longshot is comprised of guitarist Kevin Preston, drummer David Field, and bassist Jeff Matika (who has toured extensively with Green Day). “Love is for Losers” spans over 11 easily digestible tracks, with a total running time of 32 minutes. Kicking off the set with “The Last Time” Billie Joe croons, “I’ll give you all my blood, til it’s a waste of time/If that’s not good enough, you’re always on my mind.” These tongue-in-cheek lyrics are what we have grown to expect from our fearless pop-punk leader, yet it’s also a good album disclaimer of “take it or leave it.”
As listeners, we typically assume that a debut album is an artist’s mission statement. Simply put, an artist’s first album is supposed to establish what that person or band sounds like. It’s supposed to lay the foundations for the rest of their career and give listeners some idea of what to expect later on down the road. But what happens when a debut album proves to be an anomaly? When the first record establishes a sonic identity that the artist doesn’t want to chase on future releases?
For more than a decade now, Cary Brothers has been asking precisely that question.
Brothers burst onto the scene in 2004, with a December release called All the Rage. It wasn’t until the next year, though, that he got his big break, thanks in large part to the Garden State soundtrack. Brothers’ beloved contribution, the song “Blue Eyes,” had already been a Hotel Café favorite when Zach Braff scooped it up for his quirky coming-of-age dramedy. Garden State took the song and immortalized it for listeners and movie fans who were of a certain age at the time. While the song gave Brothers the kind of boost that just about any songwriter would kill for, though, it also meant that he got the musical version of typecast. “Blue Eyes” was a singer-songwriter song, and Brothers’ full-length debut, 2007’s Who You Are, was a singer-songwriter album. You could hardly blame early Cary Brothers fans for making the assumption that he was an acoustic singer-songwriter, period.
Read More “Eight Years Down: Cary Brothers on His Long-Awaited Return”
Lord Huron, the indie rock group from Los Angeles, have had quite a few years to grow into their trademark sound of atmospheric landscapes and wandering journeys. Vide Noir, the third studio album and their first on a major label, was mixed by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips) and self-produced by front-man Ben Schneider, in which he has crafted his early career masterpiece. Schneider recently credited this album to a new habit of taking nighttime drives around LA and the “search for meaning amidst the cold indifference of the universe,” according to his recent social media posts.
Straight from the album opener, “Lost in Time and Space,” we are immediately transported to a dark yet clear night landscape with subtle sounds of buzzing lights, background whispers, a harp, and eventually the folk strumming of Schneider’s acoustic guitar cuts through the soft noise. In the track, Schneider admits, “I don’t know who I am, I don’t know where I am,” and the listener is immediately pulled in to go on this journey with the band.
Change can be difficult, sometimes it feels like it is the most painful concept to deal with. That being said, the Central Pennsylvania rap-rock group, From Ashes to New, have dealt with the replacement of their clean vocalist Chris Masser, in favor of Danny Case, semi-seamlessly. In addition to Masser’s departure, the band has a new drummer in Matt Madiro. The band is able to retain the sound that they introduced through two EPs (Downfall and S/T) and a full length LP, Day One, with an effort that should be worthy of an occasional spin.
There’s a song on the new Donovan Woods album Both Ways called “Next Year,” about the very-human tendency to put things off. “We’ll do it next year,” Woods sings—five words we’ve probably all spoken a time or two before. Those words could refer to a lot of different things, depending on your situation. They could be about a trip you’re going to take, or a renovation you’re going to do on your house, or something fun you’re going to do with your kids. Too often, though, next year never becomes this year. It’s just always next year, always tomorrow. And eventually, all those things you were going to do pile up and you realize that you’re running out of time to actually do them. That’s what happens at the end of the song, where Woods sings about an ailing father and his wish to see the Grand Canyon. Instead of making plans for later, the dad and his son just get in the car and drive. Because, as Woods states, “There ain’t no next year.” The sand in the hourglass is almost gone. It’s now or never.
When looking back at the accomplishments for Indie Rock mainstays, The Decemberists, one may think that they have little left to prove on their eighth album. However, this group has never been afraid to make the music they want to make, and bring their loyal fans along for every thrilling and unique chorus. I’ll Be Your Girl finds The Decemberists not only comfortable with who they are, but also as an artist willing to paint with new and vibrant colors.
The flowery cover art and liner notes fit the content of the music well as the album shines brightly and helps paint the story on a canvas that fans of the band have grown accustomed to. The first single and album opener, “Once in My Life” starts the listeners’ experience on the LP on a high note with the familiar strumming of an acoustic guitar and the warm, anthemic vocals of singer Colin Meloy who puts everyone on notice that all is not well in the world. Given the current state of the political climate and the honesty portrayed in The Decemberists’ catalog, it’s easy to tune in for the ride the band takes us on for this album.
Debut albums are typically a fun listen since the old adage goes, “You have your entire life to write your first album,” and The Aces’ When My Heart Felt Volcanic is no exception. The all-female group from Provo, Utah is composed of singer/guitarist Cristal Ramirez, her sister/drummer Alisa Ramirez, bassist McKenna Petty, and guitarist Katie Henderson. The Aces core strength relies on vibrant pop hooks and phenomenal guitar work. Their debut single “Stuck” has already been streamed well over 2 million times, and the band continues to build off their momentum with recent tours with the likes of COIN and X Ambassadors.
When My Heart Felt Volcanic is a shimmering debut, perfect for the beginning of Spring, and all of the good vibes that come along with better weather. Their sound on this album can be best described as a mixture between The 1975-esque guitars, and the well thought out hooks similar to HAIM and Paramore. The album starts off with “Volcanic Love” and helps set the tone for the majority of the song structures and concepts found throughout the LP. The aforementioned single, “Stuck” has a bouncy beat throughout and a memorable sing-a-long chorus. Singer, Cristal Ramirez, shines throughout their debut single and showcases an impressive vocal range and style.
Typically when a band, such as The Neighbourhood, choose to self-title an album, it signals either a re-branding or further solidifies how the band wants to be perceived from this point forward. This album (which is their third full-length LP) falls into the latter category as it thoroughly solidifies the type of music that The Neighbourhood have grown into. The album as a whole focuses on the band’s strengths: gloomy themes, synth-laden riffs, and outstanding vocals from front-man Jesse Rutherford.
The promotional approach for this album was different than what they had tried in the past, as they released two EPs (Hard & To Imagine) leading up to the release of the full-length. This creative approach of teasing the new styles and themes they were experimenting with gave their fans a glimpse into the creative process that went into this album. The lazy approach of releasing two EPs and having the same exact songs and sequencing on the album is not in this band’s DNA, as they have chosen the very best of the EPs content and created an album worth multiple repeat listens.
Hard as it may be to believe, Void Ripper is in fact Animal Flag’s fifth full-length album, and a more-than-worthy followup to 2016’s LP. While the project has always been the brainchild of Matt Politoski, this is the first album featuring the current lineup of Zach Weeks, Sai Boddupalli and Alex Pickert. This time around, the group have crafted an explosive and comprehensive group of songs that Politoski described to Modern Vinyl as a three part process of “order, disorder, and re-order.”
As you might imagine, “disorder” implies a certain chaotic and loud element when applied to a band’s music. In the case of Animal Flag, that’s nothing new. Anyone that has seen this band live can attest to their absolute mastery of dynamics, and while that mastery is hard to capture on record: Void Ripper comes damn close. The production, courtesy of bassist Zach Weeks, is about as raw as it gets, with pounding drums often threatening to drown out other instrumentation.