5 Bands You Should Check Out Now

The music snob in me has been waiting to write this playlist post for a while now. Here are some bands with quite an impressive body of work that deserve more attention, in my opinion. Some were kind of big at a certain point, some are just now making a name for themselves and reaching new ears. I’ve been blasting these in my car recently and I think you should enjoy them too.

Soulwax

The core behind this Belgian group is the Dewaele brothers, also known as the 2 Many DJs duo. They recorded two albums as a full band between 1999-2004 which I can best describe as a tasty mix between Queens of the Stone Age & The Eels. These efforts were successful at the time but haven’t gotten the rightful amount of air-time they deserved since.

Super 400

This power trio from Troy, NY has released 5 albums since they started playing in 1996. They sound like they were born to play together, making the most out of the 3-piece group setting. They only record live in the studio, and they sound just as good on stage. The build-up of the solo here is just pure gold:

Tinpan Orange

I had to find out who’s the voice behind the Australian viral hit ‘Dumb Ways to Die’. Was glad to discover that Emily Lubitz’s band had more in store for me. In addition to that rare voice of hers, they deliver their songs in a wide range of colourful instrumentations. You can find them smoothly shifting from painfully beautiful acoustic textures to grooving with a more electric sound, and back.

The 88

I discovered these guys while looking up who’s behind the theme song for Community, one of my favourite TV shows. Turns out they’ve recorded 6 albums, packed with extremely well-written power pop songs. They’re excellent instrumentalists and lead singer Keith Slettedahl is a phenomenon. Although they specialize in groovy Weezer-like, riff-based uppers, I chose this ballad to showcase their songwriting skills and the best use of a Theremin since ‘Good Vibrations’:

KC Roberts & The Live Revolution

Blending Funk, Rock, Jazz and Drum & Bass, these Canadian monster players perform brilliant arrangements of famous songs, as well as beautiful original material. Band leader KC Roberts riffs like Hendrix and sings like Stevie Wonder. If that’s not enough, this is how they sound like, live:

What do you think? Who else should be this list? Comment and share your thoughts!

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