It’s hard to believe Bands You’ve Gotta Hear is at Vol. VI. We’re regularly amazed just how much terrific music is being churned out every day under the radar from indie bands and artists worldwide. We do our best to sift through the hundreds of songs we receive every month via our music submission form from musicians throughout the United States and around the globe.
We are not just another copy-and-paste-it’s-done or follow all the popular shit indie blog – there are hundreds of those. We used to cover all of the ‘popular’ indie music (and there’s still a lot we love), but everyone is doing that, and over time, we didn’t feel like we were adding anything new or original to the indie music dialog, if you will.
So, earlier this year, we decided to make almost all of our coverage DIY, small and indie label related. The reason is because there is just way too much great music being made, and new artists and bands ready to break out, that people are not hearing.
For all of you out there who have followed us for any number of years (we love you too!), you know exactly how much sick music has been posted on this site in the past six years in particular (much of it is actually still available in our archives), and how many artists and bands got their first big boost being featured on IRC.
This post playlist highlights another 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear, from the popular, on-going series. We’re jumping all across the country today to profile bands from the biggest city to the southern most city – Miami – all the way across to band-saturated Austin, laid back Tulsa and sunny Los Angeles with sweet tracks spanning electro-pop, alternative rock, and folk pop, among other genres, from bands that deserve to be heard. American Idol? Suck it! You ain’t never heard music this good; this original.
In This Installment:
analog – Miami, Florida
The Lukewarm – Tulsa, Oklahoma
Bee Caves – Austin, Texas
The Post Age – Miami, Florida
The Revies – Los Angeles & Mexico
Stereo Off – New York, New York
Danny and Caroline – Bedford Hills, New York
A
analog – Miami, Florida
Miami has a promising new alternative rock band on the DIY radar screen. It is analog, a four-piece band from the “sandy beaches and plastic atmosphere of a city notorious for its partying scene…not alternative rock.” In a little more than a year together, analog has made a big leap forward with the release of the debut LP, Extended Pleasure.
We are big fans of this new band, including the stellar guitar work and percussions on the foot-stomping rocker, “Working Man,” and the undeniably infectious, “Old Joy,” that has to be the closest likeness to 90’s Dinosaur Jr. that we’ve heard in some time, even though the band doesn’t even list Dinosaur Jr. as one of their most influential bands; those are, according to frontman and guitarist Albae Camino, Radiohead, Nirvana, White Stripes, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Doors.
The other band members in addition to Camino are Christian Avla (drums, percussions); John Manu (bass, vocals); and Arthur Filio (guitars) obviously all share a common love of rock and roll, and they play so well together that we really hope they continue to work hard and grow. Avla left the band in June and has been replaced by Tekilla and Filio has been replaced by Estevan Gomez.
More than likely, they’re going to need to branch out, or even move, from Miami to get much traction since there really is not much of an alternative rock scene there. In a city dominated by dance, Latin-fusion everything and hip hop, it’s going to be hard to get the foot-holding they need as an alternative rock band (which is exactly what they should stay).
We can’t wait to hear what they got next, but in the meantime, get yerself a copy of Extended Pleasure via Bandcamp and help seed yet another promising band.
“Old Joy“ – analog from Extended Pleasure
“Working Man“ – analog from Extended Pleasure
The Lukewarm – Tulsa Oklahoma
The Tulsa DIY indie psych rock band The Lukewarm got into our bloodstream with their minimalistic, atmospheric, stony, post rock-like single, “Gone,” from the band’s self-titled debut EP. This song shows a band that is ready to take it all to the next level. In addition to nearly 10K plays on Soundcloud, the song received hundreds of hearts and dozens of enthusiastic comments from fans.
The five members of the band were friends back in 2010 when they decided to start up a band, unified by their love of music, most especially bands like Radiohead, The Doors, Pink Floyd and The Strokes. The guys were young teenagers (13 and 14) when they started The Lukewarm – named after the Radiohead song, “2+2=5 (The Lukewarm).” During the past five years, it’s obvious they have worked hard to achieve the sound they have been shooting for.
The Lukewarm members also include Lars Gardner on keys, Noah Beal on drums and James Connelly on guitar. In fact, Campbell and Gardner learned their respective instruments solely to complete the coalescence of the band. Connelly has done an impressive job on mixing and mastering considering his youthful age.
Consider this: almost every song from their debut has earned more than 8,000 plays on Soundcloud – no small achievement for a band that dropped its debut EP less than a year ago.
“Gone“ – The Lukewarm from The Lukewarm EP
“Blue Dreams“ – The Lukewarm from The Lukewarm EP
Having been compared to a darker version of Capital Cities, the Miami duo The Post Age have made an impression with us thanks to their finely produced debut EP, Shapeshifter, released in April. Sweet sounds.
The duo features Jack Addicott and Nick Greene, who met while in graduate school in Miami. Addicott and Greene discovered similar interests in music and began to work on song writing, recording and mixing together.
Songs like “Fools Gold” and “The Remedy” sound like indie hits every time we play them, and recommended for fans of Florence and the Machine, Broken Bells, Foster The People, The Shins, Muse, Phantogram, The Neighbourhood and MGMT, among others. The Post Age’s biggest influences include The Doors, Phantogram, Ratatat, The Killers, Chromeo, and Spoon.
“Fools Gold“ – The Post Age from Shapeshifter
“Indie rock is, of course, independent rock music. That is, any unsigned rock. But the term, “indie” has grown to encompass more. It is a sound of its own, and it is very diverse but usually includes stripped down guitar riffs and a focus on song-writing and lyricism. ” – Nick Greene
Bee Caves – Austin, Texas
Reed Calhoun and Sam Kearney first began their music collaboration ten years ago. But it was short-lived experience; the two were kicked out of their rehearsal studio after a week for being ‘too loud’ according to the landlord. Soon afterwards, Kearney joined the popular band Alberta Cross as a guitarist.
But after a few years of in-fighting and the hardships of constant touring, Kearny decided to leave the band. The first person he called was Calhoun. Though the two had previously collaborated for only a short time, the musical bond they formed was strong enough to bring them back together to pick up where they left off, and Calhoun, who also left a turbulent band, settled in Austin and the Bee Caves were formed. We’re so glad the guys got back together.
The EP also features White Denim drummer Josh Block with mixing and mastering by Jim Vollentine (Spoon, Trail of Dead, Alberta Cross, White Denim, Heartless Bastards). Kearny lists the the duo’s musical inspirations to include Nick Drake, The Beatles, Bjork, David Bowie, Radiohead, and My Bloody Valentine.
The Revies – Los Angeles & Mexico
For a DIY band that plays straight-up American southern-tinged rock, it’s interesting that The Revies have performed most of their gigs over the years in Mexico, while living in the border town of Brownsville, Texas. The band took advantage of the many benefits available to them, including cross-cultural musical influences.
Formed in 2007, two of the band’s members still live in Monterrey, Mexico, which is why they’ve played most of their shows there. Earlier this year, The Revies relocated to Los Angeles and they’re currently working on a new album to be made available in Spanish and English.
The Revies have a terrific range of musical abilities and interests as this cover of The Beatles’ “Oh Darling” demonstrates.
Stereo Off – New York City
New York City DIY quintet, Stereo Off, weaves indie rock and electro sounds to create sharp, catchy riff-friendly tracks that straddle the line between experimental guitar rock and dance-friendly synth sounds, as exemplified in their new single – from their upcoming second EP – “Hotel Mirror.”
Comprised of experienced musicians from the band scenes of New York and London, Stereo Off fuses electronic music with classic and alternative 90’s rock. The band was first formed in 2013 by producer, vocalist and keyboardist Sebastian (no last name provided).
Two tracks from Stereo Off’s five-song, self-titled debut EP, “Photographs” and “Bullet Time,” have been on regular rotation here in the cafe for some time. The band lists among their top musical influences artists such as The Faint, Foals, Friendly Fires, and Justice.
“Photographs“ – Stereo Off from Stereo Off EP5
“Bullet Time“ – Stereo Off from Stereo Off EP5
Update : The band just released a pair of new songs, including the awesome 80s-influenced track, “Hotel Mirror”
Danny and Caroline – Bedford Hills, New York
In upstate New York, the husband-wife pop duo Danny and Caroline Golub, from Bedford Hills, have been writing, rehearsing and producing upbeat, cheery pop songs with big hooks since 2011. Danny plays guitar, writes songs and sings, while his wife Caroline plays keys, writes and sings.
Their irresistible new single, “OMG You’re Killing Me,” from the duo’s upcoming debut full-length album, Beauty and the Beard, is set to drop officially on Friday. The album was produced by Wil Farr (Hurrah! A Bolt of Light) who also played bass. Drums were performed by Dan Wintersteen.
The duo enjoy experimenting with instruments, writing and recording songs and making ‘fun music videos’. The newest video for “OMG You’re Killing Me” exemplifies the duo’s unique character. They’ve opened for bands like Hurrah! A Bolt of Light, Hee Young, Swear and Shake and include among their top musical influences artists like Ben Folds, Imogen Heap, Kings of Convenience, Broken Social Scene, and Feist.