# Local Natives Voted ‘Break-Out’ Band of 2010 (So Far), followed by Surfer Blood, Sleigh Bells, Crystal Castles and Neon Indian

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2010/06/local-natives-voted-break-out-band-2010-so-far/
- Published: 2010-06-17T04:42:43-04:00
- Author: Max Hammer

In a tally of 1,000 unique* votes from IRC readers and visitors, the **California**
indie rock band **Local Natives** beat out a bunch of other bands for ‘Break Out’
Artist of 2010 (So Far). Approximately 23% of poll participants selected Local Natives
out of 10 pre-selected artists. The runner up, for** Florida** ‘beach rock’ sensation**
Surfer Blood**, placed a distant second with 13.7%. The dynamic musical duo **Sleigh
Bells** garnered 13.2%, and Canada’s **Crystal Castles – **another duo** – **and**
Brooklyn** electro-haze pop artist**, Neon Indian,** pretty much tied (CC taking
it by one vote) to round out the Top 5.

“Sun Hands” – **Local Natives**

Get a 12-song zip of **Local Natives** performance at **Bowery Room** in May 2010
via _NYC Taper_.

_[Local Natives on MySpace](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/localnatives1)_

“Catholic Pagans”_ _ –** Surfer Blood**

“Swim” – **Surfer Blood**

**Sleigh Bells** is often categorized as a noise pop electronica duo, but their 
music is more intricate than that.

**Derek E. Miller**, a singer, guitarist and producer, met vocalist **Alexis Krauss**
while he was waiting tables in a **Brooklyn** Brazilian restaurant, happened to 
mention he was looking for female vocalist, and poof, the duo formed, and since 
last fall’s **CMJ** in **New York** have been on fire.

Sleigh Bells released their debut album, _Treats_, in May 2010.

“Rill Rill”** – Sleigh Bells**

“Tell Em”_ _ – **Sleigh Bells**

[_Sleigh Bells on MySpace_](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/sleighbells)

While we completely agree with people who say that **Crystal Castles** do not really
qualify as a ‘break out’ artist of 2010 (they released a number of lo-fi EPs between
2006 to present day.

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“Celestica”_ _ –  (Thurston Moore Remix) – **Crystal Castles**

However, it is safe to say that Crystal Castles have really broken through in the
second half of 2009 and especially in 2010, making the cover of top music magazines(
see _NME_ cover to right), the praise of bloggers, and most importantly, a swell
of new fans worldwide that are turning on to Crystal Castles every day.

Somewhat surprisingly, the five artists who received the lesser number of votes 
out of 1,001 total votes include some of most talked about bands at **SXSW** this
past March, and CMJ last fall, most notably **Free Energy** and **Real Estate**.

We’re not sure what it means that Real Estate only garnered 4% of the total vote
and placed last. Even with the consideration that some people may only consider 
Real Estate as a ‘break out’ band of 2009, however, the same could arguably said
for Local Natives and Surfer Blood – all three bands basically hit the radars at
the same time, give or take a few months.

[“Dream City”_ _](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/02%20Dream%20City5.mp3)–**
Free Energy**
 “Beach Comber” – **Real Estate**

Ever since SXSW, many of the artists included in the poll have enjoyed widespread
approval, sold out shows, bill-sharing with major artists, and frequent coverage
in the mainstream music press and the so-called ‘blogosphere’. We’re not asserting
that these are scientific polls, but they are interesting and do provide a window
through which to get a sense of which artists are creating the most buzz across 
the indie music landscape in 2010.

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With all that considered, we’ve create a ‘part two’ of the same poll but this time
featuring ten other artists, not ‘radar’ bands or ‘bands to watch’, per se.  You
can see and vote in this new poll located in the right column of this page.

If you feel like you have missed out on any music so far in 2010, we’ve got you 
covered. You can easily stream and download 2010 songs in various sections of the
IRC website, including **Best New Releases** (a weekly review of the best releases
with accompanying free and legal MP3s), **[Recent Releases We Almost Missed](https://indierockcafe.com/2010/06/local-natives-voted-break-out-band-2010-so-far/=recent+releases+we+almost+missed&x=14&y=11)**,**
[One Man Bands](https://indierockcafe.com/category/one-man-bands/)**, **[Top 10](https://indierockcafe.com/top-ten-songs/)**(
for all weeks of 2010), the popular [**In Dee Mail** ](https://indierockcafe.com/category/in-dee-mail/)
series, and much more.

Thanks to everyone who voted in this revealing poll; here are the complete poll 
results:

Local Natives 22.9% (229 votes)

Surfer Blood 13.7% (137 votes)

Sleigh Bells 13.2% (132 votes)

Crystal Castles 10.1% (101 votes)

Neon Indian 10% (100 votes)

Free Energy 8.7% (87 votes)

CocoRosie 6.3% (63 votes)

Delorean 5.3% (53 votes)

Toro Y Moi 4.4% (44 votes)

Real Estate 4.1% (41 votes)

Other: 1.4% (14 votes)

*Unique visitors means that duplicate voting is blocked