It doesn’t seem possible that 2015 is almost over, but the hard reality is that it’s on the outs. We still have lots of artists and bands with stellar 2015 releases that we want to share with you all.
This is the eighth installment of the popular band profile and playlists series, Best New DIY Music of 2015. Therefore, without further delay, here is the next batch of artists and band’s you need to hear.
In This Installment:
The Modern Savage – Anchorage, Alaska
ness – Long Island, New York
Gibberish – Los Angeles, California
Storie Grubb – Boise, Idaho
Duals – Goleta, California
The Modern Savage – Unfazed
Alaskan alternative rockers The Modern Savage‘s new EP, Unfazed, displays the band’s knack for driving, explosive rock, such as on the edgy lead single, “Go,” one of the standout tracks of the five song EP.
Front woman Jenni May Toro exhibits her raw, emotive and sneering vocal work throughout the EP, accompanied by the accomplished guitar and synth work of John Cripps and Matt Eley, Ivan Molesky on bass, and David Devlin on drums.
“As a whole, Unfazed explores the multifaceted aspects of being a woman in her mid-20s,” Toro says.
“The song ‘Comet’ confronts the predefined archetypes for women in music, and songs like ‘More’ and ‘Unfazed’ touch on the lonely aspects of millennials, who are never fully satisfied.”
The new EP was produced, engineered, and mixed by NYC based producer and recording engineer James Frazee (Radio Music Society, Sharon Van Etten, Patti Smith).
The Modern Savage has been moving up in the Anchorage rock scene in recent years, and plan to make their way down into the lower 48, where the band already has a growing and loyal fan base.
They’ve shared the stage with powerhouse acts like Jane’s Addiction, Foster The People, Silversun Pickups and Owl City. TMS was also featured in YouTube’s celebrated series, American Hipster Presents, which focuses on art and culture in 10 American cities.
Now, with their sophomore effort out, the band has much more material to perform live with for their growing base of fans.
“Go“ – The Modern Savage from Unfazed
The Modern Savage official website
ness – Behind The Couch (official lyric video)
During the summer, we featured the Long Island DIY electro pop duo, ness’ hazy song, “Behind The Couch,” from the debut EP, A Second To Think.
The reverb-heavy acoustic pop track with uptempo mandolins, twinkling xylophone notes, and light beats, was favorited so much by listeners that it easily became the No. 1 song in July on IRC’s Top Ten Songs.
Now the duo are back with the official lyric video for “Behind The Couch,” which is already attracting kudos from fans. The track, since its release, has received over 17,000 plays on Soundcloud and the EP more than 55,000 streams on SC and Spotify.
The band members, Ethan Peck and Jesse Weisberg, are also currently writing and recording songs for their next release expected in the spring of next year.
Gibberish – Winter Coat
One of our favorite releases from 2015 comes from the Los Angeles duo of Derek and Lorie Bromley, aka Gibberish. Their wild, glitchy, and rattly psych pop tracks on their debut EP, Winter Coat, has been rotated on the cafe’s speakers many times over the past few months.
If we had to pick one track to represent the band’s Animal-Collective-meets-Brian-Eno sound, it would be the song, “Colonies.” It stomps along with a hard bass drum; clattering drum sticks; waves of warm, soaring synth riffs; and layers of hazy reverb-heavy vocals, oozing with rich melodies and sweet harmonies, creating a weird and wonderful psychedelic feast of sounds, samples, effects, rhythms and beats.
“Colonies“ – Gibberish from Winter Coat
“Everything on Winter Coat was done by myself on my laptop, using gear I’ve accumulated throughout the years,” says Derek Bromley. “We recorded most of the album using one or two mics at a time, which is how we got the percussion sounding psychedelic and glitched out.
“I used a vocal effects processor and looped drum parts one at a time and then added them all up to give the rhythm section a lush, full, textured sound. I used this technique on a lot of instruments and vocals to varying degrees, so the album would have continuity between songs.”
Gibberish official website
Gibberish on Facebook
Storie Grubb –The Length of Tomorrow
The prolific Boise DIY musician and visual artist, Storie Grubb, has just released his fifth album in the past year. The LP, The Length of Tomorrow, is a tour de force of emotive and introspective anti-folk indie music, and a sobering tale of modern times, with elements of punk woven into the fabric of Grubb’s music.
“It is album that for me is totally appropriate for the times we are living in,” Grubb writes on his official website.
It is full of themes that I love bringing to light, like war, death, love and life…as well as religion and the relationships one has with fellow human beings on this beautiful planet.”
Completely written, composed, performed, recorded, produced and mastered by the talented extraordinaire multi-instrumentalist Sean Kelly (aka, Storie Grubb), the new LP features would-be indie hit songs like “Milky Way,” “Never Coming Back,” “A Cloud in the Sky,” and a magnificent cover of Beck‘s “Jack-Ass”, featuring backup vocals from Amber Pollard.
“Milky Way“ – Storie Grubb from The Length of Tomorrow
“Jack-Ass“ – Storie Grubb from The Length of Tomorrow
Grubb’s melodic, heartfelt, and at times, angst, music consists of dabbling in various genres of indie music – including folk, rock, pop, punk, and psych – and is inspired by musical influences like Elliott Smith, Neil Young, Belle and Sebastian, and The Magnetic Fields.
Last fall, before the dissolution of his previous band, Storie Grubb and The Holy Wars, Kelley and his band were asked by Built To Spill frontman Doug Martsch to open for the legendary, trail-blazing indie rock band at a benefit concert in Boise.
We have been big fans of Storie Grubb since we first heard the fascinating album, The Jewel and The Germ.
Fans will likely dig into his discography once they take the time to listen to a true unsung musical and lyrical indie hero of our time who is just a few blog reviews from underground stardom.
Storie Grubb official website
Duals – Honesty Is Mandatory
Duals is the moniker of Goleta, California DIY artist and producer Aphiah Cey-Jude. Drawing inspiration from artists like Cat Power, Eyedea, Bob Dylan and James Brown, Cey-Jude created Duals in 2000 as an outlet for musical expression, dabbling in everything from hip hop and rock to ambient and electronic.
Those influences and tastes, and his own traumatic childhood, have translated into art rock songs like “Life Is A Paradox” and “Big Sisters And Stuffed Animals,” from Duals debut LP, Honesty Is Mandatory, released earlier this year. He asserts that the moniker is to reflect “the duality of depravity and love that the concept of man is tied to.”
Mixing analog instruments, finely produced vocals and electronic samples, Duals has set himself up as an artist to watch in 2016.
“Life Is A Paradox“ – Duals from Honesty Is Mandatory
“Big Sisters And Stuffed Animals“ – Duals from Honesty Is Mandatory