Cults – INDIE ROCK CAFE

Best Songs of 2013, Vol. IV – Hospital, Groupelove, Sebadoh, Cults, Best Coast, Dr. Dog, Fuzz, Glasvegas, CAVE

Posted on 02/11/201407/22/2021 by Max Hammer

Since 2013 is still somewhat fresh (but fading) memory for most people, we decided to publish as part of the Best Songs of 2013 series, the last Top 10 Songs playlists of 2013. If you’re not familiar with Indie Rock Cafe’s popular Top 10 Songs playlist series, we collect the statistics on the songs published on the site for a given month, and sometimes by the week, or every two weeks. Those stats tell us which songs receive the most streams and downloads from IRC listeners. While we didn’t get the final Top 10 Songs’ playlists done until later than usual, the final results are still amazing.

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This collection alone features a bunch – 45 altogether – of some of the greatest singles of the year, including spectacular tracks from Cults, The Avett Brothers, Best Coast, Dr. Dog, Grouplove, Said The Whale, The Chills, and many others. There are also DIY bands that struck a chord with all of you, such as Gang of Brothers, The Sun Club, Cold Country, and The Bynars. You can click the play button in the bottom right of your browser or the first track on this page and it’ll stream all of the songs uninterrupted while you do other things. And if you like a track enough, you’re album to save it in MP3 format.

Yet it was a fantastic single from a little-known DIY band, Manchester, England’s, The Unassisted, that rose above all other singles posted in December to take the No. 1 spot. It wasn’t a crazy big surprise in the cafe when we saw that the band’s track, “Hands Dance Hands,” was popular with IRC listeners, but we sure didn’t expect it to be the number one song of the month. Still though, it’s an infectious and memorable song originally featured in the latest volume of the 5 Overseas DIY Bands to Watch series. In fact, that bands to watch series made up all of the top ten songs for December, but two.

Accomplished unsigned artists like Hospital, Get Intuit, Mary Goes Wild, Rascal Experience, and the rocking lads of The Unassisted. Most of the bands ranked in the top ten playlist for December for not one, but both songs we featured in the original post. The rising rock band, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, who made quite a splash at SXSW last year, ranked for their single from the album Wild Child, which was one of our favorite DIY debuts of 2013. Another one of IRC’s – and obviously many listeners’ – favorite under-the-radar DIY debut albums of 2013 was Ear To The Sky from the New York unsigned band Mild Mannered Rebel, who ranked for the inspiring single, “The Climb.”

“Hands Dance Hands” – The Unassisted from The Yellow Guitar Chronicles

“Time Will Tell” – Hospital from When The Trees Were Higher

“Cutie Pie, I’m Bloated” – Get Inuit from Cutie Pie, I’m Bloated

“The Climb” – Mild Mannered Rebel from Ear to the Sky

“Last One Leaving” – Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown from Wild Child

“Everything” – The Unassisted from The Yellow Guitar Chronicles

“Fake Interest” – Rascal Experience from Bad Luck Experience

“Redheaded Chain” – Mary Goes Wild from Next Time, Analog

“Tailspin” – Hospital from Tailspin

“My Oh My” – Get Inuit from Cutie Pie, I’m Bloated

Note: There is no Top 10 Songs playlist(s) for November

Top 10 Songs for October 2013, Vol. II

The No. 1 spot for the second half of October’s Best Singles from New Releases was taken by The Avett Brothers‘ new single, “Another Is Waiting,” which out matched the No. 2 song, “You Know What I Mean” by Cults by some 32 votes (number of streams and downloads). At No. 3 was the latest single, “This Lonely Morning,” from Best Coast‘s new EP, Fade Away, followed at No. 4 and No. 5 by The Chills and CAVE respectively. We couldn’t help but to notice all of the top five songs were from bands that start with “C” or “B” and “A.” The second half of the Top 10 Songs for the second half of October were, from No. 6 to No. 10, respectively, singles by Luke Temple, Cass McCombs, Crystal Antlers, Heavenly Beat and Dean Wareham.

“Another Is Waiting” – The Avett Brothers from Magpie and the Dandelion on American

“You Know What I Mean” – Cults from Static on Columbia Records

“This Lonely Morning” – Best Coast from Fade Away EP on Jewel City

“Night Of Chill Blue” – The Chills from Somewhere Beautiful on Fire Records

“Shikaakwa” – CAVE from Threace on Drag City

“Florida” – Luke Temple from Good Mood Fool on Secretly Canadian

“There Can Be Only One” – Cass McCombs from Big Wheel And Others on Domino Record Co.

“Rattlesnake” – Crystal Antlers from Nothing Is Real on Innovative Leisure

“Complete” – Heavenly Beat from Prominence on Captured Tracks

“Love Is Colder Than Death” – Dean Wareham from Emancipated Hearts on Double Feature

Top 10 Songs for October 2013, Vol. I

The second half of October’s Top 10 Songs featured an array of artists and bands from both ‘mainstream’ indie and DIY artists. In the end, it was Dr. Dog‘s new single, “Love,” that beat out the stiff competition to take the No. 1 spot for the month. The No. 2 song, which trailed “Love” by a wide margin (over 20 ‘votes’ based on the number of streams and downloads) was a killer track, “Get Up On Ya Feet and Testify,” from a DIY-featured band, Gang of Brothers, who were profiled in the latest installment of 7 Bands You’ve Gotta Hear. Clocking in at No. 3 was the single, “What’s In My Head,” from the breakout 2013 band, Fuzz, founded by the prolific musician Ty Segall followed at No. 4 by the latest single from the popular band Teen Daze and No. 5 by the DIY band The Sun Club‘s break-through single, “Beauty Meat.” The second half of the Top 10 featured, in order, singles by Blitzen Trapper, DIY band The Bynars, Polvo, DIY band Kid Cadaver, and Yuck.

Don’t miss the first half of the full playlist of MP3 singles for October because there are plenty of terrific songs – that didn’t make the Top 10 – from bands like Tape Deck Mountain, Saint Rich, HAIM, The Fratellis, Raccoon Fighter, The Sadies, Black Moth, Cumulus, Hunters, Those Darlins, Leverage Models (with Sharon Van Etten), Hollow & Akimbo, Quasi, Moby with Cold Specks, Albert Hammond, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., His Clancyness, of Montreal, Parque Courts, Tim Kasher and others. Plus, check out some amazing tracks from the most recent installment of 5 DIY Solo Artists You’ve Gotta Hear.

“Love” – Dr. Dog from B-Room on Anti- Records

“Get Up On Ya Feet N’ Testify” – Gang of Brothers from Gang of Brothers

“What’s in My Head” – Fuzz from Fuzz on In the Red

“Ice on the Windowsill” – Teen Daze from Glacier on Lefse

“Ever Loved Once” – Blitzen Trapper from VII on Vagrant Records

“Dancing on a Dream” – The Bynars from X vs. X

“Total Immersion” – Polvo from Siberia on Merge Records

“Stable” – Kid Cadaver from Kid Cadaver EP

“Rebirth” – Yuck from Glow & Behold on Fat Possum

Top 10 Songs – September 2013

The results for the Top 10 Songs playlists for September through December have been tallied and over the next couple of weeks we’ll be publishing them all for everyone to enjoy. But first, let’s dive into what IRC listeners chose as the top ten songs for the month of September based on which tracks we featured during the month of September received the most streams and downloads, particularly in Vol. One and Vol. Two of the Best New Singles from New Releases dropped during the month. If you missed either one of those posts/playlists, you’ll definitely want to click through and check them out because there are a lot of great songs – and free MP3s – that did not make the Top 10.

The No. 1 song for September easily went to the band Glasvegas for their single “If” from the album, Later, When The TV Turns to Static. Following right behind at No. 2 was the track, “Ways To Go” by Grouplove. At No. 3, which was only a couple of ‘votes’ from tying for No. 2 spot was the single, “A Stillness” by the The Naked and The Famous, trailed at No. 4 by Said The Whale for their song “I Love You,” at to round out the top five, at No. 5 was the new Sebadoh song, “I Will.” The bottom half of the Top 10 Songs for September 2013 goes to, in order of No. 6 to No. 10, singles from DIY Artist of the Week Cold Country for the gorgeous single, “Carried Away With The Wind,” followed by singles from Neko Case, Keep Shelly in Athens, Volcano Choir and Cloud Control.

“If” – Glasvegas from Later… When the TV Turns to Static on Go Wow

“Ways to Go” – Grouplove from Spreading Rumours on Atlantic Records

“A Stillness” – The Naked And Famous from In Rolling Waves on Republic

“I Love You” – Said the Whale from Hawaiii on Hidden Pony Records

“I Will” – Sebadoh from Defend Yourself on Joyful Noise Recordings

“Carried Away With The Wind” – Cold Country from Missing The Muse

“Man” – Neko Case from The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You on Anti-Records

“Recollection” – Keep Shelly in Athens from At Home on Cascine

“Byegone” – Volcano Choir from Repave on Jagjaguwar

“Scar” – Cloud Control from Dream Cave on Votiv

The Alternative Christmas Songs and New Year’s Eve Songs Playlists

There were definitely plenty of songs from IRC’s dozens of playlists of Indie and Alternative Rock Christmas Songs, which has been the most popular alternative Christmas songs series on the web for three-plus years now, that populated the top songs for December, but we created, and expanded, that playlist into a separate post, IRC Listeners’ Favorite 25 Indie and Alt. Rock Christmas Songs, featuring tracks from Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, The Kinks and many other excellent artists and bands.

Later in the month, and into the first week of January 2014, songs featured in the latest New Year’s Songs playlist were downloaded and streamed hundreds of times, with The Kinks‘ 1981 track, “Better Things,” (which you can bet is the wish of millions of Americans for 2014) ranking the highest. It’s one of the band’s many excellent songs released over their iconic 25-year run, and was even featured in the 2004 remake of the controversial classic movie, The Manchurian Candidate, with Denzel Washington.

The version used however, for whatever reason, by the producers was the Fountains of Wayne cover of the song (and it is a fine cover), which was played over the last gripping moments of the film (don’t want to reveal the ending for those of you who haven’t seen it – a great movie if you’re looking for a good film to watch that you haven’t seen before). Ironically, the soundtrack also features The Walkmen‘s “New Year’s Eve” track, which was one of the top tracks in last month’s New Year’s Eve Songs‘ playlist.

You might want to listen to the three previous Best Songs of 2013 MP3 playlists, along with song reviews from Devin William Daniels, a musician and contributor to IRC. He chose his favorite songs from Top 10 Songs playlists of 2013 and wrote insightful reviews of each track. As many of you probably know, the Top 10 Songs playlists are determined by which songs posted during a given month IRC listeners streamed and downloaded the most. Therefore, it’s a collaborative effort all the way around. Volume One, Volume Two and Volume Three feature memorable songs of 2013 from artists and bands like Atoms of Peace, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Deerhunter, Phoenix, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, and a variety of DIY artists.

Fresh Tracks from Thom Yorke + Burial + Four Tet, Fleet Foxes, Cults, Thurston Moore, Surfer Blood, A Lull, Wild Beasts, Man/Miracle

Posted on 03/26/201112/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Our new tracks in-box has been filling up fast lately. In fact, it’s overflowing. So, here’s another big mix featuring fresh tracks from a range of artists and bands, including Thom Yorke with Burial and Four Tet, Thurston Moore, Cults, Surfer Blood, A Lull, Zachary Cale, Wild Beasts, Teenage Atari Riot, Man/Miracle, and others. And, there’s a whole bunch more to come in next few weeks. As some of you probably know, we don’t do one-song posts. The reason is that there is so much music that we want to share with you.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke recently joined Four Tet and Burial to record two electronic house/dubstep tracks – “Ego” and “Mirror.” The tracks have been receiving a good amount of buzz in the past week, and we’re stoked to be able to bring them to you for your listening pleasure.

“Ego” – Thom Yorke + Burial + Four Tet

“Mirror” – Thom Yorke + Burial + Four Tet

You can also purchase a copy of the vinyl 12″ via Four Tet’s label, Text Records. On Feb. 9th, Yorke performed a solo DJ set at Los Angeles club Low End Theory. The video below is a slice of the evening’s events.

Thom Yorke Live DJ Set @ Low End Theory LA 3.9.11 from Theo Jemison on Vimeo.

Lots of Buzz Around Upcoming Fleet Foxes Release

Since their 2008 break out EP and debut, self-titled album, Seattle based Fleet Foxes have become one of the most influential bands in the indie folk movement. The band likes to call their wonderful style of acoustic music and precious vocal harmonies, “”baroque harmonic pop jams.” Not sure about the jam part of that, but no doubt Fleet Foxes etched their success beyond the indie scene and into the popular culture.

Since 2008, fans have been waiting patiently for new material. As a result, there has been a long wait of anticipation for their sophomore album, Helplessness Blues, set for release on May 3rd. Not surprisingly, the album has already leaked, but we’re going to wait until the vinyl edition to come out because Fleet Foxes are definitely a band to be listened to on vinyl, thanks to their melodic mastery, mid-song tempo changes and intricate chord progressions. That said, we have found two tracks from Helplessness Blues that we’d like to present as a way to let their fans know that they will not be disappointed.

“The Plains/Bitter Dancer” – Fleet Foxes from Helplessness Blues – out May 3rd

“Grown Ocean” – Fleet Foxes from Helplessness Blues – out May 3rd

You can pre-order Helplessness Blues via Amazon for either CD or vinyl. There is no MP3 pre-order that we know of available at the time this post was published. On Record Store Day (April 16th), the band will release a limited edition 12″ vinyl of the single, “Helplessness Blues” with a B-side of “Grown Ocean.” Not surprisingly, almost all of Fleet Foxes’ scheduled shows for May have been sold out.

New Singles from Thurston Moore and Cults

Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore continues to reaffirm why he is one of alternative rock’s most prolific and influential figures. Matador Records sent us a new single from Moore to spread around. Gladly. The song, “Benediction,” demonstrates, even more, Moore’s talent and ability to write and record stellar music. The song is mainly acoustic, and just really, well, superb. It is the first single from Moore’s upcoming Beck-produced, solo album, Demolished Thoughts, out May 24th. It is definitely one of our most anticipated albums of the spring.

“Benediction” – Thurston Moore from Demolished Thoughts – out May 24th

Cults, one of our break-out bands of 2010, have just dropped a new track, “You Know What I Mean.” The advanced single will appear on Cults debut album, due out in May.

“You Know What I Mean” – Cults

Surfer Blood’s Excellent ‘Lost’ Track

We’re a bit surprised that this unreleased track from Surfer Blood, “I’m Not Ready,” hasn’t appeared on more music sites or blogs. In fact, we talked to a few folks who love the band who were not aware of the track. The track is not on the band’s spectacular 2010 debut album, Astro Coast. “I’m Not Ready” is an upbeat, catchy song that definitely has post-punk and pop elements. While the song is not exactly a fresh track – they performed it at shows all during 2010 – it will be new enough to most people to seem like a fresh track. Also, “Weapons of War” is the excellent advance single from the upcoming A Lull LP of the same name. Plus, check out these fresh tracks from Skull Tape and Little Scream.

“I’m Not Ready” – Surfer Blood

“Weapons of War” – A Lull from Weapons for War single (with remixes) – out April 19th

“Cannons” – Little Scream from The Golden Record – our April 12th

“Trans Anthro” – Skull Tape from The Invisible Hand and The Descent of Main – out April 12th

Brooklyn’s Zachary Cale Preps New LP and Introducing Les Blanks

Zachary Cale is a Brooklyn singer/songwriter and musician (who isn’t in Brooklyn?) who has made a name for himself in recent years thanks to his remarkable blues folk sound; “Hello Oblivion” is the first single from his upcoming new album due out in May.

“Hello Oblivion” – Zachary Cale from Welcome to Noise – May 15th

“Straw Man” is a new track of some good ole garage rock from an artist we never heard of before, Les Blanks. We’re going to resist jokes about his name, but let you know when we get around to hearing more of Blanks’ music. The track, “Straw Man,” is from the album In Country, set to drop on May 3rd.

“Straw Man” – Les Blanks from In Country – out May 3rd

Wild Beasts, Teenage Atari Riot and Man/Miracle

Following on the success of their critically acclaimed and Mercury Prize nominated second album Two Dancers, the band Wild Beasts are preparing to unveil the next chapter in their career with the release of their new album, Smother on May 10th. The band have released the first single from the album, “Albatross,” a track washed with sonic layers and textures of abstract sounds combined to form something typically bold and unique.

“Albatross” – Wild Beasts from Smother – out May 10th

Teenage Atari Riot sent over this new single, “Blood In My Eyes” as a teaser for the band’s forthcoming album, Is This Hyperreal?, set to be released this summer. The track is a riveting electronic punk rock diatribe, paying homage to the feminine retributive subtexts espoused by cult films like Kill Bill and heavily censored French art-house film Baise-Moi.

“Blood In My Eyes” – Teenage Atari Riot from Is This Hyperreal?

Oakland indie rockers Man/Miracle have a fresh new track – a busy, pop masterpiece, “Don’t Waste It.” It’s a great follow-up to their 2010 blog hit, “Hot Sprawl,” off their debut The Shape of Things.

“Don’t Waste It” – Man/Miracle

The Break-Through Bands of 2010 Reader’s Poll, No. 4: Weekend, Beach Fossils, Small Black, Titus Andronicus, Tennis, Sun Airway

Posted on 12/03/201010/16/2021 by Max Hammer

It’s been a while since we published the last Break-Through Bands of 2010. So, now it’s time to play catch up. Employing a similar concept as IRC’s Top Ten Songs lists, it is in fact the readers – all of you – who are deciding the top new, or ‘break-through’, bands and artists of 2010.

For this, the fourth poll in this series, we’ve put together another playlist mix for the latest round of nominees. Each nominee has earned their place among the top new bands of 2010 due to critical and fan approval following the release of new or debut releases, relentless touring, and music festival appearances.

Cast your vote for the best new band in the poll shown below. Also, there is a complete overview of the previous poll winners. Note: The sequence of bands presented in this playlist mix is completely random.

Bikini – New York City

Nigel Diamond and Olivier Olivier met at Canada’s Glen-Lyon Norfolk School of music, and began to collaborate as Bikini. Just a couple of week’s ago, we were unable to find a MySpace page for New York experimental indie band, Bikini. But a lot has happened in just the short period of time.

Last week, right before the Thanksgiving holiday, Bikini released their debut EP, RIPJDS, which includes the awesome singles featured here, “American Mourning” and “ACheerleader.”

“American Mourning” – Bikini from EP RIPJDS

“ACheerleader” – Bikini from EP RIPJDS

Braids – Montreal, Quebec, Canada

This Montreal indie pop band shed their old skin as the Calgary band The Neighborhood Council and headed east to Quebec in 2008. They honed their skills, tweaked their sound, re-defined their image, and to complete the transition, changed their name to Braids. After a summer of touring, Kanine Records signed the band this past September, right before their premiere at the all-important CMJ in New York.

Kanine has announced that Braids’ debut album, Native Speaker, will be released in January. Their big sound, sculpted from pianos and synthesizers, glimmering guitars and ambient intermissions, is evidenced on the track featured here, “Lemonade.” Tonight the band kicks off yet another tour, this time with Sweden‘s hugely popular indie pop band, The Radio Dept.

“Lemonade” – Braids from Native Speaker (or TBA) – Jan. 12th 2011

Weekend – San Francisco, California

San Francisco’s rising indie band, Weekend, released their debut album, Sports, this month to wide acclaim, and now they are on the rip, increasing their profile across the country with touring and winning big endorsements for their debut. The LP’s lead single, “Coma Summer,” was by far, the top song of the week for the second week in November.

“Coma Summer” – Weekend from Sports

Beach Fossils – Brooklyn, New York

Last May, the Brooklyn buzz band Beach Fossils released their self-titled, debut LP to the open arms of adoring critics and admiring bloggers. The band had been building momentum in late 2009, but with their multiple, packed appearances during South by Southwest 2010, and the release of their acclaimed debut – one which has already made a number of top albums of 2010 lists – the band are on a roll. Check out these tracks if you somehow haven’t heard of Beach Fossils yet.

“Face It” – Beach Fossils from Face It/Distance 7″

“Youth” – Beach Fossils from Beach Fossils

Titus Andronicus – New Jersey

One of our favorite shoegaze bands, Titus Andronicus, released the follow up album to their widely acclaimed debut, The Airing of Grievances, earlier this year at about the same time that they were blowing away fans and bloggers and mainstream music press at shows and festivals, like SXSW, including some good ‘ole jamming rock and roll that has a clear theme related to American history, which make their songs all the more interesting.

“Four Score and Seven (Part One)” – Titus Andronicus from The Monitor

“Four Score and Seven (Part Two)” – Titus Andronicus from The Monitor

Sun Airway – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Like so many others, when we first starting hearing songs from the Philadelphia indie band Sun Airway, we thought we were hearing an Animal Collective unreleased track, even though we knew it wasn’t. Isn’t that weird? But Sun Airway do pour on the synth heavy hooks and pop psychedelics quite richly indeed.

Plus, it’s only been little more than a month (Oct. 26th) since they dropped their oddly titled debut LP, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, and Sun Airway are already known coast to coast for the delicious singles that came over in recent months ahead of the official street date.

“Put the Days Away” – Sun Airway from Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier

Sun Airway is Jon Barthmus and Patrick Marsceill, both ex-members of the defunct emo band the A-Sides. They started work on Nocturne during the summer of 2008.

“Infinity” – Sun Airway from Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier

Women – Calgary, Alberta, Canada

While Calgary‘s art rock/no wave band Women are hardly a new band, it’s fair to say that the band didn’t really start to break out until late 2009 and for much of 2010. The band’s 2008 self-titled debut LP received great reviews from Pitchfork and All Music, among other influential publications.

But it was after some heavy touring and advanced singles from their recently releases sophomore album, Public Strain, that catapulted the band into a whole other ball game, and made our Best New Releases (one of our fav BNR mixes of 2010) post for the last week of September.

“Narrow with the Hall” – Women from Public Strain

But the band, and their fans, suffered a major blow in October, when Women band members ironically lived out the title of their latest album by getting into a fight on stage in Victoria, Canada. While rumors swirled that the band was going to break up, but those rumors where squashed. However, the actual result was not much better. Women canceled the remainder of their tour. Although it is a setback for the band, we don’t think it should adversely affect anyone’s perception of Women as a break-through band in 2010.

“Eyesore” – Women from Public Strain

Yours Truly Presents: Tennis “Pigeon” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Tennis – Denver, Colorado

Everyone likes a good love story. But this love story is a unique one that found husband and wife team Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore sailing the eastern seaboard of the U.S. for seven months. During that time, the college sweathearts began writing songs that eventually evolved into a full album worth of songs, and officially made them, Tennis, the band (helps with Google searches). The couple’s debut LP, Cape Dory, will be released on January 18th via Fat Possum Records.

“Marathon” – Tennis from Cape Dory

“Take Me Somewhere” – Tennis from Cape Dory

A letter from Patrick to Alaina while he was in Florida preparing for their seven-month excursion

“South Carolina” – Tennis from Cape Dory

Look for Cape Dory, set to drop Jan. 18th

Small Black – Brooklyn, New York

The easiest bands to like are those that connect with you within the first 20 seconds of a song, and then keep luring you in as the song progresses, so that before it even ends, you’ve already made up your mind to play it again, and again. And then you listen to a second track from the same artist, and it’s the same, if not more, intense experience. And the third single, and so on. That’s been our experience with Brooklyn band Small Black. The band’s debut single, “Photojournalist”, is joyously mellow and layered with synths, masterful vocals, and rich percussions holding it all together. Repeat.

“Photojournalist” – Small Black from s/t 7″ single

Thanks to that first ‘hit’ single, Small Black have been gaining ground and growing a fan base across the U.S. and Canada, and parts of Europe as well. Subsequent singles – like the addictive “Despicable Dogs” and the dreamy “Pleasant Experience – were released throughout the summer to wide approval. And for good reason, they’re just so damn good, easily one of the top bands in the wildly popular ‘chillwave’ movement that is revolutionizing alternative music.

“Despicable Dogs” – Small Black from 12″

Cults – New York City

When we went to see The Morning Benders in Santa Cruz, Calif. a couple of months ago, we noted afterwards that the crowd seemed more interested in the evening’s first two openers – Cults and Twin Sister – than in the headlining band. Cults is a boy/girl duo and students at a New York film school. They quickly spread on the web with the release of their debut 7 inch single, “Go Outside”, which became a favorite for plenty of summer mixtapes. Ther are a few more songs from the Cults’ BandCamp page.

“Go Outside” – Cults from s/t 7-inch

“Most Wanted” – Cults from s/t 7-inch

Pick Your Favorite Among These Ten Bands

Previous Polls Reveal Other Top Break-Through Bands of 2010

Now that you’ve taken the poll, here’s the low-down on the previous polls. Click through to the article of the poll results for more details and to stream or download songs from most of the bands in each poll.

Poll One – In the first poll, IRC readers picked the Local Natives and Surfer Blood as the top two break-out of 10 presented. Click here to see the poll, and listen to or download songs from each of the bands featured in Poll One, including Delorean, Real Estate, Sleigh Bells, Free Energy, and Crystal Castles.
Poll Two – In the second poll, readers overwhelmingly selected The Drums, followed far behind in second place by the Freelance Whales. Click here to listen to and download tracks from each of the bands in Poll Two, including Wild Nothing, Ganglians, Warpaint, Cymbals Eat Guitars, and Washed Out.
Poll Three – In the third poll, the new supergroup Broken Bells and Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club took the top spots. Click here to view the article and playlist mix that includes 2010 songs from Tame Impala, The Middle East, Fang Island, Film School, and Suckers, among others.

In case you wanted to vote for any of the bands or artists presented in the first three polls, you will have a chance to at the end of the year. At that time, the top two winners from each poll (poll five will be published in a couple of weeks) will be included in one final poll where thousands of people from around the world will choose ‘the’ Top Break-Through Bands of 2010.

Nigel Diamond and Olivier Olivier met at Canada’s Glen-Lyon Norfolk School of music. The band have become well-known for their electro-pop dance music