“Why do you need new bands? Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974.”
In my determination, as I march toward the middle of my fourth decade, not to become stuck in any kind of rut, especially musical, I try and keep my ear out for good new music as much as I can.
As much as there’s plenty of dross out there these days there’s still plenty of great stuff too. Though I guess that’s always been the case – as great as the ’90s were for music, Celine Dion still bought a few houses off the back of ‘My Heart Will Go On.’
Anyway, here’s a few from some new artists – as opposed to new stuff from known artists – that’s been keeping my fingers tapping on the Ferrari’s steering wheel.
The Last Dinner Party – Nothing Matters
Apparently Queen, The Sparks, Bowie and Kate Bush sit high in their influence list. All good and clear but these five young ladies from London bring something unique to the mix too and their new album Prelude To Ecstasy is bloody strong.
Whitelands – The Prophet & I
If this group of Ghana-born, London-raised chaps weren’t opening for Slowdive this year with their glorious take on shoegaze and dreampop then there would’ve been something wrong with the world. Each track I’ve heard so far has felt like a warm bath for my ears and I’m looking forward to finding their album on my doorstep next week.
Divorce – Eat My Words
Divorce describe themselves as an ‘alt-country/grunge(ish) band from Nottingham’ – I’d heard a few tracks over the last year but this is the one that sticks.
Sheer Mag – Moonstruck
Maybe not brand-spanking, still got that fresh new-band smell new as it turns out Sheer Mag have been around a couple of years but they haven’t got all that many miles on the clock. There’s a lot of different things going on in this track – some funk, boogie, great guitar, Prince, Kravitz even Jackson 5 (though I doubt the kiddie fiddler ever sang ‘son of a bitch’), but I love it all.
Softcult – Haunt You Still
My wife came home from her commute recently and said ‘I heard this band I think you might like.’ She was very much spot on. Canada’s Softcult are twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn and put out tunes with a sort of grunge meets shoegaze vibe. Not only do I dig the music but I love their DIY approach and the fact that you can only get their EPs on cassette (well, physical copies at least).
Mumbling About... 
These are all pretty good tracks, based on my initial impression. I only knew “Nothing Matters” by The Last Dinner Party since Jeff from Eclectic Music Lover previously included them in his weekly top 30 song list. I find the song by Whitelands particularly intriguing.
After I essentially had given up on new music altogether, a few years ago, I decided to start paying attention again and have since done a weekly review focused on new releases. While I also include new music from “old artists”, I mainly aim to focus on newer acts.
My reviews are mostly done through a lens of ’60s and ’70s music, which means you generally won’t find picks in there from the current mainstream charts. I also follow Graham from Aphoristic Album Reviews who keeps a regular eye out on new music as well.
It’s remarkable how little the three of us generally overlap. I think this not only shows music is such an individual experience, but’s it’s also an indication how much new music continues to come out. Basically, it’s impossible to keep track of it!
Thanks Christian, we’re very much in a similar boat and there seems to be a wonderful glut of great new tunes out there.
I wonder how much of it is ‘kids’ getting into their parents’ record collections for inspo and those parents being my age-ish but I’m just enjoying how much good stuff is bouncing around.
I recall an interview some years back with Keith Richards saying something along the lines of ‘as long as there are still kids out there still picking up this bit of wood and trying to get it to work we’ll be ok’ – I think he might be right.
I hadn’t heard of Last Dinner Party before this weekend, but I’ve seen them a few places this weekend. They sound a little bit like ABBA as well for my money, except they drop f-bombs in the chorus. Sounds like there’s something there and I should check out the album.
I liked White Lands and Soft Cult as well.