In terms of new music, it’s easy for one to get stuck in a rut of repeating the same bands on a loop, getting sucked into a vacuum of bland, same old music with no real grit or bite. Indie Underground has always focused on promoting the best of new new NEW music, with a core focus on the grittiest, roughest DIY bands who are new to the scene and creating their own unique sound. There’s a plethora of intensely good new talent at the moment, and the scene underneath the underground is thriving with raw new music.
Here’s 50 hot new bands you need to get on your radar now. Go dig
1)–Brainglue
Enigmatic raw grunge is a force and a half in Brainglue’s music. There’s a sense of perplexing broodiness to their sound, with scarring vocals and reverb, distorted effects used to amplify their authentic feel of garage muck
Top track: Hyperventilate
2) PROJECTOR
Visceral and scathing, PROJECTOR blend grunge with stabbing pop menace, lyrically and riff wise an ode to post shoegaze punk. Their sound packs an authentically 90s sound (think Pixies meet Hole), yet the grunge rawness blends in with revitalised rock’n’roll, producing an air of meticulous complexity
Top track: Break Your Own Heart
3) FREAKOUTS
With a rough FIDLAR-esque sound, FREAKOUTS are an angry, vibrantly impassioned punk band with an insatiable sense of outlandish chaos rippled through their music. Aggressively riotous and disordered, the heavy pounding riffs set a solid gritty foundation for the band’s sound
Top track: Panic Room
4) Stray Scene
Intertwining a sultry Britpop sound with groovy 60s-esque rock’n’roll, Stray Scene have a dynamic energy which is bold and refined, trippy riffs and thudding guitar solos a key element to their music. Their sound is akin to old school retro rock music, with an authentic air of nostalgia rippled in their boldly impassioned music
Top track: You’ve Got The Clap
5) SCRUBS
A whirlwind of punk vivacity, SCRUBS have an old school DIY feel of gritty garage rock, scratchy home recorded demos and an abrasively confident lack of respect for the mainstream enhancing this. As a band, they’re still new enough to have a fun, experimental sound which is unrefined and scathing
6) FloodHounds
A DIY assault of brash riffs and a nastily menacing guitar, this three piece messily blend garage rock with bluesy indie rock, a fast paced bite of dark grungy energy layered over their sound. They have a thunderous sound, one which is a uniquely eclectic fusion of genres
Top track: Wide Awake
7) Dirty Laces
Thriving and raucous, Dirty Laces have a vibrant rowdiness to them, powerful Mancunian rock’n’roll with a dirty garage edge embedded within. The thudding nature to their music is ferocious, mosh pit worthy hectic riffs fundamentally part of their sound
Top track: Get Out
8) BAD LUNGS
A North London quintet pushed by Charlie from Thee MVPs, BAD LUNGS sound like Table Scraps , The Buzzcocks and The Slumdogs all in one messy, alien like musical body. Head-banging thrashing electricity is generated in their music, distorted vocals and trippy riffs creating the spark needed to create the hectic explosion the band seem to conjure with ease
Top track: The DT’s
9) Haze
Bands like YOWL and The Starlight Magic Hour are part of an immensely exciting and intriguing new sound, one of carelessly speaking, almost spitting lyrics over heavy riffs and pounding guitar lines. Hooking and sonically gripping, Haze’s sound is full of controlled dynamism, their lyricism just as quirky and interesting as their sound is bold and entrancing. Far from contemporary, Haze exist in their own little bubble of brutally abrasive post punk, tortured shoegaze
Top track: Piochitas
10) Phobophobes
A sharp, intimidating carousel of witty raw rock, Phobophobes are a kaleidoscope of apocalyptic post punk, their sound authentically punk with a fuzzy, fresh charisma drowned in it. The use of dark and hauntingly brooding vocals contrasts the sharpness of the grating yet soothing guitar riffs, an integral aggression and pain taking over every inch of your soul; deafening and brutal in nature, this impact is one bands rarely make, a long lasting impact inevitable
Top track: Naked Rambler
11) Lady Bird
A Wonk Unit-esque, early Slaves sound obvious (early Slaves as in pre-Sugar Coated Bitter Truth, i.e. How’s Amelia?), Lady Bird are forcing a spotlight, dimmed as it may be, onto raw, classically British DIY. Signed to a DIY label and writing about pubs and hanging, there’s an instant youthful connection the band are making with people, their funky bass lines and shouty vocals something that could have jumped out of a punk club in 1970s London
Top track: Spoons
12) Blue Bendy
Tenderly vehement, Blue Bendy have a controlled ferocity to them, their music emitting a violent anger in a harrowing, raw tone. The construction of their tracks is so well thought out, composition being what gives their sound that air of delicate fragility, sharply angry and an ode to pure, genuine punk. Think a trippy mix of Hotel Lux, Black Midi and Sistertalk, with an overwhelmingly immersive quality
Top track: Common Joy
13) Riches
Vivaciously blending gory guitar rock with soothing drumming to produce hazy punk psychedelia, Riches get in your head with ease, spinning and twisting their sound to entice you as the listener. The vocals go from trippy and psychedelically soft to harrowingly scarring and grating, punk goriness embedded in their sound. More so than just being a band, Riches emit something completely unique; to me, they are more so an experience
Top track: Late To The Party
14) Dead Coast
Inducing bluesy psychosis with a weirdly intricate indie rock edge, Dead Coast have an Avalanche Party/ Thee MVPs sound to them. More thudding and constructed than some of the other bands on this list, Dead Coast’s music is very brooding and intense, a raw dash of psychedelia sieved into the already hefty mix of bluesy shoegaze rock riffs
Top track: Liar Song
15) Lumer
A harrowing feel of frustration and angst rippled through their music, Lumer use keyboard synthetics with gritty, gripping guitar riffs to build up this frustrated feel, transforming an energy and attitude into a gratingly powerful sound. It grates away at you, the guitar riffs scathing and distorted which act as the perfect base for the shouting, powerful vocals
Top track: Blood On The Street
16) Luxury Apartments
Mercilessly brooding and full of compelling narcissism, Luxury Apartments have a secluded rawness to their sound, one which is untamed and impassioned. There’s a feel of manic boldness to their music, one of messy, kaleidoscopic vivacity. Building on word of mouth hype and a stunning live reputation, this band are one to keep a close eye on gig wise
17) Cannibal Animal
A wildly thrilling sound immerses you with Cannibal Animal’s thudding, Tarantino-esque sound. The bass lines set raw foundations for their tracks, distorted guitar riffs shaking through the music. There’s a manic air of violence ingrained in the post punk sound the band elude, lightning bolt riffs electrifying their music
Top track: Simply Sinking
18) MOLD
Abstract and vaguely disturbing, MOLD sound like a shrieking mix of Nirvana, The Starlight Magic Hour and HMLTD, stunningly vibrant guitar riffs used to entice their audiences. It’s brooding and melancholy, setting a tone of misery which those sharp guitar notes and riffs slice through menacingly. The shouting nature of the brutal vocals have a tenacious intimidation to them, something bold and brutal to their sound
Top track: The Puppet Master
19) Sorry
Having featured on here back in 2016 under their old name FISH, Sorry have had a stunning re brand in terms of sound. Grungier and more harrowing, yet also coldly soft at the same time, they have an immersive quality of eclectic indie, something mildly shoegaze to their sound. Their light harmonies are brooding and afflicted, something wonderfully 90s sounding to the band
Top tracks: Drag King & Stunner
20) Mōnk
Fusing alternative rock with gritty DIY punk, Mōnk play in a dark, vibrant jazz style, a cocktail of heavy riffs, softly raw bass lines, and dark vocals. There’s a dirty nasty sharpness to the band, the vocals reminiscent of bands like shame and Dead Pretties. The sombre eerie quality they invoke is what makes their sound so powerful and evocative, their music like a calming, distorted sedative
21) Gaygirl
Fusing messy post punk with hazy shoegaze psychedelia, Gaygirl epitomise brilliantly the concept of ‘guitar rock.’ The looped rolling riffs are amplified by the gory ballsy bass, further amped up by the carelessly raw vocals. Their sound is dark and full of punk undertones, whilst at the same time retaining a trippy pop element
Top track: Paralydise
22) Mystic Peach
Their sound emblazoned with eerie romanticism, shoegaze indie, and hazy psychedelia, Mystic Peach have a raw Palm Honey-esque sound to them. Their tracks are like a day dreamy haven of surf indie and melodic indie pop, something they create meticulously well; yet this sound is firmly doused in a concoction of punk psychedelia which gives them an ample grit
Top track: I’ve Got Nothing To Say
23) The Garden Party
Rap-rock is a genre which the DIY UK scene has dipped in and out of over the last year, and The Garden Party are a band full of heavy electric vivacity, bringing a newly spirited vitality to the genre. With an almost grime sound subtly infusing their music, rapper Kenan’s lyrics add an element of relatability to their music, a raw honesty rippled into the heaviness and aggression of their sound
Top track: What We Gonna Do About This?
24) Bad Girlfriend
Grungy and scatty, Bad Girlfriend have a screwy punk edge, very messy and dirty in essence. It’s brain explosive, mosh pit inducing powerful rock music, with a sound integrally heavy and borderline grungy. Reminiscent of bands like God Damn and Led Zeppelin (the latter in terms of riffs), Bad Girlfriend epitomise the heaviness and darkness of rough punk music brilliantly
Top track: The Royals
25) Ulysses Wells
What is so enticing and intriguing about Ulysses Wells is the purity of their DIY nature, with the band playing gigs on boats and in derelict pubs, bringing a dirty old school nostalgia to their pure punk gigs. Their sound is experimental which is in turn exciting, their tracks very much formulated around the gripping bass lines and sharp snappy riffs. The use of vocal distortions and twisted mic effects makes listening to the band a vividly vivacious experience
Top track: What It Takes
Always love seeing these new band features, but just wondered if you ever compile a playlist on Spotify from them as great way to discover new music quickly?
Cheers
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glad you enjoy them! 99% of these bands are so small and independent they don’t have Spotify yet, might compile a youtube/ soundcloud playlist though !
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That would be great as can sometimes be hard to find them.
In case it’s of interest, here’s my list of new (mainly) bands I discovered or saw for first time at SXSW this year:-
Bully – screaming guitars and riffs
Catholic Action – great pop/rock from Glasgow
Shame – current buzz band but certainly worth the hype
Tennis System – shoegaze style and best drummer I’ve seen in years
Starcrawler – proper rock and roll show. If the singer lives for more than a couple of years I’ll be amazed!
Canshaker PI – great guitar band from Amsterdam supported Cribs in Manchester
Bay Waves – dream pop from Madrid
Pkew, Pkew, Pkew – Canadian pop punk (think Blink 182) – great fun
Acid Dad – chilled psyche
Touts – young Irish punk band – most exciting band I’ve seen in ages
Honduras – Strokes
Cold Fronts – straight up American rock band
DYGL – (Dayglo) – Japanese Indie band -early Arctic Monkeys
Cheers
Craig
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