Summer is here and your June tunes are awaiting. This month I hand picked quite a few new female artists, as well as some electronic ones. Enjoy!
Rock Artists
Category
Ones to Watch: Wolf Alice
All photos from Wolf Alice’s show May 19 at Holy Mountain in Austin, TX can be viewed here.
Halfway through Wolf Alice’s 12-song set, I find myself with a huge smile on my face when I soak in the reality of the moment. “Storms” is not the soundtrack to this moment. Packed into sold-out 200 capacity Holy Mountain with fans jumping and head banging, it is the moment.
There is a special feeling to hearing music performed live – the raw, unedited vocals, distorted guitar, the sound of fingers running up and down the strings, the thumping bass and the tinging cymbals. If the atmosphere is right, it is magic. It’s easy to get lost in it. Smiling to myself, that was my realization. It’s such a dream-like state, you forget it’s real. A 12-song set turns into hours and with the blink of an eye back into a second.
For the time being, Wolf Alice transported me to the place where all that mattered were the vibrations ringing in my eardrums. Some people say Rock ‘n’ Roll is dead. But Wolf Alice is gives me hope that it very much alive. Wolf Alice is a young band, no doubt, still solidifying their sound. But they are talented.
Starting out as a a folk-tinged pop project, “Leaving You” was the first glimpse we saw from Ellie Roswell and Joff Oddie in 2010. Followed by “Fluffy” in 2013, with the addition of drummer Joel Amey and bassist Theo Ellis, they formed their rock roots. The end of 2013 also brought us Blush EP, showing off a mix of driving drums and grunge guitar distortion on “She” contrasted with hauntingly delicate vocals and resonating guitar progression on “Blush.” Creature Songs EP, released May 2014, displays different sounds still – more guitar distortion, more hard-hitting rock beats, more driving bass, and overall more play with vocal expression and distortion.
Wolf Alice’s songs translate well in the live setting, emphasizing the grunge appeal. The four-piece are outfitted in Dr. Martens and ripped skinny jeans. Oddie uses a pedal board that looks like it could control the starship Enterprise. And Roswell adds another mic for distorted vocals. It’s a ragged act that could use some cleaning before hitting the big stage, but surely, their sound will command the audience at the many festivals they are playing this summer and fall, including Austin City Limits Fest’s second weekend. Listening to “Moaning Lisa Smile,” I can feel myself surrounded by tens of thousands of people singing and jumping along with the sun bearing down on my shoulders mid-day at a festival.
With the many different sides Wolf Alice has shown, there is much anticipation leading up to their debut album release My Love Is Cool on June 23 (US). Most recent singles “Giant Peach” and “Bros” establish that roller coaster sound that we are likely to hear on the album, from soft and tender to driving and powerful. It is one of my most anticipated albums of the year.
Tunes for Ears – May Playlist
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UK Rockers Coming Your Way
Photo: Wolf Alice by Jenn Five
The United Kingdom has a plethora of rock bands popping up all around, and many of them have already received popular status across the pond. Soon, there will be a British invasion in America. From South by Southwest (SXSW) last March to festivals like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, the British artists are making their mark this year. Here are some of those artists you need to know.
1. Wolf Alice (North London)
One of the artists I’m the most excited for is Wolf Alice. Debut album My Love Is Cool is set to release on June 23. For now, you can listen to “Bros,” which premiered on NPR’s Songs We Love. If My Love Is Cool is anything like Creature Songs EP, it will be a combination of heavy-guitar rock-beat songs reminiscent of Nirvana, but with the sweet, soft and resonating vocals of singer Ellie Rowsell. Wolf Alice is everything I didn’t know I was missing. Their name covered SXSW. While I was unable to catch one of their shows, the band is currently touring America and will be in Austin, TX on May 22. If you can’t make it to the show, don’t worry – they’ll be back for weekend two of Austin City Limits on October 9-11. They have a massive sound that I look forward to see translated into the live setting, particularly at festivals.
2. Catfish and the Bottlemen (Wales)
Another artist that made a stop at SXSW, Catfish and the Bottlemen are selling out entire UK tours, playing each night to venues of several thousand people. As of last month, the September 2014 release of debut album The Balcony is certified gold in the UK. While receiving such success in the UK, the US has yet to catch on to the sensation. Once it does, it will be contagious, becoming a name to be known alongside Arctic Monkeys. The young rockers display an affinity for music through their song composition and impressive guitar tone. While they already have a steady fan base growing in the US, I think it will take another release or two to propel them into full-on popularity in America.
3. Royal Blood (Brighton)
Royal Blood’s self-titled debut album hit the scene in August 2014 and immediately received recognition, reaching number one on the UK charts. They won the title of Best British Group at the 2015 Brit Awards, nominated alongside Alt-J, Clean Bandit, Coldplay and One Direction. Royal Blood is a duo composed of singer and bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher, but the sound created with the two of them is enough for a full band. Their music draws heavily on blues rock, heavy metal and grunge of the 80s and earlier decades. It is refreshing to see a band with a strong rock sound delivering the music in a new light. They aren’t just repeating rock history, but making it. Luckily for you Austinites, they are playing both weekends of ACL Festival.
4. Circa Waves (Liverpool)
Taking it back from the hard rock, Circa Waves displays a sound more akin with 90s Britpop, and fits in somewhere among The Kooks and The Wombats. Circa Waves is another young band. And yet, they’ve played with artists like The 1975, Royal Blood, Interpol and Temples. Having released T-Shirt Weather EP in Feb. in the US with Virgin Records, Circa Waves also graced SXSW with their nostalgic pop rock sounds. The band recently announced a UK headlining tour, making a stop at London’s 5,000-capacity O2 Academy Brixton. “T-Shirt Weather” is currently played on SiriusXM’s Alt Nation, and with a sound like this, the band is sure to follow in the footsteps of many Alt Nation artists before them, like The Neighbourhood and Bastille, reaching festival-sized fame.
5. The Vaccines (West London)
The disparity between UK success and US success is felt firsthand by The Vaccines. Too famous to show their faces on the streets of London, the band, dressed in all black, stands in line at SXSW to get into a showcase. No one stops them for a picture or bothers them for a chat. The only one to recognize them is a friend (and huge fan) I’m walking with. While SX lends it self to blending the masses of bands into the crowd, even a band of The Vaccines’ size in the UK would be gawked in the streets of SX. Releasing their first song in 2010, “If You Wanna” was an instant hit, being named Zane Lowe’s “Hottest Record in the World” days after the band uploaded the demo to YouTube. The Vaccines are set to release their third full length album English Graffiti on May 26. From the sounds of the first three singles, it lands them somewhere between Arctic Monkeys’ heavy guitar riffs and The Kooks’ carefree jangle pop.
