Indie\Punk\Rock has seemed to go downhill since the 90’s. Here’s a bunch of stuff you might not know about, and is tons better than what you hear on the radio:
The Get Up Kids are probably the only band that can be called “Emo” in a positive way. This is the original emo genre – it’s not whiney, it’s not fake. The music and lyrics feel like they are coming from an honest place, with the emotions being expressed in a very down-to-earth style. the guitars and keys are often mellow, building atmospheres that support each song’s little story, and change to higher gear only when its natural and needed. The vocals are very fitting and compliment the music. Best songs here are “Long Goodnight“, “holiday” “My Apology” and “Ten minutes to downtown” but basically no song is bad. Even though this is not a concept album, all the tracks give a similar vibe which one can easily feel or *get*, even without knowing what the lyrics are about. What an album!
Sinch are an awesome band. They took a bit Grunge, Rock and Nu-Metal and made something quite awesome and genuine. They got their own sound, especially thanks to the vocalist, who can do sweet cleans, and Cobain-style harsher vocals as well. These guys actually toured with linkin park and rob zombie back in the day, but seems like they got left behind over the years. Their best songs are the catchy “Something More” and the 8-long epic “The Silence Acquiescence of Millions”.
The Cornflames seem like a totally unknown group, but their single “the speakers” is great on many levels, including its oldschool clip. “The Speakers” and “This Is How it Feels” are great examples of good song writing, quickly making you sing along to the lyrics. These guys implement known elements of punk\rock, and yet somehow it all feels original, personal.
The Whitest Boy Alive – which can be a fitting nickname for myself actually- is a unique band that’s anything but heavy. Norwegian vocalist Erlend Øye has a very original kind of voice, and he also does vocals for the Kings Of Convenience(which I’ll dedicate a full post\review to). Unlike the rest of bands mentioned in this post, these guys approach music in quite a minimalistic way, showing us how an atmosphere or “feel” can be achieved with only a few instruments. The result is mellow, beautiful, and very easy to listen to on repeat, never overburdening to the ears. Their more popular songs, “burning” and “golden cage” have many views on YouTube, but I think they deserve even more!
_-__Underrated__-_ 