Bands you'd like to introduce to everyone

[Smee]

I would like to nominate the band James, for your listening pleasure. From 1990 till 2001, they were superb. They split up in 2001 but reformed in 2007. Since then, they must have done 4-5 albums, but im not hugely keen on post split material. So much so, that i didnt even bother buying the last couple of albums. BUT, many die-hard fans do seem to lap up whatever the band do.

[SwimmingSorrows]

The second band I'd like to introduce to you all: The Gourds

This band is from Texas, but it was part of a group of alt-country/americana bands that would play in my home town in Arkansas pretty regularly in the early 2000s.  I'll be making posts for a couple more of those here.  The Gourds are a unique and diverse band.  The songwriting is absolutely top notch from both of their singer/writers, and Kevin Russell has one of my favorite voices in country music.  They are the most famous of that group of bands I mentioned because of their cover of Gin and Juice by Snoop Dogg, which got them a lot of fans.

I haven't done a full deep dive into this band yet, but here are a few of my favorite songs of theirs:

Lower 48:
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El Paso: (not great audio quality)
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Gangsta Lean:
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Cracklins:
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Gin and Juice:
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My top 20 Gourds songs at the moment:
1. Lower 48
2. El Paso
3. Magnolia
4. Cracklins
5. Clear Night
6. Hallelujah Shine
7. Sweet Li'l
8. Gangsta Lean
9. Blood of the Ram
10. Jesus Christ With Signs Following
11. Raining in Port Arthur
12. Burn the Honeysuckle
13. Pushed Her Down
14. Gin and Juice
15. How Will You Shine?
16. Country Love
17. Eyes of a Child
18. Pi*s & Moan Blues
19. Lament
20. Meat Off the Bone

If any of these songs caught your ear, I've made a Spotify playlist of my my favorite songs of theirs.  I'll be continually adding to it as a dive deeper into this band.  Here's a link to that: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Here's their Spotify page: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[Spaderholic]

For the past 11 or 12 years I've really loved the Scottish band Beecake. They've had very little commercial success and don't seem to be known by many, which is a shame as I think they're terrific. They've released 3 albums and some E.P.'s. Hard to compare their style to anyone but some of their earlier stuff has a very Radiohead sound to it and lead singer Billy (Boyd, also an actor) has a Thom Yorke-ish tone to his voice, very pure and rich with a gorgeous falsetto. An excellent band of musicians/songwriters who deserve to be more recognised. Sadly, with the band all being middle-aged now I can't see them hitting the big time in this ageist world, but who knows?!

This is one of my favourites of theirs, The Clown (from their second album). It's hauntingly beautiful:

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Here is their new video for their song Harbour (which is from their 3rd album) I love the rhythm of this song:

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They haven't made many music videos. This song, Soul Swimming, is one of the first songs I heard (and bought) of theirs, from around 2006 or 2007. A different version of it was recorded for their first album but this original version from their Just Be E.P. is by far my favourite version:

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[markinnl]

Marcus king band  - Rita is gone
He is a fantastic guitarist and singers did has great backing band.
He’s played with derek trucks and Greg Haynes
Make sure you listen to end with guitar solo
And he’s only 22


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[rockatansky]

They're not around anymore, but The Catherine Wheel.  I thought they were criminally overlooked in the '90s.  Started out with this ambient, wall-of-sound, vibe with their first album Ferment (which is one of my top 10-15 favorite albums).  Then they went for a progressively harder sound as the decade went on.  They were fronted by Rob Dickinson, who is Bruce Dickinson's cousin.  I think all their albums are solid, with the exception of their last one.  In particular Ferment and Chrome are incredible.

Here's probably their best-known song, which I would also consider one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Catherine Wheel was excellent.  The early 90's always invokes the shoegaze movement to me (Curve, Swervedriver, Lush, Slowdive, Ride, My Bloody Valentine etc...).  That distorted wall of sound was so freaking awesome.  Catherine Wheel, I think, fit partially into that genre.

I'm not crazy about Pitchfork but they put a pretty good list together that I had bookmarked under my Shoegaze bookmarks.  There are some really understated pieces of music in that list.  Plenty of bands to explore.

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[Poiters]

One of my favorite bands is Against Me! They are a punk rock (not pop-punk crap) band from Gainesville, Florida that have flown under the radar for the past 15 years. Founder, lead vocalist, and lead guitarist Laura Jane Grace is a transgender woman. A lot of their songs are political like U2.
My top 5 favorite Against Me! songs.
1. Thrash Unreal You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
2. True Trans Soul Rebel You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
3. Transgender Dysphoria Blues You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
4. I Was a Teenage Anarchist You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
5. Black Me Out You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
I hope you all enjoy!

[shineinthesummernight]

"New Gold Dream" by Simple Minds is a stunner.  For individual tracks, I really like "Love Song", "Today I Died Again", "East at Easter", "This Earth that You Walk Upon".  Other fans may know more about their deep cuts.  I just saw them in concert in Detroit, and Jim Kerr was super energetic and grateful for all of the fanlove!

[TongueInMyEar]

They're not around anymore, but The Catherine Wheel.  I thought they were criminally overlooked in the '90s.  Started out with this ambient, wall-of-sound, vibe with their first album Ferment (which is one of my top 10-15 favorite albums).  Then they went for a progressively harder sound as the decade went on.  They were fronted by Rob Dickinson, who is Bruce Dickinson's cousin.  I think all their albums are solid, with the exception of their last one.  In particular Ferment and Chrome are incredible.

Here's probably their best-known song, which I would also consider one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Catherine Wheel was excellent.  The early 90's always invokes the shoegaze movement to me (Curve, Swervedriver, Lush, Slowdive, Ride, My Bloody Valentine etc...).  That distorted wall of sound was so freaking awesome.  Catherine Wheel, I think, fit partially into that genre.

I'm not crazy about Pitchfork but they put a pretty good list together that I had bookmarked under my Shoegaze bookmarks.  There are some really understated pieces of music in that list.  Plenty of bands to explore.

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I'm a big shoegaze fan. I like Catherine Wheel - Ferment but not to same extent as Ride, Slowdive and MBV albums. Managed to see all 3 of the latter live in recent years, plus Jesus and Mary Chain.  Give me some noise-pop/shoegaze/dream-pop any day!

[hollywoodswag]

I'd like to submit, for your consideration, NEEDTOBREATHE. They're a great modern rock band that, despite being Christian and having a lot of Christian themes in their songs, aren't what you'd usually expect from that type of band (i.e. not CCM, praise and worship, or youth group rally rock). I'd say their sound is a bit of Southern rock in the vein of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

I don't really have a top twenty to give you, but I'll submit an introductory ten songs that should give you a good idea of what they can really deliver:

- Restless
- The Outsiders
- Valley of Tomorrow
- Girl Named Tennessee
- Devil's Been Talkin'
- State I'm In
- The Heart
- MONEY & FAME (they capitalized their titles on the H A R D L O V E album)
- DON'T BRING THAT TROUBLE
- TESTIFY

As for a full album, I'd say The Outsiders is the most consistently great album they've put out, but Rivers in the Wasteland and H A R D L O V E are also excellent.