Hailing from Manchester, UK, Skeleton Suite are making a unique blend of intense walls of sound and snatched moments of candidness. Songs such as 'Sloth' blend abrasive, aggressive guitars with vocals that bring to mind early Kasabian records. Their chorus are hugely intense affairs that are at times as caustic as they can be uplifting. There's a raw energy that bubbles beneath a surface that at times shimmers like 1990s shoegaze.
Woodman Stone
Woodman Stone are a band who have been on my radar for a number of weeks. Light-hearted lyricism merges with diverse and varied instrumentation. Sounding somewhat like a bridge between The Smiths and bizarrely enough, Neutral Milk Hotel makes for some seriously compelling Summer listening. While possibly not for everyone, their uniquely twee aesthetic is something anyone who considers themselves a musician, or even just a music fan, should spend some time with.
Underwater Picnic
Galway's Underwater Picnic have been a band since 2009, since then, they've practised and honed their math-rock sensibilities. Now, seasoned in what they do, they make the kind of music fans of early Foals will just about lose their shit over. Angular and erratic guitars dance over determined drums, all the while vocalist and guitarist Ben Rogan upholds a unique vocal that sets them apart from their contemporaries.
Bombskare
Scotland's Bombskare are doing Ska the way it should be, that is, there's fucking hundreds of them in the band. Not literally hundreds but, well, you get the point. Plethora of band members aside, Bombskare are sure to get you dusting off anything remotely checker-board and skanking the night away like the best of us. Uplifting calypso-esque organs punctuate the off-notes, while a number of vocalists add depth to the vocal tracks, particularly in 'All Dogs Go To Heaven'. Fun and summery and definitely the silver lining to any dark cloud. Fantastic stuff.
Cross Wires
Bethnal Green based Cross Wires really surprised me the first time I heard them. Knowing exactly when to play a note and when to mute one, or one let ring, is a under appreciated skill amongst contemporary musicians, or it at least seems to be. However, 'From the Bowery to Bethnal Green' exhibits this skill brilliantly, when coupled with some excellent effects and a tenacious drummer it makes Cross Wires something really fresh and exciting, Jonathan Chapman's vocals drip with an energy like that of Buzzcocks and suggest harbours a distinctly poetic feel to his lyrics. Definitely a band that needs more attention. Unfortunately their sound cloud doesn't allow me to share a specific song, so I'll just post the link instead.
Check out last week's Top 5 Unsigned!
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