Artists & Bands

Artists & Bands

The explosive popularity of indie rock around the world is fueled by thousands of talented artists and bands all vying for your attention in a saturated marketplace.

Each month, we receive hundreds of music submissions from bands that few people have ever heard of, and in that process filter out and pick only the best to share with our subscribers and visitors.
This page provides you direct access to the most recent posts profiling both ‘established’ and lesser-known artists, free MP3s, photos, videos, and much more. Therefore, we encourage you to check back often, or bookmark this page, Digg it, Stumble it, Tweet it, Facebook it, and so on.
IRC features the hottest bands of indie rock, plus bands to watch, break-out bands, under the radar and rising artists, and gaggles of others – from the one-man, lo-fi ‘buzz’ bands to the most popular side projects of well-known artists, music collectives and supergroups.
We do our level best to balance our coverage and content between giving people what they want from the hottest bands and releases out right now, and introducing them to brilliant artists and music they would otherwise never have known about. We believe this formula has worked well as evidenced by the unexpected success of IRC.
This page is updated a couple of times each week, so you might want to bookmark it to check for new music we think you wanna hear from the more ‘mainstream’ indie rock bands to obscure and up-and-coming artists.
From New Releases and Bands to Watch, to In Dee Mail and Feet to Da Beatz mixtapes, IRC picks what we think is the best indie music is every week, from bands most people know, to many others that most people do not know. Here are the latest posts in Artists & Bands. Check back often as this page is updated a couple of times or more every week.

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The Drums Picked By Readers as “Break-Out Band” of 2010 (So Far), followed by Freelance Whales and 8 Others

Last modified on 2010-07-03 13:50:36 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

The Drums have been picked by a huge margin by readers in the latest polling of the ‘break out artist of 2010 (So Far)”. Of the ten choices, Freelance Whales came second to The Drums, with rather low scores for the remaining eight artists in the poll.

For the past six weeks, hundreds of people have been taking our latest group of polls in a quest to find the ‘break out’ band of 2010 (so far). In the first round of ten bands, Local Natives were picked by 1,000 readers over nine other hot bands, including Surfer Blood, Crystal Castles, Sleigh Bells and Neon Indian.
In this latest poll, featuring another ten artists, 309 people voted. It was strikingly apparent from the first 100 votes that The Drums and Freelance Whales were the real competition of the latest poll. After 200 votes, the margins remained relatively the same, with The Drums receiving an impressive 43% of the vote.  This is not surprising considering the huge amount of blog love and mainstream press accolades The Drums having been enjoying, especially in the month’s leading up to the June release of their terrific debut.
“Forever & Ever Amen” – The Drums
“It Will All End in Tears” – The Drums
“Let’s Go Surfing” – The Drums
“Saddest Summer”  - The Drums
Brooklyn’s Freelance Whales followed rather far behind The Drums with 18% of the total votes. The remaining 39% of the vote was divided up among the other eight bands in the poll: Placing far behind Freelance Whales, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Villagers both took 7%, Warpaint, Smith Westerns and Washed Out with 5% each, Wild Nothing and Ganglians (4%), and Magic Kids (3%).
“Hannah” – Freelance Whales
“Generator First Floor” – Freelance Whales

Staten Island’s indie rock band Cymbals Eat Guitars broke through last year with their debut LP, Why There Are Mountains, one of the best debuts of the year. As 2010 rolled around, CEG were on a roll that continues to this day. The band will perform at a number of festivals this summer, including Lollapalooza and Lowlands in the Netherlands.
“Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)” – Cymbals Eat Guitars

The Irish indie rock band Villagers are definitely one of the ‘break-through’ artists of 2010. The recent release of their debut album, Becoming A Jackal, has been widely hailed by critics and fans alike. Frontman Conor O’Brien said his lyrics are “transcendental darkness” and “dark imagery or feelings alongside really mundane domestic everyday things.”
“Becoming a Jackal” – Villagers

“Billie Holiday” - Warpaint
“Be My Girl” – Smith Westerns
“Feel It All Around” – Washed Out

“My House” – Ganglians
“Your Rabbit Feet” – Wild Nothing
“Hey Boy” – Magic Kids

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Solo Debuts from Band Members of Radiohead, New Pornographers, Pinback, Them Crooked Vultures, Eels, Travis, Cat Power

Last modified on 2010-08-05 23:15:51 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

It might just be that we are more aware of it than previous summers, but it seems like there are more solo debuts from band members of alternative and indie rock bands in 2010.
One of the most anticipated is Phil Selway’s (Radiohead) upcoming release, Familial, due to drop August 30th. Selway collaborated with singer/songwriter Lisa Germano, ex-Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg, Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Sansone.
“By Some Miracle” – Philip Selway from Familial
Kathryn Calder, of the super Canadian indie band, The New Pornographers, will release her debut, Are You My Mother?, next week, August 10th, via Killbeat Music.
“Arrow” - Kathryn Calder from Are You My Mother?
Founding member of the Eels, Tommy Walter, has been working on a new album under the moniker Abandoned Pools (wonder if that’s reference to skateboarding). Walter recently sent this track from the album, which still does not have a release date.
“Legionnaire” - Abandoned Pools from TBA
Glasgow, Scotland has contributed its fair share to the alternative and indie rock, and one of best in the past couple of decades has been the stellar band Travis. Founding member, Fran Healy, will drop his debut solo album, Wreckorder, on October 4th.
“Buttercups” – Fran Healy from Wreckorder

Former Desolation Wildnerness band member Nic Zwart will officially release his solo self-titled debut album on September 7th using his music project moniker, Electric Sunset.
“Soda” - Electric Sunset from s/t debut
Musician and songwriter Alain Johannes, who has contributed to albums by Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures, drops his debut, Spark, August 17th via Rekords Rekords/Dangerbird Records.
“Endless Eyes” – Alain Johannes from Spark
Kenseth Thibideau, former member of bands like Pinback, Three Mile Pilot, and Tarentel, released his debut solo album, Repetition, on July 20th. The LP was heavily influenced by Thibideau’s obsession with classic krautrock and European prog that is channeled through swirling keyboards, looped grooves, rich melodies, and the singer’s unique vocals.
“Moon” - Kenseth Thibideau from Repetition

In 2009, Andrew Kenny, lead singer and songwriter for the American Analog Set, started a new music project with some friends and named the band The Wooden Birds. Not long after, the band signed with the indie label Barsuk Records, and recently released the debut LP, Magnolia.
“False Alarm” – The Wooden Birds from Magnolia
“Punk As Fu*k” - American Analog Set from Know By Heart (2001)

Last, but not least, Erik Parapazzi, bassist for Cat Power, released Rococo, his solo debut that should give CP fans something to tie them over until the next CP album release.
“Hi” -  Erik Parapazzi from Rococo

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IRC Bands to Watch: London’s Fez, Columbus’ The Spruce Campbells and DC’s Detox Retox

Last modified on 2010-07-31 07:00:28 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

The sheer number of break-through, under the radar and bands to watch bands so far this year is impressive. Our folders are full of terrific music that just needs to be heard, and is yearning to be set free.

As you may know, we have been doing our utmost to unleash post after post of great new indie rock music that is coming at us non-stop from every direction. Unlike many of our posts, today’s mix features only artists that have sent their music to us, and who stand out from the hundreds of submissions we receive every month. Because these bands have had little to no coverage online, we have deemed them IRC Bands to Watch.
Even though the popular, regular playlist mix series, In Dee Mail series (a new one is coming soon), has served as the conduit to share our favorite music sent exclusively through the mail – mostly via the proper submission process – IRC Bands to Watch are the best of In Dee Mail.

Fez – London, England

The first band in today’s mix has been spinning in the cafe for a while now. Based in London, indie rockers Fez, stood out from the get-go.  We were going to wait and include the band in an upcoming feature of Bands to Watch from Overseas, but we love this band so much, we had to share them with you sooner than later.  We did include one of the band’s songs in one of the mega summertime mixes, but it didn’t contain any information about the band.
The impressive number of streams and downloads of that track, “Chemicals” was enough proof that Fez are indeed a band to watch. We can only hope that they will really break on through in the second half of 2010. Fans of Phoenix, The National, and even Franz Ferdinand, are the most likely folks to dig Fez’s music. Their musical influences include The Talking Heads, Television, Neil Young, and their hometown of Battersea Park, UK.

“Chemicals” – Fez from Hot Light
A search online for the band returns only scattered mentions, but no significant coverage – which is surprising for a band of this caliber. In addition to the ‘hit-sounding’ track “Chemicals”, the song “Low Light”, is a perfect summertime rock track, and “Success Came Slowly” solidifies the band’s talent for songwriting and musicianship. We predict big things for Fez.
“Low Light” - Fez from Hot Light
“Success Came Slowly” - Fez from Hot Light
Fez on MySpace

The Spruce Campbells – Columbus, Ohio

Currently considered one of the best local bands in Columbus, Ohio, indie pop group The Spruce Campbells are a big hit here in the cafe, and hopefully you will agree. We were frankly floored by the two songs the band sent us recently. The dreamy keys, acoustic strums, and gorgeous vocals of singer Chelsea Moore, draw the listener in closely on the splendid track “More O’s” – a song brimming with an atmospheric shoegaze moodiness that is periodically stunned by a sudden splash of harmonic choruses, hand-claps, big drum beats and a seductive melody that makes it easy to put on repeat.
“More O’s” - The Spruce Campbells from Mosques, Museums, and Mausoleums
The case for The Spruce Campbells being chosen as an IRC Band to Watch is further enhanced by the second track, “Black Sunbeams,” a catchy rock pop gem with a searing summertime sizzle. Both songs are from the band’s debut EP, Mosques, Museums, and Mausoleums, released June 26th via indie label Champions of the Arts.
Founding member Jason M. Kusowski was playing around with some demos some months ago, and getting positive feedback regarding the demos from friends and people who heard the songs online. Encouraged, Kusowski rounded out the live set with band members from his previous garage rock band project, The Nuclear Children. In March, TSC opened for Atlanta’s Gringo Starr.
The band’s debut EP was engineered and mixed by local native Jay Alton , and mastered by Brian Lucey, who recently mastered The Black Keys‘ terrific new LP, Brothers. Kusowski said the EP is the first a series of six EP’s planned for release over the coming months.
The Spruce Campbells are not just another reverb-loving, keyboard soaked, lo-fi, lazy, hazy surf pop band – they really stand out from so many other new artists we’ve heard this year. What we don’t get is why this band has not already been featued on Pitchfork or Stereogum?
“Black Sunbeams” – The Spruce Campbells from Mosques, Museums, and Mausoleums
The Spruce Campbells on MySpace
*RT or Like this post to enter to win a copy of the band’s debut EP

Detox Retox – Washington, DC

Classifying their music as indie dance rock, new tracks from Washington, DC indie band Detox Retox, have grown on us over the past few weeks since receiving them in the mail.  After a number of line-up changes during the early to mid 2000’s, Detox Retox came together as a unit late in 2007 and began work on their debut EP, released a year later, to fairly good reviews. The band features lead singer Michael Parker, lead guitarist Nate Frey, bassist Kevin Glass, and drummer Kabir Khanna.

Influenced by classic rock bands The Police and the Talking Heads, and modern indie bands like Phoenix and Franz Ferdinand, Detox Retox create catchy, danceable rock music that has landed them opening shows for artists such as Asobi Seksu, Male Bonding, Dum Dum Girls, The Subjects, and Girl in a Coma.
Their second EP, Movement, was released on June 15, 2010, and features the production work of Andrew Maury (Ra Ra Riot).
“Caroline” - Detox Retox from Movement
“Too Late” – Detox Retox from Movement
Detox Retox on MySpace

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Bands To Watch: Computer Magic, Stockholm, Gift Horse, The Powder Kegs, Hunter Valentine

Last modified on 2010-07-16 02:25:30 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

Computer Magic is the musical moniker of a NYC college student only known as Danielle (or Danz)

The volumes of great music that artists and bands have been sending in over the past few months is impressive, and taking time to get through – literally hundreds. And so we have to keep slimming down the list to make it realistic. Today we are adding five more  bands to watch in 2010.
A couple of weeks ago, we received some tracks from 21-year-old Danielle (last name unknown), who also goes by the nickname Danz. Danz, who is a DIY musician living in New York City, is better known in the musical realm as Computer Magic. She plays guitar and synthesizer, and writes and composes lo-fi indie rock and glo-fi music. And we hope she keeps doing so, because we heart Computer Magic.
Computer Magic is heavily influenced by old sci-fi films and Philip K. Dick books, in addition to many artists, including Belle & Sebastian, Animal Collective and David Bowie. She loves movies like Barbarella, Zardoz, Outland, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“Electronic Fences” – Computer Magic
“On VHS” – Computer Magic
“Teenage Ballad (High School)” – Computer Magic
Computer Magic on MySpace

Stockholm – Orlando, FL

Orlando, Florida’s post rock band Stockholm may sound like a new band you’d hear on college radio Top 40; but surprisingly, the band has received very little recognition, and remain unsigned – not sure why. The band, which was only formed last summer, are getting love from indie folks in Florida, but we anticipate more people will be hearing them in the months to follow.
Stockholm’s sound is very polished and chock full of glimmering guitar licks, swoon-style rhythms and the terrific vocals of singer Chris Arter.
“Don’t Stop Now” – Stockholm from Don’t Stop Now
“Goodbye Tomorrow” – Stockholm from Don’t Stop Now
Stockholm official website

Gift Horse – Anthens, GA

On May 4th, Anthens, Georgia, indie band Gift Horse dropped their debut, Mountain of Youth, produced by Hank Sullivant (Kuroma, The Whigs, MGMT). The band sent us two tracks to share with everyone. If you like heavy shoegaze chords full of distortion and deep, moody percussions, you’re probably going to like this southern indie rock band. Gift Horse have opened for bands like Meat Puppets, Dead Confederate, Kuroma, among others.
“Missionaries” – Gift Horse from Mountain of Youth
“Plastic People” – Gift Horse from Mountain of Youth
Gift Horse on MySpace

The Powder Kegs – Philadelphia, PA

The Powder Kegs formed in New York City in 2005 and now call Philly home. In 2007, they won a band competition on National Public Radio, and not long after, in 2008, they released their debut LP, You and Your Right Now. The LP was produced by Jeremy Backofen (The Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit,  Mice Parade). The Powder Kegs’ new EP, Empty Side, is good listening.
“Shake Me Down” – The Powder Kegs from Empty Side EP
“The Right Time” – The Powder Kegs from Empty Side EP
The Powder Kegs on MySpace

Hunter Valentine – Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn’s all-girl trio Hunter Valentine recently sent us a copy of their new album Lessons From The Late Night for us to hear. After just one spin, it was easily to see why the band has received accolades from bloggers and mainstream press.
Hunter Valentine recently dominated the MTV-U video contest , and GO! Magazine named them the Best Local Band in New York. In April, Hunter Valentine’s “The Stalker” video made its debut on MTV’s LGBT channel, Logo, and was picked as Spinner’s Video of the Day just a few days later.
“The Stalker” – Hunter Valentine from Lessons From The Late Night
Hunter Valentine’s official website
Hunter Valentine on MySpace

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Artists of the Week: Virginia’s Dream Cop and Brooklyn’s Grandpa Was A Lion

Last modified on 2010-07-10 11:05:09 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

We’ve been listening to a lot of great music that has come to us in dee mail lately, and discovering dozens and dozens of really talented and promising artists in the process (a bunch that we’re still preparing to publish on the site). We picked two artists for this week’s artist of the week instead of the usual one because there’s so many potential artists and bands of the week, month, and so on that it feels stupid, and too conventional, to be restricted to choosing only one artist or band of the week. We couldn’t make up our minds, ok? (hehe, j/k folks).
No, but, seriously each of the two artists featured below are relatively unknown, they are both one-man bands, and their music would fall somewhere in the so-called glo-fil, or chillwave, movement that is clearly one of the most popular sub-genres in 2010, around the world, as evidenced by the success of bands like Animal Collective, Surfer Blood, Wavves, Local Natives, Neon Indian, Washed Out and many others.
The first artist of the week is poised to explode in popularity in coming months if enough of the right people hear his music. Dream Cop is the moniker of 21-year-old student Tommy Davidson. His music delighted our ears from the get-go, and has just gotten better with subsequent listening sessions. Dipped in uplifting Beach Boys‘ -influenced harmonies and mixed with electronica beats, lo-fi instrumentation, spaced out shoegaze elements and layers of voice tracking, Dream Cop’s got down the recipe for synthy, warm, hazy vibes perfect summer lounging on a hot dog day afternoon.
Interestingly, Davidson is friends with one of our favorite new bands of 2010, Blacksburg’s very own Wild Nothing. Trust us, if you haven’t heard their debut LP, you’re really missing out on a spectacular record.  Davidson and the members of Wild Nothing met as students at Virginia Tech University. Now that Wild Nothing have enjoyed moderate success in the indie world in the past six months or so, we think it is time that Dream Cop gets some of the limelight.
Dream Cop’s debut releases, both digital and vinyl have only tentative release dates of late August or early September. “The Output Noise Records digital only release will include two tape/electronic original songs with remixes from Million Young and Outputmessage“, Davidson told IRC. In addition, he will release a separate vinyl-only album with Tough Love Records “including four original tracks”, and three or four remixes from artists still to be determined. Both releases are not yet titled.
“Beach City/Carol I Know” - Dream Cop from TBA (2010)
“Marooned” – Dream Cop from TBA (2010)
“Daily Mirage” – Dream Cop from TBA (2010)
Dream Cop on MySpace

As with Dream Cop, it only took a couple of minutes to realize that Brooklyn one man band Justin D’Onofrio, or Grandpa Was A Lion, is a ‘chillwave’ (or glo-fi) artist that more fans of the popular glo-fi movement should hear.  Again, like a broken record, we’ll repeat our common refrain – some of the best artists we hear, year after year, are those who are rarely heard, barely known, and yet to “break through”. As with most of the under the radar artists and bands we feature on IRC, we think Justin D’Onofrio will naturally get more press and fans in the coming months.
“Flying Birds” – Grandpa Was A Lion
“London” – Grandpa Was A Lion
“Hello FromThe Farm” – Grandpa Was A Lion
Grandpa Was A Lion

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In Dee Mail – Terrific music sent to us in the mail from artists and bands you should hear. One Man Bands – Impressive releases from artists who write, play all (or most) instruments, record, mix the own music, usually DIY-style.
Ears To The Music – This was an extremely popular 12 part playlist mix series spotlighting the best indie MP3s of 2009.

Best Indie Songs of 2008 – Access dozens of playlist mixes featuring the best indie songs of 2008 from bands like Annuals, Fiery Furnances, Panda Bear, Conor Oberst, Passion Pit, Radiohead, MGMT, Weezer and get dozens and dozens more in the 10 part Best Indie of 2008 series.
Bands That Rock – This mix series highlights bands that rock, and rock hard. Most of the featured artists are relatively unknown, and that’s why we wanted to share them with you. Bands include Red Pens, Awesome Colors, The Legends, The Doups, Lunaria, and others.
Singer/Songwriter Spotlight Series – There’s something special and intimate about a talented musician with just a guitar, a mic, a good voice, and a story to tell.
Songs About New York, Vol 1 & Vol 2 – Two dozen carefully selected songs related about New York City from both established and relatively unknown artists and bands.
Feet to Da Beatz – We thought it would be cool to have a playlist mixtape series with some of our favorite current dance/electronica/pop songs that make you wanna move your feet.
Recent Releases We Almost Missed – This series focuses on presenting tracks from recent releases that must not go unnoticed but where not previously published on IRC for whatever reason.

Band Break-Ups: New Faces; The Fake Fictions; The Catholic Comb; Next: Voxtrot; Supergrass; Arizona. Note: This eventual A-Z clickable directory of bands and artists will be updated over time, so make sure to check back regularly.