Have you ever thought whilst listening to a band or artist that they haven't quite been rewarded with the recognition they deserve? Yeah? We have and a few times too, that therefore is the reason behind our list of who we think are the top 10 most underrated bands and artists in the industry today...
10. Coming in at number ten are Immingham born and bred pop-punk style hardcore loonatics Ming City Rockers. The quartet have most recently been famed by Chilli Jesson and co from Palma Violets following their string of support dates with the forthcoming NME Awards Tour headliners, of which included a Reading and Leeds warm up gig alongside indie-pop four piece Childhood in summer of this year. Following this the Ming's released their self titled debut album, a powerful and ruptious collection of tracks that are sure to make you want to wear eyeliner and use up 10 cans of hairspray without giving a second thought. Though the Rockers from 'Ming Ming' may be fairly new on the block and though having done neccessarily well, we feel as though many more pop-punk lovers accross the country need to get on them and give them a listen.
9. Following Ming City Rockers are Glaswegians Jim Valentine, a band we've hyped and hyped up over and over again since discovering via 'Introducing...' and a band we'll continue to hype and hype up until they're headlining the Pyramid at Glastonbury like their split at birth brothes, the Arctic Monkeys. Incorporating gritty with the melodic in an explosion of modern Britpop that pleasures the ears of all fortunate enough to have listened to them as of yet. Similarly to the Mings, Jim Valentine are the new kids on the block and having only so far released two tracks via SoundCloud, we strongly believe the Valentines will go on to break hearts around the globe in the near future. (http://www.soundcloud.com/jimvalentinemusic)
8. Next up is Radical Face, a singer songwriter from the states who deserves far much more recognition for his soft natured and emotion bleeding pieces of music. Famed by Nikon in their television advert via the use of Ben Cooper's, as he is otherwise known, 'Welcome Home', the Jacksonville lone ranger earned himself a few more plaudits and certainly a few more hits on YouTube. But, we of course feel as though Cooper deserves much much more for his beautiful and heart warming masterpieces such as the ever-brilliant 'Always Gold' and the previously mentioned 'Welcome Home', otherwise he wouldn't feature in this list.
7. Following Radical Face is a man just as radical, Jon McClure and his band Reverend and the Makers. Very much a band for the people, after Jon set out on a series of house gigs to celeberate the release of the Makers' fourth studio album, 'Thirty Two', last year and early this. But Reverend and the Makers and their much loved, rave-sparking indie anthems such as 'Heavyweight Champion of the World' and 'The State of Things' now seem to be a band very much forgotton of, from festival organisers that is. There's been no Glastonbury or Reading and Leeds for the Rev and co in a short while and many believe their wait is overdue, after performing at a series of small festivals such as Y Not over the past couple seasons Reverend and the Makers have begun work on their fifth album. Maybe this will encourage Michael Eavis and others to take a second glance at the Makers and get them back in the spotlight of which very much deserves to be shon down on them once again.
6. Coves are in at number six, the powerfully laid back duo from Leamington Spa are a band in the breakthrough process but one of which we feel as though needs to speed up a tad. Following the release of their debut album, 'Soft Friday', Coves have gone onto to perform to a small Glastonbury crowd in June of this year as well as supporting the highly credited St. Vincent on her recent tour dates whilst having a string of their own, but, their chilled out beauty is yet to reach all. Hopefully, soon many more will be having soft fridays whilst listening to the band we're sure are going to achieve big big things in the very near future.
5. We're halfway there and next up is Fred MacPherson fronted recently made quartet from London, Spector. Their debut album, 'Enjoy It While It Lasts', a plea against the illegal downloads of music, was a hit with many indie anthem lovers across the country and across the globe in fact, with the charismatic sound of Fred and co within the subconcious sing alongs such as 'Chevy Thunder', 'Friday Night, Don't Ever Let It End' and 'Twenty Nothing' earning the then five piece a lot of love. But, since the departure of Chris Burman and the promise of a new album, we've heard very little from Spector, other than their much loved calenders that make the perfect stocking filler for all, hopefully soon we'll be graced with some more pleasant listening from the boys as 'Enjoy It While It Lasts' is lasting a little longer than hoped.
4. Up next are Phildelphia soft rockers, The War On Drugs. Fronted by Adam Granduciel. The War On Drugs have exploited their brilliant array of soft, smooth and tranquil pieces of music to crowds around the globe and have most recently performed on the Pyramid at Glastonbury as well as appearing on the latest series of 'Later... Live With Jools Holland'. But, still The War On Drugs, in our opinion, deserve much much more. We challenge you to find more than five War On Drugs tracks that are less than five minutes long and if you were to accept we'd most probably win. That then implying the shear brilliance of Granduciel and co, as for most bands nowadays, a two minute track is somewhat of a difficulty to achieve.
3. We've entered the final three and coming in at third are Alaskan rockers, Portugal. The Man. Having now released seven studio albums, you'd of expected the strange yet brilliant sound and nature of John Gourley and co's music to have travelled much further than it has done. The band, yet to make a festival appearance on our shores and rarely picked up by music media over here too are more than a hit back over in the states and we're struggling to understand as to why they're not such a thing over here. Maybe there perculiar art and powerfully hypnotising sound is too insane to be loved in the UK or maybe we're just too 'normal' to allow a group from Alaska who sketch beasts with bleeding tongues and three eyes and sing about Jesus into our crticial industry. Who knows?
2. Narrowly beeting to the number one spot are Londoners, White Lies. Fronted by the fairly newly bearded Harry Mcveigh alongside the seven foot bearded Charles Cave and the not so bearded Jack Lawrence-Brown, White Lies have now released three studio albums since their previous band, 'Fear of Flying'. Making the canny decision to step down from afternoon slots on the main stage at Reading and Leeds and Glastonbury to headline Y Not Festival and Truck Festival in the summer of 2014 paid dividens for the three piece, who deserve to be headling much bigger festivals like the ones mentioned prior. Following the release of their third studio album, 'BIG TV', White Lies embarked on a global tour following their highly successful UK version and played out classics like 'Bigger Than Us', 'A Place To Hide' and 'To Lose My Life' alongside new material such as the album title track 'BIG TV' and 'Getting Even' to crowds that were forever on the increase after selling out venues around the World. But like the prior, we believe White Lies have more to offer and this can only lead to a rise on the bill at Festivals here in the UK as well as those abroad and maybe one day in the hopefully near future, Harry Mcveigh and co will be performing their powerful anthems within a much more credited headline set.
1. Finally, at number one, Editors. A band we've grown to love more and more whilst others appear to have grown to hate. Dismissed by the likes of NME, Editors have now released four studio albums with their fifth on its way. Though, NME and others still look away whenever Tom Smith, husband of radio presenter Edith Bowman, comes knocking at the door. Editors are now a quartet following the departures of various members, with the most recent being of Elliot Lion to Y.O.U., but, still their anthems such as 'Papillon', 'Formaldehyde' and 'Munich' still rage on with their raw yet brilliant and much praised vocals of lead singer Smith and powerful, euphoric and simply incredible sound and music from guitarist Justin Lockey, bassist Russell Leetch and drummer Eddie Laynez. We were fortunate enough to witness Editors close their UK tour of last year at Rock City, in Nottingham and still to this day it lives on to be our favourite gig yet. Editors got the crowd bouncing continously to a 20 or so song-long set for around two hours straight, now you find a band that can work that kind of magic that hasn't yet headlined a fesitval like Glastonbury or Reading and Leeds. Tough, eh? We believe it's only a matter of time before Editors get what they deserve, and with their fifth album on its way, we hope it comes sooner rather than later.
We put this list together in the hope of earning these bands and artists the plaudits of which they deserve, therefore after you've read this, give them a listen on YouTube or Soundcloud and maybe buy a single, or an album of theirs and help their name be shared to the masses.
Posted by Charlie Ireland.
RIFFED x