1. School of Seven Bells
I first heard of School of Seven Bells on the All Songs Considered show following the Paris bombings of last November. I enjoyed their style of atmospheric dream pop but kept them shelved until their latest album, SVIIB, dropped this February. When I heard their opening cut, whose music video was released just a week ago, I was instantly hooked and simultaneously disheartened at the fact that this would be their last release given the loss of instrumentalist Benjamin Curtis to cancer in 2013.
"Ablaze" by School of Seven Bells
2. Purity Ring
The sound of Purity Ring follows in the footsteps of SVIIB, albeit with more of an arena-electronica presence. This track from last year's Another Eternity is my favorite from the album, and interestingly enough I heard it towards the end of my set tonight at the gym when my body was really aching.
"bodyache" by Purity Ring
3. Grimes
Another All Songs discovery, when I first heard Grimes I really didn't know what to make of her. Her schizophrenic songwriting style that jumps around very disparate genres seemed like a gimmick that could work for one song but not for a musical career. But after hearing 2015's Art Angels and seeing the video for her lead single, I realized how authentic her mashup of gothic-house beats with bubblegum pop vocals and cyberpunk aesthetic was and that single in particular became a guilty pleasure I would occasionally indulge during my various YouTube listening sessions.
"Kill V. Maim" by Grimes
4. Screaming Females
A band I've alluded to in the past, I find the name Screaming Females a little misleading since there is only one female in the three-piece. However, the vocalist Marissa Paternoster (freakin' awesome last name!) delivers her words with the force of multiple individuals. I love the energy and the riffs in the track below from last year's Rose Mountain and am quite content when it gets stuck in my head.
"Ripe" by Screaming Females
(I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the band had also played a cover of Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off", but I would recommend becoming familiar with a good number of their original work first in order to rightfully appreciate it.)
5. Wavves
After Alvvays, Wavves is my favorite band to employ a "double-v" in their name. Aside from that strange anecdote, I really like their surf punk style that takes an approach down the middle of these two genres. Their fifth album V, released in 2015, combines driving bright melodies with subtly dour lyrics that make for a listening experience that is both swift and reflective.
"Pony" by Wavves
6. Archers of Loaf
I was recently listening to The Replacements radio on Spotify and wondered if I would have sought out the college rock musicians that were appearing on the playlist were I a young adult during the late 80s / early 90s. Answering in the affirmative, I imagined that Archers of Loaf would have been one of the bands I'd follow after hearing the first song from their first LP, 1993's Icky Mettle.
"Web in Front" by Archers of Loaf
7. Pavement
There are some songs (like "Do I Wanna Know?") by some artists (like Arctic Monkeys) that I get sick of hearing over and over because I feel that the overplaying one good song can amount to the downplaying of their whole excellent discography. Now, it may be because I haven't listened to enough of the slack rock pioneer Pavement for this to be the case, but I just can't get enough of the following single from their 1994 album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain whenever I encounter it.
"Cut Your Hair" by Pavement
There's a chance that things could get weird,
Kelvin
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