The Best Unsigned Bands Of 2011

Here at AGCS we love new music, and so it’s only fitting that we should start off our calendar with a compilation of the great music made by new, unsigned acts this year. But it’s more than that; this is a taste of what’s to come in the run up to Christmas. We’ve got features and exclusives from several of the acts on this compilation going up over the course of the calendar, starting tomorrow with a very special gift from TeamABC. The compilation can be streamed (and downloaded) below. There’s a track-by-track guide “after the jump”, as they say.

1. Graceful Steps - Revolution, I Love You

On the surface this song could appear to be a pretty slight affair - some simple piano chords, drum machine handclaps - but when you take into account the soulful vocals of Rob Lindgren and that earworm of a synth melody it becomes something truly special. And this is only the first track of a free, ten track album you can get at Bandcamp, so check out the rest!

2. Complaints Dept. - TeamABC

AGCS loves the insanely prolific TeamABC, and we already wrote about this song earlier in the year. Now the accompanying ”Complaints EP” has been released and this track sits alongside four other fuzz-pop gems. You can download the EP for free, or pay £2 for the CD here. If you like what you here, be sure to check back tomorrow for a TeamABC exclusive.

3. Enemy - Bear Driver

I first saw Bear Driver in October of last year, and though they were clearly promising I would never have thought them capable of writing songs as good as this. The chorus sounds massive, and I’m looking forward to hearing their recently recorded debut album in the new year.

4. Rumours In The New Morgue - Honheehonhee

Honheehonhee sent a message to AGCS towards the start of the year and unlike most of the messages we get from bands it wasn’t completely pointless and they weren’t awful. In fact the two songs on their website were both exceptional. Now they’ve got an album out and they’ve managed to maintain that quality, with this song a particular highlight, mixing sinister lyrics and guitar squall with a catchy chorus.

5. Licking My Feet - Pandas And People

When Pandas And People were added to the bill of Johnny Foreigner’s album launch, I thought I’d better check them out. I came across “Grab Everything”, an amazing debut album recorded without a record label and seemingly only available as a stream on soundcloud, which is a shame as I would happily give them some of my money for a nice physical copy. This song is my current favourite on the record, although that’s bound to change as it’s all so good.

6. Mexborough - Blood Sport

Blood Sport’s music won’t be for everyone, as I found out to my cost after stumbling across them at Tramlines. When I started telling my friends in another Sheffield band about this awesome group I’d seen called Blood Sport, I was greeted with a torrent of bile about how they were rubbish and couldn’t play their instruments. Well my friends are jealous idiots and Blood Sport are great, managing to sound like The Fall and Frank Zappa at the same time - a perfect combination.

7. Everybody Rock - Lightwaves

The best pop song of the year? Beyonce? Gaga? Bieber? No, an unsigned, Brooklyn producer called Lightwaves (AKA Jan Rosenfeld of Yes Giantess) with Everybody Rock. Vocoder? check. Catchy synthline? check. Repetitive chorus about everybody rocking? BIG CHECK. It is impossible to hear this song and not want to dance like an idiot. And there’s two more, equally dance-able tracks over at http://www.lightwavesmusic.com/

8. 90s Kids - Oh No! Yoko

We are from the 90s with our faded sweaters, our favourite song is “Who Let The Dogs Out?”. And just like that, I became a fan of Oh No! Yoko. Okay, so it helps that the songs on their debut EP “PAU PAU” are very good, but the lyrics are great throughout, whether referencing the Pharaoh Hatshepsut or the rapper Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, they’re constantly entertaining. The sheer brilliance of this band coupled with their ridiculous youth (they’re only just out of High School) makes me pretty angry though. HOW DARE YOU BE YOUNG AND TALENTED!

9. Every Holiday Is A Disaster - Bordeauxxx

I’m willing to bet there’s never been a review or interview with this band which hasn’t mentioned Los Campesinos!, and while I didn’t want to join in, there’s just no escaping the shadow cast by LC! That being said, if you sound a bit like my favourite band chances are I’m going to like you, and Bordeauxxx are much more than the sum of their influences. Get their music here.

10. Static Hearts 3 - Ghost Pants

One of this years big disappointments was the split of Dananananaykroyd, but the band’s members had so many great other projects going on it’s hard to feel too bereaved. Dolby Anol, Slimesss and Droy are all well worth checking out, but it’s drummer Paul Carlin’s work under the Ghost Pants moniker I’ve enjoyed the most. You can find lots of it at “name your price” here.