Recently, SPIN and music community website Sonicbids teamed up to bring worthy new bands the attention they deserve. Tonight at midnight (EST), Boston radio station WFNX will broadcast the seventh installment of the SPIN/Sonicbids Emerging Artists’ Showcase, featuring seven cool unsigned bands from around the world, hand-picked by SPIN.com staffers from more than 500 submissions. (Tune in to 101.7 FM in the Boston area or listen live online via wfnx.com). Scroll down to meet these up-and-comers, snag a song from each, and click their website links to find out more!
Click here to discover the bands from earlier episodes!
New Vinyl
Hometown: Wakefield, U.K.
Recommended if you like: Franz Ferdinand, The Bravery
Why we picked them: Disco backbeats and slinky synth lines, paired with some good old fashioned rock’n’roll.Listen:New Vinyl,”Call For Rebellion”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
People From Venus
Hometown: Miami
Recommended if you like: The Horrors, The Rakes
Why we picked them: Gritty U.K. punk snarl with some added sexual swagger.Listen: People From Venus, “Girl From Planet Earth”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
Sex with Strangers
Hometown: Vancouver
Recommended if you like: Depeche Mode, Orgy
Why we picked them: Moody synth pop, featuring the unearthly falsetto of frontman/keyboardist Hatch Benedict.Listen: Sex With Strangers, “The Lovers Will Rise Tonight”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
Tailgunner Joe & The Earls of Slander
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Recommended if you like: The Cars, Jet
Why we picked them: Poppy melodies and speak-sung vocals that sound as beer-soaked as they do righteous.Listen: Tailgunner Joe & The Earls of Slander, “The Street”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
The Beeps
Hometown: NYC
Recommended if you like: Sonic Youth, Urge Overkill
Why we picked them: Top-rate lounge pop, with smoky singing (courtesy of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Sue Kr.) that will have you drinking three-olive martinis until closing time.Listen: The Beeps, “Man Of The Future”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
The Gift
Hometown: Portugal
Recommended if you like: Interpol, Editors
Why we picked them: Morose new-wave guitars with disaffected post-punk vocals — dressed in black, of course.Listen: The Gift, “Are you Near?”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
yokozuna
Hometown: U.K.
Recommended ifyou like: Jawbox, Fugazi
Why we picked them: Everything you loved about early emo — right down to the shout-along choruses and buzzsaw guitars.Listen: yokozuna, “Lollabrigida”(DOWNLOAD MP3)