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 eighth and final 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!
Spaceships Are Cool
Hometown: Nottingham, U.K.
Recommended if you like: The Beta Band, Grandaddy
Why we picked them: Glitchy psychedelia, matched up with sunny harmonies.Listen:Spaceships Are Cool, “Let Things Go”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
Stealth Like a Canoe
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Recommended if you like: Joni Mitchell, Lucinda Williams
Why we picked them: Sparse, melodic folk, with multi-instrumentalist Adam Gramling’s accordion adding a grim sonic flourish.Listen:Stealth Like a Canoe, “Madame Birkin’s Man”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
Stem
Hometown: Boston, MA
Recommended if you like: Primus, Godsmack
Why we picked them: Jam band-inflected funk, mixed with ’90s-nü-metal vocals and lyricism.Listen:Stem, “Like You”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
The Barettas
Hometown: Ontario, Canada
Recommended if you like: The Black Keys, Luscious Jackson
Why we picked them: Bluesy power-trio rock and ’90s riot grrrl snarl — why didn’t anyone think of this before?Listen:The Barettas, “I Dig the Alley Cat, But Not the Birds”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
The Death of Me
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Recommended if you like: The Killers, The Raveonettes
Why we picked them: Fizzy, fuzzy, big and buzzy boy n’ girl guitar rock — catchy enough for pop fans, too!Listen:The Death of Me, “Who Is That Guy?”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
The True Jacqueline
Hometown: Northampton, MA
Recommended if you like: Liz Phair, Cub
Why we picked them: Sprightly, female-fronted indie-pop that’s coy enough to get away with namechecking They Might Be Giants in their lyrics.Listen:The True Jacqueline, “Instead”(DOWNLOAD MP3)
The Vandelles
Hometown:NYC
Recommended ifyou like: The Jesus and Mary Chain, A Place to Bury Strangers
Why we picked them: Noisy, guitar-driven shoegaze that’s as antagonistic as it is melodic.Listen:The Vandelles, “Bad Volcano”(DOWNLOAD MP3)