Underrated Bands

[Makachop^^128]

I don't know about you guys, but almost all my music consists of underrated bands, or bands that no one knows. So what are bands that you tell people you like and they are like "What? oh them they are okay." or "Who are they? Some country band?"

a couple of mine are:

Belle and Sebastian
Beirut
Stars

[Nate]

Who are they? Some country band?

[Makachop^^128]

ahahah >.< looks like I'm the only one.

[That Dude]

All Left Out (New Zealand Punk)
Anathello
Apt Core
AP2
The Automatic
Ayreon
Beloved
Brave Saint Saturn
The Brothers Martin
Calibretto 13
The Cootees
The Deadlines
Deas Vail
The Dear Hunter
Discover America
E-Roc
Edison Glass
Embodyment
Farless
Forgive Durden
The Foxglove Hunt
Frou Frou
Future Of Forestry


That's up to F. Do you want me to post more?

[Makachop^^128]

wow... thats alot I only know a couple lol

[That Dude]

Yeah I have quite a few more that I could post...I probably will later...

[the_wolfs_howl]

MaNga (a Turkish rock/rap band)
Trading Yesterday/The Age of Information (they might be disbanded, I'm not sure, but since their first album was canceled, it's no wonder nobody's heard of them)
Crossfade
Submersed
30 Seconds to Mars (Maybe? I don't hear many people mention them.)

...can't think of any more right now

[Makachop^^128]

that Manga sounds interesting Ii'm going to check it out.


Heres a couple more peopel might know

Arcade fire
Garmarna
the cardigans
The lashes
Pink Martini

[SnoringFrog]

All Left Out (New Zealand Punk)
AP2
Edison Glass
Embodyment
Farless
Future Of Forestry

Those are the ones I know. I love AP2 (as well as Argyle Park, and I'll go ahead and mention Circle of Dust and Celldweller here too, since they're all connected somewhat, and Klank was from the same era and industrial style)

Trading Yesterday

I've heard of them. They are definitely a great band.

Other underrated bands I like (it's gonna be a long list):

38th Parallel
A Bullet For Pretty Boy
And Then There Were None
Anguidara
Black Pajent
Blessed By A Broken Heart
Common Yet Forbidden
Debtor (ridiculously fast yelled/screamed lyrics)
Dead Poetic (not sure how underated they really are, but I don't hear much of them)
Embracing Goodbye (local Southern Metal guys, signed to Solid State recently, I believe)
Essence of Sorrow
Evans Blue (but only their first 2 albums, new vocalist is meh)
Ever Stays Red
Forever the Fallen
Friends of Night (lol, I just couldn't resist)
I Am Alpha and Omega
Inked in Blood
Jacks of All Trades
The Morning Of (a local band, Sparks in Stereo, broke up and one of their members ended up with these guys, which made losing SiS so much easier since it introduced me to this great duel-vocalist band)
The Morning Of
Nema (the Christian one, they're hard to find online, esp. with 6 other bands called Nema, alot of which are more anti-Christian than anything, these guys play "You Could Be All Flame")
Nightwish (I never seem to hear anything about them despite them being pretty unique)
Oceana (mainly the Birtheater album)
Parabelle (they got Evans Blue's old vocalist)
The Philidelphia Project (I think That Dude should know that artist )
Secret and Whisper
Selfmindead
The Separate
The Southern Vegan Texas Wildfire Post Apocalpytic Zombie Invasion Experiment (search "The Southern Vegan" on Myspace to find him)
This Fires Embrace
Undying Anthem
Virgin Black
We As Human
The Morning Of
The Morning Of

[That Dude]

[quote="SnoringFrog (post: 1374712)"]
The Philidelphia Project (I think That Dude should know that artist ]

Actually I just finished making a CD, I actually just put it up for download, I'll go tag you on the note with the link in it on facebook.

[Chrysolite]

There's this Christian singer/songwriter named Stephanie Smith who hardly anyone's heard of, but her stuff is actually really good! My sister's vocal coach gave her a Stephanie Smith CD because he thought she was a good singing role-model, so one day when we were painting our room she put the CD on and I was surprised at how catchy it was.

"It hits me like a heart attack, and I'm down for the count..." ^-^

[SnoringFrog]

There's this Christian singer/songwriter named Stephanie Smith who hardly anyone's heard of, but her stuff is actually really good! My sister's vocal coach gave her a Stephanie Smith CD because he thought she was a good singing role-model, so one day when we were painting our room she put the CD on and I was surprised at how catchy it was.

"It hits me like a heart attack, and I'm down for the count..." ^-^

She opened for a concert that I went to. I kinda liked what I heard of her on the radio, but I wasn't very impressed by her live performance or other songs, sadly. She's not bad, just doesn't stand out too much either.

[Makachop^^128]

heres some more
Chad Vangaalen
Sufjan stevens
Black mold
New faces
school yard heroes

[That Dude]

List #2
Godspeed! You Black Emperor
Grammatrain
House Of Heroes
Joy Electric
Kevin Max (All you really hear about is Tobymac)
Last Tuesday
Love And Reverie
Lucerin Blue
Ludo
Makeshift3
Mew
Mono
Mortal (Soooo amazing! Nu-En-Jin, check it out!)
My Epic
Myriad
One-Eighty
Othello
Outer Circle
Phoenix
The Polyphonic Spree
Powerglove
The Receiving End Of Sirens
The River Empires
Redcloud
Remedy Drive
Rootbeer
Secret And Whisper
Shai Linne
Sinergia
Slow Coming Day
Something Like Silas
Soup The Chemist
St. Vincent
Staple (Great band!)
Stavesacre
Subseven
Sullivan
Surrogate


Well next round will be the T-Z's.

[Radical Dreamer]

Dude, Belle & Sabastian and Stars. I like where this thread is going. XD

Anyways, people have already posted like a million different bands that I also would have posted, including but not limited to The Dear Hunter, My Epic, Mew, House of Heroes, and Edison Glass. But to add a few of my own to the thread:

Ace Enders (i.e. I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business and any of his other projects XD)
All Get Out
Elliott
Fair
The Honorary Title
Karmella's Game
Lydia
Mates of State
The Reign of Kindo
Watashi Wa

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Rather than post a big list, I will list a few and attempt to describe their style and/or relate them to stuff that people might know.
---
Serena-Maneesh - shoegaze wedded to alt. rock. Shoegaze is definately dominant though. If you want My Bloody Valentine with a few sounds that are able to be distinguished from the wall 'o noise, check 'em out.

Orange Juice - a Scottish new wave/post-punk band from the 80s. A sort of point in chronology between The Jam and Franz Ferdinand. Eclectic and uses fun instruments (horns, keys). Lots of fun to be had.

Spiritualized - a real blend of stuff...anthemic space rock? Primal Scream+The Beta Band+early Radiohead. You get caught up in their stuff.

Vast - industrial/goth rock. He has elements of both NIN and Deftones in aural aesthetics, but he is a different kind of vocalsist, plus he adds what you can only call "Eastern sounds" to a lot of his music. Plus Jon Crosby is a WAAAAY better songwriter than any of the guys from those bands. The first two albums are the best, by far.
---
More to come, but that's all for now!

[Makachop^^128]

Dude, Belle & Sabastian and Stars. I like where this thread is going. XD

Yes! someone knows them! I do not feel alone now lol

[SnoringFrog]

List #2
House Of Heroes
Joy Electric
Last Tuesday
Love And Reverie
Lucerin Blue
Makeshift3
Redcloud
Remedy Drive
Secret And Whisper
Slow Coming Day
Staple (Great band!)
Stavesacre
Subseven
Sullivan
Surrogate

I recognized all those, I bolded the ones I agree on.

I've seen Love and Reverie live once or twice with The Separate, but I'm surprised anyone that's not from around here knows about them, unless they're getting bigger without me knowing about it. How'd you find them, TD?

I'm not a major fan of Makeshift3's music, but I do have most of the cds, they were dirt cheap when I bought directly from the band, and whichever one of the guys I was talking to on Myspace was pretty cool. It was that conversation with him that made me want to support them]Watashi Wa[/quote]Man, can't believe I forgot those guys. I love what I've heard of them, but haven't taken the time to look up more of their stuff. I picked up one of their albums for $2 at a used book/cd store after hearing "All of Me" on an old Tooth and Nail sampler.

Two more bands that came to mind:
Mercy Mercedes (pop rock, I think it was you'd call it. They have really good energy, which is why I like them.)
Call it a Crusade (local metal guys that I really like)

[That Dude]

I recognized all those, I bolded the ones I agree on.

I've seen Love and Reverie live once or twice with The Separate, but I'm surprised anyone that's not from around here knows about them, unless they're getting bigger without me knowing about it. How'd you find them, TD?

Secret and Whisper is amazing. I absolutely love their energy. They had me hooked from the first 15 seconds of XOXOXO, maybe even sooner. Somehow though, I always forget I have their music till it pops up on shuffle, then I'm like "Oh! How'd I forget these guys!?"

Staple...they're ok. I like their music, but whenever I listen it just seems so...run of the mill. If they had something more unique in their sound, I'd definitely go for it.

I found out about Love and Reverie when I was browsing around on Purevolume.

It's pretty much the exact same thing with me and Secret And Whisper.

And I don't think that Staple is necessarily that unique...But they do that specific sound better than anybody else I've ever heard IMHO, that and the lyrics are totally awesome.

[SnoringFrog]

I found out about Love and Reverie when I was browsing around on Purevolume.

It's pretty much the exact same thing with me and Secret And Whisper.

And I don't think that Staple is necessarily that unique...But they do that specific sound better than anybody else I've ever heard IMHO, that and the lyrics are totally awesome.

I've never paid much attention to Staple's lyrics, that might help. Any album recommendations for them? All I have is there self-titled album; I'm giving it another listen-through now.

[That Dude]

[quote="SnoringFrog (post: 1374900)"]I've never paid much attention to Staple's lyrics, that might help. Any album recommendations for them? All I have is there self-titled album]

Yeah the self titled is the best...But I'd just recommend giving it a few close listens, and maybe read along with the lyrics. You may still not like it...But for some reason it really struck a chord with me, especially the song "Deathtrap Daisy." It's helped me a lot with my struggles with lust and etc...

[Warrior4Christ]

The Morning Of (a local band, Sparks in Stereo, broke up and one of their members ended up with these guys, which made losing SiS so much easier since it introduced me to this great duel-vocalist band)
The Morning Of
The Morning Of
The Morning Of

Are The Morning Of good? You've mentioned them four times now.


And U2.

[Yamamaya]

Most of these are metal/folk metal/prog metal

Ensiferum
Korpiklaani
Opeth
Turisas
Some girls(punk band)
Billy Talent(punk)
Wintersun

[SnoringFrog]

Yeah the self titled is the best...But I'd just recommend giving it a few close listens, and maybe read along with the lyrics. You may still not like it...But for some reason it really struck a chord with me, especially the song "Deathtrap Daisy." It's helped me a lot with my struggles with lust and etc...

Deathtrap Daisy isn't on the cd I have. Is that from a different album? And I had just opened up the lyrics before I read this post.

Are The Morning Of good? You've mentioned them four times now.

Lol, yes. I'd say they're very good; they have a pop rock/alt rock sound (my friend called them indie/piano pop/rock). One of my favorite qualities about them is the vocals: they have both male and female vocals, and both vocalists sound great. I've always had a thing for multi-vocalist bands, and seeing it done so well is great.

[rocklobster]

10000 Maniacs (by the time they got any fame, Natalie Merchant was ready to call it quits. They had one more album, then she embarked on a solo career. Haven't heard anything from either since)
The B-52s
The Cure
Sonic Youth

[Makachop^^128]

10000 Maniacs (by the time they got any fame, Natalie Merchant was ready to call it quits. They had one more album, then she embarked on a solo career. Haven't heard anything from either since)
The B-52s
The Cure
Sonic Youth

I love all of those!

[Strafe]

Alot of people know about Arcade Fire, but not many people listen to them. I think they hit the perfect balance between rock and folk in their sound. I love it. Catchy at times, complex most other times, they have an unmatchable style. One of my favorite bands ever. I mean, who else do you see dressing up amish and acting angry all the time, while still playing music that is deeper than most other people today, though they're pretty mainstream. When they settle, its beautiful, when they rock, its powerful. Its emotional.

Beirut is brilliant, though I've been waiting for them to do some more with their sound for 4 albums. Their folk/indie stuff is brilliant, and beautiful, and some of the lyrics sort of blow you away. Its sloppy at times, but you know that its real, stripped down orchestration. And its beautiful.

Related to Beirut is Alaska in Winter, who tries to fuse some of the folk sounds, with Hip Hop. I don't really care for it, though I admit, it is really different. Zach Condon from Beirut appears on the album

Sufjan Stevens also does some of the folk rock type stuff, with catchy songs, and sometimes going to electronica. I like how carefully every instrument is played, and how sensitive he is musically. But when he goes hardcore, he goes all out, like his cover of You are the Blood. He also has massive albums. He thinks really big, and takes it carefully.

And DeVotchKa is really good too, though I only know their song, How it Ends, which was in little miss Sunshine. I really like folk-indie-rock. Feist also does some folk stuff, like 1234.

There's The Foals, who have a strongly processed pop-rock sound. Catchy stuff, all sounds the same, and their guitarists use too many harmonics in an annoying way.

Telecast has a really awesome guitar sound.

Athlete has a nice sound, and catchy stuff.

Nobody listens to Jazz anymore, so I like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington (I'm a throwback when it comes to jazz), and Miles Davis. Some Cannonball Adderly is nice. I like stuff that swings like 20s-40s than the modern funk and groove, though It's fun. Some of the 50s and 60s stuff like Brubeck and Desmond is awesome.

Black Label Society is Zakk Wylde's Band, the guy who played for Ozzy Osbourne after Randy Rhoads and Tony Iommi. He can shred like nobody's business. Kind of depressing themes though.

The Blakes are sort of White Stripes inspired, and sort of Energetic and it sometimes feels like they're drunk.

Billy Boy on Poison is also like the White Stripes in a full band and not as stripped down. They have attitude. But no one can really be the White Stripes. And no one can really try to be better than Jack White on guitar, who sort of rejects the whole concept of "better" with his minimalistic approach.

Blur is Damon Albarn's first band. Not to special with their sound. I love the Gorillaz, but they're mainstream

The Creaky Boards and Joe Satriani tried to sue Coldplay over Viva la Vida, and failed. But their own versions of holding out the major 7th in a chord where nothing to laugh at.

Speaking of Satch, he is a brilliant guitarist, Shreds like nobody, taught steve vai. Actually, their live shows together with another guest guitarist, called g3, are incredible.

Another awesome guitarist is Mark Tremonti, who just got back together with creed, who everyone knows. About as mainstream as you get. Alter Bridge was basically Creed with Myles Kennedy Singing, but no issue. How many people knew Alter Bridge? I'm not quite sure.

With all that shred though, I really have to kick back and listen to the greatest guitarist of all time IMO. Hendrix. The sweetest Strat sound I ever heard, the smoothest licks, and he couldn't be classified to being fast or slow. If there is anyone to go after, its hendrix. I cite him as my number one influence for guitar. Then the Edge somewhere after that.

Alot of people here know MeWithoutYou, but its another folky type affair. Recently. I liked their hardcore slam poetry like stuff of their earlier years, but its all brilliant just the same. Really different.

VNV Nation is an industrial techno duo, who do some pretty dark but catchy things. Daft Punk is another Techno group I like.

For Modern classical Pianists these days, (Who listens to classical?) I like Ingrid Fliter, Evgeny Kissin, and Aldo Ciccolini. They are really fast, as should be expected of classically trained musicians, but sensitive in their interpretations. Kissin has the best performance of Liebestraume I've ever heard, as well as inspiring performances of some of the Chopin waltzes. Fliter is graceful, but blazing, especially on Fantasie Impromptu, while Ciccolini has my favorite performance of Arabesque and A Schubert Impromptu.

I like alot of Orchestral pieces, but nobody really owns them, so I can't really call them out.

I like some Underground Hip Hop like Extended Famm, PackFM, Tonedeff. They have a sense of humor, without too much of trying to prove too much. But I really like Grande Marshall... who is in my class. I'm planning on setting up a gig with Xavier where I DJ for him. Or play the piano while he raps. He's insane. He's gonna go Pro or else I don't know what.

Alot of people know Vampire Weekend, and call them Awesome. I think they're overrated. Their stuff is catchy, yes. But they sound like college rock trying to be yuppie while being too white. And there's not much too it. I can only listen to it in the background, or else I get mad at the sloppy instrumentation, nerdy lyrics and lack of too much depth.

The Violet Burning came out of Vineyard, and did some christian 90s grunge-punk and worship stuff sometimes. They sounded a bit like The Smashing Pumpkins.

They Might be Giants has been around forever. They have some of the nerdiest lyrics I've heard. But its funny. Lots of Puns, very entertaining, fun to listen to. Maybe not that deep, but fun.

Grits and Cross Movement is Christian Hip Hop, which tells us why we listen to Jay-Z, Kanye, Lil Wayne and Lupe in the first place. Its not that good.

Oasis came back recently with an awesome new album after their slump.

Sixpence also got back together. Not sure how mainstream they were, but they had a beautiful sound. Complex, intriguing, mysterious. Leigh Nash had alot to do with that, but really, the band made it its own.

Five Iron Frenzy was cool. Ska is an interesting thing I should probably experiment more with.

Bjork. Nothing more to say. She has an aggresive, yet childish voice, extremely different. The accent has alot to do with it, but her personality is something else. She comes up with some beautiful stuff, and one time, she did a song with Thom Yorke for a movie. That swept me off my feet.

Radiohead is pretty mainstream, though their experimental stuff earlier in the decade was brilliant. In Rainbows was a bit more sane, and I loved it for that, but you felt like a lunatic when you listened to the amnesiac, Kid A, and Hail to the Thief. That was definitely awesome.

There's a band called Everyone, who our church knew personally, meaning I guess I did too, being a pastor's kid. They made an album, then split because of pressure, which is why I am probably not going to pursue a musical career. Too much stress.

Andy Hunter is good.

Alot of people know the hives, but they rock. And Pelle Almqvist is one heck of a frontman.

Modest Mouse is really catchy. They have an awesome sound. Their song was on rockband recently. So they're not underrated anymore.

White Rabbits. Where to start on them... They are really throwback. And really Cool. They kind of act like 50s Gangsters, and do alot of older sounds. Like a latin Sashay little thing. But they have a really neat sound. Check them out.

There are some neat Euro Bands like Belle and Sebastian, Elbow, The Zutons, Razorlight, Maximo Park, Kaiser Cheifs, and Keane. I really like Keane.

Then, Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters started up a super group, Them Crooked Vultures with Queens of the Stone Age's frontman, and Led Zepplin's bassist. Awesomeness. Really 80s/90s rock.

Well... I'm about 1/4th the way down my iTunes list... I should probably stop here. I have alot of other bands to suggest. Look these guys up. They're great.

My favorite Bands are U2, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Muse, Coldplay, Hendrix and Beirut. Maybe the Strokes too. Pretty Mainstream, though I knew Muse from their first album before anybody else did. I just basically went down my Itunes list just now.

Oh right. One last one. There's this guy I know, Matt Kim. He's this kid that has a microphone and did some recordings in his basement. He's me. Shameless Plug:
http://www.myspace.com/mattkimdemos and http://whiteflame-xiii.newgrounds.com/audio/

Only Old stuff. Nothing within the past 6 months, when my voice started getting deeper.

[Blitzkrieg1701]

Belle and Sebastian, Arcade Fire, Ayreon, Joy Electric, The Polyphonic Spree, They Might Be Giants and Blur. Big names for a "underrated" list... not that I'm complaining, mind you

Here's some of my favorite bands who aren't getting the attention they deserve. To help spread the love, I'm also linking to their videos so you can experience the awesomeness first hand:

The High Dials '60s-ish indie/jangle pop from Montreal. To be honest, I'm not sure if they're still together, that's how low profile they are

The Apples (in stereo) I KNOW these guys are still together, and fans of The Powerpuff Girls and Steven Colbert have probably heard them without realizing it.

of Montreal a.k.a. "The Band That Did The Song For That Outback Commercial." They're actually getting more exposure lately, which is ironic, since the most recent albums have been pretty disappointing.

The Oranges I'm surprised I got this far in before mentioning a Japanese band The Oranges are a power pop band from Tokyo.

The Psycrons Another retro band from Japan, this time more '60s than '70s.

The Captains ANOTHER Japanese retro band (notice a trend developing here?) this time directly sending up the "Group Sound" fad of the late '60s.

The Webb Brothers Okay, time for a change up. These guys aren't Japanese, though I guess you could call their sunshine/indie pop retro in you wanted.

Papas Fritas Another one of those bands a lot of people have heard (thanks to some gum commercial) but few have heard OF. They're still technically together, but haven't recorded in ages.

Okay, that's all for now.

[That Dude]

Ok I think that this'll be the last of my list, unless I think of more...

Tegan And Sara (They are kinda big, but indie enough that I'll put them on here)
Terminal (Indie rock somewhat reminiscent of Secret And Whisper)
Theocracy (Fast european prog/powermetal)
Trust Company (Good radio rock)
The Undecided (Faster christian left coast style punk)
Unseen Belief (Hmong led rap group)
Viva Voce (Husband wife intricate indie pop rock)
Victizzle (Kinda crappy but fun christian british rap)
Waking Ashland (pretty piano rock)
Wavorly (intricate hard rock with a tinge of strings)
The Weepies (Husband wife indie pop duo)
Zao (kinda bigger but still underground christian metal legends)
4th Avenue Jones (Rap group a'la The Roots, self described as Hip Rock Soul.)

[GrubbTheFragger]

Kudos snoringfrog Bullet for a pretty boy is awesome.

My additions:
In the midst of lions
The great commision
Sleeping giant
Bless the fall
Burden Of A Day
Underneath the gun
Settle the sky
Corpus Christi
Crimson Armada
I See Stars
Bury your Dead