10 Most Creative Rock Bands Of The 2010s
7. Bent Knee
Formed at Berklee College of Music, Boston sextet Bent Knee cite quite an assortment of classical, pop, jazz, electronic, progressive rock, and singer/songwriter influences. For instance, drummer Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth grew up listening to Genesis and King Crimson, whereas inimitable vocalist/keyboardist Courtney Swain looks to Fiona Apple, Bjork, and Shiina Ringo for guidance.
It's no shock, then, that between 2011 and 2019, they issued five exceptionally original records full of impeccably personal, inventive, and distinctive baroque pop/art rock. From the very start—via 2011’s self-titled introductory collection—they mixed lovingly ethereal arrangements (I’m Still Here), avant-garde industrialism (Way Too Long), and everything in-between to generate an identity all their own. (Naturally, traces of artists like Frank Zappa, Kate Bush, Brian Eno, and Soft Machine can be felt, too.)
Afterward, they miraculously managed to keep perfecting their synthesis of extremely catchy melodies, poetic lyricism, and concurrently fetching and frenetic instrumentation. (In other words, they’ve simultaneously gotten both more accessible and more peculiar.) Black Tar Water—from 2016’s Say So—remains a personal favorite, but later gems such as Land Animal and Hold Me In are just as essential.
That that they’re also incredibly prolific is just the icing on their creative cake.