10 Most Innovative Rock Acts Of The 2010s
1. Glass Animals
Like Alt J, Glass Animals turned rock music on its head. The debut album Zaba took the conventions of rock and smothered them in fuzzy synthy swagger.
Blending hip-hop style beats and melodies with heavy driving bass lines and a sprinkle a of indie guitar, resulted in a sonic experience unlike any other. At its core, it was a psychedelic dance-rock record, but even that description barely does it justice.
Although sonically very different, Glass Animals took the same approach as LCD Soundsystem, fusing sub genres of rock with sounds more traditionally used in electronic dance music. Whereas LCD ended up sounding like a punk band who had gotten control of a couple turn tables (that's a good thing) Glass Animals sounded like an indie band that had been drenched in the essence of sensual swag.
Their second album didn't lose any of the charm of the first. Relying on the bouncy rhythm sections to set the tone, they allowed the guitar to play a more prominent role in forming the melodies. Their sound has continued to develop along the routes of dance rock.
This is an act well worth seeing live, they manage to retain the full studio effect, while injecting much more energy into the sound.