10 Punk, Rock And Metal Bands You Need To Hear Right Now
Rock is dead?! Nobody told Brutus, Creeper, or Spanish Love Songs...
Rock is dead, didn't you hear?!
The last few years have been rife with declarations and proclamations that the once-beloved genre has died a slow, painful death, and if your exposure to music doesn't extend far beyond mainstream radio, you'd perhaps be forgiven for agreeing with this statement without as much as a single question.
Dig a little deeper though and you'll find a scene that's very much alive and kicking, thriving with young (and old) punk, rock and metal bands (and every sub-genre offshoot you can think of) who're refining, innovating and pushing the boundaries of alternative music as we know it.
This list is not meant to be an exhaustive record of all the best new bands out there but simply seeks to highlight a few of the acts, from all around the world, who have been making waves in their respective scenes over the last few years. The only rule for what constitutes a "new" band is that they should have released no more than two full-length studio albums before the original publication of this list.
Rock might not dominate the charts like it used to, but these bands prove it still has a pulse...
10. Otoboke Beaver
It's a bit of a stretch to call Kyoto's raucous punk quartet, Otoboke Beaver, a "new" band, considering they were formed in 2009, but even at this stage in their career 2019's "Itekoma Hits" is their only studio album to date, so we're including them anyway.
The all-female Japanese group play a frenetic, aggressive form of hardcore punk, combining punchy bass with screeching guitars and thundering drums, jumping effortlessly between rhythms and tempos at lighting speed and delivering catchy melodies with an at times ear-splitting intensity.
The Japanese vocals are equal parts fun and anarchic, and just as scattergun as the musicianship, hopping between lead and gang vocals with ease. Ultimately their songs are loud, chaotic and progressive but above all unforgettably catchy.
Otoboke Beaver are also a force of nature on the stage and the video for "Don't Light My Fire" will give you a good idea of what to expect both live and on record.