Ah it's December, which means everyone is looking back on the past year. I've always been a fan of year-end lists so I thought this week I would share all of the bands I started listening to in 2017!
1. Courage My Love
I had always kinda known about this band since 2013 but never really dived into their discography until this year. Back in February, CML released their second full-length album "Synesthesia," which I absolutely loved. They're a Canadian pop rock band, who started out as more pop-punk but "Synesthesia" has definitely more of a pop leaning, sounding a bit like PVRIS. I got the chance to see CML on Warped Tour this year and they were amazing!
Song Recommendations: "Love Hurts," "Cold Blooded," "Dirt"
2. Doll Skin
A large amount of my favorite bands have female singers because girls in rock music are just great, so I was so excited when I discovered Doll Skin, an all-female rock band. They were on the first week of Warped Tour, so I didn't get to see them because I went later on in the tour but I decided to check them out anyway when Warped started. They're a super hard-hitting rock band with a ton of energy. Their most recent album "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" came out in June and I LOVE IT!! They have a super great message of encouraging women to follow their dreams even if its in a male dominated field. The members of Doll Skin are also super young (18-21), which is cool, I love supporting bands that are around my age.
Song Recommendations: "Baby's Breath," "Daughter," "Boy Band"
3. Don Broco
These guys are HUGE in the UK but they opened up for State Champs in the US this spring and I was blown away. I'm glad that they're finally getting some love in the states. They have an amazing stage presence and got the entire crowd to do a wall of death when they were the first opening band!! I'd describe them as a rock band with some pop and electronic influences. Super fun jams. I'm really hyped for their 3rd album "Technology" to drop in February.
Song Recommendations: "Pretty," "Money Power Fame," "Everybody"
4. HalfNoise
Drummer Zac Farro of Paramore returned to the band this year after leaving for seven years. In the time he was gone, he started a solo project called HalfNoise. HalfNoise is much different than Paramore, definitely indie sounding. Zac's HalfNoise influence can be seen on Paramore's new record "After Laughter." Even though I always kinda knew about Zac's solo project, I never really listened to him until he came back to Paramore in February. He released "The Velvet Face EP" in March which I absolutely adore. Part of Paramore's encore on tour has been letting Zac play "Scooby's in the Back" which is so much fun. Love seeing Zac get to explore other parts of music beyond his Paramore roots.
Song Recommendations: "Scooby's in the Back," "Velvet Face," "Sudden Feeling"
5. Stand Atlantic
A super fun pop-punk band from Australia I discovered this fall cause everyone on Twitter kept yelling about how good their debut EP "Sidewinder" was. Twitter was right. Stand Atlantic have so much raw energy and are bringing great things to the pop-punk scene. I hope they can eventually tour in the states because they seem great live.
Song Recommendations: "Push," "Chemicals," "Sidewinder"
6. State Champs
I'm late to the State Champs party, I know. I saw them on their headlining tour this past spring originally because Against the Current were one of the opening bands. I always knew about State Champs because pretty much everyone who likes the same music as me likes State Champs but I never really took the time to get into them. Heck, I even saw them when they were babies in early 2014 opening for We Are the In Crowd. Their headline show I went to this year was one of the most fun shows I've been to in awhile. The crowd went absolutely crazy and their music was meant to be played live.
Song Recommendations: "All You Are Is History," "Shape Up," "Deadly Conversation"
So those are the bands I discovered this year! Who did you discover in 2017?
