BrandsForBands

Hailing from Malmo and Stockholm Sweden, The Bell are a three piece with a penchant for memorable melodies and drum machine driven, classic, alternative songs. Vocals and instruments are shared by the trio of Nicklas Nilsson, Mathias Stromberg and Jan Petterson. Though they live many miles apart, they co-wrote and recorded Great Heat together through e-mail, electronic file exchanges and Skype. Great Heat is the follow-up to their stri- kingly good 2007 release Make Some Quiet.

Alaska is a most unlikely origin for the five young men who comprise the Builders and the Butchers. Between 2002-2005, each of the members that would eventually form the band moved to Portland from Alaska pursuing music as a means of escaping subzero temperatures and the endless winter darkness. Soon after moving to Portland Ryan Sollee, singer songwriter and guitarist for The Builders, immersed himself in pre-1950’s American music, and started writing Southern Gothic themed story-songs “I was raised on Punk Rock but when I moved to Portland I discovered American Roots music, I felt as though there was similarities between the two styles. They are both genres that you cannot passively listen to, they almost evoke a response or an immediate reaction from you.”

It was a typical rainy Portland afternoon at Ray Rude’s house (who plays “drums” in The Builders), hanging with friends when Ryan decided to show them what he was working on. Something clicked that afternoon and within minutes everyone in attendance found something to play. Alex Ellis happened to have an old acoustic bass, and Harvey Tumbleson had borrowed a Mandolin, Ray sat down at the piano and they just started playing. Paul Seely joined the band a week later as a drummer and instrumentalist and the Builders and The Butchers were born.

Starting innocently enough as a fully acoustic rambling bunch, seeking out audiences on street corners and outside of venues, make no mistake this is not another story of busking come good, The Builders were not looking for money nor were they looking for fame, they were just playing the music they wanted to on their own terms. The band didn’t work out parts on these early songs, they were developed playing on the street, and this philosophy carries through today, by choosing to develop songs live or at rehearsal. Ryan Sollee says “Something special happens when we get in a room and try to work out a song. If I come in with a developed song it never seems to sound as good or it does not sound like The Builders.” In particular it was at these performances that Ray and Paul worked out their unique “deconstructed” drum style.

They played in the rain and cold of Portland winters until instruments were warped and broken, then one day the Builders sold out and booked a real show, then another, and crowds soon were seeking the Builders out. At the early shows it was hard to distinguish the band from the audience, nothing was mic’d or amplified, and seemingly everyone in the audience had a shaker, washboard, or were just beating on the wall and singing. All in attendance saw something special happening, a Portland audience was having fun, singing along and participating, the music demanded a celebration. Within a year, the Builders would win the Willamette Week’s “Best New Band of 2008” and Seattle Sound’s “Best Live Performers 2008” and completed supporting tours with the Helio Sequence, Brand New, Langhorne Slim, Amanda Palmer, Dax Riggs, Murder By Death and Port O’brien.

The Builders don’t pay homage to old America, they channel it. All of the basic instruments are there, acoustic bass, drum, guitar, banjo, and mandolin. They mix gospel, blues, and bluegrass and howl desperate story-songs that latch onto your brain and demand immediate attention.

The timeless sound of their songs, harkens back to a time long passed in music, but reflecting the dark times of the present. Their self-titled debut was released in 2007 and showcases the bands early raw sound. Their latest release titled “Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well” is a much more complete work showcasing the bands full potential. On Salvation, the Builders worked with producer Chris Funk from the Decemberists who brought with him a throng of expertise, patience, instruments, and some of the best musicians in Portland. Salvation record combines the immediacy of the Builders early work with more a developed songwriting, each one with its own personality and story to tell. In the vein of the Southern Gothic tales Ryan weaves stories of struggle with the usual cast of characters God, the Devil, soldiers, branches, wind, rain and hell fire. The record starts with a piano chord and an eerie wind escalating into the thunderous “Golden and Green”, stomp and grinds its way through “Devil Town” and “The Short Way Home”, to the Spanish tinged “Barcelona" and “Raise Up”, and the soaring chorus of “In The Branches”, ending with a lesson of hope in the gospel homage “The World is a Top”.

The story of “Salvation is a Deep Dark Well” is that there’s joy and celebration through the darkness, there’s light in the hardest of times, and when you reach the bottom may salvation light your way.

A trooper, a vagabond, a minstrel and an artist - over the course of fifteen years and eight full-length albums as the lead singer/songwriter for Chicago's Alkaline Trio, Matt Skiba has been all of these things. Touring the world, heart on sleeve, Skiba has consistently penned some of the great dark pop anthems of the past decade. For both major labels and indies, whether it be acoustic ballads or antagonistic anthems, Skiba is an icon of the outsider and he has remained a singular voice of a sub-genre he helped to create. Now, after so many years as part of the band that has come to define him, Skiba has stepped out from the Trio to create Babylon, the debut album from Matt Skiba and the Sekrets.

Babylon doesn't mark a major sonic departure from the infectiously catchy, sanguine-stained tunesmanship Skiba is known for. The songs are still cleverly-crafted and instantly memorable, but the details of the tracks on Babylon are what separate this album from all of his previous output. His independence from the confines of a group dynamic allow the songs to take flight, subtleties intact, and elevate the music from mere songs to exquisite songcraft. Of his unfettered creativity, Skiba explains, "Working as part of a group is great, but it's a democracy. You hear something in your head and play it, then the other guys comment and you compromise. That's what being in a band is about. I wanted to create that music in my head – not a dissected and altered version of it."

Teaming up with AFI's Hunter Burgan on bass and My Chemical Romance's Jarrod Alexander on drums, Babylon remains the creation of Skiba himself. "It's a band, but it's not a band. It was great to have Hunter and Jarrod come in and play. They are both great musicians and it was a thrill to play with them. Everyone involved in the album breathed life into the ideas, making them songs and giving those songs a foundation that couldn't be stronger or more inspired." His singular vision shows the true breadth of his songwriting skills, from the uptempo chant of the album opener and lead single "Voices" to the heartfelt, acoustic strains of its closer, "Angel of Deaf" In between tracks like "Olivia", a paean to the pain only someone you love can cause, and the tongue in cheek devil's hook of "Luciferian Blues" take the listener on aural adventure that is simultaneously familiar and fresh. "My songwriting – whether it be for Alkaline or for Skiba and the Sekrets – comes from the same place. I craft songs a certain way and there is always going to be a piece of what I've done before in it," he explains. Fans of Alkaline Trio will immediately fall in love with tracks like "You" and "The End of Joy", while the 80's post-punk new wave synth of "Falling Like Rain" may take some by surprise. Babylon offers something for those just coming to the party and those who have been there for years.

Not merely a studio experiment, Matt Skiba and the Sekrets will be touring extensively behind Babylon. The shows are sure to be equal parts intimate and explosive, with Skiba performing the entire album along with a few unexpected surprises. "I can't wait to play these songs live. It's always exciting to try new stuff out, and to do it with an all new band – who knows who'll be coming along for the ride when we do this live – is going to be great."

NYC-based tropical grit pop duo Ghost Beach, are you familiar with them? Only a few months old, they're nailing a retro-future aesthetic that sounds like the The Police, Depeche Mode, and Daft Punk, with a little Passion Pit sprinkled on top for good measure. They have no label backing at the moment but are setting the internet on fire right now with their soaring and anthemic pop creations. Here's what people are saying:

"Ghost Beach are the latest pop pioneers to set the internet ablaze with only a couple singles floating around and without any major label backing. The New York-based duo of Josh Ocean and Eric "Doc" Mendelsohn take their '80s influences one step further with Ghost Beach. Only a few months old, they've already perfected a retro-future aesthetic that sounds like the holy trifecta of The Police, Depeche Mode, and Daft Punk, with a little Passion Pit sprinkled on top for good measure. Josh plays the jilted lover with vocal panache as Eric's soaring synths, guitars and forever young harmonies are plucked right out of Neverland. Ghost Beach is more about a time than a place, and that time is now." - Andrew Hwang (Neon Gold)

"Ghost Beach are seductively good, with endless factors shaping their sound. In parts it sounds like synth-laden '80s pop, and on others resembles a punk-rock vibe with lengthy guitar solos, like on single "First Time". Their confused adolescent genre is a result of influences from the likes of Depeche Mode, Daft Punk and The Police. The American pairing are reminiscent of an early Hot Hot Heat, with a semi-fem vocal, unashamedly bathing in a pop bath – and I don't mean the bubbles. They produced something that's a lot more grown up. Saying that, they have the fun factor, the nonchalant attitude, and a contagious "let's not stop partying until we throw up" glitter factor" - Tim Osbourne (Obscure Sound)

Detroit Rebellion, blues rock duo from Providence, RI at your service--no tricks, no gimmicks, gritty, stripped bare and lo-fi. Named after the Detroit Rebellion of 1967, their debut LP THE MAN brings the less is more approach to a combination of blues and "other" styles - leaning toward "other."

Detroit Rebellion is the creation of Jeff Toste (vocals & guitar) and Mike Lamantia Jr. aka Mikey Lams (drums). In 2009, Toste began performing solo as Detroit Rebellion, which he referred to as "a tribute to old school blues and folk." Once Mikey Lams joined on drums, Toste found Detroit Rebellion "mutating into something else." Something more akin to a swamp-blues-garage-rock sound all their own.

The result is THE MAN LP. Comprised of two critically acclaimed EP's released in 2013, the LP also includes four previously unreleased tracks i.e. The Man, Trash Talk, Echo Chamber and The Spy. The twelve songs were initially recorded together, so the band opted for an LP release as opposed to another EP. Toste said about the LP, "For those unfamiliar with the limited release EP's, we wanted to present the listener with the whole enchilada."

Over the course of the past few years, the London-based YOUNG GUNS have emerged as one of the UK's most electrifying new bands, garnering heavy radio play and UK chart success, while playing to packed-house crowds all across Europe, including a main stage performance at the Reading Festival, where they tore up the stage as part of a lineup that included Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, Guns N' Roses and Modest Mouse.

New album BONES has already achieved critical acclaim overseas, with Q Magazine and Kerrang! each giving it four stars and the latter writing that the album sees the band "giving themselves the best shot possible of taking on all comers and winning." BONES and its title track were also nominated for "Best Album" and "Best Single" as part of this year's 2012 Kerrang! Awards.

"We've written something that I feel happy describing as 'brave,'" says Young Guns frontman Gustav Wood, "and it will challenge a lot of people's preconceptions about what sort of band we are. It's an ambitious record, and we have the ambition to match the sound." Written over a number of months in places ranging from Thailand to Spain to a shed in the band's hometown of High Wycombe, UK, BONES marks Young Guns' transition from a band packed with potential to bonafide contenders for the title of Britain's best. It's a stirring album full of contradictions – it speaks of strength and vulnerability, friendship and loss, energetic youth and heavy-hearted experience – that proudly displays Wood, John Taylor (guitar), Fraser Taylor (guitar), Simon Mitchell (bass) and Ben Jolliffe (drums)'s skyscraping vision and style. "When you're writing an album you need to believe that what you're doing is the most important thing in the world," continues Gustav.

Having formed from the ashes of a variety of local bands, Young Guns' first release was the striking Mirrors EP in June 2009. But it wasn't until debut album All Our Kings Are Dead, unveiled in July 2010, that they began to really show what they were capable of. Backed by a groundswell of popular support, the band hit magazine covers, headlined the HMV Forum in London, toured Australia and played the Main Stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals; in the backs of their minds, though, they knew they could do better.

And they were right. Taken at face value, BONES feels effortless, but the work that went into it – the long hours, the nudging back of immutable deadlines, the worry, the sheer grind that comes with a genuinely democratic writing process – mirrors the band's career to date. This is a story of victory by inches, not of instant boom (and inevitable, sad bust). Young Guns backed themselves into a corner with their drive to comprehensively outdo All Our Kings Are Dead. After a handful of fruitless writing sessions, Gustav, Fraser and John spent a night in the studio with a couple of bottles of vodka and the desire to write a song their heroes would be proud of; when morning eventually came, they had the skeleton of "Dearly Departed," a song that, once they'd taken it to the rest of the band and let them work their magic, would sit as one of the keystones of BONES. "Once we wrote that song, we knew we could really make a mark with this album," says Wood. The title track itself is another standout moment, a pure rock anthem in the most heroic sense. "When you do something you know is good, that you know stands up... it's bliss. Elation. We worked so hard on this album, and there were times when the stress was horrendous. When I finished tracking the vocals for 'Bones' and we stood back and cranked it on the stereo at 4am, listening to what I knew would be a single that would do big things for us, that was overwhelming." From then on, the songs flowed: the title track, a howl of defiance; stunning opener "I Was Born, I Have Lived, I Will Surely Die," a fearless statement of intent; lead single "Learn My Lesson," a calling-card that's as dynamic as it is catchy. "It feels like I want to just kick people's heads off," smiles Gustav. "It sounds stupid but I just want to get out there and make a mark – it keeps me up at night, thinking about how much I want to do."

Hindu Pirates, out of Huntington Beach, includes five young dudes (all 18 to 21), who are fusing garage rock and blues...definitely in a similar vein as Fidlar, Allah-Las, The Soft Pack and Surfer Blood. They have all been friends since high school ( which was only about 3 years ago for most of them), where they also launched the band as well. The band has received great support from Hurley (4-song EP + performing at the upcoming US Open of Surfing with Grouplove and White Arrows). Recently, the guys opened for Delta Spirit and Tijuana Panthers at The Observatory, and have also performed with Allah-Las, Har Mar Superstar, JJMAZ, Gantez Warrior and many other local standouts at well-known venues in OC and LA - The Smell, House of Blues, La Cave, The Satellite (this past month they played with The Union Line), Avalon, Detroit Bar, The Observatory, Constellation Room, Continental Room, etc.

Earthy Babes are a band from Brooklyn.

Lemaitre is a Norwegian indie-electronic duo who formed in the summer of 2010. Together, Ketil & Ulrik create raging disco beats, mixed with soft synthphrases and gripping melodies. When playing live they combine live instruments, not so live instruments and good old live vocals. In their short career, Lemaitre has gained a following from all over the world.The Friendly Sound EP was released at the end of 2010, and the duo are currently working on new material and playing shows wherever the music takes them. Lemaitre is influenced by artists like Justice, Phoenix, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Noisia, Ratatat and Röyksopp.