Get them while they’re hot: Five small bands you NEED to listen to this summer

Summer is in full swing, the beers are out and the clothes are off. What more do you need? Oh yeah, a killer soundtrack to put the perfect finish on those long, warm evenings. With the current revival of indie and rock music as promising and fresh as it’s ever looked, here are five bands you need to get on your Spotify playlist this summer – and see live before they hit the mainstream.


Joy Room

Joy Room are a four-man rock band from West London, bashing out heavy tunes in just about as raw a fashion as possible. Signed to Primary talent, their debut track ‘late at night’ is a reckless punk track that will spark crowd riots if ever they get to a festival stage – which should happen very soon. Lead singer George’s vocals are a raspier echo of Johnny Borrell (ala Razorlight), with a hint of Luke Pritchards (ala the Kooks) creeping in too. The band go on a small UK tour in September, hitting eight venues over the country.

Skegss

An Australian three-piece characterised by their hand-drawn, childish cover art work, Skegss play a poppy brand of indie rock. Their image is similar to that of the UK’s Cabbage, with crowd-surfing and debauchery a visible highlight of their live shows, but the music is much more upbeat and singalong. Lyrics singing of hedonism and sunshine showcase just how a rock band is meant to be.






The Academic
The Academic are an Irish band who released their first content in 2015. With music rooted in folk, their latest track ‘Bear Claws’ is a jangly, melodic tune not too far away from tunes we’ve become accustomed to hearing on FIFA video game editions. Their fast-paced, happy indie rock is reminiscent of Circa Waves with hints of Two Door Cinema Club and fellow bloomers The Hunna worked into the recipe.




Lead singer Craig Fitzgerald’s lead vocals are smooth and it sounds as if he might’ve taken a tip or two off Van McCann (Catfish and the Bottlemen) on their steady rise since forming in 2011. Continuing to grow, the band are sailing across the pond to support Judah the Lion on their U.S. tour this autumn.

Otherkin

Another Irish outfit, Otherkin are a thrashy indie-punk band (if there was one) who, despite the fact that the lyrics are basically imperceptible, produce simple, anthemic rock with roaring ad-libbed choruses and piercing solos. Their sound comes somewhere inbetween Oasis and that American style ‘noise’ rock played by the likes of Dinosaur Jr. and the Thermals. The band are doing UK festivals this summer and a European tour later in the year as they chase the bigtime.


Get Inuit
Hailing from Kent, Get Inuit brand their own fuzzy indie rock as ‘dirty pop’. With telephone-lined vocals and string-snapping guitar parts, the music is heavy and relaxing at the same time.
They’re like an easy-listening version of both Nirvana and Weezer put together, and encapsulate various corners of the rock music catalogue in their own genre-spanning way. In fact, you can hear just about any band you’ve listened to in the past ten years in their music, from the falsetto backing vocals to the nifty, major-key guitar licks.

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