BAND OF THE DAY #242 - The Barr Brothers

The Montreal based quartet is comprised of brothers Andrew and Brad Barr, classical harpist Sarah Page and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Vial. Their music is quite unique, characterised by a blend of folk, rock and experimental techniques. (Brother Brad plays a guitar that is made from a fishing-tackle box!) Check out ‘Beggar in the Morning’ from their self-titled debut album. The drone like vocals and melodic string arrangement will mesmerise you!

BAND OF THE DAY #241 - Savages

SAVAGES are a London-based-four-piece ; vocalist Jehnny Beth (John & Jehn) guitarist Gemma Thompson, bassist Ayse Hassan, drummer Fay Milton, whose mixture of guitars with a groovy no wave/punk rythmic session feels like it could implode at any given moment.

Debut single ‘Husbands’ is a ball of nervous energy desperately trying to fit a multitude of human emotions into the space of 3 minutes. It’s direct, exciting and isn’t about to take any prisoners!

The single ‘Husbands’ is out on Monday (28th May) and you can catch Savages at the Shackwell Arms the next day (29th May) furthur details here.

BAND OF THE DAY #240 - The Big Sleep

The Brooklyn-based trio of guitarist Danny Barria, bassist and vocalist Sonya Balchandani, and drummer Gabe Rhodes make up the experimental post-rock group The Big Sleep. Their avant-rock sounds have been described as both heavy and dreamy, and their debut LP ‘Son of the Tiger’, released on Frenchkiss Records, received many plaudits.

This trio’s post-rock instrumentals covered with a shoegaze topping, veers towards vintage psychedelia which you imagine Billy Corgan has desperately been searching for these past 15 years and still unable to recreate.

BAND OF THE DAY #237 - Alby Daniels

With his first EP ‘This Dawn’ released in February this year it becomes ever more tricky to try and pigeon-hole this new soul sensation. He’s not quite dubstep, he’s not quite Stevie Wonder but he is making a name for himself in both fields. His sound is quite nineties R&B, calming and smooth however there’s a sharp urban edge to it, he cites Amy Winehouse as one of his biggest influences and you can definitely hear that in his music, providing his tracks with a more gritty undertone. Daniels is still quite the mystery and it will be interesting to see what he makes of himself within the next year or so, so far we know he’s recently been collaborating with Fantastic Mr. Fox and all that can be said is keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground to avoid missing this potentially great soul artist.

Listen to his fresh new track ‘Voodoo Holiday’ above and the track he’s been making a name for himself with below, ‘This Dawn’. Londoners, he’s also playing at Corsica Studios this Saturday so get down there so you can give the rest of us more of an insight!

BAND OF THE DAY #229 - Hundreds

Since the release of their debut album in 2010, this brother and sister from Hamburg have taken an exciting path including appearances at Eurosonic, Iceland Airwaves and SXSW.

Euphoric and spherical, and sometimes sad Hundreds produce captivating pop music which is characterised by sensitive and sophisticated rhythms. In between noises and sounds, flapping, scratching, clapping beats.

BAND OF THE DAY #226 - Bleeding Heart Narrative >

Bleeding Heart Narrative create stunningly beautiful sounds, with a dark haunting intensity to make your blood rush. As interested in textures and orchestration as they are with rhythm and melody, they create a distinct and captivating style for themselves, though they’re not a band to settle on a single genre or approach. In creating their own music, Bleeding Heart Narrative incorporate the more abstract elements of their influences into more traditional song structures, applying pop sensibilities to them as they go.

Bleeding Heart Narrative allow the listener to escape and go beyond what surrounds them and that my friends is something very beautiful!

BAND OF THE DAY #225 - Novella



Novella are London-based Sophy Hollington, Hollie Warren and Suki Sou. They met in Brighton and formed the band in February 2010 after they all moved up to the capital.

Veronica Falls are such fans of Novella’s dreamy guitars and apathetic harmonies that they took them on tour with them last month. Novella produce understated early 90’s lo-fi, with a little bit of psychedelia thrown in for good measure whilst churning out moodiness in spades. Be sure to catch at least one of the two shows they are playing at this years Great Escape Festival!