New Times BPB, LLC
Alex Rendon
| Talking Shit |

Top Ten Current Bands That Should Be Famous

Alex Rendon | December 17, 2013 | 8:04am
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • email
  • Print Article
AA
^
Keep New Times Free
Support Us
I Support
  • Local
  • Community
  • Journalism
  • logo

Support the independent voice of South Florida and help keep the future of New Times free.

Support Us

We recently surmised which local bands should have made it big. We probably missed dozens -- no, hundreds (including your particular favorite band, of course) -- of acts that deserved a rightful spot on the list, but we're only human. Don't hate just because we judge; that's what we're paid to do.

Anyway, before you start throwing rotten tomatoes at your computer screen, we drafted yet another nifty list that's sure to percolate even more divisiveness throughout Broward and the Palm Beaches. Today's list? Ten current local bands we feel have the goods to strike gold.

Do not be shocked if, after the jump, you'll see bands that haven't been around too long, haven't released much material, or are still in high school even. Our decisions were based on acts that have a certain sound, a major budding talent, or simply emanate that fucking rock and roll star vibe that gravitates people to them. We weighed those sentiments over how many years a band's been together, how amazing their promotional arm is, or how many Facebook fans they have.

Don't egg our cars, please.

See also: Top Ten Local Bands That Should Have Made It Big

1. New Coke

This version of New Coke is far superior to that weird-tasting, oversugared, fizzy corn syrup that Coca-Cola tried to force down our throats a couple of decades ago. The Lake Worth band is a caffeinated, high-octane kind of act that shells out top-shelf, metered grit, tearing a page from the art-damaged punk sounds of Suicide and Television.

Mix in chugging guitar fuzz, a la Dinosaur Jr., and singer/guitarist Danny Morales' understated, could-give-a-fuck cadence and you have an indie-rock gem on your hands. Its three-track seven-inch (recorded with the help of Torche's Johnathan Nuñez), Duct Tape Your Mouth, is goddamned fire too. One of our favorite releases of the year.

See also: West Palm Beach's New Coke Creates "Music With a Feeling of Panic"

Learn how to get a song on iTunes at ReverbNation.com

2. Pretty Girls

Hey, guys, this group was your 2013 Readers' Choice as Best Rock Act, so there better be no gripes here. This scuzzy power-pop trio from Boca Raton yields that popular Beach Boys-infused garage rock that is so popular with the scene kids nowadays. But they do it so earnestly. Peppy, but not-in-your-face pep that gets on your nerves. Ya feel us? One of South Florida's best chances to crack the MTV video waves (or whatever they call it).

See also: Pretty Girls' Ideal Night: "Tacos, Whiskey, and Playing Terrible '80s Songs on the Jukebox"

3. The Osceola Brothers

The first two choices were pretty obvious. Pretty Girls and New Coke; no local music fan will argue with those. But how about a blues band from Hollywood consisting of three Seminole brothers still struggling with puberty? Don't knock it before you try it, son.

Despite their peach-fuzzy looks and nonindie sound, the Osceola Brothers blow minds. They may not be a household name, yet, but Sheldon Osceola (age 10), Cameron Osceola (15), and Tyson Osceola (13) are raising eyebrows in Broward's blues community.

Wunderkind lead singer Cameron probably doesn't even know what Wild Turkey is yet but still has the walloping chops of a seasoned blues player three or four times his age.

See also: Tiger Tiger's Lee Tiger on His Album New Era and Making Music After the Death of His Brother

4. Spred the Dub

Despite (or maybe because of,) its self-description as "South Florida's Good Time Reggae," Micky Vintage and company have much more to offer than one of those tedious frat boy reggae-rock schisms (because if you have dreads, you shouldn't be wearing a goddamned Lacoste shirt, OK?)

Spred the Dub is a South Florida staple at this point, and its take on white-boy reggae is balanced out with a perfect amount of rocksteady and the Clash's brash sass. Their frontman just effuses rock-star swagger. An effortlessly cool vibe that has even dudes admiring him.

See also: Spred the Dub Brings Roots, Rock, Riddim Every Monday to Reef Road

5. Lavola

Despite undergoing several iterations, Julian Cires' brainchild Lavola remains a Palm Beach County sonic force to be reckoned with. We give Cires serious kudos for having the wherewithal to muster on after watching previous Lavola lineups unravel.

We don't know how he'll get it done, but dude has persevered, with each newer version of Lavola just as bombastic as the ones prior. He had major-label players sniffing his boxer shorts a few years back. With this guy's monstrous guitar licks and tremendous cathartic howls, we are confident he is headed for greener pastures (and by green, we mean of the c-note green sort).

See also: Lavola Hosts Cans and Bands to Raise Money for Palm Beach County Food Bank

6. Killmama

Deerfield Beach's Sophie Sputnick is a talented songstress and multi-instrumentalist. Her solo effort The Chase, recorded live at Radio-Active Records back in 2011, wowed us with its simplicity and intimacy.

And her transformation into an Alison Mossheart-like gritty blues badass had our jaws dropping to the floor. This gal can do just about anything. In the little time Killmama has been gigging, this duo has garnered serious attention. Witness the magnificently produced, Natalie Morales-directed video for "Lost It." Featuring former True Blood cast member Brit Morgan, it plays like it should be on high rotation on MTV 2.

See also: Killmama's Drummer, Sophie Sputnik, Says She's Grateful for the "Opportunity to Bang on Things"

Upload your music for free at ReverbNation.com

7. Everymen

We couldn't leave out Everymen, of course, leaders of Lake Worth's hillbilly gutter-punk bluegrass wave. Captain Bobo leads the way here. Although the amiable lead singer has scaled down the fire-breathing shtick, Bobo still works the audience with his other bag of tricks -- his impassioned vocals and charming stage presence. Add rollicking bullfiddles and Reid-mandolins and a backing band that resembles Duck Dynasty gone Lower East Side and there you have the indescribable crusty enchantment that is Lake Worth's Everymen.

See also: South Florida String Festival Premieres in Hollywood with Diverse Lineup: Everymen, Uproot Hootenanny

8. The Vogans

Here's another cast of young bloods whose vocal cords probably haven't cracked entirely out of puberty yet (especially when you take into account lead vocalist Andre Heizer's high-pitched sneers). Don't let their age fool you; this Boca Raton-based quintet jams out fantastic, angular, chiming post-punk in the vein of Tape 'n Tapes and Tokyo Police Club.

Its eponymous debut EP, released this past May, is a dazzling and playful testament to the potential this nascent hipster troupe has. And considering their youth, these guys will only get better with age. Also, the Vogans have some serious alt-rock lineage in their outfit, a drummer with the Morrissey pedigree -- OK, his name is a few letters off, John Paul Morrissee, but it's still a magnificent sign.

See also: Meet Indie Rock, Boca-Bred Prodigies the Vogans

9. Black Seal

With Mount Everest-sized riffage, epic vocal snarls over miles and miles of reverb, and treble charge, there is no denying the power of Delray Beach's Black Seal. This group is the real-deal Holyfield. Its EP Pyre scorched out brainwaves with its disemboweling proto-metal thunder and Astaroth Crowley's guttural howls. Dark and ambitious, loud and unrelenting, this record is like the psychedelic lovechild of Black Sabbath and experimental doom-metal act Pelican.

See also: Black Seal's Robb Erwin Talks H.P. Lovecraft, Pinnipeds, and Sabbath

10. Cop City/Chill Pillars

A cacophony of discordance, distant vocals, and bizarre-o time signatures, Cop City Chill Pillars is not the easiest to warm up to initially. But that's exactly why we love this musty group of art-damaged Palm Beach County misfits.

It's not always sunshine and corn chips down here in South Florida. The Pillars corner a more sinister and experimental area of our musical landscape -- a weirder, noisier, and more convoluted one. Love them or hate them, there is certainly nothing else quite like them.

See also: Soaking Wet: Cop City/Chill Pillars on Creep Rock, Sexual Frustration, and Getting Hosed

New Party Rules for Millennials

10 Best Hipster Bars in Broward and Palm Beach Counties

Top 20 Sexiest R&B Songs from the '90s to Today

Top Five Things That Make New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg a Hipster

Ten Best Florida Metal Bands of All Time



Follow @CountyGrind

  • Music
  • Talking Shit

Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our terms of use, our cookies policy, and our privacy policy

The New Times Broward-Palm Beach may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners.

©2021 New Times BPB, LLC. All rights reserved.

CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: California Privacy Policy | California Collection Notice | Do Not Sell My Info