A new name for 2024, Manchester crew Alchemize have only released a handful of singles, but have already gained very positive praise from some rather major outlets. They’ve been officially playlisted by Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music, and already been championed by BBC Radio 1.
In the summer of 2024, cult rock band Healthy Junkies shared their ‘Favourite Place’ single which touted them as an energy driven garage rock band. The single’s mix of rock, punk ‘n’ roll and accented vocals served up a track with not only a distinctive sound, but a number which sounded like it would translate brilliantly in the band’s live set.
Their eagerly awaited follow up, ‘Dead Souls’ could not be more different. There are moments where the vocal makes it very clear that this is still the work of the same band, but musically, it’s far richer. More mature, even.
Barren, a doomy metal band from New Jersey formed during the global pandemic of 2020. Over the next few years, they slowly cultivated a heavy sound that, although classic, also shares a very deeply atmospheric feel.
In 2023, US rockers Nectarous released ‘Whiskey Hustlin’ Woman’, a great single that flaunted a massive 70s influence. The way it blended the Southern Style of Lynyrd Skynyrd with a dose of 90s style funk rock – particularly notable through an infectious guitar riff – was particularly cool, if never entirely fashionable. In some ways, it set the band in place as a more melodic Black Stone Cherry, and more than suggested there would be more great music ahead.
Formed during the pandemic of 2020, Wird are a London based band who revel in big riffs and grungy noises. Taking various influences from the 90s, they shared their ‘Screwed’ debut in 2022, which immediately cast itself in a Puddle of Mudd vein with its post-Nirvana Cobain-isms, and chugging approach, before ‘Clown’ took the band into slightly heavier climes with the aid of copious amounts of feedback and a sludgy guitar riff that equalled a number of second division grunge acts.