Best band no one has heard of

[scottcsmith]

My nominee is the German duo Wolfsheim. Although comparisons to Depeche Mode are inevitable, Wolfsheim, IMHO, is superior to Depeche Mode in every way. Just give a listen to the brilliant album Spectators to see what I mean.

What bands do you listen to that no one else has heard of?

[Adams Wulff]

1. Boa and the Constrictors

Local Denver blues band

[opiate69]

2. Eleven.....

Excellent band...

www.elevenworld.com

[SilasSoule]

3. House of Love

From the early nineties, one, maybe two albums, but A groove I really tapped into.


..

[Screaming Lord Byron]

58. They were kinda famous as I recall. I also recall three albums.

[dutchdemocrat]

4. Intwine

A Dutch Antillean band. The lead singer dropped out of the Dutch Idol contest (he was favoured to win), because they would not let him sing an original song.

Peterson sounds like Hootie meets Pearl Jam.

Unknown outside of Belgium and Holland really. But well liked here.


http://www.intwine.nl/

[Wonco_the_Sane]

5. Cassius King

Funky Alt-Rock

[david_vincent]

6. A few

Current: The Venue.
A couple from the past, off the top of my head:
Chants R&B and the Ladedas, both Kiwi bands.
The first bunch were taped live in a bar and
it's the most honest, uncompromising, live set
I've ever heard.
The Ladedas set Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince
to music, and IMHO the result is the most
criminally overlooked album of the rock era.

[Birthmark]

7. Klaatu

http://www.klaatu.org/

Of course, if you mean from *this* century then I haven't a clue. :)

[MinnFats]

13. Lotta people thought Klattu might be a reconstituted...

Beatles!
pretty clever.

And where did the band get its name?

hint: Michael Rennie.

[david_vincent]

15. Klaatu verada nicto!

[Whitacre D_WI]

55. Calling occupants of interplanetary craft.

Calling occupants of interplanetary, most extraordinary craft.

[DODI]

63. Calling Occumpants of interplanetary craft!

Klaatu made me decide to marry my husband. I thought my brother and I were the only ones that remembered them. But my husband (boyfriend) had the debut album with the original "Musicland" sticker on it.

[MercutioATC]

8. Prefab Sprout

Pure, undiluted essence of the 80's.

[toddzilla]

9. gov't mule

kick-ass straight up rock n roll.

[ComerPerro]

20. They are amazing

Have you heard The Deepest End yet?

I haven't, but I need to get it.

It's their 5 hour concert from last May, and it comes with a DVD.

It has a ton of guest stars, including my 3 favorite bass players

Les Claypool
Vic Wooten
Mike Gordon

[tigereye]

46. I've heard of them - great name

[fudge stripe cookays]

35. Steve McQueen--one of my 80s favorites!

[Atman]

10. Sand Rubies, Red House Painters,

eom

[UnAmericanJoe]

11. The Yum Yums

Power-Pop from Norway.

[david_vincent]

14. What about the New Pornographers?

What made you forget about them? Huh? You got something
against Canada?

[UnAmericanJoe]

22. LOL

I've had a toothache for 3 days and quite frankly I'm a bit pissy about the widespread healthcare thing they got going on up there.

But yes, for Canadians they are quite good. ;)

[Fozzledick]

12. Voice of the Beehive

I agree with the reviewer who described them as sounding like "the Go-Go's meet the B-52's only ten times better!"

[Violet_Crumble]

23. Hey, I've heard of them!

They were great! 'Let It Bee' was one of the first CDs I ever bought and I still listen to it every now and again....

My nomination for best band no-one's (or not many folk have)heard of would have to be Died Pretty. And I'd probably throw in Sugar as well, but probably every Husker Du fan's knows about them. And Bob Mould's got a blog!...

If anyone's interested in the worst band that way too many people have heard of, that goes hands-down to silverchair...


Violet...

[MinnFats]

16. here';s a couple possibilities for the oldsters...

1,) Rotary Connection -- (hint: one member of this band had a fabulously high range; she died of breast cancer but not before she gave birth to a daughter who has a very high-profile job in the entertainment biz today.

2.) Cold Blood. San Francisco horn band that palled around with and traded members with Tower of Power. Lead singer was a terrific voice name of Lydia Pense.

3.) Quicksilver Messenger Service..one of the original west coast hippie bands. Played super long sets with the Dead and Jefferson Airplane way long time ago. Guitarist (lead) John Cippolina died a few years back. He was one of the great ones.

[david_vincent]

18. Minnie Riperton?

And Quicksilver's really famous (at least among us dinosaurs).

[MinnFats]

25. yes, minnie ripperton.

her daughter is Maya Rudolf (i think i got the name right) who is a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

[Tom Kitten]

24. I have to agree...

Quicksilver is one of the best underrated bands of all time! Their first few albums are classics, and Cipollina's guitar playing is unmatched! To this day it is instantly recognizable...

and Cold Blood! I don't know what you got...but it makes me groovy!

Great stuff, it needs to be heard on the radio more often! Some stuff is timeless.

[mitchum]

44. I also agree about Quicksilver Messenger Service

Hands down the best Bay area psychedelic band. If you like Verlaine/Television, you need to check out QMS

[DancingBear]

54. last time I checked

Cippolina's amp set-up was on display at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

BTW, "Who Do You Love' EPITOMIZES what 60's music was all about.

[ComerPerro]

17. Umphrey's McGee, Bockman's Euphio

Two very good jam bands

[neoteric lefty]

19. The Chris Mccarty Band

North Florida band. Just saw them on wed. Great rhythm and style.

[rucky]

21. Charmparticles, The Brother Egg, Full Blown Kirk

www.cdbaby.com

[Wonco_the_Sane]

26. Bowling for Soup

[yorgatron]

27. 801

brian eno,phil manzanera,simon phillips,bill maccormick,francis monkman,and lloyd watson.their version of "baby's on fire" kicks major ass.

[Beaker]

28. Listen Now is a great piece of vinyl-

I still play it quite a bit.

[Lisa0825]

82. BFS are good guys!

friends of friends of mine!

[Beaker]

29. Gary Myrick & the Figures

I picked this one up in a cut-out bin 23 years ago.



it rocks.

[fudge stripe cookays]

36. Pick up "Language" if you can find it...

It's better, in my opinion.

Gary Myrick also went on to be in Havana 3 AM.

[bobthedrummer]

51. That's a KEEPER!

Oh yes it is!

[He loved Big Brother]

30. Thought Industry, or Firewater

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[NoPasaran]

32. The Guevara Brothers

Ever hear their tape Made In Mexico? Didn't think so.

[solinvictus]

33. Coil

An English experimental/industrial band. Chris and Cosey is another one in the same genre.

[CanuckAmok]

87. Coil aren't unheard of, though...

Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson (foundoing member of Throbbing Grislte along with Genesis P Orridge who later formed Psychic TV, and Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, who collectively became Chris & Cosey)and John Balance are the core members of Coil. Coil are HUGE in the deep underground trance and electronic music scene, and have scored several films (including Clive Barker's "Hellraiser", in which case Coil's score was rejected for being "too terrifying"--I have a copy of it, and I can vouche for it's scariness!).

Any decent 'alternative' sampler LP to come out of the 80s has at least one Coil track on it. Two which come to mind are the seminal "If You Can't Please Yourself, You Can't Please Your Soul" Compilation from Some Bizzare, and United Dairy label's "Devastate to Liberate". Both compilations are 'must-have' volumes in any New-Wave/Industrial/Electronic collection.

Furthermore, Coil's political activism is legendary, as both members have raised thousands for the militant Animal Liberation Front, and several G/L/B/T and HIV/AIDS activism and support organizations, among others.

[Insider]

34. Fertile Ground, Baltimore MD

performing tonight at the funk box. very nice ensemble, been on at least one international tour recently (europe, canada), together.

more at:
www.blackoutstudios.com

[fudge stripe cookays]

37. Huxton Creepers

An awesome Australian rock n roll band from mid to late 80s. I'd kill for a copy of "12 Days to Paris" on CD, but it doesn't appear to be available.

[Bonhomme Richard]

38. Toad the Wet Sprocket

The album Dulcinea is fantastic.

[Whitacre D_WI]

39. Ego Summit.

A "super group" from Columbus, OH, that made one fantastic record in '97 called "The Room Isn't Big Enough."

The lineup:
Ron House (Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Great Plains)
Don Howland (Bassholes, Gibson Bros.)
Tommy Jay (Mike Rep and the Quotas, lots of home recordings)
Mike Rep (Mike Rep and the Quotas, True Believers, all those OA/NA tapes under your bed)
Jim Shepard (V-3, Vertical Slit)

They all took turns playing the different instruments, singing the songs they wrote (other than House's "Half Off," which is sung by Howland), and altogether making one of the damn finest albums I've ever heard.

Jim killed himself about a year later, so this is one of the last projects of a great man and a great musician.

Only 1000 copies were ever pressed, and I think Mike still has about 300 copies left that he can't give away. Talk about unrecognized.

[Burma Jones]

40. Head of Femur

Camper van Beethoven (well, they're kinda famous)
Tone, the Guitar Ensemble

[Dees]

41. Jack Mack and the Heart Attack..."Jack it Up"

LA band. Big horns sound..rockin soul and R & B.

[CalebHayes]

42. Sublime

[mitchum]

43. Gun Club...

Low and Sweet Orchestra
The Backsliders
Chicasaw Mudpuppies
Tex & The Horseheads
The Moodists
The March Violets
General Jack and The Greaseguns
The Scientists
The Triffids
Jean Paul Sartre Experience
Savage Republic
MX-80 Sound
The Southholes

[tigereye]

47. heard of many of these folks as well

maybe we just have more obscure radio in Pittsburgh

[Whitacre D_WI]

50. Well, in Pittsburgh...

...you've got the Karl Hendricks Trio.

[tigereye]

66. actually he is a friend of a guy I used to be in a band with

and he also works in a music store I used to frequent.

[Whitacre D_WI]

77. "The Dress You Bought in Cleveland"

is one of the finest songs ever written.

[CanuckAmok]

89. A still-active Rumour: MX80 Sound may be The Residents.

It's possible, I guess :shrug:

[peekaloo]

45. Railway Children

but to be honest I don't know if they're still around. 'Native Place' is a sweet little record.

[tigereye]

48. know this thread is old, but

husband says Matching Mole


old faves from my punk/alternative days
The Five (popular here in Pgh and in Boston more than a few years ago
Scrawl
The Bonedaddies
ATS ( also from Pgh)
band I was in called Bone of Contention (couldn't resist)
King Missile

also
Can
Steve Ashley

[Whitacre D_WI]

53. Scrawl is pretty good.

I like me some Columbus rawk!



And come on -- you can't say nobody's ever heard of King Missile. Jesus was way cool. and Martin Scorsese makes such excellent films.

[peekaloo]

61. King Missile

Detachable Penis!

[tigereye]

65. well many of these bands mentioned in the thread, I had heard

of because I was really into the indie scene. But they deserved mention anyway. :)

[fudge stripe cookays]

73. Yup, I love them too.

I like Recurrence a lot.

[alittlelark]

49. Concrete Blonde

wonder what happened to 'em?

[tigereye]

67. I heard somewhere that they have a new album out

I love the singer's voice.

[alittlelark]

70. Thanks, I'll hunt it down!!

:-)

[fudge stripe cookays]

72. I saw them in Dallas in spring 2002

Steve Winn who used to be in Dream Syndicate opened for them. Awesome show.

Johnette Napolitano gained a bsazillion brownie points in my eyes when I read an interview with her. She mentioned how much she hated Bush.

[Beaker]

80. I've seen them a few times in chicago-

The first time was at Metro, front and center(using the stage to set our drinks on), and the show was AWESOME!

The next time I saw them at Metro wasn't so awesome...apparently they had delays/bus trouble getting into town from Indy, and Johnette was so fucking drunk she couldn't even stand up- she sat on the stage and wouldn't even face the audience- and then she couldn't remember the words to the first song, and the band kept playing the intro but she never jumped in.
the band was clearly disgusted, as was the audience, and the show was over in 10 minutes...total drag.

The next time was at Park West, and the show was MUCH better.

I've worn out several copies of their first and IMO best album, which now appears to be out of print...if you ever see it, GRAB IT!

[Red_Storm]

86. they reunited and released a new album......

2 years ago, a really good one called Group Therapy and they're out on tour again.....

[bobthedrummer]

52. Sneaker Pimps

"Bloodsport"

[greendog]

56. Eclectricity

A folk fusion band from Bloomington, Indiana....mid 1980's.

[mvd]

57. Letters To Cleo, New Pornographers, Jayhawks, The Painkillers,

and K's Choice would be among my top picks.

There are a couple artists I haven't mentioned before: Thea Gilmore and Maren Ord. Both do sophisticated pop, and are at the Michelle Branch level - and a little above Avril, Katy Rose, and Fefe Dobson.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

59. The Associates. Seriously, an obscure band that should've but didn't.

[scottcsmith]

74. Was this the Scotish band from the 1980s?

I remember picking up the album "Wild and Lonely" from a Tokyo Virgin Records Megastore in 1990. Great British pop.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

78. That's them. Congratulations, no one else has heard of them.

I'm thinking more of the early eighties records - The Affectionate Punch, Fourth Drawer Down, Sulk and Perhaps, great Scott Walker electronica, but Wild and Lonely is great too.

[SmileyBoy]

60. Avenged Sevenfold.

I'm listening to their CD right now. They fucking ROCK!!!!

[Red State Rebel]

62. Slade

English Rock band from the 70's...they did the original Cum on Feel the Noise

[Screaming Lord Byron]

64. Only obscure in America, they were huge in the UK and known in Canada.

[Red State Rebel]

93. I saw them in concert here in Missouri...

It was right after Slade In Flame came out. I loved "How Does It Feel". For as obscure as they seemed here, that venue was packed.
Great concert! I believe it was 1974/75.

[Cush]

85. I remember them for that one song

Run Runaway

[Emboldened Chimp]

68. Uptown Rulers

Very cool funk/rap band in L.A.

[MrScorpio]

69. 4Hero, The United Future Organization, Jazzanova, Helsinki Nuspirit

Courtney Pine, The Herbalizer, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Minus 8, Zero7, Mono, Olive, Mother Earth, Nitin Sawhney, Omar, Us3

To name a few

[GOPisEvil]

71. The Long Winters and Centro-Matic

:-)

[Lindacooks]

75. Geardaddies!!!

From Austin, MN, made it on Letterman back in the late 80s, early 90s. Great music, I think only one CD, which I play to this day.

[argyl]

76. Jerry Hahn Brotherhood.One great album,thirty years gone.

xx

[chicaloca]

79. Capercaillie

A Scottish group (with one Irish member) who mix traditional Celtic styles with some pop--or maybe it's just that British remixers occasionally get a hold of their songs and remix them to make them more mainstream. Actually, British and Irish DUers may have heard of them, but I've yet to meet an American who has.

My roommate and I also like La Ley, a Chilean pop group, but they're a little more well-known than Capercaillie.

[Goldberg]

81. Rictus...

my good friend plays in that rock-style band. It's known locally. They're pretty good, actually.

[Beaker]

83. Catherine Wheel and Curve and Lush....oh, my.

what can i say...i'm a diehard 43 year-old shoegazer.

Catherine Wheel "Ferment" has some utterly fantastic tuneage- one of my absolute all-time favourite albums...my wife is under strict orders to play "Black Mettalic" at my funeral.



Curve...give Doppelganger a try.



Lush...how about Gala

[abrupt]

91. I saw Catherine Wheel ..

In SF a couple of years ago, they were awesome

[CanuckAmok]

97. Really? I fell asleep at a CW show.

And I wasn't even stoned. Just bored. It was in Vancouver, probably 96 or so.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

96. I can out shoegaze you! Chapterhouse and Slowdive.

Although I prefered Ride. None of them hold a candle to My Bloody Valentine, though.

[fudge stripe cookays]

100. I still like "Cuckoo" better than "Doppelganger"

Great make-out music!

[Cush]

84. Local H and Jimmie's Chicken Shack (2 bands)

no one I know / talk to has heard of either.

Both have new albums coming out in April

[CanuckAmok]

88. Air.

Air are great.

[CanuckAmok]

90. The Chameleons...

Somewhat heard-of in the UK, but virtually unknown in North America. Two incredible albums, both of which make my 'desert island list': Strange Times, and Script of the Bridge.

Frontman Mark Burgess went on to produce Echo and the Bunnymen and others, and is widley believed to be the real originator of the jangly post-psychedelic sound which became 'shoegazing'.

[tigerbeat]

92. The Loud Family....

....or Game Theory. same guy (scott miller) different decade.

[Dogmudgeon]

94. 28th Day

Excellent Northern CA band from the middle 1980s. 25 Pills is one of the best drug-addiction-despair songs written.

The band fissioned into The Downsiders and Barbara Manning and at least two other projects whose names I can't remember.

--bkl

[lojasmo]

95. the Flops

John Munson, Matt Wilson, and Jake Schlicter. Part of the former Trip Shakespeare (minneapolis) John is also in the band Semisonic with Jake, and Matts brother Dan.

I recently saw them at First Avenue, and they played in ALL THREE configurations! They RAWK!

[onebigbadwulf]

98. Spacehog

[blindpig]

99. the fugs

made me what I am today. All you old freeks can show your age by piping up. This mention is for the benefit of the youngsters.