State of Emergence: 10 bands for 2010

2010 is upon us so it’s time to shed a tear about the year just gone and start looking to the future. Rip It Up Digital will get you kick-started by looking at some bands who are set to make a big splash in 2010.

Who knows where we’ll be in a year’s time? No doubt about it, the next twelve months are as open to possibility as much as the Pakistani Cricket Team is open to ridicule. But at the turn of the year (and decade), there were certainly a few artists poised to make their mark on 2010. Here are Rip It Up Digital’s 10 picks for the year:

Who: Two Door Cinema Club
Where: Bangor, Northern Ireland
Sounds like: a flexible indie demon bending from pop sweetness to pulsating electro
The Hype: Boutique French record label Kitsune unearthed this lot on the seventh instalment of their trendy Maison series. Since then the trio have gone from strength to strength, and have just released a new single I Can Talk.
Download: Something Good Can Work, I Can Talk



Who: Local Natives
Where: Silver Lake, USA
Sounds like: post-AnCo tribalistic folk rock with an air of Grizzly Bear comatose
The Hype: The NME selected Local Natives to take part on their 2009 Radar Tour along with fellow upstarts Golden Silvers, Marina & The Diamonds and Yes Giantess. They dropped their debut Gorilla Manor late in 2009.
Download: Airplane



Who: Free Energy
Where: Philadelphia, USA
Sounds like: Weezer-like slacker rock with flourishes of jangly guitars and bloopy synths
The Hype: James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem signed Free Energy to his über-chic DFA label and put out their self-titled single and EP last year. Oft-compared to The Strokes at their more relaxed times, Free Energy are set to make waves in 2010.
Download: Free Energy



Who: The Drums
Where: New York, USA
Sounds like: energetic post-punk injected with nostalgic Stone Roses-esque melodies
The Hype: The Drums have everyone from Pitchfork to the BBC talking. Their single Let’s Go Surfing exploded onto the scene last year, earning high praise from all corners and ubiquity on the airwaves. A debut album can’t be far away.
Download: Let’s Go Surfing



Who: Jonathan Boulet
Where: Sydney, Australia
Sounds like: ambient folk pop delicately touched up by electronic soundscapes and experimental rhythms
The Hype: For his 21 years, you’d think Jonathan Boulet would have displayed immaturity and brashness on his eponymous debut record. But this couldn’t be further from the truth, as the vibrant Jonathan Boulet was rewarded by becoming Triple J’s feature album late in 2009.
Download: A Community Service Announcement, 321 Ready Or Not



Who: Broken Bells
Where: Los Angeles, USA
Sounds like: an epic musical tug-of-war between The Shins’ James Mercer and super-producer Danger Mouse
The Hype: Umm, it’s James Mercer and Danger Mouse. Enough said.
Download: The High Road



Who: Cloud Control
Where: The Blue Mountains, Australia
Sounds like: shoeless stoner folk a la Fleet Foxes infused with Born Ruffians’ joie de vivre
The Hype: Early in 2009, Cloud Control captured our pop-starved hearts with the effervescent Deathcloud.  They have since been hard at work in the studio preparing their debut LP. The first single from it, Gold Canary, has been heavily rotated on the airwaves.
Download: Deathcloud, Gold Canary



Who: Pulled Apart By Horses
Where: Leeds, England
Sounds like: hardcore disco punk; as if you actually pulled someone apart with horses
The Hype: Toured with Biffy Clyro and Future Of The Left in 2009; played the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds in 2008; all the cool taste makers from NME to Kerrang and Drowned in Sound love them to bits. They must be the hottest unsigned band in Britain.
Download: I Punched a Lion in the Throat



Who: City Riots
Where: Adelaide, Australia
Sounds like: the rockiest possible representation of the ‘indie-disco’ genre
The Hype: Not many bands can boast two American tours and one of the UK before the release of their first album, but City Riots can. They were nominated for Triple J’s Unearthed J Award in 2008 have just finished recording their debut album with Smashing Pumpkins producer Bjorn Thorsrud in Chicago.
Download: Burning Me Out



Who: Everything Everything
Where: Manchester, England
Sounds like: free-flowing indie pop star gazing in a field of daisies
The Hype: We’re not the first to come across Everything Everything. The BBC have made this Mancunian quartet one of their Sounds of 2010. But this only serves as confirmation that these guys are gonna be BIG this year. Keep your eyes peeled.
Download: Photoshop Handsome

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