2019 has been rolling for a month already, so now that it’s February, we are bringing you a total of 6 bands to watch this year. The bands listed below are most likely to release an album, new singles or go on tour in 2019. The smallest of them all could potentially blow up this year, so if they do, you can say you heard them here first. Let’s begin.
1. BILK
This three-piece from Essex released four singles in 2018 and grabbed the attention of major English radio stations such as the BBC or Radio X. With Nirvana as their main influence, BILK have managed to create their own sound, which is fast paced and features guitars, lyrics and rap verses that talk about the British youth. That’s why their live shows are always a success. And as a matter of fact, last year they played on the main stage at RiZE Festival the same day as non other than Liam Gallagher, Manic Street Preachers and Miles Kane.
If you want to see for yourself what all the buzz is about, follow them on social media (they’re @bilkbandpage everywhere) because that is the best way to find out about their gigs. From BILK we expect new tunes, perhaps an EP, and plenty more gigs for 2019.
2. SWMRS
You probably already know about this one. SWMRS’s debut album of 2016, Drive North, was quite a success on the punk rock scene, and their single Lose It was definitely the hit that put them on people’s radar. They’ve been releasing singles since August of last year, and their sophomore album Berkeley’s On Fire is set to release February the 15th. We know that for this one the band have combined their usual sound of guitars with electronic beats that will “throw you on a loop”. Catch them on tour this spring and hear the new tunes live.
3. Birthday Card
This small band from Brighton have been receiving attention lately thanks to Jamie Oborne (The 1975’s manager), who tweeted that he really liked an unreleased track of theirs called Shy Away, that was sent to him on a pen drive. The music that they have released is very 1975-like, with guitars and synthesisers reminiscent of the 80s synth-pop, so we reckon that pretty soon, Jamie will sign them to The 1975’s record label, Dirty Hit, which counts with bands of the likes of Wolf Alice, Pale Waves and The Japanese House, just to name a few.
4. The Technicolors
Perhaps you know about these guys because of The Maine. They have opened for them quite a few times and in fact, they toured Europe with them in 2017. Their two albums are very reminiscent of the 00’s garage revival, and now, fast forward to 2019, they are changing their sound a little bit and introducing synthesisers to their tunes, or at least that’s what we have perceived from their latest single Turn Into Blue, which is part of a collection of singles they will be dropping throughout the year. This series will be called Techni-trax, and we will get a new track every month. The band shared on social media an explanation of this new project, but to sum it up, they have focused on each track as its own respective album.
5. Tiny Hueman
This five-piece rock band from Philadelphia dropped their debut EP titled Shallow (mastered by Ryan Schwabe, who has worked with The Districts and Modern Baseball) in 2017, and ever since then, American radio stations such as iHeartRadio’s 104.5FM have been playing their tracks. Their biggest hit is Hollowhead, a strong song with a powerful chorus and a soft verse that features melodic guitars.
For the time that they have been active, they have been religiously releasing new music every year, and now the band have recently shared that they have rented a cabin to write and demo new music, so we definitely expect new tunes this year or even, fingers crossed, an album.
6. ISLAND
If you love indie, alternative, chill music, this band is for you. With their excellent 2018 debut album Feels Like Air under their belt, ISLAND are already adding new music to their discography with their two new singles, Just That Time of The Night and All in My Head, two tracks that don’t stray away from their sound that we know and love. They are going on tour this February, so you can catch them in Europe and the UK in the upcoming weeks (Bristol and Amsterdam are sold out!)
