Sub Pop Invasion

My musical life has been overtaken by artists on the Sub Pop label. Originally know for bringing us the world the gunge scene of Seattle with Nirvana and Soundgarden, Sub Pop has grown, and morphed, over the past 20 years to be one of my favorite labels. The band currently on the label most of us know about are The Shins. They also have a great musician in Iron and Wine, yes this is actually single performer, Sam Beam. Folky acoustic rock, similar to Nick Drake, good for a lot of situations.

Well I've discovered several other Sub Pop bands that are worth mentioning. The first, I mentioned in my last post, Wolf Parade, very fun. From there, I stumbled on Handsome Furs which is actually one of the lead singers from Wolf Parade and his wife. Very minimalist with guitar, drums and samples. More experimental than The Shins or Wolf Parade, but in a fun way. Not an everyday listen, but a nice tangent while driving.

Then I fell into a band from South Carolina called Band of Horses. They have a more traditional setup and sound, kind of similar to Guster, but more plugged in. This is no groundbreaking amazing music, it's pretty good rock, good for background while working.

The last band is called The Helio Sequence. When I first picked up their CD, it took me a couple of attempts to get through the first song, not that it was band, but the first song didn't grab me, and I wasn't in the mood. But when I finally did get into it, I was very impressed. I've gotten through this CD a couple of times, and I'm more impressed every time. Then I went onto their MySpace page and learned that it is a 2-piece, Brandon Summers on guitar and vocals, and Benjamin Weikel on drums and keyboards, and that makes it even more impressive. They have a crisp and full sound that is fun to listen to, and it grows on you.

So I hope you check these bands out, and enjoy. And in case you were wondering, I learned about all of these bands through pandora.com, I love that website