The Best Bands To Soundtrack Your Summer

Peace

Summer has always been exciting, especially this year. After a whole year of non-stop lockdowns, we are finally welcoming back brighter months. 

With more bands releasing new music and returning to venues, today we will talk about some of the best bands to listen to in summer. Here goes! #

Dry Cleaning 

Dry Cleaning are no doubt a rising star this year. Their new album ‘New Long Leg’ was only released in April, and the South London-based post-punk band has already announced their 2022 UK Tour with a date in London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town. Dry Cleaning are a Sprechgesang (spoken singing) band (think Black Midi, Squid), combining deep bassline and rapid guitar riffs with vivid lines about desolation and loneliness. The band will give you a new view of mysterious realism and lyrical escapism. 

P.V.A.

I heard about this band from some friends when they first appeared, but watching a video of their live performance at Windmill Brixton last summer was the first time I heard their music. From then, they immediately drew my attention, because disco-punk is God! P.V.A are a unique listen, combining industrial noise, synth-pop, post-punk, and techno. Their sound is heavy, but they are easily the most danceable indie band at the moment.

Peace

It has been a long time since Peace released new music or went on tour. Before I get into this one, no, I am not only recommending them because I am called watermelon gal and they’ve got a watermelon-inspired EP cover. Truth is, they’re just a really good band! Back in 2015, the first song I listened to from Peace was called ‘The Music Was to Blame’ (so it’s not a coincidence that I am now writing for Music Is To Blame), and that song really had me fall in love with the band. Peace’s lyrics will always touch your heart, so their music should be celebrated by all. Rock n’ Roll is no longer special (it is become clichéd somehow) but Peace are the one rock band that you’ll never get tired of. Hopefully we can expect new music from them in the near future. 

 

Gong Gong Gong 工工工

This Beijing-based experimental rock duo - formed by Canadian bassist Joshua Frank and Hong Kong-born guitarist/vocalist Tom Ng – have their musical roots embedded in mainland China. Gong Gong Gong 工工工 are drum-less, but this is only one of the reasons why they are unique. The band experiment by using sounds only they create. ‘Phantom Rhythm’, their debut album, directed interest towards Beijing underground music. As for Ng’s lyrics sung in Cantonese, I don’t understand them, (as someone born in Hong Kong) but I suppose that’s the point. The duo try to connect audiences, from Canada to LA, from London to Hong Kong, from Tokyo to Beijing. 

Tungz

Unlike the bands I mentioned above, this band is a completely different genre. Formed in a basement studio in Bristol, the now-Bristol-London-based quartet are working on their own musical style. While other bands make rock n’ roll, punk-disco, funk, lo-fi or psych-pop music, Tungz bring us feel-good grooves that you won’t be able to find on a Talking Heads album. With two successful EPs, Tungz’s music always gives me some inspiration to groove in my bedroom.

Sunset Rollercoaster

As one of very few bands from Asia that writes all their lyrics in English, this Taiwan-based band have toured and gained fans from all around the world. Largely inspired by American soul and funk music from the 70s/80s, they combine funk, grooves, jazz and synth-pop to bring you to a wonderland in which you can lose track of time. Jinji Kikko, their first EP released in 2016, is their most well-known work and best-selling vinyl. It is this EP that houses the track ‘My Jinji’, (Jinji 金桔 being Mandarin for kumquat) their most popular song so far. With its repeated melodies followed by a sudden breakdown, it’s something you can’t find elsewhere.  

As music festivals are back soon, let's listen and get ready for that long-awaited fun. 

 

 

Eva Leung 

@watermelonlaidbackgal

Image: Jonnie Craig