13 Can’t Miss Bands at SXSW 2020

This lineup might as well have been curated directly by Indie Pong, very exciting. Now note, this preview is just off of my initial first glance without doing any deep diving (there are like 300 bands, give me a break), I’m sure there are a lot of great young bands that I haven’t heard of yet and I encourage you to check them out for yourself here:

https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/artists

Let’s get into it:

Algiers

Band from Hotlanta Georgia laying deep soul vocals over modern post-punk with an album coming out on January 17th:

P.S. if you dig this sound check Built On Ashes out by Zeal & Ardor- Indie Pong’s #50 track of 2018!

Ali Barter

Fiyah song and album as a whole, can be abrasive at times but as explained in the disclaimer in the below video (NSFW) it’s her way own cathartic way of dealing with the issues that drive her art:

Beabadoobee

This next song is legitimately one of my favorite songs of the year, absolute lock for best tracks of the year list coming next month. The essential emotion of the vocals mixed with the totally relatable content and accessible pop culture reference to Stephen Malkmus allow us to empathize with this song instantly and use it to bury our own sorrows in and purge:

Black Country, New Road

This song is so awesome, totally original and an exciting new voice from the Speedy Wunderground label (Black Midi). I don’t know when the next release is coming but I can’t wait. Must see.

Cadence Weapon

Sound the alarm: Cadence Weapon was just featured on Indie Pong’s Tracks of the Week LAST WEEK for his and Alice Ivy’s stellar track Sunrise, to read the full article CLICK HERE. Here’s the song:

And here’s another with another former Indie Pong Best New Tracks alum Jacques Greene:

Common Holly

Great album. Me and UndercoverSadGirl both enjoyed. This was my fave, thoroughly enjoyed the tempo change which perfectly mirrored the simple yet both comical and saccharine lyrics:

And this was UndercoverSadGirl’s favorite:

Harunemuri (春ねむり)

She is one of my absolute FAVES from last year. Her music seems impossible to box into one two or even three genres and thus was probably my favorite album of 2018. Sekaiwotorikaeshiteokure was featured in my top 50 best tracks of 2018 (which I keep referencing, here is the playlist since it was pre-Indie Pong era and there is no post). She’s like an entire country’s worth of electricity compressed into one Japanese person and I love it.

I’ve heard from friends that this show is NUTS and I’m so excited she is finally coming to America. Here are two more of my favorites from the album, eagerly awaiting more:

Nasty Cherry

Netflix stars and Charli XCX formed super band Nasty Cherry are on the brink of absolutely exploding and becoming the next big thing. Don’t miss out on the early show you can brag about for years to come when these gals are YUGE.

Otha

This place is packed with pricks – declares the Norwegian introvert as she laments the club she ended up in like I do every time I go to any club ever. I’ll bet this will be one of the best crowds at the fest, mark my words. This song is due for a high profile remix, can’t wait to see this one climb and can’t wait for more tunes.

Pom Pom Squad

Ahh yeah Pom Pom Squad’s album Ow had me ready to run straight through a brick wall like

Seriously though this is a top album of the year for me, can’t miss show for sure. This is one of those situations where the debut album is so good that you must attend and not wait to see this Brooklyn band perfectly collide soul-shattering rock riffs with emotionally draining while also being invigorating lyrics.

Squirrel Flower

We already gave Squirrel Flower some love when we heard this song and instantly threw it on repeat. If you like Mitski, Lucy Dacus, etc. you should definitely check this one out. Album comes out on January 31st and we can’t wait.

Sui Zhen

Australia strikes again making the coolest most innovative pop music out there right now. Vibes!

Weeping Icon

An UndercoverSadGirl favorite here. If someone asked you to describe your ideal SXSW in verbs and one of the words you picked was ‘thrash’ then this is the show for you.

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See y’all there!