At the moment, there a few bands which I am watching very closely (in a non-stalker way, obviously), these bands included HAIM, Radkey, The Family Rain, Drenge, Disclosure and Wardell. A few weeks ago during an intense googling sesh, I realized that all the bands I previously mentioned were made up of siblings. Although I knew this about Disclosure and HAIM, the rest where quite a shock to me. I've already blogged the shit out of HAIM and Disclosure so I'll put them aside for now. It is worth noting that HAIM's (mostly unseen) drummer Dash Hutton is not actually related to the girls which ruins the integrity of the post I won't mention it again.
Radkey are a recent discovery for me, but after listening to their Cat & Mouse E.P. I wish I discovered them sooner. Despite their Afro-Punk image, they are just 3 teenagers with distinctly teenage interests such as video games, films, anime and erm...milk-hating. Another rather recent discovery is The Family Rain who like Radkey are a trio of brothers, but the similarities end there. They hail from Bath and play eclectic blues-rock which sounds equally as current as it does nostalgic. Their celebrity fans include Tom Odell and Lily Allen and have been given the NME seal of approval. After listening their song Trust me... I'm a Genius, the hype seems a lot more justified, I would also recommend giving their Pushing It E.P. a listen too.
Now not many rock bands can say they've been name-checked by a (now ex-)labour MP, but one band that can are Drenge, a brotherly duo from a place near Sheffield. Don't let their normal young-adult aesthetic fool you, beneath that they are a lot more twisted (musically of course). This is apparent in their song titles, for example Face like a skull and I wanna break you in half, their single Bloodsports is packed full of enough awesome riffs and rawness to tell me that their debut album is one not to be missed. Finally we have Wardell, who may not be blood relatives but they are legally brother and sister which is good enough for me. That's not all though, their father happens to be none other than billionaire film director Steven Spielberg, however this hasn't affected the integrity of their music at all. Their first single Opossum is a refreshing piece of folky indie-pop (think Daughter only a little less depressing), more of this can be found on their brilliant debut E.P. Brother / Sister.
Apart from being siblings, these 6 bands all have one big thing in common; they all have a certain chemistry on-stage which draws you in and makes their music so much easier to appreciate, it is as if the fact they are so comfortable with each other makes the performance a lot more easy to enjoy. Their sibling relationships can also be felt in the music they make, not only have they grown up with the same musical influences from their parents, they have also been sharing their own discoveries with each other as their tastes began to differ, thus developing their sounds. My advise to you would be to keep a close eye on these bands as I'm sure their are all heading for big things.
