Welcome to the Metro Times’ roundup of the 15 best new bands in the metropolitan area. We’re calling it “15 Bands to watch in 2017” — even though like half of the musicians involved are not bands. Last year, we went with “15 Best new bands,” and then had them arranged numerically, even though it wasn’t a contest, or whatever. It’s not like there was a trophy for the winners. (And anyway, the No. 1 “ranked” band, Mountains and Rainbows, seem to be kind of broken up at this point.) This year, we went the non-hierarchical alphabetical arrangement route. As with the first time we did this, our list encompasses a wide range of ages, musical styles, and pizza preferences.
So, what were our criteria? In order to be on the list, an artist should have no more than one physical full-length release. This emphasis on the physical format might be a bit old school or arbitrary. But hey, it works for us. We really do absolutely believe that everyone on this list is totally crazily talented and deserves extreme mass adulation. We cannot wait to watch them each grow, and get even better — over the next year, and beyond.
All photos taken by Doug Coombe at Trinosophes’ gallery space.
2Lanes
Caz Aglets
Anna Burch
Casual Sweetheart
Stef Chura
Oshea Davaun
Drinkard Sisters
Marcus Elliot
Kaleb the Intern
Julian Kendall
Jade Lathan
PRC
Paint Thinner
Wurl Sotto
Valley Hush
