Artists I Found In 2019

As the end of the year comes closer, it is nice to look back and reflect on the many things that have happened throughout the months. One of my favorite things to do is look back at all the new artists I’ve come across and added to my playlists. This year brought many great artists to my attention so, without further ado, here are a few of my favorite artists that I found in 2019.

Sad Cops

Sad Cops is the first band I came across this year. I was lying in bed, probably about 3AM, listening to my Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify after many unsuccessful attempts to fall asleep. One of the songs in my playlist was their song ‘Honey’ and from the moment it started playing, I was hooked. I closed my eyes, turned up the volume, and let the song completely take over. It is the kind of song that gives you this strong feeling of nostalgia, but you don’t know exactly why. You feel a little happy, a little sad, and a little like you’re just really missing something.

After the effect 'Honey' had on me I decided to check their 2018 EP, Transition Songs, which then inspired me to check out the remainder of their discography. Sad Cops’ overall sound is a nice blend of indie rock, pop punk, and emo. For the most part their music has a more subdued vibe, making it great to listen to while studying, reading, or just hanging out. Sad Cops have become a prominent artist on my rainy day playlist, bedtime playlist, and they are one of my go to artists during times when my anxiety is high. Saying this, not all of their music has the same subdued vibe. For example, their song ‘It’s Eating At Me’ from their 2016 LP Liam Murphy Holt starts out with the same energy that many of their other songs have up until the chorus. During the chorus, the pace of the song picks up and there are louder instrumentals and more aggressive vocals. This is easily one of my favorite songs by them.

KISS

I really don’t have to explain who KISS is. They are Grammy winners, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, and they have been making music since the 70’s, long before my existence was even a thought. Whether you listen to them or not, everyone has heard of KISS. This is a band that both of my parents were fans of and listened to when they were my age but when I think back to the bands my parents introduced me to growing up, I don’t recall KISS really being one of them. So, when my younger sister and I went to see them in March on their End of the Road Tour, my only knowledge of them consisted of two songs, ‘Rock and Roll All Night’ and ‘Detroit Rock City’, and my dad telling me that Gene Simmons might spit blood at the show (which he did…and it was great). I went into that show not knowing what I would think and I left it with a brand new addiction.

KISS is classified as glam metal or glam rock because of their face painted looks, bedazzled stage costumes, and eight-inch high-heeled boots accompanied by their harder, heavier, high energy, rock music. Their look was one of the many things I enjoyed about them. I feel there are many artists nowadays that don’t put as much effort into developing a look for their band. They put a lot into their performance, which made it a fun show. They had pyrotechnics, confetti, and they performed with more energy than you might expect from people their age. One thing that surprised me was how much of their music I ended up really liking. I had certain songs stuck in my head for weeks after the show, the more notable ones being ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ and ‘God of Thunder’. I don’t listen to KISS as often as I did around the show but when I need something to get my energy up, KISS has become a go to.

The Impulsive

One of the best pieces of advice I can give to someone wanting to find new music is to check out your local bands and artists. Here in Omaha, Nebraska we have a pretty amazing and diverse music scene and one of my favorite local bands is a group called The Impulsive. I was recommended this band by my friend Thanh who’s cousin Shane is one of the vocalists and guitarists in The Impulsive. I was given a list of song suggestions, so I went to Spotify and checked them out. I have to say I was quite impressed by their music.

The Impulsive’s sound is like a mix of hard rock and alternative metal. Musically they remind me a lot of Breaking Benjamin which is one of the reasons I really enjoy them. Another thing I like about their music is the lyrical content. They write about many topics including depression, anxiety, and death, just to name a few. These are all struggles that many people face and creating music on these topics gives many people somewhere to go when they may feel like they are alone. The Impulsive are a phenomenal live band. I went to see them at The Slowdown with my sister April back in August and it was definitely one of my favorite shows this year. It was a very high energy and the band sounded great. I did get hit in the face with a drumstick at the end but honestly that just added to the experience. The Impulsive is full of talented musicians, great people, and I think they have the potential of becoming pretty big in the future.

Boston Manor

Whenever I go to a show, I always try to get their early to see the opening acts. You never know, that opening band might just end up being your next favorite. This was the case with Boston Manor.

I first heard of Boston Manor when they toured with the band Movements in the spring. They were one of three opening bands on that tour, none of which I knew anything about or had ever listened to. Each band put %150 into their performance but Boston Manor stood out to me the most. The amount of energy that was put into their performance was insane which then inspired the crowd to be even more insane. The band strongly encouraged people to stage dive, crowd surf and mosh which at the time I was thinking, “Oh my gosh, this is extremely chaotic and stupid dangerous,” but looking back, it was probably some of the most fun I’ve ever had at a show. I enjoyed them so much that I bought a ticket to see them on tour with A Day To Remember just a little over a month later.

I would describe Boston Manor’s sound as mainly punk rock with elements of pop-punk, post-hardcore, grunge and alternative. One of my favorite things about their music is front man Henry Cox’s vocals. When it comes to his singing, Henry has the ability to do more aggressive, punky vocals which can be heard in the majority of their music, but he also has the capability of doing more stripped back and clean vocals which sounds great in the more acoustic songs. If Boston Manor ever decided to make an entire acoustic album, I am totally here for it.

Grayscale

Grayscale is another artist that found because they were an opening band. The first time I really listened to Grayscale was when I saw them open for The Maine on the You Are OK tour in May. Unlike with Boston Manor, I had listened to a couple of Grayscale songs before seeing them. In fact, I believe I had their entire 2017 album Adornment saved to my Spotify because I had heard about it and wanted to check it out but, the only songs I really ended up listening to were ‘Atlantic’ and ‘Fever Dream’. I thoroughly enjoyed their performance but the song that really caught my attention was ‘Forever Yours’. It hit me right in the feels. It was equally beautiful and sad, and I knew that I needed to listen to it again. After the show I went to the merch table and picked up a CD copy of Adornment as well as a copy of their 2016 EP, What We’re Missing, and listened to it on the car ride home.

Grayscale quickly entered my heavy rotation. Their music became the soundtrack became the soundtrack for my entire summer. The band’s fun and upbeat pop-punk sound never failed to put me in a good mood. I found their music perfect for long walks and car rides on hot summer days. In September of this yearGrayscale released their sophomore album Nella Vita. On this album they experimented with their sound, which I enjoyed. Many of the songs were more on the pop side but I think that it was executed very well, and it was nice hearing a different sound from them than I was used to. Nella Vita was one of my favorite albums of the year and I look forward to what Grayscale releases in the future.

Pierce The Veil

Pierce the Veil is one of those bands that took more than one listen to get into. The first time I listened to their music, around my sophomore year in high school, their sound didn’t really interest me. I had started with one of their heavier songs and I thought it was a bit hectic for my taste. Later on, I had found a couple of songs that I liked but it wasn’t until earlier this year that I really started listening to their music.

Around April or May, I was looking through some of Cavetown’s older videos and I came across couple acoustic covers he had done of ‘Floral and Fading’ and ‘I’m Low On Gas And You Need A Jacket’ by Pierce the Veil. After listening to the covers, I had fallen in love with the songs and decided to check out the originals. The first time I had tried listening to this band there weren’t any other artists that I was listening to at the time that had a similar sound, so it was a bit of a shock to my system. This time my music taste had changed a bit and I was more accustomed to their kind of sound so when I listened to them I had more of an appreciation for their music. I also looked more into the lyrics and themes of their music and realized that there were many songs that I could personally relate to at one time or another in my life.

Hobo Johnson

Next we have Frank Lopes Jr, better known as his stage name Hobo Johnson. I first listened to Hobo Johnson around the time that his song ‘Peach Scone’ went viral. Throughout my first listen of ‘Peach Scone’ I was thinking two things, “this is really weird, but I kind of like it,” which led me to listen to it over and over until I developed my final opinion. I enjoyed his sound but at the time I really hadn’t considered checking out the rest of his music. After the recent release of his album The Fall of Hobo Johnson I decided the give the rest of his discography a listen.

One of my favorite things about Hobo Johnson is that you can’t really put his music into one specific genre. There are elements of rock, hip-hop, and maybe even a little folk, but it doesn’t fit exclusively into any of them. Vocally, Hobo Johnson gives me Conor Oberst vibes. His vocals aren’t all super clean and perfect. This gives the music a rawer sound which, in my opinion, helps give it more emotion. The way he raps sounds more like spoken word music than the typical rap song you might hear on the radio nowadays and the way he incorporates shouting into his songs reminds me of something you might hear used in slam poetry. Much of his lyrical content is inspired by personal events which gives an element of vulnerability to his music, making it more relatable to his audience. You can’t have a great Hobo Johnson song without his band The Lovemakers. These guys bring his music to a whole new level, especially during the live renditions. Hobo Johnson would not be the same without The Lovemakers.

Sub Urban

A scene from the music video for 'Cradles'.

Last, but definitely not least, we have Sub Urban. This is an artist that I have only just started listening to within the last couple of weeks. Sub Urban has gained quite a bit of popularity this year after his song ‘Cradles’ went viral on the popular app Tik Tok. I personally have never used Tik Tok, but I have seen many ads for it on YouTube and the vast majority have used a snippet of this song with the lyric, “It’s hard to breath, but that’s alright,” followed by a bass drop with a beat made up of music box bells. I had always been intrigued by this clip whenever it came up, but I didn’t listen to the entirety of the song until quite recently. After hearing that same familiar portion of the song on a radio channel my sister had turned to, I decided to finally look it up and give it a proper listen.

One thing I have concluded is that Sub Urban has a very unique sound. His vocals tend to be a bit more on the soft and breathy side which gives a more dark and haunting effect to his music. Mix this with the imagery in his lyrics and great production quality and you have the recipe to create something highly addictive. Unfortunately, he currently only has a handful of songs available, but that just makes me more excited for what he might release next. I look forward to hearing more music from him in the future and he will definitely have a permanent spot in my playlist. Sub Urban is probably the most different from what I would typically listen to but he is definitely one of my favorites, if not my favorite, artist that I have come across this year.

2019 brought many great artists to my attention. I look forward to seeing how these artists evolve as time passes and what music they will bring us. I also look forward to 2020 and all the artist it will introduce me to.