The International Brigade 2012

Azealia Banks
A potty mouthed Harlem rapper with a playful flow and a mocking glimmer in her eye, Banks achieved sudden prominence in this part of the world after a London music rag hailed her the coolest person in pop (rather tardily it turned out – she’d already been interviewed and tipped for greatness in these very pages). At a time when she could stroll down Grafton St. unrecognised, this is arguably pushing things a little. What’s undeniable is that Banks, a graduate of LaGuardia High School (aka the ‘Fame’ academy), has staked a claim to be the hottest new thing in hip hop, courtesy of her c-word toting viral hit ‘212’. Relocated to the UK, she’s about to start work with Adele producer Paul Epworth on her debut LP. “I wrote ‘212’ after being dropped from XL,” she told Hot Press recently. “So it came out of that rejection and betrayal. It was really just me laughing about it, and having a bit of fun after being fucked around.”
listen: to ‘212’
see: [link]www.youtube.com/azealiabanks[/link]

Dry The River
With Mumford & Sons off having their waistcoats washed and their goatees soaped down, pop has a vacancy for a British folk band who can get their rustic on without frightening the livestock (or hipsters). Step forward Dry The Driver, a raggle-taggle troupe from the misty backwoods of East London. With references to the American frontier, the bible and rattlesnakes, their music is fuggy and evocative and it’s not surprising to hear they were the subject to a record label bidding war last year.
listen: to new single ‘the shaker and the valves’.
see: them at cyprus avenue, cork (april 24) and whelan’s, dublin (25).

Sleeper Agent
From the American South (just about) and with a shaggy, whiskey swiggin’ image, it’s no surprise Kentucky’s Sleeper Agent were compared early on to Kings Of Leon – though it’s fair to say nobody is going to confuse petite frontwoman Alex Kandel for a Followill no matter how many Jim Beams they’ve slugged. Musically, they’re a mix of cheerleader indie pop and rootsy Southern rock, meaty riffs sharing space with space pop hooks straight from the Pixies playbook. They lit up last year’s South By South West with the anthemic ‘Shuga Cane’. A cross between Joan Jett and Karen O, it’s Kandel’s star power that really gets the fires blazing, however.
listen: to ‘get it daddy’ – performed live at tennesssee state prison and available on the band’s website, [link]www.sleeperagentmusic.com[/link].
see: their rollicking performance of ‘that’s my baby’ at sxsw on the spin youtube channel.

Spector
Named after the ‘fro sportin’, fire-arm totin’ über-producer, Spector have been hailed as East London’s answer to The Strokes (or, less promisingly, The Dalston Kaiser Chiefs). Channelling a love for the 80s new romantic movement, there’s a tinge of a guitar slinging Human League or a less sexually repressed/obsessed Pulp in their sound. You might already recognise singer Fred MacPherson, who has had stints presenting on MTV UK, has fronted innumerable bands and used to step out with
Peaches Geldof.
listen: to their debut 7” at soundcloud
see: them in the o2, dublin supporting florence + the machine (march 2).

Fang Island
Though actually formed as long ago as 2005, New York/Philly/Rhode Island outfit Fang Island have taken their time building a profile. In 2012 their hour may at last be at hand. With a post-apocalyptic hippy image that owes a little to MGMT circa-‘Time To Pretend’ and an infectious sound that steps carefully between Yeasayer and Flaming Lips (who they’ve supported) the real mystery is why it’s taken until now for them to gain traction. They certainly boast auspicious origins, forming, as did Talking Heads, at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. The name, incidentally, is from an Onion article. “I think it was just a funny blip about Donald Rumsfeld having a secret hideaway, and it was on Fang Island,” recalled guitarist Jason Bartell. “We like how it was sort of this fictional space that we imagined our music was played on”.
listen: they’re currently in the studio – but you can stream their first album from their homepage.
see: ‘life coach’, fast-edit tour diary on the band’s official tumblr site

Alabama Shakes
Already a sensation in America, Georgia-based Alabama Shakes fuse White Stripes garage punk to a gospel and blues chassis (with a whiff of Pixies rising from beneath the door). Tying the whole glorious package together, frontwoman Brittany Howard is a refuge of soulfulness amidst the visceral rawk dim. They were the break out act at September’s CMJ Music Marathon in New York, the proving ground for Vampire Weekend among others.
listen: to their new ep, alabama shakes, available for download from the official website.
see: their live performance of ‘you ain’t alone’, filmed in tennessee in september,on youtube.

Flux Pavilion
If 2011 was the year dubstep came of age as a genre, then the 12 months ahead may be the moment it finally cracks the mainstream. Heading the charge is Northamptonshire’s Joshua Steele, just 22 but with a maturity that suggests his recent hit ‘Bass Cannon’ is only the beginning. His appeal has already gone transatlantic, with Kanye and Jay-Z sampling ‘I Can’t Stop’ on their Watch The Throne bling-fest.
listen: to chiming new single ‘grey shirt and tie’.
see: them play the o2 dublin on march 2 (they aren’t getting ahead of themselves, it’s as additional support for florence + the machine).

Lianne La Havas
Citing Lauryn Hill and Nina Simone as influences, South Londoner La Havas was singing back-up for Paloma Faith while still a teenager and came to wider attention with an appearance on Later With... Jools Holland. From there the multi-instrumentalist bagged a Bon Iver support slot. It says something for the breadth of her appeal that her other major champion is Take That’s Gary Barlow.
listen: to ‘no room for doubt’, her keening tie-up with troubadour willy mason
see: her when she plays dublin’s sugar club (march 10).

Wild Flag
An alliance between three of the most influential women in ‘90s alt. rock – Helium’s Mary Timony and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss (Rebecca Cole completes the line-up) Wild Flag are as old-school indie as Friday nights at Sir Henry’s (ask your nearest wrinkly Gen X-er). Released in September, their self-titled debut was a blogosphere sensation and proof late 30-something hood is no impediment to rocking like a bad-ass. Kudos to Brownstein who has juggled the band with her venture into television comedy with hipster-baiting satire Portlandia.
listen: to ‘racehorse’ – one of the 2011’s best indie pop singles.
see: check out brownstein’s comedy chops in the portlandia excerpts streamed from wild flag’s facebook page.

Zorch
Not to be confused with the venerable early ‘70s electro-pop outfit from the UK, Zorch is an Austin, Texas alliance between keyboardist Zac Traeger and drummer ‘Shmu’. A frenetic, distortion laden assault, their sound has been likened to Dan Deacon, HEALTH, Animal Collective and Wexford’s Adebisi Shank. As last year’s YouTube hit ‘Zut Alors’ attests, it’s fucked up avant-garde, with tunes you can hum.
listen: download the single ‘cosmic gloss’ for free from bandcamp.
see: the astonishing ‘zut alors’ video, available on their myspace site. it’s crystal castles on an never-ending acid trip.

The Vandelles
A blood and gristle gang of the old-school, New York’s The Vandelles are a riposte to all the arty, intricate bands Gotham has been spewing up lately. They rock loud, they rock hard, while channelling the sepia, wall of sound values of sixties groups such as The Crystals and their partial namesakes Martha Reeves And The Vandellas . “We generally have three kinds of songs: psych-rock jams, surf rock dance hops, and girl-groupish pop tunes,” guitarist Christo Buffam explained recently. “A lot of them are mixtures of all of the above, with some shoegaze and garage punk aesthetics thrown in for good measure.”
listen: to ‘aloha from hell’ – as aggressive and catchy as it sounds.
see: them play an impromptu london street gig, as streamed on their website, [link]www.thevandelles.blogspot.com[/link].

A$AP Rocky
Harlem native Rakim Mayers rhymed on stage for the first time at age eight. Under the A$AP moniker (Always Strive And Prosper) he’s established himself as a credible alternative to the dinosaur hip hop of Kanye, Jay-Z, Diddy et al. His first mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP dropped last October to what seems to have been universal acclaim. Rakim asserts it’s better “than a lot of people’s album.” It certainly impressed Drake who invited him on tour. A debut LP proper is expected later this year.
listen: to single ‘peso’, potentially his break-out moment.
see: [link]www.asapmob.com[/link] features all of rocky’s videos.

Skrillex
The most divisive figure on our list, Sonny ‘Skrillex’ Moore is the former emo guitarist who’s introduced America to the bass-steeped delights of dubstep. But this unabashed populist isn’t receiving much love from the dubstep community, which has witheringly dubbed his punter-friendly sound ‘Bro-step’. Moore himself cuts a contradictory figure. In interviews he’s at pains to come across as sweet and charming. But at the eleventh hour he banned the Irish media from reviewing his early December show at Dublin’s Academy. You wonder if all the criticism has cajoled a tetchy side to the surface.
listen: new ep bangarang has just been released.
see: he’s back in europe in february – fingers crossed for another irish date.

We Are Augustines
Channelling Springsteen, though not in an obvious, Brandon-Flowers-in-cowboy-boots way, Billy McCarthy assembled We Are Augustines from the ashes of his highly-rated mid-noughties outfit, Pela. The group’s debut longplayer, Arise Ye Sunken Ships is underpinned by tragedy, written as it was in the shadow of the suicide of McCarthy’s brother. The band recently crossed the Atlantic for the first time, supporting Kaiser Chiefs at London’s Brixton Academy. Expect further excitement when they return later this year.
listen: download the track ‘headlong’ from [link]www.weareaugustines.com[/link].
see: the stunning ‘book of james’ video, also at their website.