With Coachella approaching, it’s time to start planning your festival schedule. As always Coachella, features some of the best rock, indie, folk and alternative bands and this year is no different. From a Guns N’ Roses reunion to hosting FOALS and Sufjan Stevens, here’s are the glorious rock/indie acts to look out for!
1. Guns N’ Roses
Arguably the year’s most awaited reunion, the legendary Guns N’ Roses will finally take to the stage with a headlining slot. The iconic trio of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan will unleash a powerhouse performance that is sure to go down in the history books. GnR is one of the best selling bands of all time and was even inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame in its first year of eligibility, 2012. Their music ruled the 80s and 90s bringing Rock music back into mainstream popularity.
2. LCD Soundsystem
It’s reunion season, as LCD Soundsystem will also be headlining Coachella after they disbanded in 2011. The Electro Rockers from NYC made a memorable mark in their single decade of existence. They’ve released 3 studio albums and received multiple Grammy nominations for their work.
3. The Kills
The Kills are an indie rock band formed by American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince. Their first four albums, Keep On Your Mean Side, No Wow, Midnight Boom, and Blood Pressures, garnered critical acclaim. Ash & Ice, their fifth and most recent studio album is set to be released on June 3, 2016.
4. Foals
The Foals are an English indie rock band from Oxford, England formed in 2005. Besides their studio work, the band has toured internationally and been featured in festivals like Glastonbury, Coachella and Roskilde. The Foals have also won a number of awards, including best live act at the 2013 Q Awards while producers Alan Moulder and Flood were awarded ‘UK Producer Of The Year’ for their work on the album Holy Fire.
5. Rancid
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California, in 1991. Founded by 1980s punk veterans Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, Rancid is often credited, along with Green Day and the Offspring, for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid 1990s. Unlike many of their contemporaries, however, Rancid remained signed to an independent record label and retained much of its original fan-base, most of which was connected to its underground roots.
6. Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is perhaps best known for his 2005 album, Illinois, which hit number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and for the single “Chicago” from that album. Stevens makes use of a variety of instruments, often playing many of them himself on the same recording, and writes music in various time signatures.
7. Silversun Pickups
Silversun Pickups is an alternative rock band from Los Angeles that was formed in 2000. The band’s sound, often encompassing multiple overdubs of distorted guitars, is frequently compared to that of bands like My Bloody Valentine and The Smashing Pumpkins. More recently, the band has also incorporated electronic elements.
8. Wolf Alice
Wolf Alice is a four-piece alternative rock band from North London, formed initially as a two-person band in 2010. Its members since 2012 are Ellie Rowsell (vocals, guitar), Joff Oddie (guitars, vocals), Theo Ellis (bass), and Joel Amey (drums, vocals). The single “Moaning Lisa Smile” from the band’s 2014 EP Creature Songs peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in August 2015, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance at the 2016 Grammys.
9. Cold War Kids
Cold War Kids is an American indie rock band from Long Beach, California. Formed in 2004 in Fullerton, the band progressed from being to an independent record label to a major label lending them cult appeal from fans and critics in 2006. 2008’s Loyalty to Loyalty and 2011’s Mine Is Yours saw the band develop different musical sounds and lyrical content throughout to mixed reviews.
10. The 1975
The 1975 are an English alternative rock band formed in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Their eponymous first album debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart in 2013. Their second album was released worldwide on 26 February 2016, and debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. The band combines dark and youthful themes of sex, love, and fear with ethereal alt-rock music.