Them's Fightin' Words

If you guys have been following the Converse Get Out Of The Garage competition, then you’ll be excited to know that the final 10 artists for the public voting phase of the competition have been announced.

I’ve had a listen to all 10 of the finalists in this year’s competition and yeah, there are a couple diamonds in the rough right there, no doubt about it.

As with the finalists last year, I’m posting a couple of bands that I think really deserve the votes. Keep in mind this is totally subjective – you might think these bands suck, in which case, hit this link to hear the others and find your own favourites.

Before we kick out the jams though, let’s find out what’s at stake here, shall we?

The band / artist that gets the most votes through the Converse Get Out Of The Garage Facebook page app will win a performance at Rocking the Daisies, a gig at the legendary 100 Club in London, and the opportunity to record at RubberTracks in NYC.

 

 

A total of 334 acts submitted a variety of tracks ranging from punk rock to deep house, and one of them will earn the chance to perform at the 100 Club in London, which happens to be the running popular music venue in the world – BADAM!

You have until the 13^th of September to vote for your favourite artist on Facebook, you can access the voting page through this super-long hyperlink that, provided I keep writing it, could very well go down in interwebs history as the longest hyperlink in living memory. Supercalafragilisticexpealadocious.

Now! Onto the bands that blew my hair back (in no particular order).

First up is Bruce Noble, a 5 piece pop band from Potchefstroom (of all places. Do they even have music in Potchefstroom?! Who knew…). The oldest band member is 22 which blew me away considering how polished their particular brand of indie / dance pop sounds.

The production is also pretty solid, check it:

 

 

Next up is The Aztec Sapphire, who I thought also deserved a special mention. They have a bit of a Foals vibe to them, very chilled stuff – breezy synths, slow strumming, elegant in its simplicity.

Not sure where these guys come from but they got a truckload of potential if this track is anything to go by.

 

 

This next band hails from Cape Town and goes by the name Rumspringer. They’re definitely going for a strong electro swing vibe with some Balkan riffs and beats thrown in for good measure.

Sure, bands like Goldfish and Goodluck are already milking this genre for all it’s worth, but I really dig Carla Louw’s vocals, they have an edginess to them that really stands out for me.

The only thing I found a bit weird is that they made it into the final 10 with a remix of one of their tracks (?). Anyway, here’s the James Copeland remix of their track “Gypsie Queen”.

 

 

So there it is. Now go check out the others and VOTE yo! Just by voting, you stand the chance to join your favourite band from the final 10 when they fly to London to play at the 100 Club so get on it!

Tiger out.

-ST