I lucked out and happened to go to a very artistic, creative college in the form of Oberlin College in Ohio. As a result, I know a lot of the bands that are driving around the country and trying to make a dollar or two playing music. I’m going to put you on some newer, starting bands that are working right now. Yes, these are my friends, but I wouldn’t talk about what they did if I didn’t think it was fresh. I’m going to be real with you: I know people that make super bad music. So, these bands come with my own personal seal of approval, if that means anything at all.

The first one is Samantha Glass. Hailing from Madison, WI, I caught these dudes last night at 109, and they were sick. Made up of Beau Devereux and Willie Thurlow, the two played a haunting, goth-infused style of psych music. Hard drum rhythms mixed with hypnotic keyboards, overdriven bass lines, and vocals with more than a bit of delay and echo on them. There are a series of tapes out right now that you can get at the link above. The full length is about to come out on Not Not Fun in October, if I remember my information correctly. If they come to your town, definitely check them out.

Next is Future Shuttle. Based out of Brooklyn, NY, the four ladies that comprise the band (Jessa Farkas, Camilla Padgitt-Coles, Lizzie Harper & Linnea Vedder) make a haunting stir of ambient, synth-based drone music. Altered Zones described their EP as containing six different dreamscapes, and I can fully understand why. Their music is expansive, leaving the interpretation and the location to the listener. In some ways, the sounds they produce occupy that weird dream state where you are asleep but you feel fully conscious of your surroundings. The keyboards float and soar while the slightly incomprehensible vocals help to set the mood and keep the listener locked into their alternate world.

Last, and certainly not least, is Household. A three-piece lady band (Talya Cooper, Jenna Weiss-Berman & Isabel Freeman) that is starting to get some good buzz in the city that never sleeps. Given that I listened to Jenna a lot on the radio, I could only imagine that when I got an email from her about a band, it would be based somewhere in the void between indie pop and post-punk. Lo and behold, I was totally right. Much of the band’s appeal to me is that they are joining a lot of other bands merging these two genres, but they’ve taken their own spin on the affair. The elements of bands like Delta 5 are certainly there, but there is also the sweet darkness of indie pop bands like Black Tambourine. More important than the namechecks is the fact that they don’t sound derivative. They’ve made their own fresh sound on these two genres and also write super short songs. Their album Items has to check in at somewhere around 20 minutes, which is always an upside for me as I love a brisk album.

These are my friends, but they are also good musicians. Check all of them out, as they are all making good, interesting music.