Who are these bands?

[J-Alfred]

So, going to college close to Austin, I am well aware that currently the Austin City Limits music festival is going on less then half an hour away. And yet I sit here, writing this, for one specific reason: I know NONE of the bands there. My college paper had an article which included the entire setlist for the show. I went through every band, and found only two I know/like/heard of: Coheed & Cambria, and Pearl Jam. So, can anyone out there enlighten me on such bands/artists like:

*Kings of Leon
*Andrew Bird
*Phoenix
*Dave Matthews Band
*Ghostland Observatory
*Mute Math
*Arctic Monkeys
*Girl Talk
*Passion Pit

I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Artemis923]

Ugh. Looking at that list, I wouldn't go...even with the promised presence of Coheed.

 

[dmase]

Dave mathews band is from VA my state, not that good. Kings of Leon of heard of not tha tgood from what i hear and the rest probably second rate bands or locals.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

Ugh. Looking at that list, I wouldn't go...even with the promised presence of Coheed.

Listen to this guy. All those bands suck except coheed who are awesome

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Dude Passion Pit and Arctic Monkeys are both pretty decent I'd go for them alone. By the way it's a music festival, no-ones going to be listening to the music. And 4 years ago I would've killed to go see Kings of Leon. Now, not so much.

 

[reg42]

Arctic Monkeys: Meh
Dave Matthews Band: Meh
Kings of Leon: Suck

Never heard of the rest

 

[jpoon]

I would go just to see Coheed & Cambria. Kings of Leon are supposed to be decent from what I've heard but I couldn't really say.

EDIT: Apparently Kings of Leon suck too, oh well. Go see Coheed!

 

[zerzxes]

i heard Artic Monkeys were good, never heard of the others.

 

[omle]

Few songs to check out for the bands I know:

Arctic Monkey = Brianstorm, A View From the Afternoon

Kings of Leon = Four Kicks, Sex on Fire, Red Morning Light

Phoenix = Liztomania, Rally

Passion Pit = Sleepyhead, The Reeling

Dont know specific songs for Dave Matthews Band as I hate the music.

Same with Girl Talk. It's boring Hip-Hop.

I would personally like to see Arctic Monkeys and Passion Pit and maybe KoL.
Looking at these comments how has everyone heard so little of these bands?

 

[Flamezdudes]

King's of Leon are great, you should listen to Sex on Fire, Use Somebody and maybe Revelry or Charmer.

 

[Gariom]

Kings of Leon and the Dave Matthews Band are OK at best. I'd go for Coheed and Cambria and then leave.

Girl Talk? What a perfect time to take up arson!

 

[kiteboy]

kings of leon are a decent band. they just fell victim to "oh look at me im so non-conformist" culture. 3 years ago they were seen as a good band by your average skinny jeans wearing whiny ***** and as soon as they get played on the radio more than once your hipsters run away like their infected with aids.

arctic monkeys are/were big in the UK.. not too bad.

girl talk do mashups of 90's cheesy shit with 90's gangster shit aimed at fratboys.

 

[Arrers]

Andrew Bird is amazing and Passion Pit are very good, although I've only heard a little of their stuff. As for everything else, I haven't heard anything by them, and Kings of Leon are kind of lame (I hear that Dave Mathews Band suck too).

Here's a link to an Andrew Bird video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnXCzFnkxtY

 

[Zombie_Fish]

Personally, if you're a C&C fan, I doubt it will be worth going. But I'll educate you in the two bands I know of that list to give you an idea:

Spoiler: Kings of Leon

-Kings of Leon are a four piece rock and roll/ pop act made up of three brothers and a cousin. They came from a family of traviling Christian preachers and, as a result of this, were heavily influenced by Gospel (which was a major influence for drummer Nathan Followill).

Their first album was entitled Youth and Young Manhood and wasn't much of a success to my understanding. Only real hit from the album was Molly's Chambers [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2DiE4_gswU], and even that didn't appear much on the radar that year.

Following this, they released the album Aha Shake Heartbreak, my personal favourite of their albums. Being the album that actually brought them into the spotlight, this album was famous for having two tracks often known as some of their best work: The Buucket [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivY1rgeP6N0], my personal favourite song by them to date; and Four Kicks [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZe4rn-VTvI] among others. This album showed the public their classic rock sound and their career started to kick off.

In 2006, they came back with the album Because of the Times. This was the first Kings of Leon album I ever bought and despite it not being their strongest album, it was still a good album to listen to. Whilst sticking to their classic rock style, you could tell that they had a larger budget with this album; production and mixing was heavier and the quality was a lot more smooth and less rough/ raw, like their old albums were. If you want to look up some of the singles from here, On Call [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEh8OL0Jj-0] and Charmer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHzDSmav0NM], and even from just the music videos, you can notice a larger budget.

And finally, they released the album Only By The Night. For this album, they started to lean more towards mainstream pop than their other albums, which really did piss off a large number of fans (including myself). Nowadays, a lot of people only know them for the songs Sex On Fire [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY] and Use Somebody [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCZfJ5ai07U], and whilst I do like some of their new stuff, other bits are just terrible I find and far too mainstream pop for my own liking.

Spoiler: Arctic Monkeys

-Arctic Monkeys are a four piece band from Sheffield whose genre is somewhere between rock, punk and experimental music. Starting off as four blokes from Sheffield, they were a true garage rock band, to the point where they would practice in their garage. This showed with their raw, indie-punk sound that sounded as if it was recorded on a very cheap tone-port and they didn't care about this.

Their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, is a perfect example of this sound in form. Despite only really being a one-hit wonder in album form with the track I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7dt1li5SyY], it did have a few other perks like Fake Tales of San Francisco [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePg1tbia9Bg] and When The Sun Goes Down [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W_hEdt1Xes].

Following this, their next album, Your Favourite Worst Nightmare, was a hard one to look at. Whilst it still had strong roots in their punk sound of before, they really changed with it, becoming more of a psychedelic sound as well. However, it was after this album's release that vocalist/ guitarist Alex Turner got mentioned in a series by British newspapers The Guardian and The Observer of the best songwriters of all time among the likes of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, so I guess he must've done something right. Songs from this album include Brianstorm [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30w8DyEJ__0], Teddy Picker [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A2XBoxtcUA] and Fluorescent Adolescent [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma9I9VBKPiw].

Two years ago, Alex Turner joined forces with Miles Kane to form The Last Shadow Puppets, who took priority in the years between Arctic Monkey's second and third album. However, the two returned to their former bands to record new material soon after their debut album was released.

And so, this year the Arctic Monkeys came back with Humbug, and after hearing this album it becomes obvious that their previous album was a transition from one style to another. With a more experimental sound, the band have been heavily criticised as losing their key selling factor, but they still live on. Songs from this album include Crying Lightning [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_G9RRY7SS0] and (my personal favourite from the album) Pretty Visitors [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb6f-hcfGoo].

Hope that helps. Also, I'm not sure if the links are correct. If they're not, just tell me and I'll edit it out.

EDIT: Huh, lot of KoL and Arctic Monkeys hatred.

 

[Gxas]

snip

Sir, the fact that Coheed and Cambria is going to be there makes it worth going to. I would go to the ends of the earth to see this band again (Saw them in Madison Square Garden a year ago).

I say go. Go, have a blast, then go home and brag to me about how amazing Coheed was.

I want to know what they played, and I swear, if they play a new song, or something by "The Prizefighter Inferno", I want you to video it for me.

Go, good sir, go to this concert in my stead.

[small]Please?[/small]

 

[Ophiuchus]

Sir, the fact that Coheed and Cambria is going to be there makes it worth going to.

Pretty much this. Also, Arctic Monkeys are great (at least, the first two albums, not heard the new one yet) and Mute Math are not bad at all. Kings Of Leon used to be good - their first album was fantastic and the second was pretty good, it's only the two most recent that have been terrible. Phoenix are from France and are supposedly very good.

But yeah, I'd go just for Coheed myself.

 

[Loop Stricken]

But, but... this sex is on fire!
And apart from C&C; yes, that's all I know of the rest.

Well... there's the travesty that is the Arctic Monkeys. Despite being from the UK, I dislike them.

 

[deadlyric]

Phoenix is a pretty win band, so is Mute Math. But seeing C&C would be worth just showing up for them.