Music to Check out (Non ORM Edition)

Being in a band and playing out frequently means you end up listening to a lot of other peoples music. Of course you could be the lame band that doesn’t arrive until their set and leaves directly after but the problem with this approach, other then it being a generally dick move, is you actually end up missing some good music. You will hear some really awful stuff as well but that’s the risk that you take when trying to find some good entertainment. On the plus side the bad music serves to highlight a band who really does put on a good show. After a while the acts that are a cut above the rest start to jump out at you. So with that in mind here are a few bands we had the pleasure of playing with here in the DFW area.

If you’re looking for pop savvy hooks with darker twinges and excellent musicianship check out North of Autumn. These guys hail from Dallas and we’ve had to the chance to play with them on several occasions. They just put out their debut album “Confluence” so check it out. Also side note: There are crazy lights at the shows. Very Nice.

Still in the the pop vein is A Formal Affair. Coming from Austin and definitely bring the piano full force (always a plus for us) you are going to want to look them up if you have even the slightest fondness of bands like Something Corporate or Jack’s Mannequin. These guys are seriously cool and next time they come through Dallas go see them!

Moving into the darker categories of more classically structured rock and melodic metal you have Night Gallery and Twice Broken respectively. We’ve known Night Gallery for quite some time and they always put on a great show. Think Smashing Pumpkins (minus Billy Corgan’s nasally drone, no offense to anyone) with maybe a little Queens of the Stone-age plus Muse and you’re on the right track. I believe they’re taking a creative break right now to come up with awesome new material but they’re DFW based so you should be able to see them in Deep Ellum some time soon.

If you’re a metal fan or a fan of rock that find’s most metal to be kind of derivative take a look at Twice Broken. Coming in from Wichita Falls  and bring some serious chops I’m sure these guys could just chug for hours but they bring great melody to the table and nicely texture the sharp musicianship with interesting dynamics. When the guitar player hits his solo’s your jaw will drop. Guaranteed.

A couple touring bands we’ve had the chance to play with also stand out; Kinetix for their super groovy and funked out set, Future People with high energy synth/drum combos, and Lovers bringing one of the best performance’s I’ve seen since we moved down to Dallas.

I know I’m forgetting some other great band’s and for that I apologize. If you have a moment take a look it will be worth your time.

-Ben- ONE RED MARTIAN