We might only be two months deep into 2024, but there’s already been a whole raft of great alternative music released across the UK music scene and beyond.
We’ve picked out some of our favourites for the first FEISTY Likes round-up of 2024, selecting singles from Squid, Gustaf, Girl and Girl and over 20 more of the bands of the moment.
Read on to discover the extraordinary art rock of Mary in the Junkyard, the latest angular post-punk of Drahla and the 2000s-esque indie disco revival of Home Counties, plus hot tips like Fat Dog and Mancunian dream poppers Nightbus.
Cult classics Maruja and indie veterans Camera Obscura also feature, as does a leftfield pick from Alcest and an alternative club banger from Nothing But Thieves. We’ve even created a little video:
Ready to listen? Head to our Spotify playlist or use the embed below, and make sure to read on for our editor’s notes on all of our picks!
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Fat Dog
All the Same
Fat Dog have attracted cult-like fervour among those in the know for a couple of years now and made a huge splash with their head-turning debut single King of the Slugs in October.
All the Same, which has typically been the opener to their riotous live sets, is the follow-up. Label Domino have issued a limited 7″ single with unreleased track Land Before Time on the B-side.
Follow Fat Dog: Instagram • Spotify
Drahla
Second Rhythm
Drahla have carved an unwieldingly unique place in the post-punk pantheon over the past near-decade, proving ahead of the curve on the genre’s critical revival, and they’re likely to release another cult classic in April with second album Angeltape.
Second Rhythm is Angeltape‘s second single and features extended spells of angular guitars and brass, punctuated by Luciel Brown’s signature spoken verses.
Follow Drahla: Instagram • Spotify
Girl and Girl
Hello
Although Australia’s Girl and Girl have an EP and some other material to their name already, Hello is essentially an introduction to the band on the wider stage, especially now they’re signed to indie heavy-hitters Sub Pop.
Sounding way peppier than its subject matter – “romanticising your own misery”, as frontperson Kai James puts it – it’s one with loads of character that’s left us eager to hear more from the album.
Follow Girl and Girl: Instagram • Spotify
The Klittens
Reading Material
A seriously charming single from Amsterdam five-piece The Klittens. Old-school ’80s-style indie jangle and gang vocals contribute to a highly uplifting single that was, in contrast, written by guitarist Winnie Conradi during a period of serious fatigue and ill health. Their second EP Butter releases on March 8.
Follow The Klittens: Instagram • Spotify
Nightbus
Average Boy
Goth-tinged dream pop trio Nightbus set out to make music for late night listening. Average Boy is being released as part of a limited 7″ AA-side that’s fast selling out, coupled with previous single Exposed to Some Light. Their strong output to date across a scattering of singles suggests they may make a sizable impact on the UK scene in the years to come.
Follow Nightbus: Instagram • Spotify
Bikini Body
Mr Tinnitus
Lively dance-punk from Scotland or, as they call it, “post-gutter-skunk-funk”. And also, cowbell! They’ve been around for a little while, but have really stepped it up with this groovy post-punk hit that’s liable to be one of the most fun singles of the year.
Follow Bikini Body: Instagram • Spotify
Home Counties
Uptight
Home Counties have seriously evolved since their art punk days, and are now finding their own sound with a very 2000s-esque indie disco sound that we’re very much here for. Uptight drops references to Red Stripe (apparently a yay) and Bud Light (apparently a nay) and dancefloor-ready riffs. Their debut album drops on May 3.
Follow Home Counties: Instagram • Spotify
My First Time
Workwear
Four student newcomers from Bristol that are bound to make an impression in the coming years. Workwear is as catchy and zeitgeisty as the aforementioned Home Counties’ Uptight, which makes sense given both releases hail from Submarine Cat Records. The lyrics are an attack on the futility of fast fashion.
Follow My First Time: Instagram • Spotify
Gaffa Tape Sandy
Scrapbook
The second single of the Gaffa Tape Sandy comeback is a sprightly garage-pop number that’s the first to be penned by bass guitarist Catherine Lindley-Neilson. Their second album Hold My Hand, God Damn It will be released on Alcopop! at the end of May, with a substantial UK tour scheduled for the Autumn.
Follow Gaffa Tape Sandy: Instagram • Spotify
Grazia
Cheap
We’re really digging In Poor Taste, the debut EP released by Grazia last month. Lead single Cheap is scuzzy garage punk underpinned by a groovier post-punk riff. The vocals give it a grubby ’90s vibe á la Elastica and Sleeper.
Follow Grazia: Instagram • Spotify
Talk Show
Red/White
Urgent and repetitive, Red/White was the final single reveal for Talk Show’s debut album Effigy, as released in February on Missing Piece Records. If you like this, we recommend 2022’s Touch the Ground EP, their career highlight to date.
Follow Talk Show: Instagram • Spotify
Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice
Celebration
Another post-punk offering, this time from Melbourne’s Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice. We love the build here, from the simply no-wave riff to the many layers of hand claps and saxophone that it comes to be. Bandleader Dougal Shaw describes the track as a “celebration of getting out of bed in the morning” in a “capitalist wellness dystopia”.
Follow Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice: Instagram • Spotify
Gustaf
Starting and Staring
We loved Gustaf’s debut album Audio Drag for Ego Slobs back in 2021, so we’re really excited to see a second on the way this year (5 April) plus a new series of UK dates. (They’re also supporting Yard Act at some shows this month.)
Starting and Staring will sound familiar to existing fans of Gustaf, fitting in perfectly with the sound of album number one. For newcomers, expect a chatty art punk sound with spiky vocals from Lydia Gammill and pitched-down interjections from Vram Kherlopian.
Follow Gustaf: Instagram • Spotify
Squid
Fugue (Bin Song)
One of the absolutely odds-on bands of recent years, Squid rarely put a foot wrong and here they’re released one of our favourites yet, which is all the more remarkable considering it’s an outtake from last year’s O Monolith LP.
Squid’s Ollie Judge has explained that Fugue (Bin Song) was born of an obsession with animism, the notion that plants and inanimate objects can have souls.
Follow Squid: Instagram • Spotify
Been Stellar
Passing Judgment
Been Stellar put the finishing touches on Passing Judgment, the first single from their newly-announced debut album, by tweaking the song each night on their recent UK tour. They reckon this gives the track a “chaotic feeling”, and we can hear what they mean. Their debut album Scream From New York, NY is out in June.
Follow Squid: Instagram • Spotify
Royel Otis
Foam
Sydney duo Royel Otis made waves on TikTok at the end of January when they covered Murder on the Dancefloor for Triple J’s Like a Version, right at the height of the Saltburn hype. It’s a version that’s since made a few appearances in FEISTY’s DJ sets.
Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic’s debut album Pratts & Pain was released in February. Foam was the last single to drop ahead of time, capturing their funkiest side and borrowing from fellow Aussie Tame Impala’s sound signature extensively.
Follow Royel Otis: Instagram • Spotify
Camera Obscura
Big Love
One of the all-time great indie pop bands? The nearly 30-year veterans – comfortably the longest-running band we’ve featured here – are set to release their first album in 11 years in May.
Big Love is the lead single from Look to the East, Look to the West and proves the Glaswegians still have the penchant for a good indie pop tune.
Follow Camera Obscura: Instagram • Spotify
Francis of Delirium
Give It Back to Me
Give It Back to Me is the closing track from Luxembourger Francis of Delirium’s upcoming debut album Lighthouse (March 22). It builds from a melancholic opening to a triumphant, bittersweet crescendo of guitars and drum hits.
Follow Francis of Delirium: Instagram • Spotify
The Last Dinner Party
Caesar on a TV Screen
The Last Dinner Party are good enough to overcome the sizeable shouts of industry plant that would usually have cool kids like us scrambling to disavow them. They might have had a significant leg-up, but they’ve also got the substance to back up the style.
Caesar on a TV Screen is about fragile masculinity and it’s one of our favourites from Prelude to Ecstasy.
Follow The Last Dinner Party: Instagram • Spotify
Mary in the Junkyard
Ghost
The latest major hype band from the London scene, and certainly one of the most interesting. The art rock trio played a number of sell-out shows last year before releasing debut single Tuesday in October. Does anyone else think vocalist Clari Freeman-Taylor sounds a bit like Aurora here?
Follow Mary in the Junkyard: Instagram • Spotify
Baula
Mercury in Retrograde
Swedish-Icelandic duo Baula popped up on the radar briefly a few years ago and then went quiet, only to return unexpectedly in February with this thumping new single and accompanying album announcement (April 26). Baula, by the way, is allegedly the noise a cow makes in Iceland!
Follow Baula: Instagram • Spotify
Ekko Astral
Baethoven
Ekko Astral are a queer post-punk band from Washington D.C. that style themselves as “mascara moshpit music” and often includes trans experiences among their lyrical themes. They previously dropped an EP, Quartz, in 2022 and are now back on the comeback trail with this thriving new single.
Follow Ekko Astral: Instagram • Spotify
Chalk
Bliss (feat. Fears)
Belfast’s Chalk are absolutely red-hot around the alternative scene at the moment. Their second EP Conditions II was released on Friday – the vinyl edition sold out within a couple of days of going on sale – and Bliss was the final of three pre-release singles.
Bliss features guest vocals from Fears, a folktronica artist and the drummer in M(h)aol. Her bright vocal contributions meld well with Ross Cullen’s trademark angst, making this one of the band’s most accessible tracks to date.
Follow Chalk: Instagram • Spotify
Nothing But Thieves
Oh No :: He Said What?
Nothing But Thieves fell off our radar for a while, but returned to the fold last year when Dead Club City reintroduced them with a new wave sound. Potent synth lines and big hooks are the order of the day now, and they’re out in full effect again on their latest alternative club banger.
Follow Nothing But Thieves: Instagram • Spotify
Still Corners
The Dream
Still Corners are onto album number six now – Creatures of an Hour is an underrated classic – but the veterans seem set to release one of their best albums to date when Dream Talk drops in April.
Moving along at a gentle pace, The Dream features a memorable hook and lots of little instrumental touches that make this one of our favourite dream pop songs of the year so far. Fans of bands like Yumi Zouma will find a lot to like.
Follow Still Corners: Instagram • Spotify
Maruja
The Invisible Man
Maruja are virtually operating on a cheat code at the moment. Their sound blends post-punk with post-hardcore, with jazz influences and an aggressive saxophone player thrown in for good measure. Technically around for nearly a decade now, it took until 2023’s third EP Knocknarea to propel them fully into the spotlight.
The Invisible Man is a six-minute epic that the musos over at RateYourMusic are currently rating as the single of the year so far. It’s just a shame that they didn’t keep the original working title, according to their set lists, of “John Cena”!
Follow Maruja: Instagram • Spotify
Alcest
L’Envol
Nobody arguably does a blend of shoegaze and metal better than Alcest do. L’Envol, performed in French, is an eight-minute saga that starts with melodic ‘gaze, develops into an ethereal middle section, and finally folds into some robust screams. On the evidence, new album Les chants de l’aurore could be one of their best in years.
