In an internet-centric age, the annual parade of breakout bands has become a yearly tradition; a veritable rite of this blogospheric era. With online word-of-mouth now a swift, catalyzing force, indie acts can go from utterly unknown to hype-blasted within the blink of an eye. Some of 2010's breakout stars went from no one to someone in an instant, others found themselves gently edging into the bright, bright spotlight after a long period of slow growth. Either way, the acts below all share this in common: they effectively came from nowhere to suddenly be everywhere in 2010.
4ADAriel Pink seemed set to be an eternal cult figure. The lo-fi charlatan had long made music that attempted to capture, at essence, the sound of magnetic-tape degrading; as if this one lone wolf, Los Angelino loon Ariel Rosenberg, was unearthing semi-decomposed pop-songs from 20 years prior. Then along came Before Today, the first ever Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti album recorded in a real studio, with a real producer, and a real band. These tentative steps towards normalcy were rewarded tenfold: the LP crossing over from underground obscurity to weird almost-straight-up popularity. Sure, debuting at #163 on the Billboard chart wouldn't be news for some sculpted major-label product, but for Ariel Pink it seemed revolutionary.
2. Best Coast
Mexican SummerEarly Best Coast singles —"When I'm with You" and "Sun Was High (So Was I)"— had earnt plenty of blog-hipster-ish admiration for the sunny classic-pop melodies that glimmered out of their lo-fi smog, but, when 2010 began, few were predicting Bethany Cosentino's bedroom-project was ready to crack, y'know, the Billboard Top 50. That's exactly what happened, though, when the debut Best Coast LP, Crazy for You attracted the kind of all-consuming hype (and instant backlash) last seen with that Vampire Weekend LP. Cosentino seemed to go from member of obscure drone act Pocahaunted to commercial-crossover it-girl in a blink, and her Twitter-enshrined relationship with 2009 hype survivor Wavves turned Best Coast into a veritable blog celebrity.
3. Kisses
This is MusicGiven Jesse Kivel's main band, Princeton, was more overlooked and underrated than anything approaching hyped, you wouldn't have guessed his side-project would get inundated with blog buzz and next-big-thing acclaim. Yet, when
The Heart of the Nightlife —the debut album by his disco-pop project, Kisses— trickled onto the internet by either intentional or unintentional 'leak,' long before an official release had been planned, Kivel was suddenly hot. The Kisses LP looks at disco through an indie-pop lens,
Arthur Russell by way of Jens Lekman, as Kivel croons over twee electro backing. With an overdose of melody and instantly memorable choruses, each of the nine tracks seems destined for tastemaking advertisements and television soundtracks.
4. Local Natives
FrenchkissIf the still-mind-boggling popularity of pastoral psych-folk types Fleet Foxes has proved anything, it's that human-beings are suckers for multi-part harmonies. There's something about hearing bands sing in unison that has its own kind of magic, and Local Natives have such in spades. On their debut longplayer,
Gorilla Manor, the crew belt out lusty harmonies and sometimes yell together in ragged caterwauls, all over a set of sneaky-good indie-rock built on snaking guitars, skittering
post-rock-ish drums, glints of piano, and interesting production details. The LA quintet are utterly unafraid of grandeur, and, in such, it wouldn't be hard to imagine them filling stadiums one day.
5. The Morning Benders
Pieter van HattemCalifornian indie-poppers The Morning Benders had two EPs and an LP under their belts entering this year, but they'd remained almost entirely overlooked by the world-at-large. That changed with
Big Echo, a sophomore set that announced its orchestrated grandeur in its short, sharp title. Produced by
Grizzly Bear's in-house sound-stylist Christopher Taylor, the album was brilliantly produced: clear, distinct, bright, and brilliantly deploying a perception of 'space' in the mix. It marked an evolutionary step forward for the band, and, of course, met with plentiful critical acclaim. From there, 2010 progressed onwards: the band going from tour to tour, venues and audiences growing larger with each passing show.
6. Sleigh Bells
N.E.E.T.Where other bands on this list were charmingly-unexpected success stories, Sleigh Bells were all but guaranteed to treat 2010 as their own personal coming-out party. After they blew up at CMJ, found their CDR clogging filesharing wires, and went into the studio to work with M.I.A., Sleigh Bells' music was undoubtedly going to resound throughout the year. For those who'd flogged their effectively-unreleased tracks countless times, their debut LP, Treats, seemed a shade disappointing upon its May arrival. Most of the songs were, after all, just worse-sounding versions of the ol' CDR jams. But, for the unsuspecting, Sleigh Bells marriage of cutesy-pop hooks and overdriven noise would've blown minds. And, possibly, eardrums.
7. Surfer Blood
KanineFloridian alt-rock bros Surfer Blood brought noisy guitars, quiet-to-loud shifts, and massive choruses back in a big, ballsy way in 2010. With the release of their debut record,
Astro Coast, Surfer Blood copped comparisons to Weezer,
The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, and just about anyone else who ever authored anthemic jams on the back of fuzzed-out powerchords. A year ago, the band had never left the East Coast, but, by the end of 2010, they'd done time on four continents and in both hemispheres. Along the way, they also signed with Warner Brothers, jumping to a major right when most everyone else is abandoning them. Even if they hadn't signed on the dotted line, you get the feeling that Surfer Blood are about to join the indie establishment.
8. Tame Impala
ModularMaking overproduced psychedelic-pop with John Lennon-impersonating vocals hardly seems like a recipe for crossover success circa 2010, but it was on the back of such that Perth outfit Tame Impala overcome the extreme isolation of their hometown. With their debut LP Innerspeaker under their wing, the band went from Western Australia out into the world. A mid-year run of US MGMT supports were Tame Impala's maiden outside-of-Australia gigs, and, by year's end, they were headlining their own US dates and playing important positions at various European festivals. Blatantly-retro rock-bands from down under haven't shown great staying power of recent —think: Jet, Wolfmother— but, hopefully, Tame Impala are too stoned to let hype go to their heads.
9. Warpaint
Mia KirbyOn their debut 2009 EP, Exquisite Corpse, Los Angelino ladies Warpaint sounded a little tentative; their a gentle, hesitant air to the slightly-psychedelic slowcore pop. But, on their debut LP, The Fool, they sound closer to commanding: all gnarly guitars, big drums, and persuasive grooves. Brightly recorded and cleanly played, the album comes closer to capturing the band as they stand on stage. Though they'll be met with eternal skepticism/sexism due to their gender/cheekbones, Warpaint are anything but mere eye=candy; their on-stage jamming and sense of communal musical interplay the products of fierce musicianship. True to such, it's been their reputation as a live band that's pushed Warpaint from the fringes towards the spotlight.
10. Zola Jesus
Sacred BonesPrior to this year, Wiconsin college goth Nika Roza Danilova had spent the past two years turning out a furious string of strictly-underground records as Zola Jesus. 2009 alone produced two LPs and two EPs of shadowy, lo-fidelity, echoey, droney albums built around hissing layers of her booming voice. Her 2010 has produced much less product, but taken her far further. The release of the Stridulum EP in March made this a year not of bunkered-down recording, but touring, promoting, collaborating, and seizing on seemingly-imminent stardom. Powered by the EP's friendlier tone and its almighty anthem "I Can't Stand," Danilova's momentum has snowballed, to the point that her next Zola Jesus album will be a bonafide indie event.
