Since we started the playlist mix series Bands That Rock! at the beginning of 2010, it has been fairly popular. The reason for doing it was to specifically focus on just pure rock and roll bands that we think you'll love.

In the case of these next two bands - Violent Soho and Awesome Colors - they are on the same label, but come from places that are just about as far away from one another as any two locales on earth can be. But what they also have in common is the most important thing to us - they are amazing, full throttle rock bands.

Violent Soho is a grunge rock revivalist band from Brisbane (Queensland), Australia, consisting of a quintet of mates who grew up together in the suburb of Mansfield (postal code: 4122, which shows up in much of the band's artwork).

In 2007, the band toured with The Grates. Not long after the tour, Violent Soho released their widely acclaimed EP, Pigs & TV. Blunt Magazine said of the EP: "Sounding like The Vines fed on raw meat and produced on a fraction of the budget, Violent Soho are a boisterous pop rock combo from Brissyland reviving the spirit of the grunge era."


One of the band's newest tracks, "Jesus Stole My Girlfriend," was released months ago as a single, and has also been among one of their most popular songs online. In fact, YouTube alone has over a dozen videos featuring the song; the version we selected above happens to be the best in video and audio we could find, and also happens to be from inside our favorite record store, Amoeba Records, in San Francisco.

That song, and the song featured below, "Son of Sam," are originally from the band's 2008 debut LP in Australia, We Don't Belong Here, released via Emergency Music Records. Some months later, the band signed a deal with Ecstatic Peace Records, a label headed by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore.

Earlier this month, Ecstatic essentially released We Don't Belong Here (but as a self-titled LP) with completely remastered tracks, and targeted at a larger audience, which once you hear the album, you'll see why.

"Son of Sam" - Violet Soho from s/t worldwide debut

Stream the entire album on the band's official website.

Violent Soho on MySpace

Check out this new video of Violent Soho's recent trip from LA to SF


On the other side of the world from Australia is Brooklyn's psychedelic punk rock trio Awesome Color, made up of Michigan natives Michael Troutman, Allison Busch and Derek Stanton. In 2005, shortly after forming, the band's Detroit garage rock inspired sound caught the attention of Ecstatic's Thurston Moore, who, like he did with Violent Soho, signed the band to the label, and got to work.

The band's debut self-titled album was well received, and frequently compared to the 1970s punk band the Stooges. In fact, Stylus Magazine wrote: "there are times when you could play Fun House [a Stooges' album] and this album back-to-back and not be able to tell the difference between the two").


Their 2008 follow-up, Electric Aborigines, drew comparisons with The Scientists and Spacemen 3, with Rolling Stone magazine calling the band "a grimier version of Sonic Youth," who subsequently toured with Built to Spill, The Dead Weather and Dinosaur Jr.



On April 6, the band will release their third LP, Massa Hypons, and based on the first single, "Transparent," we can't wait to listen to the entire album. Like their label mates, Violent Soho, Awesome Color performed during last week's SXSW festival in Austin - and both bands were fantastic - their equal talent for mastering raw rock sounds was refreshing at a time when keyboards, drum machines and Macbooks are driving the popularity of so many other (and some, admittedly good) bands, duos and solo artists.

"Transparent" - Awesome Color from Massa Hypnos

"Eyes of Light" - Awesome Color from Electric Aborigines

Awesome Color on MySpace

Previous installments of Bands That Rock!

Bands That Rock! Vol. II: Brooklyn's A Place to Bury Strangers and Stockholm's The Legends

Bands That Rock! Vol. I: Argentina's Lunaria and Portugal's The Doups

Labels: Bands That Rock

The first installment of our new playlist series, Bands That Rock! was a huge success, introducing thousands of people worldwide to Lunaria and The Doups. There are many bands that we have lined up for this on-going series in the weeks and months to come, so if you are a rocker, you'll want to check back often.

Brooklyn's A Place to Bury Strangers deliver a wall of shoegaze noise, driven by big, aggressive guitar riffs, thunderous drumming and chunky bass playing, supported by the dark, loud vocals of singer and effects-pedal specialist, Oliver Ackermann.

Last spring, the band signed to Mute Records, who released their sophomore LP, Exploding Head, this past summer. The band has just wrapped up a successful tour of Europe where they dazzled fans with their unrepenting energy and killer light shows.

In Febuary, the band will play two shows in Australia before embarking on an extensive North American tour with fellow shoegaze rockers The Big Pink. The spring tour will kick off at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on March 10, 2010 and last through the end of April.

"In Your Heart" - A Place to Bury Strangers from Exploding Head (2009)

"To Fix The Gash in Your Head" - A Place to Bury Strangers from 10" single (2008)

A Place to Bury Strangers on MySpace


Back in June, we featured the Swedish band, The Legends. Since then, we've been listening to their other releases as well, including their break-through, widely-acclaimed debut LP, Up Against The Legends. and have some more songs from the band to share with you.

The Legends' 2009 LP, Over and Over, featured the mini-hit, "Always The Same," featuring Liane Moccia from Tralala on lead vocals. The nine members of The Legends, hastily formed in 2003, belt out melodic power-pop with guitar and percussion driven white noise that has an energy and confidence similar to A Place to Bury Strangers.

Although The Legends are difficult to place in one music genre, they readily admit to being strongly inspired by the Motown and C-86 genres, with a particular affinity for post punk trailblazers like Television Personalities and Comet Gain.

The Legends are signed with one of our favorite European labels, Labrador Records, and in the U.S., they are distributed via Lakeside Records. The song, "When The Day Is Done," was featured in the official soundtrack of the film, Wicker Park, and their track, "The Kids Just Wanna Have Fun," was used by Nike to promote the 2006 ASEAN Football Championship.

"Always The Same" - The Legends from Over and Over (2009)

"Seconds Away" - The Legends from Over and Over (2009)

"The Kids Just Wanna Have Fun" - The Legends from Up Against The Legends (2006)

The Legends on MySpace

Labels: A Place to Bury Strangers, Bands That Rock, The Legends

Labels: Bands That Rock, Lunaria, The Doups