Check out our list of 6 positive bands, as apportioned below.
1. The Mowgli’s
The Mowgli’s are a septet mostly from Southern California with a large psychedelic sound and three lead vocalists. With two-to-three guitarists, an organist, drummer, bassist, and one female vocalist, The Mowgli’s create a rush of adrenaline and happiness that will leave you wondering, as they ask in a recent single, “How can anyone be living in a bad dream?” Younger than some of the other bands on the list, both of their studio albums, “Kids in Love,” and “Waiting for the Dawn,” are packed with tracks that will leave you feeling good about yourself. Check out their new single, “I’m Good,” in which the band decides to “see another love revolution.” Also check out “San Francisco,” which has to be the cutest music video I’ve ever seen.
2. Frank Turner (And The Sleeping Souls)
Frank Turner is a punk rock guitarist from London. He was previously in the band, “A Million Dead.” When they disbanded, Turner decided that playing music for a living was much more preferable to anything else. So Turner started churning out music and touring endlessly. Nowadays he sells out Wembley Stadium in England and gets a modest amount of attention in the US. The one defining factor about Turner is the people who like him freaking LOVE him. Oftentimes, when at Frank Turner concerts, it’s difficult from him to hear himself sing because everyone in the audience are screaming the lyrics back louder than his voice is coming out of his sound system. Songs you should listen to include “If Ever I Stray,” “Recovery,” and “Get Better,” which is the newest song off of his recently released album, “Positive Songs for Negative People.”
3. The Polyphonic Spree
The Polyphonic Spree is a rock troupe from Dallas with upwards of a dozen members (mostly vocalists) who play a bevvy of songs mostly concerning light and the sun. Their music has been featured in the television show Scrubs and the movie The Lorax. Furthermore, their most well-known single, “Light and Day” was prominently included in the Jim Carrey movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” If you’re looking for whimsical choral music with a wide variety of instruments and a light vocal range, check them out. Either way, their cover of Nirvana’s “Lithium” is totally out of this world. It might even be better than the original.
4. Dispatch
Dispatch is composed of three gentlemen from New England who have gained a wild amount of success despite never signing to a record label of any sort. With incredibly illustrative and precise lyrics, complex drumbeats, and reggae style, Dispatch gained much of their success due to the pull of such songs as “The General,” and “Open Up.” While they owe some of their success to file sharing services such as Napster and Limewire, Dispatch’s real talent lies in their amazing stage presence, in which members switch instruments often and sometimes sing in foreign languages. Dispatch is a real treat. I recommend buying “Ain’t No Trip to Cleveland,” a double disc collection of their most recent live show. While there shows are often free, it’s still tough to get in. Their original going-away concert in Boston drew upwards of four hundred thousand people, with plenty concertgoers hanging on stoplights and climbing trees for a view. They are certainly a sight to see. Watch the recording of that last live Boston show for a taste. Yes, the guitarist is wearing a dress. And yes, those are hundreds of water bottles flying through the air.
5. John Butler Trio
John Butler Trio is an Australian reggae-esque band composed mostly of John Butler and his dobro, which as a close to an approximation of a banjo as Australia can produce. Butler is known for his metaphysical and spiritualist views, his uniquely blended American-Australian heritage, and his tendency to solo with his dobro for minutes on end. While he is likely most famous for songs such as “Better Than,” and “Used to Get High,” his most sublime and inspiring work likely came during a live show at Red Rocks, the natural amphitheater in Colorado. In it, Butler riffs and solos endlessly on his banjo-esque instrument, running up and down scales, and creating for listeners the closest approximation to musical freedom there could be. The result is called, “Ocean,” and it is sublime. Featured photo credit: stefanog.com/Anna Calvi via flickr.com
