Billy Talent

Billy Talent is a Canadian rock band formed in 1993 in Mississauga, Ontario. The band consists of Benjamin Kowalewicz (vocals), Ian D'Sa (guitar/vocals), Jonathan Gallant (bass/vocals) and Aaron Solowoniuk (drums/percussion).

Although they are often described as having punk rock roots, the band claims that they have no bands that they have drawn inspiration from; they did not "emulate popular bands at the time." The sound is original and unique, something different that they recognized when they first started playing together.

Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie (often shortened to Death Cab or DCFC) is an American indie pop rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997.


Death Cab for Cutie began as a solo project of Ben Gibbard while he was the guitar player for the band Pinwheel. As Death Cab for Cutie, Gibbard released a cassette titled You Can Play These Songs with Chords; the release was surprisingly successful, and Gibbard decided to expand the band into a complete project. He recruited Christopher Walla (who had also worked on the cassette) as an electric guitarist, Nick Harmer as bass guitarist, and Nathan Good to play drums.


Discography

- You Can Play These Songs with Chords (Cassette) - Elsinor - 1997
- Something About Airplanes (CD/LP) - Barsuk Records - 1998
- We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes - (CD/LP) - Barsuk Records - 2000
- The Photo Album - (CD/LP) - Barsuk Records - 2001
- You Can Play These Songs with Chords - (CD/LP re-release) - Barsuk Records - 2002
- Transatlanticism - (SACD/CD/LP/Cassette) - Barsuk Records - 2003
- Plans - (CD/LP) - Atlantic Records - 2005
- Narrow Stairs (CD/LP) - Atlantic Records - May 2008

The Dresden Dolls

The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2001, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano, harmonica, ukelele) and Brian Viglione (drums, percussion, guitar, vocals). The two describe their style as "Brechtian punk cabaret", a phrase invented by Palmer because she was "terrified" that the press would invent a name that "would involve the word gothic," and are part of an underground dark cabaret movement that started gaining momentum in the early 1990s.

Discography

2003 - A Is for Accident
2003 - The Dresden Dolls
2006 - Yes, Virginia
2008 - Untitled New Album

The Wombats

The Wombats are a three-piece indie band from Liverpool, England. They comprise of two native Liverpudlians; front man Matthew Murphy, provider of vocals, guitar and keyboards, drummer and b-vocalist Dan Haggis and bass and additional vocalist Tord Overland-Knudsen, a Norwegian who has made his home in the city. The three met at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. The school gave them the chance to play gigs to over 20,000 people in China. This was one of the band's first trips to play outside the UK.

Discography

2006: Girls, Boys and Marsupials
2007: The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation

Interpol

Interpol are an American rock band, formed in 1998 in New York City. The members of the band are Paul Banks (vocals, guitar), Daniel Kessler (guitar, back vocals), Carlos Dengler (bass, keyboards - commonly referred to as Carlos D.) and Sam Fogarino (drums). The band's debut album Turn on the Bright Lights was critically acclaimed, making it into the NME top ten albums of the year for 2002. The follow-up, Antics, was both a commercial and critical success. The group recently released its third album, Our Love to Admire.


Interpol are one of many bands associated with the New York indie music scene, being one of several groups that emerged out of the post-punk revival of the 2000s. The band's sound is generally a mix of bass throb and choppy, sparse guitar, drawing comparisons to post-punk bands Joy Division, The Chameleons, Kitchens of Distinction and Echo and The Bunnymen.

Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age are a rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997.Originally formed under the name Gamma Ray by guitarist Josh Homme, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy music which Homme described as 'robot rock', saying that he "wanted to create a heavy sound based on a solid jam, and just pound it into your head". The band is frequently described as stoner rock, although they reject the term.



The band's first release was Gamma Ray, a two-track EP released in January 1996, featuring Joshua Homme (Kyuss), Matt Cameron (Soundgarden), Van Conner (Screaming Trees) and John McBain (Monster Magnet). The band's first live appearance was probably November 20, 1997, at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington. In December of the same year, the band released a split EP, Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age, which was the first official release by the band under the name Queens of the Stone Age, and featured three tracks from the Gamma Ray sessions as well as three Kyuss tracks recorded in 1995 just prior to their break-up.


The band released their self-titled debut, Queens of the Stone Age (1998) on Loose Groove records (the album was also released on vinyl by Man's Ruin Records), which was recorded with Homme handling both guitar- and bass guitar-playing duties (though basswork is credited to Homme's alter-ego, Carlo Von Sexron), Alfredo Hernández on the drums, and included several other instrumental and vocal contributions by Chris Goss and Hutch.


Discography:

Rated R (1999–2001)

Songs for the Deaf (2001–2004)

Lullabies to Paralyze (2004–2006)

Era Vulgaris (2006–present)

Queen

Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. Queen rose to prominence during the 1970s and are one of Britain's most successful bands of the past three decades.

The band is noted for their musical diversity, multi-layered arrangements, vocal harmonies and incorporation of audience participation into their live performances. Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live music performance of all time in a BBC poll.