#rocks introducing

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Rocks Introducing: Lorde

Tipped by just about everyone and their dog to go stratospheric sooner rather than later is young star Lorde. A winning combination of a heavenly voice and wisdom filled lyrics that belie her years mean you will be seeing and hearing A LOT of this New Zealander in 2014

Her tunes 'Royals' and 'Tennis' have been on heavy rotation in Rocks HQ for a while and last week she hit the number one spot in the UK charts and amassed a huge 7 million Soundcloud plays... Oh yeah, did we mention she’s 16 years old?

Check out Royals below

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Rocks Introducing: Wolf Alice

The latest addition to the impressive Chess Club records roster North London four piece Wolf Alice are setting the new music world alight at the moment being named ones to watch by The Fly, championed by Radio 1 new music don Zane Lowe and featured in this weeks NME… Checking in to see them at Camden's Dingwalls last night to see just what all the fuss was about we weren't disappointed.

From having followed the Londoners for a little while now the sound of Wolf Alice appears to have undergone a radical transformation in 2013. Having started out life making harmony fuelled pop-folk music with an almost blues-rock edge as a trio on their debut E.P it sounds to us (with the addition of a new band member) there was a point in the rehearsal room where they turned the amps up to 11 and never looked back. If this show was anything to go by the new sound of Wolf Alice is louder, heavier and in your face yet somehow still manages to retain some of that folky sense of atmosphere.  100% ones to watch in 2014 we'd love to see them on the Rocks stage!

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Rocks Introducing : Darlia

Darlia only appeared on the Rocks radar a couple of months ago but already, with their brand of fast paced punk rock, have become one of our favourite bands of the moment.

Breaking out of Blackpool the trio of Nathan Day, Dave Williams and Jack Bentham are frequently compared to Nirvana (probably due to Day's bleach blonde hair and tendency for a black and white photograph) but we think their sound is more a cross between Kurt Cobain's outift, Birmingham indie rockers Peace and newcomers Splashh

Talked up already by the NME, Zane Lowe and Fearne Cotton on Radio 1 as well as heading out on tour with Deap Vally and The Family Rain before the end of the year expect these guys to be blaring from radios and festival speakers next summer for sure

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Rocks Introducing: Knytro

Hailing from Orlando, Knytro is the latest rap sensation to keep your eyes and ears on. The latest signing to the growing roster of MTA Records (alongside the likes of Chase & Status, Ben Pearce and Noisa) he wiped the floor with Reading and Leeds festival on the 1Xtra Stage in August and now has released this awesome mixtape ‘Project Harpoon’ for Free download on his Soundcloud page. Check it

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Rocks Introducing: Amplify Dot

Here at Rocks we couldn't ask for a fresher support for our favourite rap duo Rizzle Kicks than the eclectic Amplify Dot, who cites Bob Marley and Kurt Cobain as influences, so much so that she named one of her biggest tracks after the Nirvana frontman. Since getting on stage with Missy Elliot aged just 13, Amplify Dot has been making some pretty impressive collaborations too, the latest being Hip Hop legend Busta Rhymes on her new track ‘I’m Good’. 

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Rocks Introducing: The Staves

Every week on the Rocks Blog we’ll be showcasing the freshest talent in association with our friends at new music blog Commercial Free. This week The Staves

Made up of Emily, Jessica and Camilla, 'mere wisps of women caught in a gust of wind' (to quote one of their songs), these three sisters from just north of London grew up playing open mic nights and now play arenas with some of the biggest bands in the world having been spotted singing backing vocals. It sounds like a fairytale story but it is real talent that has got them this far.

Folk music is a genre that has undergone a renaissance over the last few years. Spear headed by tweed wearing banjo twiddlers Mumford and Sons, the softly softly Bon Iver and the log cabin sounds of Fleet Foxes traditional acoustic folk music has broken out of the Fairport Convention and begun to dominate the mainstream with these bands building followings enough to sell out arenas around the world. 

The Staves are definitely set to follow in this lineage if they continue to write songs as beautiful as those on their debut album Dead & Born & Grown.

Their website says they were 'Brought up in a house that echoed to the sounds of Simon & Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Beatles' and if you listen closely you can pick out elements of all of these influences in their music (along with some more contemporary sounds thrown in). The Simon and Garkfunkel comparison is a very interesting one and probably the closest we can get to describe the acoustic, stripped back nature of thier sound.

Like 3 Laura Marling's singing in perfect 3-part harmony their songs speak of of love & longing and much like U.S folk outfit The Civil Wars the purity of sound and the rich harmony of their voices alone has the power to make the hairs on your neck stand on end and rapture an audience into silence. Its hard to think something this beautiful came from a London commuter town in Hertfordshire.

Check out Tongue Behind my Teeth below:

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Rocks Introducing: Cayucas

Every week on the Rocks Blog we’ll be showcasing the freshest talent in association with our friends at new music blog Commercial Free. This week Cayucas

The latest signing to successful new label Secretly Canadian (which already boasts the likes of Yeasayer and Here We Go Magic on their roster) Cayucas: Pronounced “ky-yook-us” are a surf-indie-pop band paying homage to a sleepy little seaside town in San Luis Obispo County, California.

Unlike bands like The Drums and Little Racer who have tried to put an East Coast spin on surf rock the sound of Cayucas is authentically West Coast in every single way. That is probably more than down to front man Zach Yudin who says he has "lived in California my whole life. I'm not some surfer beach bum, but I live by the beach, and I like the style of music that fits that lifestyle".

With off beat guitars (reminiscent of Vampire Weekend), vocal echoes, harmonies (sounding like a cross between Eugene McGuiness and the Beach Boys) and lo fi drumming their debut track 'Cayucos' makes me wish I could escape to sunnier climbs. Unfortunately It’s only a dream, a dream that will have to last until the band’s full-length debut, coming out some time next year (most probably in the summer...).

Check out "Cayucos" below

Want your music to feature in Rocks Introducing? Visit Commercial Free, submit your music and you could be featured here next week!

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Rocks Introducing: PEACE

Every week on the Rocks Blog we’ll be showcasing the freshest talent in association with our friends at new music blog Commercial Free. This week PEACE

PEACE are definitely up there as one of our favourite bands of the moment. Having only formed this time last year these 4 lads from the UK's second city have already gone on to support new indie royalty in The Vaccines, Tame Impala and Magic Kids as well as at their first London show get kicked out of the venue for painting a huge 10ft Peace symbol on the wall....

On their debut Delicious EP they have taken the ideas from their early demos and turbo charged them combining elements from some of the best indie bands of the last few years: from the angular Foals-like guitar lines and Friendly Fires samba drums on 'Bloodshake' to the uplifting WU LYF-esque harmonies on 'California Dreams'. We cant stop listening to this EP!

Set for massive things this year we expect them to be the next big thing.

Check out 'Bloodshake' below

Want your music to feature in Rocks Introducing? Visit Commercial Free, submit your music and you could be featured here next week!