With a new semester comes a new crop of buzzworthy bands, including Lana Del Rey’s timeless crooning, King Krule’s smart compositions and Gary Clark Jr.’s gritty take on the blues. Whatever the taste, at least one of these artists should spark a new musical interest.
Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey is hardly a new name, but she is carrying the revised and renewed brand of Americana on her back, acting as the sunsoaked, sex-scented posterchild for the genre. While she’s been the target of intense criticism from indie bloggers, accused of giving into an industry rebranding in order to appeal to a mainstream audience, she’s created an image that is unlike most of the solo female acts who dominate radio-friendly pop. Del Rey, also known as Lizzy Grant, wouldn’t seem out of place vocally or physically in an era decades older than our own.
Attention from media outlets like Vogue and VH1 ensures that Del Rey will be a household name in 2012 with her latest album, Born to Die, on shelves Jan. 31, thanks to Interscope Records. However, her mediocre appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” which earned her a lambasting from music critics, movie stars and news anchors alike, has people debating if she’s a flash in the pan or a star waiting to blossom in an American market.
King Krule
Archy Marshall, once known as Zoo Kid and now King Krule, creates jazz-tinged garage magic reminiscent of your kid brother and his best friends playing. His mellifluously deep monotone works well over spastic and shifting drums, layered with clean bursts of guitar work. A simple introduction to Marshall’s work is the haunting “Out Getting Ribs” — initially released during his Zoo Kid era, this bare-bones track showcases his evolution from bedroom musings to reverb-saturated crossover poetry.
Gary Clark Jr.
The blues are back in a big way, and there is seemingly no better time to be an aficionado than now. Acts like The Black Keys, The Dead Weather, and The Black Angels have forged a kind of dark path with this reinvigorated genre. It would seem that newcomer Gary Clark Jr. has some serious shoes to fill, and if his The Bright Lights EP is any indication of what he’s capable of bringing to the table, the 27-year-old Austin, Texas, native is more than capable.
Smoldering fretwork, whiskey-soaked vocals and the ability to deliver both pounding swing and chugging halftime rhythms make Clark a contender to aid the omnipresent blues revival.
