The 2012 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is two weeks away. And if that is our own St. Louis Music holiday, then consider this the season: Throughout May, we've been making our cases for all 125 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year, introducing the nominees from one or more of our 25 categories. For each artist you will find a photo, a streaming track to sample and a few words from the staff at RFT Music.
Vote for all categories at the official 2012 RFT Music Showcase Reader's Poll.
Previously DJ Chamber Pop Metal Folk Electronic/Dance Americana New Band Singer-Songwriter
The Blind Eyes On the surface, it doesn't look like much has changed since we named Blind Eyes the best new band of 2008. The mod rockers still fit oddly shaped chords together to make gorgeous pop melodies. Guitarist Seth Porter still croons like a humble Rat Pack member, and bassist Kevin Schneider has retained his garage-rock bark. The band still sounds like it's having a blast whether it's unleashing a torrent of eighth-notes ‡ la the Strokes or laying down an easy swinging groove that you can swill your cocktail to. But the Blind Eyes has shown tremendous growth since its already impressive debut. Its new songs are catchier, its performances are tighter and its new lyrics cut deeper. And now that Andy White has joined as a second guitarist, Blind Eyes now has an electrifying soloist that can flesh out its material. It's only getting better with the Blind Eyes. --Bob McMahon
Bo and the Locomotive Don't judge a book by its cover, and don't judge an album by its title. If you picked up On My Way, the debut LP from Bo & the Locomotive, you'd be forgiven if the title had you fearing some navel-gazing introspection. (And really, the naked-lady swimmers on the cover should have been your first clue that another kind of navel-gazing was awaiting you.) Bo Bulawsky channeled years spent as a sideman and hours of bedroom recordings into his debut, and it sounds as fully formed and purposeful as the most seasoned bandleaders. He favors the hazy depths of reverb, and that obfuscation smears his words but makes the cumulative effect of his songs crash like muddy waves around your ears. Bo & the Locomotive is a band built from simple parts but constructed with an architect's vision. --Christian Schaeffer
Humdrum Humdrum hasn't skipped a beat since guitarist Gareth Schumacher left the mercurial Midwest weather for the sun-glazed coasts of California. It has been recording an album with Steve Albini and mixing it with Jay Pellicci at San Francisco's Tiny Telephone studios. Aside from polishing that, its third LP, the band is still an active live presence in St. Louis. Its second album, The Arrangement, is as loopy as a space cadet. The band can bounce from cloying piano parts and guitar riffs ("Reproduce") akin to the Hush Sound to sincere ("Hello Hello Hello") in two tracks' time. Dan Meehan's voice has the thin echo of a penny dropped on marble. Its tinlike sound is sharp, pleasant and achingly sweet. Bill Streeter's Lo-Fi Saint Louis series recently recorded a video for "I'll Find You." Stripped of galactic noises, the band becomes tender and all the more terrestrial. --Blair Stiles
