5 Bands to Watch in 2020

2019 saw a number of bands releasing impressive debut singles. Here’s a selection of them who we’re expecting great things from in 2020 (no pressure!).

The Howlers

It’s amazing to think that a song as good as La Dolce Vita was the Howlers debut single, and even more amazing that they were able to follow up with Matador, of an equally high standard. Talk about setting the bar high!

There have already been murmurings of another single release around February/March time but the band have been coy over plans for an album as yet. They have announced a few gigs in February (20th at The Horn in St Albans and 27th at the Chameleon Arts Café, Nottingham) and April (taking in the Sebright Arms, London on the 24rd and Acapulco, Portsmouth on the 25th).     
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For more on the band, read our interview with them from November here which also contains links to the singles. You can see a clip of them live on our YouTube channel here.   

Saint Ivy

Sitting somewhere between the Blinders, Crows and early era the Cure, Saint Ivy released their second single ‘Palms’ in late December and what a mighty beast of a tune it is. BBC Introducing made it their single of the week, and you can hear it here. Debut single ‘Dawned’ came out in 2018 and its also a monster that you can listen to here.  
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They seemed to have confined their live performances mostly to their native North West so far, and the only gigs lined up for 2020 at this stage appear to be 30th January supporting Deja Vega at the Salty Dog in Northwich and 3rd March at the Night and Day Café in Manchester, but hopefully they will spread their wings further across the UK later on in the year. We also hope they get some more music released in the coming months to follow up on Palms.  

Laundromat
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Laundromat’s debut single ‘Humans’ only flew past our radar recently and in fairness it only came out in October, but it’s certainly enough to make them a band to watch in 2020. Humans is an excellent mix of Krautrock and indie that reminds us in a way of the early Primal Scream single ‘Imperial’. You can hear it here.  
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From the limited amount of information available on-line (see Post Trash for what little there is or check their Facebook page), lead singer Toby Hayes was apparently in a few bands prior to Laundromat (Eugene Quell, Shoes and Socks off, Meet me in St Louis), the band come from Brighton,  they played their first gig in November and they have an album recorded and planned for release soon.  

Working Men’s Club

A bit of an obvious choice this one – Working Men’s Club have been much lauded in 2019 by the music press, BBC Introducing and received extensive airplay on 6 music.  There released their debut single ‘Bad Blood’ in January 2019, and followed it up with the mega ‘Teeth’ in August. If you watched the BBC drama Guilt you’ll probably recognise Teeth (it was also used to advertise the show), or you can listen to it here.  
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The band have a full tour lined up for February calling in at Northampton, Hebden Bridge, Huddersfield, Manchester, Blackpool, Oxford, Cardiff, Exeter, Stoke-on-Trent and Saltaire – see here for details, and are also playing at the Old Blue Last in London on the 21st January.  

The Palpitations

Indie rockers by night, doctors by day…and night. This Luton based band released their first single ‘Siren’ in December, an anthemic number reminiscent of Interpol, Joy Division and Radiohead. You can hear it here.  
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The band write songs about their real life experiences of working in A&E, providing an extremely interesting perspective on the world, which we explored in our interview with them here. Two more single releases are planned for the coming months and dates are in the process of being organised.