The Best Bands You Never Heard In Your Life

We all have those records in our collection or bands in the deepest crevices in our mind.

You’ve heard them. Your friends have heard them—mostly because you play that band’s records incessantly, preaching the gospel for anyone in earshot; your neighbors have heard them—because you play that song from that band at top volume at least once a month. You’ve sought out an over-priced import copy of the group’s often-bootlegged-but-never-issued-outside-of-Wales second album, bought the German singles (which feature covers of yet another obscure band that even you have never heard of) and stalked eBay, hoping to stumble across the 1979 limited edition of the lead singer’s long-deleted second solo album.

But mention them to a stranger and the best you get is a shrug or maybe a half mumbled, “Never heard of ‘em.” We all have ‘em, whether Captain Beefheart or Captain Beyond, there’s probably a band we feel especially strong about that no one else seems to love or no one else seems to have heard.

We’ll hear from some of those bands during the month of August on Strange Currency. Listen for music from Chainsaw Kittens, The Monks, Flamin’ Groovies, Patto, The Nerves, The Plimsouls, Galaxie 500, The Beat, Flin Flon, The Pop Group, Magazine, Dwight Twiley, and Wichita’s own The Clocks.

Wichita’s The Clocks “She Looks A Lot Like You”

We’ll also hear new music from more visible acts including Arcade Fire, Los Lobos, Black Crowes, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Richard Thompson and feature music from singer-songwriter Peter Case all month long on Strange Currency.

Eli “Paperboy” Reed and The True Loves “Take My Love With You”