Best Local New Music Act

Few, if any, local groups have had as stellar of a first year as Lunar Vacation. The group's laid-back, surfy vibe seems to be exactly what the scene needed: a deserved reprieve from the hectic negativity that permeates almost every aspect of American life in 2018. -Since the group's debut, the nascent self-described "dreamy pool rock" group has put out three releases, embarked on its Artificial Flavors tour,- and, if the sold-out Bandcamp merch page is any indication, made quite a splash both locally and across the East Coast. www.lunarvacationatl.bandcamp.com. less...

Eight long years after Young Jeezy came to motivate the thugs, and Rocko after him, Rich Homie Quan has picked up the motivational speaker mantle for a new generation. His accent is as "Aalanna" as it gets, seemingly rendering his music in a coded language. The infectious glide of his "Type of Way" single placed him in his own lane, garnering shout-outs from coast to coast. Here in his hometown, he's shaken off early comparisons to fellow Atlanta rapper Future by writing songs that boast about being "rich" in the spirit - not necessarily in the bank - which makes you want to join in the chant, rather than just rob him. www.twitter.com/RichHomieQuan. less...

Back in November 2011, Black Lips singer/guitarist Cole Alexander and former Cee Lo Green collaborator Curtis Harding unveiled their spooky, low-fi soul project Night Sun with a show at 529 on an unseasonably balmy Tuesday night. Those who squeezed into the packed club experienced a spectral collision of Southern soul and garage rock. For months, both Cole and Curtis had been talking about the "other project" they'd been kicking around. And when they took the stage that night, Cole's grinding swamp melodies and Harding's soulful wail cut through the stifling clouds of smoke and sweat that hung heavy in the air. With a slow and bluesy punch they created a mystique that, to this day, comes up in conversations at the bar. It was a helluva first impression. less...

The future of hip-hop has a past, and her name is BOOG BROWN. Two years ago, she was just a restless Detroit native and recent college graduate who thought she'd find better opportunity and a good job Down South. So she loaded up her stuff and she moved to "Black Hollywood" — Atlanta, that is. Shopping malls. Music stars. But Brown found herself more at home within the city's underground scene, where she met such collaborators as producer Illastrate. Already, she's proven herself to be that rare gem of an artist who can push a genre forward by taking it back to "The Essence," when, as she raps with a warm, detached flow on her first single, "shit used to be credible/incredible vocab/no amount of swagger hide a wack verse." The irony, of course, is that she unleashed that salvo, from her anticipated Miss Black America mixtape, smack dab in the middle of rap's swag capital. Despite all our fair city has to offer an up-and-coming MC, Atlanta needs Boog Brown more than she needs us. We need to remember how it feels to hang onto the edge of every lyric, to pause in the middle of a verse and rewind, to find ourselves transfixed and transformed by the renewing power of a rhyme. Atlanta should be so fortunate. www.myspace.com/bbrownfbgm. less...

Straight outta high school, the four fresh-faced teens who make up THE BALKANS won the hearts and minds of pretty much everyone who saw them play this year. Equally inspired by the reverb and kerrrang of ’60s surf rock, the energetic Merseybeat pop of the Beatles, and the ’90s inflections of Radiohead, these kids are seasoned beyond their years. But they maintain their youthful abandon by concocting a jittery, fast-paced indie-rock grind so catchy and stylistic that it caught Atlanta by surprise. www.myspace.com/thebalkans. less...

THE COATHANGERS understand the raw power of simplicity. In less than a year, these all-female Atlanta post-punks have carved a striking path through the local music scene, leaving boisterous lovers and haters in their wake. The group plays spun-out punk and no-wave pep-rally anthems that are formidable, aggressive and charmingly naive. At any time there are at least a dozen upcoming shows posted on the group’s Myspace page, and its performances are never less than explosive. The Coathangers work hard and play hard. And having fun while playing music is the bottom line. If you’re offended by such signature (and juvenile) songs as “Nestle in My Boobies” and “Shut the Fuck Up,” then maybe it’s time for you to lighten up.

www.myspace.com/fuckthecoathangers

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GHOST TOUR is an indie-rock band with country influences, not vice versa. The group’s jangle-pop chops bare the burdens of working man’s music but there’s more My Bloody Valentine than Gram Parsons in the mix. Featuring singer/guitarist Craig Gates, bassist John Naismith and drummer Greg Stevens, Ghost Tour forgoes showboating to adopt a stoic approach to the art of song. Their thirtysomething angle adds post-hipster substance to Ghost Tour’s sound, but the group still rocks. Songs like “Brown Guitar” and “Craig #1” swell with a well-tempered exuberance that embraces a lineage of respectable artists, from Wilco to the Minutemen and Pavement to the Pretty Things. Ghost Tour offers something for the critics and the kids to sink their teeth into.
www.myspace.com/ghosttour.

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The Rock*A*Teens had a ragged, reverberating wail that was easy to imagine cascading down the time-tattered streets of Cabbagetown. That sound had much to do with the vocals of singer/songwriter/guitarist Chris Lopez, who continues the world-weary tradition in his new band, TENEMENT HALLS. Lopez’s gently frayed voice quavers just barely above the spooks that taunt him, and his sly, spry melodies recall facets of the Kinks and Elvis Costello. While scratchy and mesmeric organs and jangly guitars warble moodily, Lopez paints scenarios of desperate, tired narrators.
www.mergerecords.com.

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