I’m all for hometown pride, which is why, short of a complete douchebag-esque meltdown on Anthony Raneri’s part, I will always listen to Bayside.
I may be born and bred in New York, and struggled a bit to adopt Philadelphia as my new home, but I am proud to say I live in the same town as the Menzingers, the Wonder Years, The Dead Milkmen, & The Loved Ones, just to name a few.
I finally stopped ignoring all of the Midwest and Pacific Coast, and in doing so, found bands that I would have completely overlooked in the past. Case & point: This Wild Life. If they had never followed me on Twitter, I probably wouldn’t know who they were. I used to find most of my new bands by actually listening to the openers when attending shows, and snatching up flyers from the local venues I frequented. To be honest, it was a decent amount of work, and I still experience it from time to time (ie: Frank Turner opening for Social Distortion almost 3 years ago).
But, I have to say, the Brits are really stepping up their game. The first band that has really caught my attention is a far cry from Manhattan or even the continenal US. They're called Lightfire, and are based out of the West Midlands, UK. I'm not going to pretend I know, geographically, where that is. As I am sure they have no idea how to locate Philadelphia on a map either... It's only February (of course I didn't publish this until May... the statement still stands), but this is the first band that's really knocked my socks off in 2013. They can be followed on Twitter @lightfireuk .
Give them a listen. You won't be disappointed.
http://open.spotify.com/album/2lpr6fYneIM3GouhsikOh2
