Ones to Watch: Valise
UPDATE (10/8/2016 7:51 PM): Replaced broken links.
90% of my twitter followers are unsigned bands trying to drum up fans. I used to check them all out religiously. Nowadays though, I’ve reached a point where I gave up on trying to keep track of them all because, to be brutally honest, a lot of them kinda suck. However, every once in a while I’ll check out a few of them. Sometimes, I’ll even come across a few diamonds in the rough that make the process of weeding through the mess of cookie cutter pop punk bands trying to be the next All Time Low worthwhile. So today, I extend a huge thank you to Dallas based indie rock band, Valise, for being well worth the digging.
They are still pretty young as a band that much is fairly obvious, but they’ve got a substantial amount of potential that is definitely worth working with. Their sound falls somewhere between indie rock and an alternative punk rock kind of vein. Their instrumentation is really sleek with plenty of good guitar riffs that add a hint of melancholy to the mix. Many of their songs are drum heavy but the drums are understated and blend nicely into the rest of the sound. Complimenting the drums, steady bass lines fill out the songs perfectly which I’m a huge fan of personally (can’t resist a good rhythm section, never could). The songs build up and fall back down instrumentally in good accordance with the vocals. Their lead singer’s voice is really addicting too. Vocally and lyrically, there’s an Anthony Green/Circa Survive quality to Valise, pure emotion and vulnerability with a hint of softness. I like the idea of them being a softer and more indie version of Circa Survive. It adds a warm sense of familiarity about them, but it is not so overpowering that they don’t sound like their own band in the making. There is something special about Valise to me. Time will tell just how far they go but they could be onto something. Either way, I am liking what I’m hearing. Thanks for the follow guys!
Personal favorites: “Digadig” and “Chains”