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The Badlands
Who: Vocalist Sara Jean Worrell and guitarist/harmonica player Anthony DiVincenzo, formerly of The Seams, plus guitarist/banjoist Alvaro Egas. They started as a cover band before writing their own material.
Sounds like: A mix of Bob Dylan and Neil Young—with female vocals. “We’re music for the people,” Worrell says.
Listen to: The Badlands haven’t recorded yet (Worrell says an EP is coming), but you can find live snippets on YouTube and at Facebook.
See ’em: Opening for Zach Ryan and the Renegades March 28 at Beauty Bar. You also might catch them busking outside the Beat.
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Beta Bomb
Who: TJ Fogarty (Timothy Styles) left The Big Friendly Corporation and scrapped Skorchamenza to pursue this new labor of love. “I’ve had three goals,” he says, “to write music, record music and perform music. That’s it.”
Sounds like: Fogarty has traded revivalist rock for fuzz and grit. He tracks every instrument at home, then gets joined by Brandon Johnson (drums), Carlos Medina (bass) and Justin Wolf (guitar/vocals) onstage.
Listen to: Single “You, Me and the Devil” and its two B-sides at Bandcamp.
See ’em: Nothing booked at the moment, as Fogarty finishes work on a full-length album.
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O's of Presidential
Who: Evan Donoghue (vocals/guitar), Diego “Damo” Cano (guitar) and Stefano “Aplete” Kajatt (bass), who disbanded Underwater Ally in 2010, are at it again, joined by drummer Zack Beach.
Sounds like: Psychedelic space-punk. Think 13th Floor Elevators, with a nod to old-school punks like Stiff Little Fingers.
Listen to: “All Are Welcome,” a ’70s-soaked garage-pop track with vocals reminiscent of The Only Ones’ Peter Perrett, at Reverbnation.
See ’em: The O’s return to the stage April 11 at Artifice.
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The Pomskies
Who: An old-timey folk duo comprising The Mass Distractors’ William Neal, 24, and Briana Cohen, 21.
Sounds like: Bohemian vagrants with banjos, though they met at Guitar Center. Cohen’s hypnotizing vocals are the perfect match to Neal’s chunky strums on the mandolin, banjulele and banjitar (yes, those are real instruments).
Listen to: They’ve already got five original songs at Soundcloud, including the Euro-folky “Bartender.”
See ’em: February 28 at the Cheyenne Saloon with Journey 2 Rapture and La Fin Absolute du Monde.
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Shayna Rain & The Gents
Who: Twenty-four-year-old Shayna Rain heads this bluesy quartet, which also features Las Vegas Academy alums Steven Ray Viveros (guitar), Steven Zeller (bass) and Jeremy Tunender (drums).
Sounds like: Adele meets Janis Joplin (see: Rain’s smoky vocals are earthy and edgy). The Zeppelin-loving rockers’ live act hints at some hardcore influences, too.
Listen to: The group is gearing up to release a live EP, but until then, check out “Aiming for the Sun” at Soundcloud.
See ’em: February 27 at Beauty Bar, opening for Illicitor’s Zabi Naqshband.
