The electronic solo project of visual/sound artist Richard Vergez and the founder of the label – Noir Age, explores existential soundscapes, utilizing analogue hardware including vintage synthesizers, found percussion, tape effects, and manipulated wind instruments. RIYL: Tangerine Dream, Wire, Steve Reich
Ritual synthesist, John Touchton conjures sinkholes of low-end, darkened room drones, strobing percussion and spidery rhythms of witching hour electronics best set to low lit rooms or speeding dark highways. RIYL: Cabaret Voltaire, S U R V I V E , Bitchin Bajas, Alesandro Cortini, Tim Hecker, Throbbing Gristle, Super Metroid OST
“Dark folk punk dream team”
That chain Lunadon rattles on the cover of 2023’s Systems Edge isn’t just a photo prop, and it’s just one key to Lunadon’s solo output. Think overdriven amps, sinks of reverb and a ton of swagger. Think Link Wray, black leather and bad-moon-rising vibes. It’s a parallel world to the one Lunadon occupied as singer-guitarist in The D4 and former bassist in A Place to Bury Strangers, though all share that unbridled, soulful, undefinable spark
An electronic indie-psych duo with syrupy guitars, soaring synths, sharp drums, and hauntingly beautiful vocals that culminate into a sound both piercingly focused and kaleidoscopic in scope and texture. RIYL: Animal Collective, Oneohtrix Point Never, Figurine
RIYL: Talking Heads, The Fall, Peter Gabriel, Wire, Fela Kuti, Psychic TV, Night Flights era Walker Brothers.
You probably won’t hear anything in 2024 quite like the self-titled debut album of World Destroyers’ Pleasure Club. Featuring former members of Black Angels, Dead Meadow, Death Valley Girls and Grooms it vacillates positively between alien and accessible, a world-music vibe dosed with post-punk and free jazz while sometimes hinting at an alternate-reality Talking Heads.
Egg Punk. Rude Television encapsulates the pleasant feeling of being mugged by way of getting beaten senseless with a fender jazzmaster. Drum driven rock n roll with a barrage of guitar in the passenger seat and synth in the back. – Painscale Records RIYL: Eggs
Atlanta’s Psychic Death straddle death rock, post-punk and darkwave, although they’re a bit too upbeat to be considered goth. Live, they are tight, terse and thrumming with an intensity that feels explosive. On record they sound like Joy Division and Rozz Williams-era Christian Death squaring up for a knife fight under a full moon. Jangle guitars, new wave synths, and blown-out reverb rattle your skull enough to loosen your fillings
RIYL: Skinny Puppy, The Locust, Genghis Tron, Dan Deacon, Big Black
“Siichaq is moody and perfectly saturated. Like a worn film or your favorite cassette. It’s wonderfully poppy shoegaze to feel something to.” – JME RIYL: Cherry Glazerr, Breeders, Ovlov, Le Tigre, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tanukichan
Hollywood legends that make Caribbean Gothic stories out of Velvet Underground meets punk sounds.
RIYL: Spiritualized, Beach Boys, Deerhunter, the Byrds
No one can accuse the Los Angeles band Dream Phases of false advertising. These Bumblefest headliners play psychedelic-influenced rock that can indeed be dreamy and suffused with melodic harmonies, but they’re not afraid to startle you out of your reverie with buzzy guitar solos
RIYL: Broadcast, feeble little horse, Yo La Tengo
In the decades since Stereolab emerged, there haven’t been many acts that you could say are reminiscent of their distinctly airy yet intricate style of Europop. That all changes when you hear the beautiful work of Starcleaner Reunion, who will be making their Florida debut as Bumblefest headliners. Five New Jersey high school friends who moved to New York City, Starcleaner Reunion have a bit of Stereolab’s multilingual streak, although Spanish, not French, is their second language on tracks like the trippy “Que Dices.”
RIYL: Stereolab, Gang Of Four, Orange Juice
Seattle-based Fiona Moonchild is touring, at last, in support of a debut album that came out in late 2021 and has, for reasons too numerous to mention, not gotten the extensive live workout it deserves. “It’s been a strange go-around for this release,” the Bumblefest headliner told PureHoney in a missive sent in July from the South of France, where Fiona was working on new music and trying out a recently acquired bass clarinet that had become a new obsession. Her summer schedule included a rock ’n’ roll sailing tour on Spain’s Cantabrian Sea playing drums with Sonny and the Sunsets
“Just like when you’re on acid, for a few minutes, you feel almost sober, and then it hits you again—that’s a typical Lo Fives tune. The pleasant stuff is a little creepy, the freaked out parts oddly pleasant.” RIYL: Mission Of Burma, Wire, Wounded Lion
RIYL: Foans, Body-San, Citizen Maze, Soela, Khotin, Tornado Wallace, Aphex Twin, Lone
The most exciting thing to come out of North Florida since boiled peanuts, indie rock multi-hyphenate BeBe Deluxe and her band of badasses are coming to Bumblefest!
RIYL: Chappell Roan, The White Stripes, Le Tigre
Shehehe’s sonic onslaught fuses the ferocity of punk with the unrelenting drive of hard rock, creating a sound that’s as infectious as it is irresistible. RIYL: A Ramones, Cheap Trick and Bikini Kill fusion.
With a frantic mix of blistering riffs and interstellar melody’s Zippur moves the listener through diverse soundscapes while maintaining focus on a central theme. RIYL: Faust, OSEES, Uranium Club, Devo.
Soft folk rock with an acoustic and gentle heart. RIYL: Mazzy Star, Bright Eyes
Ethereal ambient and abstract IDM experimentations from Tampa Bay. (1/2 of Alien House)
RIYL: Khotin, Terekke, Alien House, Black Dice
5PM Happy Hour, Bands 6pm! 500 Block of Clematis Street – DNTN WPB
STREAM VIDEOS FROM BUMBLEFEST 2024 BANDS! — 2024 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST BELOW!
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Traveling to West Palm Beach from elsewhere and want to spend the night? The Hyatt Place Downtown WPB has Bumblefest guests hooked up with a special rate! Click HERE to make your reservations.
STAGES: Respectable Street (inside/outside)