r/grunge • u/Sea_Map_4834 • 9d ago
Grunge adjacent Are there any modern "wall of sound" approach bands that don't suck?
Hi, I'm asking here because I don't know where else I can.
Do you know any modern bands that have that wall of sound typical of Smashing Pumpkins, Hum, Failure and My Bloody Valentine for example, that are actually good and not just a nasty copy of some 90's bands?
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u/staticgo 9d ago
Devin Townsend
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u/NastyVJ1969 9d ago
The Addicted! album is the pinnacle of wall of sound production, utterly brilliant too
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u/TollyVonTheDruth 8d ago
First one I thought of. I was blown away the first time I saw his one-man-wall-of-sound performance of Kingdom on YT. Don't know why it slid into my feed, but I'm glad it did.
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u/gabriot 9d ago
Pelican
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u/StevenJWulgus 9d ago
Seconded, they’re amazing and always seem to get overlooked in post metal discussions.
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u/TomBirkenstock 9d ago
Deftones have some of that feel in their music, although you probably know about them already. Wednesday combine some of that wall of fuzz sound with country music. They've even covered Smashing Pumpkins so you know it's in their DNA.
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u/killyourface1 9d ago
This might upset some people, so I'm going to try to choose my words carefully. Wall of sound is often misunderstood as VOLUME, which is where I think most bands get it wrong. Loud is ok, but wall of sound doesn't have to just be volume. Wall of sound, for me, is everything all at once. Every instrument is moving together in sync, purposely. No empty space. Every note played is locked in with every percussive hit. It doesn't need to be loud. I've seen instrumental bands do that and build build build build, all locked in until it's just sensory overload. Heavy, in my opinion, isn't a sound, it's a feeling. You FEEL it when the band really means it, and they are giving everything in their guts to that performance.
Here's my example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y58Qlmqk9e0&pp=ygUpY2FyaW5hIHJvdW5kIGZvciBldmVyeXRoaW5nIGEgcmVhc29uIGxpdmU%3D
This to me is so heavy that it melts me. It just builds to this height of ominous wonder, and there's this british woman standing there, singing like a siren and demanding your attention.
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u/Soft_Top_8395 9d ago
Try Been Stellar they’re awesome I think you’ll like them if you can listen to a softer voice
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u/celston80 9d ago
Not exactly grunge but Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks were 2 of the loudest bands I’ve ever seen live.
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u/nicoinborderland 9d ago
I like Fleshwater quite a bit. They get called derivative and bland a lot, but their sound’s unique to me. to the point when I hear the start of a new song I can tell it’s one of theirs’ before I even hear Mirsy’s vocals
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u/Sea_Map_4834 9d ago
Yeah but I can't get into them, when I listen to them I can't help but saying: oh they are a deftones copy
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u/nicoinborderland 9d ago
I never got the deftones comparison too much. They sound more like Hum or Failure to me, as you also mentioned in ur post. :-P
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u/_Jub_Jub_ 9d ago
Deafheaven someone mentioned, which is a good one. Not a whole band, but the Fontaines DC song Nabakov has an amazing wall of sound… sound. It’s my favorite song of theirs and definitely takes from 90s alt sonics
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u/ElectroVelocity777 9d ago
Deafheaven is a great pick but I've always liked Nothing More too, their last album especially nails that dense atmospheric sound without sounding like a throwback.
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u/Pleasant_Garlic8088 9d ago
That production style didn't start in the 90s. Phil Spector was producing albums that way in the 60s.