Five Pittsburgh-Area Bands to Watch in 2024
The scene here has been flourishing lately, with a variety of up-and-coming acts making a splash on both local and national levels.
Growing up, I found it odd to hear people say “They don’t make music like they used to.” Sure, everyone’s got their preferences, but writing off music made after a certain date or refusing whole genres entirely always struck me as close-minded.
With the advent of streaming, it’s easier than ever to discover new music. Gone are the days of taking a chance on a CD or buying a song on iTunes after only hearing the 30-second sample. But with payouts for streams becoming less and less sustainable, it’s important to support artists, especially local ones just getting their start.
And it’s an exciting time to be a music fan — especially a Pittsburgh music fan. The scene here has been flourishing lately, with a variety of up-and-coming acts making a splash on both local and national levels.
With several smaller local venues opening up over the last few years and no shortage of creative output, there are more opportunities than ever to check out and support local music.
Here are five Pittsburgh-based artists you should keep an eye on.
String Machine
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String Machine is a seven-piece indie rock band hailing from Butler County. Originally a solo project with a backing band for vocalist David Beck, String Machine eventually grew into a full-fledged ensemble with several records now under their belt.
Following up their 2022 release “Hallelujah Hell Yeah” with a three-song EP in November and several tours throughout 2023, String Machine has been busy. You wouldn’t be surprised to see weariness, both physical and existential, as a constant theme throughout their music.
Songs like “Touring in January” emphasize the difficulty of persevering as a band on the road while “Gales of Worry” addresses loss and wrestles with change. It’s a heart-on-your-sleeve approach to songwriting that’s both cathartic and genuine, welcoming the listener into vulnerable inner musings.
Despite the fatigue, String Machine’s music never feels anything short of triumphant. From horns to synths and strings, the band’s take on indie rock is instrumentally expansive akin to Arcade Fire with a touch of Wilco’s folky near-country leanings.
String Machine will be performing Jan. 24 at Bottlerocket Social Hall in Allentown.
feeble little horse
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feeble little horse can’t help but hit you with a wall of fuzzed-out guitars. Even in their slower and more eclectic moments, a wail of feedback is always just around the corner.
Originally composed of four friends making music at the University of Pittsburgh, feeble little horse almost didn’t make it past their first album. With members in college and another moving out of state, their 2023 release “girl with fish” was constructed through swapped voice memos and jam sessions.
Album track “Tin Man” juxtaposes restrained guitar passages with blown-out choruses reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr. But if the lo-fi guitars are feeble little horse’s signature, then it’s the lackadaisical vocals drifting over the chaos that holds everything together with an almost casual sense of ease.
Featured on several of Spotify’s playlists including “Best Indie Songs of 2023,” feeble little horse find themselves alongside established artists like Big Thief, boygenius, Sufjan Stevens and Lana Del Rey. Their 2023 record is featured on several best-of-the-year lists as well from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and others.
Look for their upcoming performance at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in
April in Indio, California.
Short Fictions
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Following up on a series of releases over the last few years, Pittsburgh rock quintet Short Fictions are perfectly on brand releasing a song called “Christmas on a Dying Planet” just before the holidays.
Gaining some traction with their 2019 release “Fates Worse Than Death,” it seemed eerily prophetic that a pandemic would follow so quickly after a record full of anxious songs about global catastrophe. Short Fictions may as well have predicted the end of the world.
Borrowing song structures and interludes from more long-winded genres like post-rock, Short Fictions channel their nervous energy into a concise brand of Midwest emo with occasional dips into more extreme genres. Slow builds and voice clips accompany shimmery guitar lines and horns with detours into blast beats and frantic riffing.
Their 2023 full-length release continues on all of these trends. The tongue-in-cheek-but-is-it-really lyricism can humor as much as it can concern, veering wildly from songs about crushes to crushing hopelessness and dread. But for all the doom and gloom, Short Fictions sure do know how to have a good time.
Vocalist Sam Treber will be performing solo on Feb. 24 at Bottlerocket Social Hall in Allentown.
Vyva Melinkolya
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A recent Pittsburgh transplant from Louisville, Kentucky, Vyva Melinkolya is the solo musical outlet of Angel Diaz. She released two projects under the name this year, both a full-length album and a collaborative LP.
With vocals buried in effects and slow expansive shoegazing, Vyva Melinkolya references many late 1980s and ‘90s acts like Cocteau Twins and Slowdive while also touching on other artists like Low and Have A Nice Life.
Her 2023 solo release “Unbecoming” channels all of the aforementioned artists while bringing to mind The Cure’s “Disintegration” in its sense of scope — vast, sad and beautiful. Slow melancholic guitar riffs churn a hazy layer of distortion that melodies bloom from.
Single “222”’s gorgeous swells of reverb feature backing vocals from Ethel Cain, a fellow Pittsburgh resident, who released the critically acclaimed album “Preacher’s Daughter” in 2022.
Vyva Melinkolya will be embarking on a West Coast tour in the spring.
Hazing Over
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Previously the local hardcore band Shin Guard, Hazing Over adopted a new name to coincide with a different musical direction in 2021. Trading the melodic guitar lines and screamo influences for guttural vocals and metalcore-style chugging was a drastic change, but they’ve shifted with such a sense of confidence that it does away with any naysaying.
With a pair of tight and aggressive EPs to their name now, Hazing Over are a growing force to be reckoned with in the extreme music scene. They’ve since had several festival appearances alongside metal and hardcore acts like Integrity, Lamb of God, and Pittsburgh-based Code Orange.
Their 2023 EP “Tunnel Vision” moves from track to track giving little room for breath with a series of mid-tempo songs sure to incite a mosh pit. Closing song “Disavowed” sees Hazing Over experiment with clean vocals to great effect, but still finds time for some of the EP’s heaviest moments.
Catch Hazing Over at Preserving Underground in New Kensington on Feb. 24.
