Spotlight: '2000 Trees Festival 2019: The Best Underground Bands'

Approaching its 12th year running, the enchanting weekender that is 2000 Trees will open its doors next month and with it, open the floodgates for the crème de le crème of today’s Alternative music scene who are scorching their way through the charts and throwing the borderlines of genre out the window.

Kicking off on July 12th to 14th, the line-up does holds some heavy weight champions of music, like You Me At Six, Frank Turner, Deaf Havana and While She Sleeps, but this year the underground bands are taking the crown.

The 3-day festival has become synonymous for bridging the path between mainstream audiences and underground artists, paving the way for smaller bands to launch themselves into revolutionary successes.

Give yourself a little refresh before you head down with some underrated or unheard-of bands on this year’s line-up that if you don’t know, you need to.

Indoor Pets

The strange collective that is Indoor Pets are still fresh-faced to the scene but eagerly making the way to the top of every bill.

Riding on the success of their 2019 'Be Content' the Kent four-piece seem like your average group of outcasts who’d sit at the back of the class. But let them hit the stage and they’ll show you honesty, humility and something strange in between.

Listen to: ‘Hi’, ‘Be Strange’ and ‘Pro Procrastinator.’

WSTR

In such a short time it seems WSTR went from your average Pop-Punk dive bar or basement gig to selling out headline tours and marching their way through every festival bill.

Their 2017 'Red, Green & Inbetween', filled with contagious Pop-Punk jams, put them on the map for revolutionary success. Now their 2018 'Identity Crisis' sets them apart from the over washed, generic Pop-Punk fanatics and gives depth to the story of their bands and the struggles they’ve faced.

If you want ecstatic crowds and lots of crowd surfing, its WSTR.

Listen to: ‘Nail The Casket’, ‘Crisis’, ‘Featherweight.’

Heavy Lungs

Tucked away into the line-up is Heavy Lungs, who bring a fiery Punk energy fuelled with emotional lyrics and gritty guitars that offer a generation often fed up with life an opportunity to just lose themselves in pure head banging.

Their playfully erratic sound on 'Straight To CD' is the perfect combination of fast guitars, a gloomy blaring bass and powerful vocals that practically slap you in the face with the pent up teenage angst you’ve been riling up all these years.

Their live shows are phenomenal, crowd rapport is unrepentant. If you want to just lose yourself in music, do it to Heavy Lungs.

Listen to: ‘Unfaithful One’, ‘Jealous’, ‘Blood Brother.’

Brand New Friend

Have you ever found a band that reminds you of a drive down to the seaside? Or a hot summers day? I don’t think a band could epitomise that more than Brand New Friend.

In its rhythm alone, their sound has an upbeat electricity that can easily pump you into a good move from a grievous festival hangover. But take a trip into their lyricism and you’ll stumble into the complexities of life and all its heartbreak. It’s that juxtaposition of catchy songs with daunting lyrics that always catches you off guard in the best way.

Listen to: ‘Why Are You So Tired?’, ‘Mediocre At Best.’

Delaire The Liar

If you’re looking for a hyper breed of punk guitar influences masked with injections of pop rock vivacity, look no further than the power duo that is Delaire, The Liar.

Their ep Not Punk Enough is an emotional powerhouse of strong lyrical poetry, carved by angst and pain and carried forward with a high-energy rhythm that’s easy to mosh to.

Listen to: ‘Medicine’, ‘Witch Hunt’, ‘One Of Us Is The Killer.’

Higher Power

Whilst they’ve definitely claimed their rightful successes, gritty punks Higher Power deserve to be cut a lot more slack for their hustle into Hardcore.

Bringing you the atmosphere of a 50-cap basement show with intense moshing and sweaty bodies everywhere but on a wide-scale festival level is something of a talent that Higher Power effortlessly do with their dedicated fan base and valiant tracks.

2017 saw their ‘Soul Structure’ break down the boundaries for what constitutes a Hardcore album, and helped open the scene up to new creative directions.

Listen to: ‘Can’t Relate’, ‘Looking Inward’, ‘Between Concrete & Sky’