Although a third of 2017 is behind us, there is still plenty of music to come. While most of you might be listening to your favorite bands from years ago, don’t sleep on the up-and-coming talent out there that you aren’t paying enough attention to. Over the course of five weeks, The Record will introduce you to some hot talent primed for a breakthrough from a variety of genres such as rap, metal, pop and others. Here’s list number two.

Syringe

Hometown: Sheboygan, WI

Out Now: Evil Nigga (weirdCLVN)

For Fans Of: H09909, I Set My Friends on Fire, XXXTENTACION

This Wisconsin based rapper is here to torture your ears until they bleed. As one of Pigeons & Planes’ “5 Rappers Who Will Make Your Ears Bleed,” Syringe is here to create rap music to make you physically and mentally uncomfortable. With tracks like “Shoot the Party,” “Piss on the Kitchen Floor,” and “A,” which the only lyric in the song is the letter “A” being repeated on a loop, Syringe is trying to push the boundaries on what rap music is. This is a rapper who once said, “Like fuck rap honestly we’re generating sonic brutality,” and has an Instagram account under the name @FuckRappers which has pictures of him in high heels and a bed sheet soaked in- don’t look it up, believe me. He doesn’t want to be the next Kanye or Drake, he just wants to assault the notion of rap music. Hope you love the paranoia.

Song to Listen to: “So Autistic”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooAyOu5ppmA

PWR BTTM

Hometown: Annandale-on- Hudson, NY

Out Now: Pageant (Polyvinyl Record Co.)

For Fans Of: Diet Cig, PUP, Sorority Noise

They’re here, they’re queer, and they’re loud. These are the main concepts that sum up this punk rock duo. Formed from two Bard College students, PWR BTTM, multi instrumentalists Liv Bruce and Ben Hopkins, have been making a name of themselves, especially in the punk and gay communities. The name is based on the term “power bottom,” which is, according to Urban Dictionary, a “gay male term…while a bottom is usually submissive to his partner, a power bottom enjoys maintaining control over the top and/or the penetration, the normally dominant role in gay male sex.” With their upcoming second album Pageant coming out on May 12 via Polyvinyl (American Football, of Montreal, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin,) PWR BTTM are here to rock your world while being fabulous as fuck. As stated by their Facebook page, “We’re not here to make friends, we’re here to win.”

Song to Listen to: “Answer My Text”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTTNu3wkXM8

Chase Huglin

Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN

Out Now: You Deserve an Island (InVogue Records)

For Fans Of: Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties, Have Mercy, SayWeCanFly

This singer/songwriter has been slowly gaining popularity over the past year with the release of his debut full-length on InVogue (Hotel Books, In Her Own Words, Punchline) You Deserve an Island. Fueled by sad tales and the death of his mother, Huglin, age 21, has been traveling the country performing these songs with artists like Sundressed, Citizen and Homesafe, gaining fans along the way. Much like fellow 50 Artist list musician Casey Bolles, who is friends with Huglin, Huglin’s music is here to give you a lot of emotions, such as sadness and acceptance. He crafts interesting and easily listenable songs for all ages to listen to. Listening to these tracks on You Deserve An Island makes you feel like you’ve found his diary and the songs are the passages written on the paper, letting you hear his personal and private confessions. He has nothing to hide, and he likes it that way.

Song to Listen to: “Niagara”

Lil Peep

Hometown: Long Island, NY

Out Now: Castles II (Self-Released)

For Fans Of: Future, Pouya, Xavier Wulf

“Emo” and “rap” are two genres that people never expected to go together. Enter Gustav “Lil Peep” Åhr: a suicidal socially awkward rapper from Long Island who’s been gaining speed since 2015 and becoming the Kurt Cobain of the rap game. With eight releases under his belt and his newest one, CÅSTLES II, coming out last month, the New York based SoundCloud rapper must be doing something right. Lil Peep’s music usually deals with suicide, drugs, failed relationships, sex, and depression. His music videos on YouTube have views in the millions. His samples include tracks from artists like Pierce The Veil, Brand New, Slayer, The Postal Service, Radiohead and Underoath, mixing these acts with trap beats and snares. You can catch him on tour right now. To find upcoming dates, go to www.lilpeep.party/tour.

Song to Listen to: “WitchBlades”

badXchannels

Hometown: Detroit, MI

Out Now: WHYDFNL EP (Sharptone)

For Fans Of: Childish Gambino, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd

Craig Owens is no stranger to the music scene. He’s been the vocalist for several projects like Chiodos, Isles & Glaciers. D.R.U.G.S., and Cinematic Sunrise, but under his newest project, badXchannels, Owens covers something that surprises his longtime fans: R&B. Channeling in his inner Usher, Owens sings ever so sweetly and with power on his debut EP WHYDFNL which came out last fall on Sharptone (Attila, Emmure, We Came As Romans.) Give him some time and you’ll see him collaborating with acts like Desiigner and $uicideBoy$. Hell, he did collaborate with Dr. Dre in the past.

Song to Listen to: “dottedXlines”

MISSIO

Hometown: Austin, TX

Out Now: Loner (RCA)

For Fans Of: Bishop Briggs, Lorde, Tears For Fears

For being only two years old, this Austin based duo are slowly climbing the charts. Their debut single “Middle Fingers” has been getting tons of radio play on alternative rock stations across the country, along with their other current single “Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea.” Combining new wave with chillwave, MISSIO’s band members Matthew Brue and David Butler are here to change the face of the alternative music scene. They even collaborated with badXchannels, who is the artist just above MISSIO. You can catch these two at this year’s Alternative Buffalo 107.7’s Kerfuffle featuring Dashboard Confessional, OK Go, Sir Sly, and more on June 17 at Canalside.

Song to Listen to: “Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea”

Younger Then

Hometown: Buffalo, NY

Out Now: Self Titled EP (Standby Records)

For Fans Of: Mayday Parade, Taking Back Sunday, Young The Giant

Hailing from Buffalo, this alternative indie rock band has been finally getting the recognition they deserve. Signing with Standby Records (Outline In Color, Chin Up Kid, Secret Company) last year, the band composed of vocalist Zack Dupuis, guitarists Austin Dorr and Michael Wirth, and drummer Jeremy Shields, have been working their hardest on their upcoming EP set to be released on Friday. Hopefully these Buffaloian boys will soon be the next big thing in the city. Younger Then will be back in Buffalo on the final date of their first tour on May 3 at Dreamland and later this summer they will play the first day of the Buffalove Music Festival in late July.

Song to Listen to: “Ghost”

Grayscale

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Out Now: Adornment (Fearless Records)

For Fans Of: As It Is, Bonfires, With Confidence

Newly signed to Fearless Records (August Burns Red, Pierce The Veil, Sworn In) is this post-emo/pop punk group from Philly. Formed in 2011 when the band members were only in high school, this quintet has been gaining a fanbase across the country with their enchanting songs and stellar live shows. In an interview with Alternative Press, vocalist Collin Walsh said, “Adornment has a very wide variety of emotions coursing throughout it, each song having a slightly different feel from the next…This record is something we are very proud of and cannot wait for everyone to hear. We put absolutely everything we had into it.” Grayscale will be going on tour later this month with As It Is, Roam, and Sleep On It. The closest date is on April 30 at the Hard Luck Bar in Toronto.

Song to Listen to: “Atlantic”

Judah & the Lion

Hometown: Nashville, TN

Out Now: Folk Hop N’ Roll Deluxe Edition (Cletus the Van)

For Fans Of: Coasts Modern, Mumford & Sons, The Strumbellas

This isn’t your average folk group. Originally formed in 2011 as a traditional folk band, Judah & the Lion decided to go mainstream, recruiting drummer Spencer Cross and switching their style to folk-hop. Now, the band has become slowly popular due to their successful song “Take It All Back,” which reached the number one spot on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart for three consecutive weeks from December 2016 to January 2017. The band re-released Folk Hop N’ Roll last month with four bonus tracks. Judah & the Lion toured with Twenty One Pilots last year and played at last year’s Alternative Buffalo 107.7’s Kerfuffle Before Christmas as the opening act. They’ll be back in Buffalo in October as part of their Going to Mars Fall Tour.

Song to Listen to: “Take It All Back 2.0”

Wore

Hometown: Western Massachusetts/Central Connecticut

Out Now: Different Houses (Darth Fader Records)

For Fans Of: Basement, Citizen, Title Fight

Born from the ashes of Connecticut pop punk band Novelty, Wore is a new project that has their members, Joshua Roy, Kori Gregory, and Ryan Obier, completely reinventing themselves. The band brings an aggressive drive to their nostalgic pop punk style. Rather than starting over in a similar sounding band, the trio chose to start back at square one rather than staying in their comfort zones. Their upcoming EP Different Houses will be available on cassette via Darth Fader Records on May 12.

Song to Listen to: “Bleached”