Top 10 Splendour In The Grass Acts We Hope Are Great

It's July. So that means that we have less than a month before one of the biggest lineups the country has ever seen hits Byron Bay for this year's Splendour In The Grass installment.

But before we paint our dad's van, buy one of those inflatable palm trees and spend $300 on goon bags and orange juice in anticipation for the festival - we decided to take one last look at the bill. And whilst we already knew that the massive headliners, such as Bloc Party, Jack White and The Smashing Pumpkins are going to blow our collective minds. We wanted to get accustomed with some of the other acts who show serious promise to bring highlights to the event.

So here, in no particular order, are our TOP 10 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS ACTS WE HOPE ARE GREAT.

THE SHINS

It’s been a five-year wait since their last album Wincing The Night Away but the indie rockers are back, having performed at Coachella and released a new album. Their music traditionally is folkish and lyrical but Port Of Morrow gets a bit electronic and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun at a festival. There’s the triple j favourite ‘Simple Song’ but we also hope to hear some of the old tunes we love- hello ‘New Slang’?

Check out the video for their single ‘Simple Song’

BIG SCARY

Neither big, nor scary, the lush dreamy sound of this Melbourne duo is going to suit a Byron festival perfectly. Escalating in fame from a cool new band to an Australian favourite, their 2011 debut album Vacation was nominated for triple j Album of the Year as well as breakthrough artist in Australian Independent Record Association. BIG SCARY played a sold-out gig at Oxford Arts Factory in April, and I reckon the crowd will gather at Splendour.

Here’s one of their more chill tracks ‘Leaving Home’

FLUME

Probably the youngest beat-maker out on the town at the moment, FLUME has rapidly gained fans with his pulsing bass, chopped vocals and energetic remixes. He allegedly started producing when he discovered a music production prize in a box of Nutri Grain. He’ll be cracking out his debut EP Sleepless (track title nabbed by Rip Curl for their 2012 international ad campaign) and sure to be firing up the party on the first night.

I challenge you to sit still while listening to his remix of Onra's ‘The Anthem’

TAME IMPALA

Where have TAME IMPALA been? Since their debut Innerspeaker in 2009 they’ve been touring internationally but now the band has returned with their psychedelic tracks including much-loved singles ‘Solitude Is Bliss’ and ‘Lucidity’. These guys blew up the stage at Splendour 2010 and we hope they’ll do the same this year. Hopefully we’ll get to hear some of their new sound - their second album is due in September. Again, perfect music for listening to in Belongil Fields.

We are expecting this sort of warped psychedelia, remember ‘Expectations'?

DJANGO DJANGO

One of the new British acts of 2012 DJANGO DJANGO have got some great tunes to bring to Splendour, including single ‘Default’ which has had plenty of airplay in Australia. They could be a band of the 90s, they could be a psychedelic 70s band – their sound melds rock and electronic and judging from their performances this year we’re expecting a good performance from these guys.

You may not know this tune, it’s a good listen ‘Storm’

THE RUBENS

For a newly formed band (early 2011) The Rubens have already earned a fair amount of fans with their upbeat blues-rock. The band sold out four venues in Melbourne and three venues in Sydney and followed LANIE LANE on her national tour. Their single ‘Don’t Ever Want To Be Found’ was released with a video early 2012 and is a sneaky peek of what’s to come on their debut to be released later this year. THE RUBENS have been working hard recording in New York this year and we’re excited to see what they’ve got to offer.

Check out their sound here with new video for ‘Don’t Ever Want To Be Found’

FATHER JOHN MISTY

Josh Tillman is no small name, having played with FLEET FOXES and he’s now bringing his new creation FATHER JOHN MISTY to Splendour. There’s a definite underlying Foxes sound but with certain dark and mysterious elements. A definite introductory watch is ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings’ – you want to be at this party. Performing debut album Fear Fun we’re sure to see some great musicianship on stage. How great will this sound from huge speakers in the outdoors!

What do you make of this song? ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings’

YOUTH LAGOON

He’s twenty-two and from California but already drew crowds at SXSW and sold out Australian performances. YOUTH LAGOON has a great talent for drawing out the anxieties and heartaches of life through melancholy melodies and frail vocals. Make a point of listening to his songs before you go so you’re familiar with the poetic lyrics.

Here’s his track ‘Cannons'

AZAELIA BANKS

I’m not quite sure to make of this girl. She’s one of the most talked about artists of 2012; she can rap, she can sing, but also creates dance tracks. Another young-un, at only 20, AZAELIA has plenty to offer in terms of performance. She’s super confident and very energetic and I’m just curious to see what she comes up with.

This song is lots of fun, her debut single ‘212’

BENI

Sydney-born electronic producer and DJ BENI has remixed for the likes of La Roux and Goyte but his catchy dance music is going to get everyone dancing at Splendour. Sure, we might be tired by the third day, but I reckon that BENI will put on a great show to end the weekend. He impressed Groovin In the Moo festival-goers and will hopefully perform a hyped live set at Splendour His tracks have addictive bass and dance floor quality without being too robotic.

Check out single ‘Someone Like You’ here

Words by Antigone Anagnostellis