Avenue61 is a leading indie music site that specialises in album and gig reviews, breaking new bands, publicising events, and exclusive interviews with the leading cutting edge acts in the alternative music scene. Avenue61 covers a wide range of artists – some you would have heard of, some you won’t. Artists the site has reviewed recently include the Fleet Foxes, MGMT, Noisettes and Ladyhawke. The site is updated regularly so come back to catch up the latest news and reviews from the bleeding edge of the alternative music scene.

Ok, so first off I must iterate the fact that this particular run down is in no particular order, nor is it a definitive list of the best British record labels of all time (as if such a breakdown could ever be truly quantified). It is simply a list of some personal favourites within the British...MORE>>

Another band using the incredible impact of the piano in modern day pop music. The female-fronted Jessie Rose Trip have the powerful vocals with upbeat-bopping tempo and improvisational percussion to capture any perusing listeners. With the likes of VV Brown and other swing-jazz-like bands gaining followers, The Jessie Road Trip are the ones at the front of the queue for appreciation. 

Formed in April last year by Manchester songstress Jessie Rose, her and her ‘Trip’ have been making a name for themselves across the country in doing many live radio sessions, gigging, and collaborating on-stage with acts such as Badly Drawn Boy. They’ll be recording in L.A next year too, lucky buggers.

With some instrumental sections and well-placed crafty pauses, “It’s Just Soul”

is a song that will grab your attention span with two hands and shake relentlessly until you’re dizzy with intrigue. The introduction is unlike any you will have heard by other ‘unknowns’ trying to gain recognition by regurgitating anything of the indie-electro-pop genre. The vocals encompass a lot of powerful harmonies and oldies inspired runs-from-high-to-low on piano keys. A possible déjà vu of Adele’s voice is present in a few points throughout the song, though this quickly disappears once the harmonies kick in and you realise this band is one of a kind in a sea of sheep.

The overall vibe of the song will bring you out of the dumps, if that is where you are down in, and get you wishing you were in your own room so you could dance along. The great thing is that it’s not just this one song that will capture you; all of Jessie Rose Trip’s tunes have a-something about them which makes you sit up and take notice. Unlike the many one-hit so-so-wonders we’ve got these days.

As a collective band they seem to take an open minded approach to making music, utilising the likes of bongos, trumpets and what sounds like a ukelele on one song. I would heartily suggest a listen to The Jessie Rose Trip, if only to ‘free your mind’ from the boundaries of what’s become the common formulae in music. If I’d let my laziness and my addiction to listening to nothing but Lily Allen win me over then I’d be missing out on some fantastically new and fresh music. With a debut single on the horizon and much excited industry chatter about them, it may turn into a listening-to-nothing-but-The-Jessie-Rose-Trip in a few months…