Top 5 Most Popular Bands of the Week

Did you know that you can filter the site by most popular overall and by most popular in each genre?

Ever since we implemented this new feature, we’ve had bands fly up the charts. This week we had numerous bands and solo artists hit the #1 most popular spot on the site, so we wanted to feature five of those bands so you could get a closer listen.

Check back every Friday to get the top 5 most popular BandSoup bands of the week!

5. Hot Panda

Hot Panda are weirdos from Vancouver that just released their third full length album, Go Outside. Fuzzy blues fused with noisy brilliance best describes their single, One In The Head, One In The Chest; a song that will have you bouncing and headbanging in your computer chair. One person called this “Artful pop music, but played with a punk rock spirit.” Yea!

4. La Mar

La Mar is an instrumental/post-rock quartet from Venezuela that’s influenced by a myriad of progressive, metal, and indie rock bands. Their sound is schizophrenic— one minute you’ll hear a brooding song with psychedelic treatments, the next minute you’ll hear happy Reggae tinged rhythms. What a beautiful mess.

3. Adelyn Rose

Eau Claire’s Adelyn Rose is an emerging folk rock band that is lifted by the breezy and beautiful vocals of Adelyn Strei, who also plays lead guitar and winds. Their album from earlier this year, Mezzanine, garnered a lot of attention from the internet cool kids and taste makers due to their stellar lead single, Never Get Tired.

Illuminating the band’s bread and butter sound, Never Get Tired features Strei’s haunting vocals over waves of shimmering guitars and native-like drumming. This addictive single is still available as a free download on their site, where you can also pick up the entire album.

2. The Hugs

The Hugs are an alternative-garage rock band based in Portland, Oregon USA. Danny Delegato (Lead Singer, songwriter, Founder) began The Hugs in 2007 while attending Cleveland High School in Portland.

“She Was High” is a highly infectious track from their second album, Again & Again, that’s full of classic pop-tinged guitars, La-La’s and why-why-why’s, and trickling pianos. This modernized 60s pop-rock track is a perfect introduction to a band that has been causing quite a stir with their new album, Dirty Gems.

1. Shad

“With a discerning, critical eye and disarming sense of humour, Shad is a truly balanced artist, carrying himself with an endearing swagger that’s free of pretense.” – Spinner

One of the most underrated hip hop artists in the game right now is Canadian rapper Shad. Hailing from London, Ontario, Shad has been compared to Common and k-os, has released three critically acclaimed studio albums, and has garnered endless praise from around the world. 

The most popular song of the week, It Ain’t Over, comes from Shad’s new side project where he re-worked songs from his childhood and rapped over them. This Lenny Kravitz re-work features Shad doing what he does best and, like always, everyone seems to love it.

You can grab Melancholy and The Infinite Shadness for free here.