Let's play nice, child.

I forgot to mention Saliva. Josey Scott has a strong voice.

VNV Nation. Their sound is quite different to most synthpop artists, so I can easily tell if it's them.

NIN also have quite a distinct sound. Mainly cause no one has a similar voice to Trent Reznor.

Yeah, they're down right awful.


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RHCP & Muse

First off the Killers? Seriously I can name like 3 bands off the top my head that sound similar to them.

Bloc Party
The Bravery - These guys are nearly identical!
Kasabian



I can pick out Green Day, 30 Seconds to Mars, Everclear, Angels and Airwaves and Sum41

Green Day because i recognize Billy Joe and most of their songs sound similar
Angels and Airwaves because of their computer synth sounds
Sum41 because Derrick's Vocals and the way they harmonize their back up vocals (they usually all end up singing the chorus)
30 Seconds to Mars because they seems to play most of their songs in the same frequency. Not to say they sound the same but they rarely play higher notes...

Everclear mainly because of the lead singer.

Most music I listen to I know instantly who I am listening too. But those bands seems to a have an immediately recognizable sound to me.


I can't even say bands like Blink because I sometimes mix them up with Boxcar racer and even Plus 44.

Not to ruffle feathers but I think a lot of the Indie/Emo bands all sound the same and you cant tell Dick from Jane when you hear them on the radio. I do like some emo and indie bands, but I think they all sound the same.

I didn't say they were good.

If I wanted to name good bands, that have distinct sounds and that are popular...ish... How about The Mars Volta? Or the Dillinger Escape Plan?

For metal, I would say Meshuggah.

For rap I would say Public Enemy, you can tell from the "yeeeeeeaaaa boiiii" every verse.

For industial/ambient , Aphex Twin or 65 days of static.

For Jazz, Naked City.

I like all of those bands/people, and they all have "distinct sounds". It's kinda upto interpretation though to be honest. You could argue that My Chemical Romance have a distinct sound if you wanted to.

The voice gives away anyband I like. I take it you aren't talking about that?

I know, I was just trying to be silly. It wasn't an insult to you matey.

Wow, that's quite the blanket statement. Especially since "indie" isn't really a genre, just a classification that they haven't signed a deal with a mega distributor. You can have indie Rock, indie country, indie rap, etc. I'm pretty sure those sound different from one another.

And, truth be told, I think it's the indie bands that tend to have a more distinct sound as they haven't been put through the studio grindhouse.

Anyway, on topic...

I find the B-52's, Josh Groban, and KT Tunstall (both vocals and instrumentality) all very distinctive to my ear.

I agree.

Killers
Circa Survive
Modest Mouse

All of thm are indie but have that distinctive sound.
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You should give Circa Survive a listen, almost ever song is something completely new. And the guitar is addicting