Incoming: Already Heard’s Most Anticipated Albums of 2017

At the start of every month, our “Incoming” feature highlights several releases that we can’t wait to hear. However as it is the start of a new year, we’ve decided to go one step further for this special edition of “Incoming”. You have probably already read our list of 50 bands to watch in 2017. It’s crammed full of exciting new bands, but what about those who we are more familiar with? This is where this feature comes in.

We picked out 17 of the most anticipated albums of 2017. From long overdue returns to exciting debuts, we’re sure you’ll agree with us when we say it is going to be another fantastic year for alternative music.

Creeper – Eternity, In Your Arms (March 24th)

It’s probably safe to say that anticipation for Creeper’s debut album is high. 2016 saw the band’s popularity grow and then some. Their third EP, ‘The Stranger’, received widespread praise and was chosen as Already Heard’s EP of the Year. They followed that with a series of impressive festival outings and extensive touring in the UK, Europe and America.

Like we’ve said before, Creeper are more than just another overhyped media band. They’re the real deal and with ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’, they have the potential to become the band of 2017. Since the release of ‘Suzanne’ in October, six months ahead of the release of the album, expectations have continued to rise. Paired with latest single ‘Hiding With Boys’, Creeper have delivered two fine examples of explosive, flamboyant gloom punk drenched in emotion with massive choruses that simply have us craving more. (SR)

Pvris – TBA

Since emerging with their debut effort, ‘White Noise’ in late 2014, Massachusetts’ Pvris have become one of the most talked about bands within the “Warped Tour” scene. Backed by an impressive live show and outstanding vocalist in Lynn Gunn, Pvris’s forthcoming sophomore effort is one of 2017’s most intriguing releases.

Without a doubt Gunn, Alex Babinski and Brian MacDonald are on the cusp of becoming a break out band. If they deliver a couple of infectious singles similar to ‘St. Patrick’ and ‘My House’, then don’t be surprised to find Pvris on bigger stages.

In a recent interview, Gunn described the album as being “different” and “unique” to its predcessor, hinting at a more diverse direction with a mix of rock-driven, R&B and laid back songs. (SR)

While She Sleeps – You Are We (April 21st)

One of the most significant bands in British metalcore, and British metal at large, While She Sleeps will release their third album ‘You Are We’ in April. The album was recorded in the band’s own home studio The Barn in Sheffield, and recording was entirely funded by fans through PledgeMusic after they left Sony Music in 2016.

The two available singles ‘Civil Isolation’ and ‘Hurricane’ display the constant evolution WSS have made since 2010’s ‘The North Stands for Nothing’ in full effect. Following from 2015’s ‘Brainwashed’, the clean vocals of guitarist Mat Welsh are utilised further to provide more moments of anthemic sing-alongs, which enhance the impact of frontman Loz Taylor’s already crushing screams. “Blame it on the outside, close the curtains, dare me to explain why we don’t deserve the land that we fill and the blood that they spilled”, they project in a reflection of today’s hostile and hard-to-grasp political climate.

As a band that have always been championed by a young audience whose voices have always felt unheard, now more than ever feels like the right time for a new While She Sleeps record, and ‘You Are We’ could be the most important of their career. (AD)

Marmozets – TBA

In a music scene where bands come and go and can be quickly forgotten about, it is a credit to Marmozets that they’re still talked about despite a very quiet 2016. Nevertheless, their long awaited second album is expected to be released in 2017.

2014s superb debut, ‘The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets’, saw the Yorkshire quintet receive plenty of acclaim for their varied, harmonious brand of math rock. And in Becca Macintyre, they have one of the most commanding and impressive vocalist right now. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what Marmozets have to offer with album number two, and with Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies, Twin Atlantic) handling production, you can’t help but be excited to see what they have to offer. (SR)

The Menzingers – After The Party (Feb 3rd)

It’s been three years since The Menzingers delivered ‘Rented World’, and while we’ve seen the Philadelphia-based punks deliver a rousing display on last October’s UK tour, new material is long overdue. Thankfully we don’t have long to wait as ‘After The Party’ arrives on 3rd February, and with ‘Lookers’ and ‘Bad Catholics’ being released late last year, we expect the quartet to make it a hat-trick of stellar albums following ‘Rented World’ and 2012s ‘On The Impossible Past’.

With familiar anthemic harmonies and larger-than-life melodies, The Menzingers have a proven track record of crafting honest, introspective songs full of heart, showing why they’re one of punk rock’s most beloved bands. (SR)

Japandroids – Near to the Wild Heart of Life (January 27th)

It’s nearly five years since the release of the game-changing ‘Celebration Rock’, an album so electrifying and powerful it topped many a year-end list (and continues to rank well in various best of the decade lists).

Now the Canadian duo are back, promising their most ambitious record to date and an opportunity to once again revel in the brilliance of their unbelievably simple – yet entirely thrilling – dynamic. Welcome back Japandroids, how we’ve missed you. (RM)

Sinai Vessel – Brokenlegged (January 27th)

It’s something of an understatement to label ‘Brokenlegged’, Sinai Vessel’s l follow-up to 2011’s debut LP ‘Labor Pains’ and 2013’s ‘Profanity’ EP as ‘long-awaited. Yet it’s already creating significant buzz, thanks in part to a couple of killer lead tracks in the shape of ‘Dogs’ and gorgeous album opener ‘Looseleaf’.

Having teamed up with the fine folk at Tiny Engines there’s a very real chance ‘Brokenlegged’
could transcend any genre tags and achieve critical and commercial success in the process. (RM)

The Winter Passing – TBA

2016 proved to be a productive year for longtime AH favourites The Winter Passing. In addition to touring the UK with Moose Blood and a second visit to Gainesville for The Fest, they spent a week with acclaimed producer J. Robbins (Jets to Brazil, Hey Mercedes, Against! Me, Jawbreaker) in Baltimore working on their second full-length album.

While little is known about the follow up to 2015s debut, ‘A Different Space of Mind’, The Winter Passing have shown they are a reliable band who continue to grow year by year. With a plesant indie punk sound based round the duel vocals of Rob and Kate Flynn, we’re looking forward to hearing what the Irish group have to offer. (SR)

The Xcerts – TBA

With every album release, The Xcerts continue to show why they are one of the UK’s most underrated bands. After three acclaimed records, it’s about time the trio got their dues and we hope it happens with album number four.

2016 saw them play a smattering of high profile support slots (Biffy Clyro, Motion City Soundtrack) alongside festival spots including an almost festival-stealing outing at 2000 Trees. Since then they’ve been putitng the finishing touches to their fourth album which the band have described as an “emotional monster”. We wouldn’t expect anything else from them. (SR)

Turnover – TBA

With 2015s ‘Peripheral Vision’, Virginia Beach’s Turnover continued their evolution from emo/pop-punk to dreamy indie rock with compelling results. After a busy 2016, which saw them visit the UK twice alongside touring the U.S. with Citizen and Australia with Basement, they ended the year teasing new music.

Produced once again by Will Yip, we hope Turnover’s third LP picks up where ‘Peripheral Vision’ left off, embracing ambience and subtly infectious harmonies. We predict it’ll arrive in the middle of the year, just in time to deliver a blissful soundtrack to the summer. (SR)

Press To MECO – TBA

With their debut album, ‘Good Intent’, Crawley/Croydon trio Press To MECO showed purpose with three-part harmonies, meaty technical riffs and infectious hooks. Upon its release in October of 2015, Luke, Lewis and Adam unexpectedly received plenty of praise. Since then they’ve toured up and down the UK alongside Shvpes, Max Raptor and AllUsOnDrugs with festival spots here and there.

Last September they headed to Austin, Texas to work on ‘Good Intent’ follow up with producer Machine. With his past credits including Lamb of God, Hit The Lights, Four Year Strong, Every Time I Die, and Clutch, Machine has all the credentials to bring the best out of Press To MECO. The band tell us it’s darker yet emphasises the elements that make PTM who they are.

With aspirations to tour Europe, you can expect Press To MECO to hit the road hard when album number two drops later this year. (SR)

Vukovi – Vukovi (March 10th)

March 10th is finally sees the release of the much-anticipated debut album from frenetic Glaswegian riff pedlars Vukovi after a string of excellent EPs. But this won’t quite be Vukovi as you’ve heard them before. Recent singles ’La Di Da’ and ’Animal’ indicate this will be the band as potent, intense, expansive and even as pissed off as they’ve ever been.

Every year see’s the race to guess which new act will explode out of the Scot Rock scene and take the entire UK by storm. Well we’re pretty confident it’ll be this lot, so buckle up because this debut long player is shaping up to be one hell of ride. Oh and while you’re at it you can expect vocalist Janine Shilstone to become rock’s new superstar heroine too. (DW)

Blood Youth – TBA

Since their inception in their current guise Blood Youth have rapidly become one of UK heavy music’s most vital bands. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock you won’t have failed to notice they’ve been slaying major festivals at will and tearing up must see live shows up and down the country leaving a trail of shock and awe in their wake.

Then there’s the pair of crushing EPs they’ve dropped to the acclaim off pretty much everybody. The second of which, ’Closure’, provided a bristling, unapologetic and infinitely cathartic audio self-help session as the four-piece had a whole lot to get off their collective chests. The band are hard at work on their first full-length effort and we really can’t wait to get our ears around the results. Expect the passion and fury of the likes of Bury Tomorrow and Architects combined with gargantuan heavy pop-punk and Easycore influenced choruses. There’s no denying it’s going to be an absolute beast when it drops. (DW)

Wild Pink – Wild Pink (February 10th)

With two wonderful EPs to their name, Brooklyn’s Wild Pink have built up a steady following ahead of the release of their self-titled debut in February. We’ve been big fans of the trio here for a while, so we’re understandably excited at the prospect of seeing songwriter John Ross go long form. And, if you’re in any doubt of Wild Pink’s majesty, just check out ‘4th of July’ and prepare to get entranced by the sheer beauty of it all. (RM)

Sepultura – Machine Messiah (Janaury 13th)

Thrash Metal has been enjoying something of a renaissance of late with several big releases in 2016, and it looks set to continue into the new year with Brazilian giants Sepultura releasing their fourteenth studio album ‘Machine Messiah’ via Nuclear Blast in January.

According to guitarist Andreas Kisser, the album has a concept examining the robotisation of society and “is a Sepultura album but with a new direction and intensity, a new musical challenge, a step forward.” With a film also on the agenda for later in 2017, it’s shaping up to be a big year for the Brazilians. (EL)

Good Tiger – TBA

After UK tech metallers The Safety Fire disbanded in the summer of 2015, it was quickly announced that from their ashes, guitarists Derya Nagle and Joaquin Ardiles would form a new band called Good Tiger. Featuring members of other big hitters from the tech scene including Elliot Coleman (ex-TesseracT), Alex Rudinger (ex-The Faceless) and Morgan Sinclair (ex-Architects), it was astonishingly talented line-up that would deliver the band’s debut album later that year.

With Nagle and Ardiles’ distinctive guitar style being channeled through a more poppy, song-driven approach, it allowed for Coleman’s soul-influenced melodrama to spread its wings in ways previous outfits have denied.

Featuring the phenomenal ‘Where Are The Birds’ and ‘Snake Oil’, their self-titled debut was a relatively solid effort, but still felt like a band finding their feet. Having toured solidly through 2016 with artists such as Periphery and Dance Gavin Dance, there has never been a better time for them to release a great sophomore.

With no official date but plenty of “in the studio” talk floating in the aether, one would expect a fall release to be a fairly safe bet. (JG)

Of Allies – TBA

After a year of treading water, Hull’s Of Allies seem to be finally getting their act together. With a snappy new logo and under new management, the alternative rockers will be hitting the studio in February to lay down the tracks for their long awaited debut album.

With two quality EPs, ‘Tempers’ and ‘Fragments’, already under their belt, but nothing new since 2015, some epic new tracks with soaring choruses are long overdue. (EL)

Want More?

If that doesn’t get you excited for the year ahead, you can expect new releases from this lot and more:

Paramore, You Me At Six, Lower Than Atlantis, Mallory Knox, AFI, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Blink-182, New Found Glory, The Wonder Years, The Story So Far, Ghost, Decade, Code Orange, Steel Panther, Suicide Silence, Black Foxxes, Deaf Havana, Cloud Nothings, Arcane Roots, Tall Ships, SikTh, The Smith Street Band, Great Cynics, Neck Deep, As It Is, WSTR, Employed to Serve, Saviour, Gone Is Gone, Kamikaze Girls, PWR BTTM, Meat Wave, Homebound, Acceptance, VANT, Zeal & Ardor, Dearly Beloved, Fangclub, As Lions, Tigress, Ocean Grove, Blank Parody, Starset, A Lot Like Birds, Coldfront, Gideon, I the Mighty, Picturesque, Dialects, Dave Hause, Harker, Deez Nuts, Every Stranger Looks Like You, Grove Street Families, Milestones, Big Spring, Wars, Matt Pryor, Greywind, Being As An Ocean, Dryjacket, Wage War, The One Hundred, Light You Up, Retro Youth, Catch Fire, Deference, Faux, Agent, Voyager, Beachheads, Idles, Pijn, The Obsessives, FURR, Lullaby, Weirds, Peaness, Not Today, Grieving, Choke Up, Empty Lungs, Woes, Del Paxton, The Bottom Line, Spur, Dorje, Beyond The Black, Betraying The Martyrs, Fast Food Society, Black Sites, Darko, and Youth Revolt.

Words by Sêan Reid (SR), Rob Mair (RM), Dane Wright (DW), Edward Layland (EL), Josh Graham (JG), and Andy Davidson (AD).