College is among the most important periods of musical exploration and discovery in a person’s life, a chance to differentiate your taste from that of your parents and the like-minded folks you surrounded yourself with in high school. College radio stations can be great for introducing you to new bands whenever they aren’t pumping out the same Green Day and Aerosmith songs over and over again. At the prestigious university I attended, College of DuPage, the radio station was run by professors, and thusly comprised of 90% jazz, with theme nights like reggae, salsa, and blues tossed in here and there.
While I appreciated the introduction to Charles Mingus, I had to learn about bands like Diiv and Smith Westerns through my friends who attended schools with student-run stations. The college rock landscape continues to expand and shift with each incoming freshmen class, with the Internet helping to fill in the cracks left by the 89.1’s and 88.5’s, introducing us to more new artists each week. There’s a lot to take in if you’re a young person just getting past listening to all the songs you heard at prom, so we’re here to help narrow it down for you.
–Pat Levy
Staff Writer
17. Gothic Tropic
Jungle rock isn’t a genre that many bands self-assign these days, but Gothic Tropic tackle the label head-on and do so with a fervor and unique sound that most other bands can’t match. The L.A. trio have put out only a few tracks, but each one has some distinguishing factor from the rest, whether it be one member dominating the track more than others or an entirely different sound from the extremely versatile band. Each member is given their time to show off, but it always works within the greater concept the group is reaching for. Drummer Liv Marsico is often given a chance to shine, and it’s well deserved because she’s an undeniable force behind the kit. Having toured with bigger groups like Cold War Kids in the past, Marsico, and her bandmates Cicelia Della Peruti (Guitar/Vocals) and Daniel Denton (Bassist), seem to have tapped into something special with Gothic Tropic, and it would be wise to keep an eye on this band in the near future as they hopefully prepare to release much more material. –Pat Levy
