Alternative music has a strong and creative vibe already this year and may be poised to make a larger impact on pop and rock music in the coming months. Veterans like Weezer (top) and newer groups like Cage the Elephant (above) and the Strumbellas (below) are spicing up the charts with songs that seem simultaneously fresh and retro.
Chart and Synopsis by Rick Hiduk
The following list focuses on the alternative songs that have made the biggest impact on me so far this year. Many made their debut in 2015 but either peaked in popularity in January and February of this year or are still climbing the charts.
- Cage the Elephant – Mess Around
- Strumbellas – Spirits
- Coldplay – Adventure of a Lifetime
- Weezer – Thank God For Girls
- Foals – Mountain at My Gates
- Nothing But Thieves – Trip Switch
- Vance Joy – Fire & the Flood
- Jr Jr – Gone
- Foo Fighters – Saint Cecelia
- Wombats – Give Me a Try
- Mumford & Sons – Ditmus
- Shinedown – State of My Head
- Lucius – Born Again Teen
- Lumineers – Ophelia
- Cold War Kids – First
- Imagine Dragons – Roots
- Twenty One Pilots – Ride
- Elle King – Under the Influence
- Andrew MacMahon & the Wilderness – High Dive
- El Vi – Return to the Moon
- Florence & the Machine – Delilah
- New Beat Fund – Sikka Taken the Hard Way
- Tame Impala – The Less I Know The Better
- Lukas Graham – Seven Years
- The Struts – Kiss This