Bands like Chemical Brothers (Analog era)

[irishbuzz]

Hello!

Of course I know Crystal Method, Fatboy Slim, Leftield and Propellerheads.
But I'm looking for bands that sound similar to the first three albums of tcb. I'd love to discover something a bit more underground or less mainstream. Although I've found some interesting independent artists on Apple Music lately, none of them quite capture that magical, warm electronic vibe of that specific era. Did you discover someone interesting?

[Enjoyed]

I'd like to give this a proper think, but here's a few off the top of the dome:

Indian Ropeman
Meat Beat Manifesto
FC Kahuna

[ThePumisher]

But I'm looking for bands that sound similar to the first three albums of tcb.

You should check out The Dust Brothers. They have 2 nice EP's and one nice Single...

FC Kahuna

I love Hayling

[Bosco]

It was recommended to me as younger Chemical Brother fan, and I'll pass it on NOW as a more grizzled Chemical Brother fan...

'Lazer Guided Melodies' by Spiritualized

...it is not dance music or what one would categorize as an "electronic music album", but has all the hazy and spacey hallmarks from The Chemical Brothers.

[Wolkenkrabber]

Surely we've had a thread like this before on here? I tried searching, but the words "Chemical Brothers" bring up a LOT of results. Too many...

From me in 2022:

I posted a Michel Gondry "Bullet Time" Smirnoff advert in the Denver thread recently. The ad actually had three different "soundtracks" depending on your territory. For my territory (UK & Ire) it wasn't the track on that video I posted, it was the one below. A track so '90s "Chemical" sounding that it popped up on a compilation CD called Electronic Battle Weapons. Some of you may also be familiar with it from JBO: A Perspective.


Dylan Rhymes - Naked & Ashamed

You could do worse than check out Evil Nine. I don't know if you were old enough to listen to the Nu Skool Breaks scene of the early 2000's. If not, maybe have a google.

Evil Nine - We Have The Energy

[irishbuzz]

Evil Nine and Dylan Rhymes... brutal sound, wow. This is what I'm looking for!

[Csar]

It's quite hard to list bands like the Chems, because they're quite different from the rest of the pack of that era, just like the Prodigy.


But in terms of general musical genre, perhaps these might be also interesting:

Bentley Rhytm Ace's debut album Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out  (don't bother with the second one):

Lo Fidelity Allstars' album How to Operate With A Blown Mind

English musician Ils has very interesting stuff

(one of my favorites)

Cirrus' debut Drop the Break is also worth a mention

(reckognize the vocal sample )

Mint Royal

This one's not a band, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this track, though

[Enjoyed]

Bentley Rhytm Ace's debut album Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out  (don't bother with the second one):

Exsqueeze me? Just because it doesn't have 'Whoosh' on it... please don't skip!

Also, some of the best b side names in the business (speaking as a fellow Bond enjoyer)

Lo Fidelity Allstars

I'm actually going to see them in London in just over 2 weeks! Fucking stoked.
Don't sleep on their other stuff too:

(Very Surrendery, IMHO)

English musician Ils has very interesting stuff

Yesss! Thanks for sharing these. I only ever listened to Soul Trader (and thought it was more than just one guy because of the cover!) - I'm excited to listen to more of his stuff.

And to combine with an earlier suggestion of Evil Nine:

Mint Royal

Again, I gotta stand up for album #2 ❤️

This one is like Porcelain, meets One Too Many Mornings, by way of Hayling.

(also, do go check out his new single, 'Down Down', as well as 'To Make Me Love You' - not really relevant to this topic, but excellent if you're a fan of Mint Royale!)

I think comparisons and similar artists are difficult to come by as a whole, precisely because of what Csar said, but also because I think unless you're looking for very specific aspects of what makes a Chems tune - a huge beefy drum sample, squelchy analogue synth textures, trip hop and acid inspired house music, it's difficult to find something comparable that hits all the check marks. Though I do think FC Kahuna feeeeeeels like the closest to me? At least Surrender/CWU era Chems (peek!)

I'll throw in a couple of other suggestions though: