The UK is kicking out some real iconic music lately as Ed Sheeran dominated the charts this past year for his huge success with ‘X’, London Grammar defined a new genre with their sultry synth style and despite not releasing any new music in three years, Adele continues to be the main love interest in the US helping Paloma Faith, Jessie J and Ellie Goulding gain some recognition across the pond as well. But if you’re getting sick of indie, tired of acoustic guitars and need a change from the mainstream, maybe you need an injection of a different genre? Maybe Wolf Alice is what you’re looking for.

Whilst grunge has made a huge comeback in fashion and we’re seeing lip liner, crop tops and combat boots everywhere it seems the music has inspired a new generation with North London group Wolf Alice seeming heavily inspired by this iconic era. Their second EP ‘Creature Songs’ landed in May 2014 alongside them performing at Glastonbury which has spun off for them to now be nominated for the BBC Sound of 2015 award; previous winners include Haim, Sam Smith and the aforementioned Adele and Jessie J.

They describe themselves as “the lovechild of folk and grunge” and that’s easy to tell from first track on Creature Songs, ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’. An affecting heavy grunge song that will make you want to dance like you first did when Hole landed on the grunge scene. With Ellie Roswell’s ethereal vocals alongside the heavy, dishevelled guitars this can easily become another teenage anthem like Nirvana did so many before. ‘Storms’ is another angst anthem that could sit perfectly in compilations with Garbage, Bush and Soundgarden despite being over two decades later in the grand scheme of things. Other more floating tracks ‘Heavenly Creatures’ and ‘We’re Not The Same’ hark back to the drifting angelic tones of Mazzy Star, showcasing more of the acoustic folk genre they also promise to give.

Wolf Alice are set to embark on their first tour as well as supporting Alt-J at the 02 arena and they will no doubt be a memorable live act to watch as vocalist Ellie declared, she wants to “see people jump around and have fun” inspired by heavy gigs they visited when they were younger; you can check out their Glastonbury set online and already see they are as professional, well-rehearsed and entertaining as they promise to be.

Despite being a band in their infancy with most members having only just scraped into their twenties and with only a handful of finished tracks behind them, it is promising to see the recognition and attention they are already getting from the likes of the BBC, iTunes and NME. We are yet to see if they will walk away with the coveted BBC Sound of 2015 award, but despite that, they are set to become the next big thing both on stage and your local airwaves, so stay tuned.

Kat Bagshawe