Best Bands From Wales 2019 Edition

From Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey to Marina and the Diamonds and Catfish and the Bottlemen, Wales has a habit of producing some of the finest musical talent to grace the British music scene. In other words, putting together this list of the Best Bands From Wales was challenging, mainly as there was so much talent to choose from!

Many of these acts you may know of, might even be a fan of, but there’s a few that might be new to you - including an act with the best band name I've ever heard of.

As usual, I’ll be picking out some of my own personal favourites to talk about, alongside some incredible up-and-comers that are working incredibly hard to make a name for themselves in the music industry.

This Top 7 list of who we think of as the Best Bands From Wales is in no particular order, but I feel they all deserve a spot for a number of reasons.

Feel free to leave a comment at the end of the blog if you feel like I've missed an act who you truly believe should have been given a mention. So, without further ado, here's our Top 7 Best Bands From Wales!

Formed in Blackwood in 1986, The Manic’s are without a doubt one of the biggest and most successful bands to come out of the UK as a whole in the ensuing decades, never mind out of Wales.

From their punk roots, to their alt-rock evolution in the 1990s, the Manic’s have sold more than 10 million albums worldwide and helped inspire a whole generation of aspiring musicians with their melodic guitar lines and deep lyrical content.

A singer/songwriter who followed her dreams with an incredible level of success, Marina Lambrini Diamindis was born in Brynmawr and raised in nearby Pandy, but then moved to London as a teenager with the aim of becoming a professional singer.

After finishing second to Ellie Goulding in BBC’s "Sound of 2010", MARINA went on to release her debut studio album, The Family Jewels, which peaked at number 5 in the UK Albums chart and achieved a Gold Record status.

MARINA’s sound fuses both indie pop and new wave musical styles to great effect, and her songs and performances often embody her own sense of humour, entangled with lyrics pertaining to being a societal outsider.

As they're one of the biggest UK bands in recent years, adding the Brit Award Winners for Best British Breakthrough Act in 2016 - Catfish and the Bottlemen - to this list was a no-brainer.

With two huge hit albums under their belt already, and a third album, The Balance, due to be released any time now, these hard-working indie rockers thoroughly deserve every accolade they've achieved - especially their inclusion on this list.

Originally formed under the name Best (in Cardiff, 1996), this 3-piece post-hardcore outfit released their first album, My Pain and Sadness is More Sad and Painful Than Yours, in the year 2000. However, it was their 2002 album release McLusky Do Dallas that drew international acclaim.

Unfortunately, McLusky disbanded in 2005, but their work previous to this (along with the compilation album of their singles, Mcluskyism) won them a legion of followers the world over.

A seemingly unusual choice for this list – since none of the members are actually Welsh – but this 7-piece indie pop band were formed at Cardiff University in 2006.

After forming, they went on to make a name for themselves with numerous well-received gigs around the area, eventually earning airplay on Huw Stephens’s BBC Radio 1 Wales Evening Show, which led to bigger and brighter things.

Los Campesinos are renowned for their lively, joyous sound, despite their often-dark lyrical content, and released their sixth studio album, Sick Scenes, in February 2017.

Formed in Cardiff, 1993, the Super Furry Animals are without a doubt one of the most imaginative bands to ever hail from the British isles.

With 9 album releases breaking into the UK's Top 25 chart (one of which achieved Gold Record status), countless accolades to their name, and collaborations with some of the biggest names in music, it could be said that not only are the SFA's one of the best acts to come from Wales, but they're also one of the most important bands on the UK music scene of the past 30 years.

One of the biggest British rock bands of the past three decades – and also one of my personal favourite bands throughout my teens.

The Stereophonics formed in the village of Cwmaman in 1992, and went on to release ten studio albums - six of which reached Number 1 in the UK albums chart! Renowned for their hard-rocking guitar sounds, incredible live performances, and the raspy vocals of front-man Kelly Jones, the ‘Phonics remain a musical-force to be reckoned with to this day.

Aside from our own personal Top 7 list, here’s an array of other Welsh talent that we felt deserved a mention.

These are some of the most promising bands and artists from Wales currently causing a stir in the music industry, or bands that really caused a great sounding ruckus when they were on the scene, which we think you really need to hear.

On March 29th 2019, Tramshed will host the 2019 Cardiff Music Awards, where many of the acts I mentioned above have received nominations (past and present), some of them are even past-winners.

For this year, PMT is proudly sponsoring the event’s ‘Best Album’ award, and we hope to see you there lending your support. With such a wide range of styles and incredible talent on display, the future is certainly looking bright for the Welsh music scene. Read more about the Cardiff Music Awards here!

Updated: 2020-06-03