Christy Costello, Kiernan, Dalmatian Club are among First Ave’s Best New Bands of 2024

Click here for our profile of the seventh act in Friday’s Best New Bands showcase at First Avenue, Ethiopian-born rapper Mati.

Is there such thing as an Ojibwe electro-powwow music supergroup? That might best describe this trio led by Wisconsin singer and Ojibwe linguist Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings with Bon Iver drummer/multi-instrumentalist S. Carey and Minneapolis’ Little Earth-reared Indigenous music experimenter Joe Rainey, whose 2022 album “Niineta” was praised by the New York Times. All regulars at Justin Vernon’s Eaux Claires music fests in the 2010s, they reunited last year to meld traditional powwow singing and drum loops with Bon Iver-ian ambient folk and thump-rock sounds on the mesmerizing album “Unbound.” (Online: bizhiki.org)

The punky, fun-loving scene vet’s appearance here is right up there with Khruangbin being up for a best new artist Grammy. She’s been a reputable part of the scene for three decades with the bands Pink Mink and Ouija Radio but only just released her first solo album last year, “From the Dark.” It was so good, First Ave’s staff apparently overlooked the rest. No argument. (christycostellomusic.com)

One of three bands in the lineup formed around Dinkytown (see below), this scrappy, rock quintet played First Ave’s junior club 7th St. Entry six times in 2024, so they’re not exactly “new” to the building. Their live show wasn’t their only calling card, though, as slacker-poppy, reverb-heavy singles such as “Out of Hand” and “Instead” recall the likes of Wallows and local faves Early Eyes. (linktr.ee/thedalmatianclub)

Trained as a classical pianist in her youth, Minneapolis’ Laura Kiernan has turned to writing poetic, story-driven songs and fronting this namesake band in her 20s. Their 2024 debut EP, “Magnetic North,” boasts a rootsy, folky flavor but with a rustic and rocky urgency, reminiscent of Big Thief’s and MJ Lenderman’s raw power. (linktr.ee/kiernan_theband)

A band that literally got its start under the porch light of a dilapidated former frat house near Dinkytown where the members lived, the collegiate ‘90s-flavored rock quintet features high school friends from Belle Plaine and a powerful singer from Mound, Jackie Uhas, who first caught their ear singing Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun.” Their debut EP, “Fall Back,” is releasing Friday. (linktr.ee/porchlighttheband)

Another campus area band named after its origin space, the guys in this instrumental jazz-funk combo first jammed together in a music room at the University of Minnesota. Yep, the room number was 3. Now a quartet and sometimes a quintet, they wrap their Afro-rhythmic grooves with Eli Awada’s spacey organ and piano work and guest woodwind players, resulting in echoes of Kamasi Washington and Medeski Martin & Wood. Their debut album, “Bill’s Garden,” is not so coincidentally due out April 20. (room3jazz.bandcamp.com)