31 New Jersey bands you need to hear in 2020

Music lovers live in an incredible time.

Virtually every song in recorded history is available online, usually for free, for instant listening whenever the moment strikes. You want to hear the entire Beatles discography? How about century-old jazz tunes? Even Mongolian death metal is out there, just a few clicks away.

In 2020, there is no excuse to ignore the culture that surrounds you, in New Jersey or elsewhere. But let’s talk about New Jersey, specifically: the local music scene here continues to flourish in Asbury Park, Jersey City, New Brunswick and in all corners of the state as artists from a wide range of genres thrill listeners with their budding talent.

And some aren’t so local anymore, leaping onto the national stage after cutting their teeth in Jersey clubs and bars.

This is my annual list of the best of the best: the singers, the rappers, the rockers, the tireless dreamers — some of the most creative people in New Jersey. Dive in, find some new music to love, or ignore them at your own peril!

070 Shake

First came the sparkling debut EP, in 2018. Then came the stand-out collaborations with hip-hop heavyweights Kanye West and Pusha T later that year. Now, at long last, North Bergen rapper and R&B singer Danielle Balbuena, better known as 070 Shake, will release her debut full-length album, called “Modus Vivendi” this Friday to heaps of anticipation. The 22-year-old emcee’s EP, “Glitter,” was a moody, poetic and enticing teaser and the G.O.O.D. Music (West’s label) signee will celebrate the “Modus” release close to home, at Webster Hall in New York March 5 (part of a larger tour). I’m already calling for her Best New Artist nomination for next year’s Grammy Awards.

Listen if you love: Drake, Future

AK

Austin Kassabian, better known as AK, is a razor-tongued rhymer from South Brunswick and perhaps the most exciting young rapper on the local hip-hop scene. I covered Kassabian’s show in Asbury Park last year and the emcee clearly has the passion and right-now sound: his brand of gloomy emo-rap is very much en vogue right now — think Post Malone with tighter lines. AK will be releasing his latest EP, “On Me,” in Spring 2020 and is set to release his next single, called “Dumb,” on Friday.

Listen if you love: Post Malone, Juice WRLD

Apollo Sonders

Led by local powerhouse Gabrielle Richa, the soulful piano-pop of Jersey City’s Apollo Sonders is majestic and gorgeously arranged. A handful of new singles are on the way in the coming months, the four-piece promises. Check out Apollo’s last EP, 2018′s “Certainty,” and see their next show: Jan. 25 at Crossroads in Garwood.

Listen if you love: Adele, Jessie J

Arizona

Few New Jersey pop bands are flying higher than Ridgewood natives Arizona (styled A R I Z O N A), who have amassed an enormous online following. The trio’s electro-laden 2019 LP “Asylum” has notched more than 100 million listens on Spotify alone. The group is signed to Atlantic Records and will surely be playing some major shows this year in support of the album. Check out the addictive single “Freaking Out.”

Blaise

If you want to see a SHOW, come around Asbury Park and check out Blaise, a bold pop artist hellbent on pushing boundaries and making you pay attention (the music’s plenty catchy, too). In 2020 you can expect a new album, brand new visuals, a tour, and all new performance art, Blaise says, adding he is “focused on entertaining the world with alternative pop music that celebrates love of self and love of others.” If that’s not a message we need right now, what is?

Listen if you love: Troye Sivan, Halsey

Bottled Blonde

Bottled Blonde, the alluring indie-rock project fronted by Jersey Shore player Mackenzie Brown has big plans for 2020: “We are working on new material and very excited to be writing, producing and recording completely on our own this time around,” Brown says. “Being able to work in our own environment and at our own pace is really inspiring and it feels more authentic than ever before. We hope those feelings come across in the recordings that we’ll start to release in the upcoming months.” If you’re into crystalline vocals and hypnotic guitars, give this group a spin.

Listen if you love: Charly Bliss, Big Thief

Bravely

If you’ve followed these lists over the year, you know my love for Hodera, the devastatingly good Montclair folk-rock outfit led my Matt Smith. Now, the forever lovelorn frontman has ventured out on his own with a solo project called Bravely, which brings the same Hodera poetry and stark melodies with a new bit of intimacy. “I’ll be releasing my second album, ‘Changing,’ in four parts between January and March of this year,” Smith says, adding that he’ll be performing a handful of regional tours and beginning to record his third album.

Listen if you love: Jason Isbell, Justin Townes Earle

Brianna Musco

Driving, catchy pop-rock is alive and well in North Jersey with Brianna Musco, a former Division I college soccer player who now spends her time as a globetrotting singer-songwriter. The Montvale native touts a bright, guitar-driven sound with a huge upside in 2020. Musco will be heading out for her first European tour this winter and will be returning with her homecoming show April 25 at The Mercury Lounge in New York City. She will be releasing her next single in February, she says.

Listen if you love: Grace Potter, Kelly Clarkson

Cook Thugless

The terrific New Brunswick hip-hop collective Cook Thugless has a huge show coming up: an opening slot for Jersey rap legend Wyclef Jean at the Miracle Theater in California Jan. 24. Following the 2019 release of the stellar LP “Luxe" the guys are on the west coast feeling out some potential distribution deals and writing new music. In December, they dropped the single “Dirty Blue." Thugless is planning for an April-May regional tour of the Northeast, with at least a few shows in New Jersey. Bring 'em back to Rutgers!

Listen if you love: Childish Gambino, Tyler, The Creator

Dan Ex Machina

After more than a decade of starts and stops, the South Jersey punk-tinged rock outfit Dan Ex Machina has finally released its crunchy, exciting LP “Pity Party Animal,” loaded with tunes that remind of the simpler days of 2000s pop-punk and emo prowess. A few words from Dan himself: “We’re going to be gigging and hustling as fervently as you’d imagine from people who’ve waited 15 years to release their debut album. And yes, that means there’s more music in the can.” Dan promises another album coming later this year.

Listen if you love: The Get Up Kids, Hot Rod Circuit

Daughter Vision

Asbury Park’s experimental art-rock ensemble, Daughter Vision, ended 2019 with a U.S. tour in support of their latest release “DV-EP,” and have their sights set on even more surreal landscapes in 2020 with a Valentine’s Day extravaganza at Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park, a multimedia showcase at the city’s Parlor Gallery in April, and a stop-motion film approaching, too. “New terrain, new tech, new outfits, and new industrial make-out jams,” the band says.

Listen if you love: Talking Heads, David Bowie

Dinosaur Eyelids

Hang around the New Brunswick scene long enough and you’ll see how it fluctuates: Rutgers kids form and erase bands every semester, basement show venues open and get shut down. But Dinosaur Eyelids have been a gritty rock stalwart of the Hub City circles for a decade and welcome in 2020 with the release of the group’s sixth album “Sticker Famous”. The official album release party will be on Saturday, April 25 at The Fire in Philadelphia. Look out for more live shows in 2020!

Listen if you love: Nirvana, Pixies

Drew The Recluse

“The American Dream is our true mission!” says Drew the Recluse, a new-coming rap and R&B frontman belting an impressive blend of stressed yet soulful vocals over sounds ranging from trap, alternative rock, and new wave. Pain and pleasure exist in droves here; don’t take your eyes off this highly talented artist raised in the woods of Jackson. A new album is due later this year and a new single is set for Feb. 28. You can also catch Drew at The Asbury Hotel March 25.

Listen if you love: Trey Songz, SZA

The Extensions

The Extensions, a new indie-rock four-piece from Asbury Park, were probably half-joking when they wrote “sharper than a box cutter, and hooks as sweet as grape soda” to describe their band on Facebook. But that’s actually not a bad take; the group’s debut EP, September’s “Bellicose,” is a tightly wound, vibrant project with choruses that will almost certainly lodge themselves in your hippocampus. The band plays Stosh’s in Fair Lawn Feb. 28, a show sponsored by their Mint 400 record label. A single called “Follow You, Unfollow Me” is due for a late spring release.

Listen if you love: Spoon, Elvis Costello

Indian Run

Who knew that little Mays Landing was housing one of the coolest indie artists going in New Jersey right now: Indian Run (multi-instrumentalist and producer Shane Becker), a killer project blending emo-rock and electronic styles into an emotive soundscape worthy of a lost afternoon. “I plan to hit the ground running this year. There will be live shows, new music and even some collaborations which I’m very excited about," Becker says. "I have a new music video all shot and ready to go to kick off the year!“

Listen if you love: Brand New, Bon Iver

J Hacha de Zola

There may be no more singular an artist on this list than Jersey City’s J Hacha de Zola, who deftly merges baroque pop, anti-folk and other explosive elements — listen to those horns blare — to forge a sound that is at once alluring and unsettling. De Zola plans for multiple releases this year, following his exciting “Icaro Nouveau” LP in 2019. “I am a believer in sustained, continued, and consistent effort as a means to push myself to do/try different things musically or artistically,” he says.

Listen if you love: Tom Waits, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

John The Gun

If you were looking for a band to fill the gap between the mega-proficiency of prog-rock and emotion of post-hardcore, give John the Gun a shot. The manically talented but not overly precious band released in December its second album, “Sleepwalker. “This year we’ll be creating new video content, working on more new material, and of course get back to playing shows in the Northern New Jersey and New York City area,” frontman John Cusumano says.

Listen if you love: Coheed and Cambria, Emery

Little Hag

You may recall my previous gushing over Avery Mandeville, the outspoken indie-rock songstress who took the Asbury Park scene by storm in 2018 with her second LP, “Happy Birthday Avery Jane.” Well, now she’s going by Little Hag, and with a new name will come a new release this Spring, with the much of the same subject material: “bars, cars, weak men, and bodily fluids,” she says. Little Hag plays Shrewsbury Christ Church in Shrewsbury on Saturday.

Listen if you love: Jenny Lewis, Sleater-Kinney

Little Vicious

An update from Little Vicious, an incendiary hard-rock outfit crushing it in Asbury Park: “Little Vicious tried to retire for about two months, but damn — the fans and the riffs wouldn’t let us go," Relentless frontwoman Marguerite King is currently working with long time contributor and drummer, Matt Lauritsen, on LV’s third studio album. The still unnamed record is slated for release late 2020. The group will be hitting the road come summer, leaving behind them a whiskey-drenched-boogie-fest.

Listen if you love: Jack White, Alice Merton

Long Neck

It’s a new year and I’m still not over the jangly indie-rock goodness of Jersey City’s Long Neck, led by the multi-talented singer-songwriter Lily Mastrodimos. Check out the band’s 2018 release, “Will This Do?" immediately and if you like what you hear, go see 'em at Kirby’s Castle in Brooklyn Jan. 25. Wonderful jams of love and loss here.

Listen if you love: Lucy Dacus, Snail Mail

Quinton Smith and The Company

Quinton Smith, a smooth-as-ice R&B singer from Edison who also dabbles in alternative hip-hop, has been nailing it around the local scene for years now with his tight backing band The Company, and the group looks to build off a groovy, soulful showing in 2017, with Smith’s “Straight From The Heart” album. Smith says his band will be releasing a few singles this year and playing a wider variety of shows around the tri-state area. Find them at the Chubby Pickle in Highlands Friday night or at Red Tank Brewing Company in Red Bank Feb 7.

Listen if you love: John Legend, Frank Ocean

Remember Jones

Anthony D’Amato, aka beaming band leader Remember Jones, has all but cornered the New Jersey market on retrospective live music spectaculars: classic albums reinvented for his sprawling 25-piece live band. Jones is making his debut at Starland Ballroom on Valentine’s Day with a revival and re-creation of Kanye West’s entire “808’s & Heartbreak” (plus an original opening set). Expect releases of new original music this year, too.

Listen if you love: Amy Winehouse, Kanye West

Replicant

What, you thought you’d get through this list without any death metal? Wrong! Replicant is one of the most brutal Jersey bands around, with riffs and doomsaying lyrics to spare. 2020 will see Replicant recording and releasing the band’s second LP, the follow-up to 2018′s “Negative Life.” The band will be playing plenty of regional shows, including a potential Canadian tour in support of the new album. See them in Montclair March 20.

Listen if you love: Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse

Sailor Boyfriend

If you’re riding around Jersey City and you hear over the traffic some screaming merger of guitars and synth, you may have just encountered the blazing local duo Sailor Boyfriend. The group describes itself as “a new wave, science fair art project.” From participatory live performances to poppy visuals and tunes, this year the band “will hang out, try their best, go for it, make it happen, and have fun as they tour and prepare for their third album (with a summer 2020 release).”

Listen if you love: David Bowie, Human League

Sof

The wildly talented pop singer-songwriter Sof has been honing her sound around New Jersey open mics and club shows for years, and now, after the November release of her infectious new single, “Inertia,” the East Brunswick native is releasing her debut EP later this year. A few extra singles could be on the way, too, she says. “I like to keep it a little mysterious,” she says. Keep an ear out — this artist really has a knack for addictive songwriting.

Listen if you love: JoJo, Kim Petras

Sonic Blume

Somehow, the Asbury Park-based dream-pop group Sonic Blume has managed to surge forward as band despite some of its members now attending college in New York and Philadelphia. But hey, that means more big-city shows for the four-piece that just seems to be hitting its stride as a shimmering, consistent force crawling out from beneath its influences. Sonic Blume just released a new single “Raincoat” on New Years’ Eve and its next show is Jan. 31 at World Café Live in Philadelphia.

Listen if you love: Real Estate, Deerhunter

Stella Mrowicki

Stella Mrowicki’s wondrously intimate brand of indie-folk makes you feel like you’re the only one in the room, the only one sharing a given moment of listening. The rookie singer-songwriter’s self-titled debut, released last year, was a quietly delightful project and there’s more on the way: her second album, which she calls a “progression,” is coming in March, she says.

Listen if you love: Julien Baker, Hayley Williams

Stephan Marcellus

You may remember Stephan Marcellus as a stand-out contestant on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2017. Now, the soulful Englewood singer is keeping the dream alive as an independent artist. “My mission is to inspire and move the world through the honesty of my lyrics the transparency of my soul and the passion of my voice,” says Marcellus’s Facebook page. Catch his booming voice at Rockwood Music Hall in New York on Friday.

Listen if you love: Labrinth, Hozier

Stillhungry

Stillhungry, a lush, folk-rock trio from Asbury Park, may be my favorite local discovery of 2019. The sweeping group’s self-titled debut is magnificently penned and purely raw, with dynamic harmonies from members Jenna Murphy, Erik Kase Romero and Matteo DeBenedetti. A new single, called “The Traitor,” was released Jan. 1 and the band is already recording its second LP, hopefully set to release later this year. After a winter tour, more traveling throughout the northeast and midwest is on the way, too. Stillhungry feels like a band on the verge, keep an eye on them.

Listen if you love: Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus

Tioga

Tioga, the retro-tinged indie-pop outfit from New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York, brings dark guitars and neon synths of the new wave ’80s and melds it with airtight songwriting and an unrelenting rhythm section. The band’s latest single “Break Me In” is one of my favorite local discoveries in recent memory. Catch them at their next show in Philadelphia, New York City, or somewhere in between.

Listen if you love: Bleachers, Smallpools

Wyland

Wyland, a soaring outfit originally based in Kearny, has been a local favorite of mine for years now, and the band led by gifted songwriter Ryan Sloan just keeps getting better. “We spent a good part of 2019 touring, writing new music, exploring who we are and where this insane lifestyle fits in the reality of our lives,” Sloan says. “2020 is going to be a lot fun.” Expect more shows as the band supports its 2019 release “In The Circuitry Of Lonely."

Listen if you love: Coldplay, Kodaline

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.