Bands that have 2 singers that sound so alike you never noticed

I would have no idea between Colin Newman and Graham Lewis on who sings lead on a single Wire song.

Really? They sound very distinct to me.

Kate and Cindy from the B-52’s

For the longest time I thought Simon & Garfunkel was just one dude.

Jk but

bar italia. thought there were two singers, one man and one woman. turns out there are two men and one woman! and they frequently trade lines within songs

I found this with loads of bands growing up: Blur, REM, Pavement, Depeche Mode. It would be years till I found out the other dude sang it

Seeing the revival of the Devo thread reminds me I was surprisingly late in discovering they had multiple singers--I just thought Mothersbaugh was really good with wacky vocalizations.

oh i got a good one. The Libertines.

maybe it’s just me

Jimmy and Dennis Flemion

It took me an embarrassingly long time to work out that Andy Partridge didn't sing all the XTC songs.

Milli Vanilli

Seeing the revival of the Devo thread reminds me I was surprisingly late in discovering they had multiple singers--I just thought Mothersbaugh was really good with wacky vocalizations.

― Charlie Hair (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, November 21, 2024 6:27 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah at first I thought Mark's parts were just a cartoon voice

I actually thought Goo Goo Dolls only had one guy because the first thing I heard from them was A Boy Named Goo and former lead singer Robby Takac was now resigned to sharing lead vocal duty with Johnny but not getting to sing any of the hits, and his voice sounded like what Johnny's would if he started vocalizing like Peter Lorre so I figured he was doing a more pop punk voice.

finding out Rzenik was not the original lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls blew my mind years back.

Got to figure there are more than a few people that thought Ric Ocasek sang all the tunes in the Cars.

it's funny that this happens so much. it's almost less common that two singers have very very different voices in the same band.

My Bloody Valentine is another one - couldn't tell you who's singing on what track till I saw them live

Would never have guessed it was Karl Bartos and not Ralf Hutter singing "The Telephone Call". Though Ralf apparently was annoyed that the vocal was too emotional.

Sometimes I don't notice when Dusty is singing in ZZ Top. ("Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" is where you can hear them trade verses)

Got to figure there are more than a few people that thought Ric Ocasek sang all the tunes in the Cars.

Really? I don't think he and Ben Orr sounded at all alike. Similar range, but very different timbre.

the olivia tremor control have two main singers who aren't the most distinct to begin with but "i have been floated" is sung by a third, the keyboard player, and he sounds like the exact midpoint of the other two to the point i didn't realise it was someone else until i saw a live video recently

Really? I don't think he and Ben Orr sounded at all alike. Similar range, but very different timbre.

― Vast Halo, Friday, November 22, 2024

Really? I don't think he and Ben Orr sounded at all alike. Similar range, but very different timbre.

― Vast Halo

exactly

Things you were shockingly old when you learned

Oops, meant to post this link:
Things you were shockingly old when you learned

hopefully this gets morep eople to rediscover STAY THE NIGHT

The Ben Orr solo hit?

yup

a CVS standard

I literally learned last week that Doug Yule sings 'Who Loves the Sun', and not Lou Reed.

I’ve said this before but Ric Ocasek sounds like Goofy

Looks like him too.

gawrsh, Jacki, what took you so long, hyuck

Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3 are two bands where I just assumed it was always the same guy singing until I learned otherwise, and after that the difference in the voices became obvious to me.

I could never tell Anni-Frid and Agnetha apart, even though they both have songs where they sing lead.

this is embarrassing to admit as a longtime Silkworm fan but it took me a while before i could distinguish Tim and Andy's voices

Similar range, but very different timbre.

On certain songs he was given, the more "paranoid" ones, Orr definitely seems to be imitating Ocasek's style.

the two dudes in supertramp

This is weird to me because they sing about an octave apart, except when Rick Davies goes into falsetto.

I could never tell Anni-Frid and Agnetha apart

I couldn't until I realized Agnetha sings English with a stronger accent.

One of the things I enjoy about a group like 10cc (where all four members did lead vocals) is deciphering who sings what.

Of course I always knew that both Paul and John sing in the Beatles, but it took me the longest time to be able to distinguish who sings which songs.

Who defined indie rock as pop music with bad singing? In general, it can be difficult to tell multiple singers apart in bands that don't have a big persona up front. Like Daltry followed the delivery from Townshend's demos pretty closely, especially the soft and ballady bits, but you'd never mistake them when he starts chewing the scenery. Whereas Renaldo and Moore's voices both just sound like arts non-profit managers who happen to add vocals to their songs.

Devo and the Cars are the tipping point right? 'Cause they really brought affectless singing to the charts, kicking open the doors Lou had unlocked.

Affectless as in "soul"less, I guess you mean, cause it would be hard to sing less "affectedly" than the guys in Devo!

Matilda Mother was a very late discovery for me too. Not as late, but another shock: Roger taking over for the ending of Dogs. I paid no attention to the differences between vocal approach as a kid, so I think I "memorized" or absorbed Animals for a while there, and it took a long long break and considerable music-listening maturity before realizing, "Oh WAIT a minute here...!"

o. nate, yes me too! I started listening to the Beatles at 20, and while Ringo was obvious, it took me months to be able to distinguish John, Paul, and George. I started with Abbey Road and worked my way backwards, and it seems weird to me now that I should have needed that long. Come the late '60s John had such a distinctive singing voice... and even when I did start getting the hang of it, I thought for the longest time that Oh Darling was John. I don't think I figured it out until I heard Anthology 3.

the true skill is distinguishing George and John's guitar parts, especially on the earlier records

the Devo thing probably isn't helped by the songs Jerry sings on record that Mark does live, things like Going Under iirc. sidebar but I love Bob 1's voice and wish they'd had more of him for contrast

I will tend to have this issue when I'm first discovering a band and everything is like a big soup. Then when things start taking shape out of it and becoming familiar I'll realise the voices are really distinct and it'll be hard to go back to knowing how I could've got them mixed up. A bit like that "what colour is this dress" viral sensation but for the ear

Devo and the Cars are the tipping point right? 'Cause they really brought affectless singing to the charts, kicking open the doors Lou had unlocked.

In the USA you mean.

Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3 are two bands where I just assumed it was always the same guy singing until I learned otherwise, and after that the difference in the voices became obvious to me.

― Kim Kimberly, Friday, November 22, 2024 10:20 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I’m genuinely struggling to wrap my head around the Sonic Youth one. Are you referring to just Thurston and Lee?

Yes.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to work out that Andy Partridge didn't sing all the XTC songs.

― enochroot, Friday, 22 November 2024 02:34 (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

I just watched the 'life begins at the hop' video on another thread and W T F! Ok most of the ones I know are Partridge but Generals and Majors? Making Plans for Nigel?!?!?!?!? Are you fucking kidding me?

How come they sound so similar?

I don't think they do but maybe that's just me.

I still have trouble distinguishing Robert Forster from Grant McLennan.

Jesus and Mary Chain

I often find it's the case. Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon sound very similar when they sing. Same as Malkmus and Spiral Stairs. I can't tell the difference between the MBV vocalists