Twenty One Pilots

Ohio's duo Twenty One Pilots, vocalist and keyboardist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun, debuted their catchy brand of keyboard-based rock on Twenty One Pilots (2009) and Regional at Best (2011).

Vessel (Fueled by Ramen, 2013), that collects material from those self-released albums too, became famous for the arena-pop Ode to Sleep, but most songs rely on a more complex interplay of multiple vocals styles (even within the same song, as in the masterful Holding on to You) with an effect that sometimes borders on Queen-ish musichall (Migraine, Semi-Automatic). Sheer melodic exuberance pervades the jovial country-rock singalong of House of Gold and the hazardous synthesis of synth-pop, hard-rock and bubblegum-pop that is Guns for Hands. The range of formats is wide, from operatic power-ballad to the thumping house music of Trees.

They became stars thanks to the single Stressed Out, off Blurryface (2015) that has failed attempts to cross over into reggae, dubstep and techno and generic radio-friendly songs like the childish hip-hop of Heavydirtysoul, the ukulele-driven We Don't Believe What's on TV, the synth-pop ditty Hometown and the ballad Goner. They made an impressive u-turn on the dark and introspective Trench (2018), a stronger artistic statement that excelled at ethereal pop-soul ballads like Bandito and Neon Gravestones, certainly their most atmospheric work. Following the dance-pop single Level of Concern (2020), Scaled and Icy (2021) was a massive disappointment, a collection of trite second-rate melodies.