TOP 15 Best Steampunk Music

We've covered Steampunk Movies and Steampunk Series, today it's time to talk about Steampunk Music 🎼 ! On the menu for this article:

What is steampunk music?

TOP 15 of the best steampunk music (and bands)

Barbershop music

Electro swing music

Youtube videos will accompany this article, so you can listen to the music.

What is Steampunk Music?

The best steampunk bands combine aspects of alternative music, ska and even hip hop to create a truly unique genre.

Steampunk music is difficult to characterize. It combines vintage aspects with futuristic aspects, overlapping with recent musical genres such as dark wave, new age and synth-pop music. It also uses orchestral instruments, oriental practices, gothic and other elements uncommon in any other musical genre today. Due to the nature of the genre, not all steampunk music groups are alike, and can be difficult to classify.

Initially a subgenre of late 80's science fiction, which took science fiction into the Victorian era, Steampunk has become a musical subgenre in its own right. Dressing up in Victorian fashion 🎩 with steampunk accessories, but with a future sci-fi twist, connects a scattered selection of bands that are only loosely related musically. The diversity of bands is breathtaking, ranging from industrial, Darkwave and gothic to singalong punk, folk, Indian raga and vaudeville. The bands are considered "steampunk" by their flamboyant Victorian wardrobe and their own fictional stories where they reinvent themselves.

1. Paul Shapera

We know you won't necessarily go all the way to the bottom of this article, so we present a song that you ABSOLUTELY need to listen to. We're putting it right at the beginning, to make sure you don't miss it ;)

A Steampunk Opera, New Albion 1 - Paul Shapera

"The Dolls of New Albion, A Steampunk Opera" is a four act musical written by Paul Shapera, which follows four generations of the McAlistair family in the fantasy town of New Albion.

The four acts are narrated by a woman named Kate. The first act is about a ⚗️ scientist, Annabel McAlistair, and her attempt to bring back her dead love, by placing him in the body of a mechanical mannequin. The second act shows her son, Edgar, his business exploits and their impact on the city. The third act follows his son, Byron, and his political race and the resulting cultural impact on New Albion. Finally, the fourth act tells the story of Priscilla McAlistair and a New Albion soldier. Throughout each act, there is Jasper, a continuous presence in the lives of each of the characters. Each generation will contribute to the gradual ruin of New Albion.

2. Abney Park

Abney Park is one of those bands and musical genres that make you feel like you are traveling back in time to the heart of Irish folk music and distant Celtic rhythms. The most immediate musical influences on Abney Park are the London underground rock/electric scene 🎸 and the 90's grunge movement in the US.

By combining these elements of ancient history and modernity, Abney Park became one of the pioneers of steampunk bands in the 90s. He is widely considered responsible for the development of the genre in modern culture, especially during its peak of interest in the mid-2000s. Although heavily influenced by many different genres, both established and emerging, they are considered one of the few bands whose primary genre and characterization is truly "steampunk".

Steampunk Revolution - Abney Park

Originally a gothic band (and there seems to be a lot of gothic DNA in steampunk), Abney Park hails from Seattle and is considered by some to be the quintessential steampunk band. Their original dark and heavy sound, which mixed goth, industrial and black metal, was incorporated into their new steampunk identity, which they adopted in 2006.

3. The Clockwork Quartet

The Clockwork Quartet is a "Steampunk Filk" (music from science fiction fandom) band with a propensity for the macabre. Although the band's website is quiet, they maintain a presence on Facebook.

The band's music is dark, somewhat disturbing and catchy, generally in a pseudo-Victorian world, which has expanded a bit lately with the site's webcomic.

The Watchmaker's Apprentice - The Clockwork Quartet

4. Steam Powered Giraffe

Though less influenced by grunge and punk than their Abney Park predecessors, Steam Powered Giraffe exemplify another crucial aspect of steampunk bands: theatricality 🎭. They perform and record in costume, dressed as Victorian-era robotic characters, evoking the main aesthetic influence on steampunk culture in general. Namely, the combination of the industrial and urban culture that prevailed in the 19th century and the technological advances based primarily on steam power.

Brass Goggles - Steam Powered Giraffe

5. Megan Jean and the KFB

"Megan Jean and the KFB is the husband and wife musical duo, Megan Jean and Byrne Klay, from Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The group is known for their eclectic sound and unique instrumentation.

While writing songs for the band's second album, they performed in over 200 shows in 2011 in 32 states, opened for shows such as Shovels and Rope, and appeared on the PBS music travel series Music Voyager. They released their first album, Autumn, in 2007, and their second, Dead Woman Walking, in 2010 on Guts and Know How Records. They then began touring full time in the eastern United States. They self-released their second full-length album, The Devil Herself, in February 2013.

These Bones - Megan Jean and the KFB

6. Professor Elemental

"Professor Elemental is one of the most comical and self-aware steampunk bands in existence. Englishman Paul Alborough is also strongly associated with "chap hop," a sort of stereotypical British ode to hip hop that lyrically focuses on elements of "English" culture, seen mostly in mid-20th century British film and art, such as cricket, class structures, and tea 🍵.

In this light, Professor Elemental plays the role of a British steampunk, and has become a part of popular culture, as well as steampunk culture, in significant ways. Rather than simply evoking various time periods and themes through his musical style, his lyrics are intentionally thematic and funny, making him a popular entertainer for audiences of all kinds.

Fighting Trousers - Professor Elemental

7. Unextraordinary Gentlemen

Returning to a more classic and serious conception of steampunk bands, "Unextraordinary Gentlemen" is certainly one of the bands most heavily influenced by the genre's undisputed creator, Abney Park. Like Steam Powered Giraffe (SPG), this steampunk band features a traditional Victorian clothing aesthetic with an element of "weirdness", underground and technological subversion.

Their music, which relies on dark instruments, is decidedly at home in a futuristic Victorian era where the streets of London are run by robots. Like SPG, they take care to present themselves in costume, alternating between characters in a Victorian-influenced style and characters more reminiscent of Will Smith's film, "Wild Wild West," a combination of steampunk and Old West.

Black Iron Road - Unextraordinary Gentlemen

Their name is a reference to Alan Moore's comic book: "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", which we discussed in our Top Steampunk Comics.

8. Rasputina

Although Abney Park is widely considered the first true steampunk band, they are not the first to adopt significant elements of the genre. In 1991, Rasputina formed out of a group of New York cellists 🎻. It's incredibly difficult to characterize them into a single genre, and perhaps that's the very reason they've been so influential on the steampunk movement.

Without a doubt, their somewhat dark 19th century themes have grown considerably under the influence of the very genre they helped found. The group's three cellos create a chamber music atmosphere, while their sometimes strange musicality brings that element of the sublime that makes the group and the sub-genre so appealing.

1816, the year without summer - Rasputina

9. Vernian Process

"Vernian Process", another decidedly dark and heavy rock'n'roll band, is perhaps the band that draws the most inspiration from traditional conceptions of the steampunk subculture. Their name comes from the 19th century author Jules Verne, who is often considered one of the first science fiction writers, writing about space travel and new technologies in a Victorian era when these things were still far away.

Vernian Process, was heavily influenced by the work of figures such as Jules Verne, who expanded our conception of art and literature through time, and its relationship with popular genres and technology.

Behold the Machine - Vernian Process

The band is based in San Francisco, and combines a dazzling array of styles from industrial to ragtime with a healthy dose of Darkwave, in a forward-thinking take on Steampunk's past, but with a decidedly forward-looking eye.

10. Victor Sierra

Lyrically, musically, and visually, Victor Sierra is without a doubt one of the best steampunk bands and one of the easiest to classify. Their dark, dystopian vibes are evoked both through heavy sounds and the use of various musical techniques, as well as through particularly dark urban gothic lyrics and imagery.

As they so aptly put it, they will lead you down the path of a "future that could have been", preserving the aesthetic aspects of the industrial revolution with those of the city of London and the Wild West, giving you even more songs to listen to.

A Steampunk Symphony - Victor Sierra

11. The Cog is Dead

The name itself is as steampunk as it gets: The Cog is Dead ⚙️. Gothic industrialism aptly describes the aesthetic of this steampunk band, and they are new enough to be influenced not only by the disparate aspects of steampunk culture, but also by the explicit definitions that have emerged in the wake of previous bands.

They are also a prime example of the influence of the strange and sublime on the genre, with eerie metallic sounds that nod to the best goth rock songs ever created. They range from dark to folky, but still feel like dancing robots could kill you at any moment. Are you interested in steampunk glasses and steampunk hats?

Burn it Down - The Cog is Dead

12. Escape the Clouds

Built around the creative talents of multi-instrumentalist Mark Rossmore, "Escape The Clouds" leans more towards the industrial and noisy side of Steampunk. With an added ability to tell stories, and a penchant for mixing unusual instruments, it gives the band a very distinctive sound.

Every Storm has an End - Escape the Clouds

13. Doctor Steel

Rion Vernon, known by his stage name Doctor Steel (full name, Doctor Phineas Waldolf Steel) is an American musician and internet personality from Los Angeles. He has performed on rare occasions with a "rescue band", claiming that a fictional band of robots had malfunctioned.

Doctor Steel made a brief appearance on The Tonight Show and has had numerous interviews. He was the subject of an article in Wired magazine regarding allegations that Dr. Horrible copied his style. Dr. Steel has often been cited as an example of steampunk music.

Lullabye bye - Dr. Steel

14. The Clockwork Dolls

When "The Clockwork Dolls" formed in 2007, the concept was simple: epic, theatrical music for people who dream, and dream big. This group of music lovers, dreamers and video game enthusiasts took the music scene by storm with their first album in 2009, Dramatis Personae.

Moving from Steampunk to history, The Clockwork Dolls released "When Banners Fall" in 2012 with a suite of moving songs evoking feelings of despair and sacrifice. With Sam Lee on instruments and Julie Zakar on vocals, The Clockwork Dolls and their ever-evolving team continue their mission to write emotional, visceral and cinematic music.

Impartial - The Clockwork Dolls

15. Metropolis

Metropolis originally formed in the 90s as a very atmospheric 80s funk/rock band. Today, they are perhaps best categorized as a similar nostalgic musical group, often referred to as "vaporwave". This atmospheric, electronic style is not typical of steampunk bands, but it cleverly combines two of the main elements of the genre: nostalgia and technology.

Of course, this band evokes a kind of technology perhaps more familiar to someone who lived through the 80s and 90s, much like the 1982 blockbuster Tron. That said, the heavy influence of a nostalgic era and the technological advances that change the aesthetic nature of everyday life permeate this work in a deep and compelling way.

Arrival - Metropolis

If you want to listen to other steampunk bands, here is a small list that will probably quench your musical thirst: Frenchy and the Punk, Lord Monty Jacques III, Emilie Autumn, Gentry's Confabulation, Dr. Camilla, Extraordinary Contraptions, Painless Parker, Valentine Wolfe, Marquis of Vaudeville, Nathaniel Johnstone, The Indifference Engine, Aurelio Voltaire, The Men that will not be blamed for nothing, Sunday Driver, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Wet Glass RO. In totally different styles, blues, rap, soul, groove. Trio, quartet or other, composers, performer, violin, percussion, or guitarist, pianist, vocal. Sound compositions, clip, new album: many playlist and live radios are on youtube. Some make festivals, albums, or vinyl.

Barbershop Music

Barbershop harmony is generally considered one of the few exclusively American musical styles, next to jazz, with which it shares origins. The simplest definition of barbershop focuses on :

relatively simple melodies

sung in a four-part harmony without instruments

without instruments (a cappella)

with the melody carried in the second highest voice part (barbershop "lead"), a high tenor harmonizing above, a bass singer singing fundamental harmonies (mostly fifths), and a baritone completing above and below the melody.

This definition encompasses a wide range of music under the term "barbershop": contest music, show music, "barberpop", gospel, religious and patriotic music.

At the beginning of the video game Bioshock Infinite, discussed in our TOP of the Best Steampunk Video Games, we can hear and see singers of this style.

Electro Swing

Electro Swing

First of all what is electro swing? A video is better than words:

Electro swing explained in 2 minutes

It is a musical genre that combines the influences of Swing and Jazz vintage or modern, mixed with House, Hip Hop, Drum'n'Bass and EDM. Parov Stelar, Caravan Palace, Caro Emerald, Jamie Berry, Alice Francis, BartBaker, ProleteR, Peggy Suave, Swing Republic, Waldeck and Wolfgang Lohr are representative of this genre!

All Night - Parov Stelar

Since the early 1990s, musicians such as the Greenskeepers and Mike Dixon began to record elements of jazz and swing in their contemporary productions. However, the sound of the tracks produced was more reminiscent of Funky House than Swing House. Only the French label G-Swing released an album in 1992 that could be called Swing House. One of the first chart hits was the song Doop by the Dutch duo Doop House in 1994. In the late 1990s, Swing House was very popular until its demise in early 2000.

Lone Digger - Caravan Palace

Nu-Jazz, which developed at this time, combines Funk and Jazz, but also Swing with Dance, House and Techno. One of the most famous representatives is the French Ludovic Navarre alias St. Germain. Many electro-swing artists have emerged from the Nu-Jazz scene.

Initially, some DJs like Chris Tofu released remixed versions of existing Swing and Lounge tracks. The first Electro Swing works of artists like Jurassic 5 or Mr. Scruff were mostly unique experiments and were not called Electro Swing, but rather declared Swing House or Nu-Jazz. The year 2005 started with artists such as Parov Stelar and Caravan Palace, who reinforced the sound of G-Swing and Waldeck, the triumph of the young genre.

Memories - Waldeck

After creating a Swing House scene in Chicago in 1999, the French label BNO had the idea of releasing a complete collection on the new style. Then G-Swing released the first Electro Swing album from Swing for Modern Clubbing in late 2006. A crucial point was reached when in 2009 the first compilation was released, which the English dance music magazine Mixmag called the first step in Electro Swing!

Since the Australian duo Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP with their hit "We No Speak Americano" has been played all over the radio stations in Europe, Electro Swing has prevailed. The French label Wagram released in 2010 under the name "Electro Swing Fever" four compilations with his current recordings and remixes. Later, the British label Freshly Squeezed, founded in 2005 by Nick Hollywood, became the leader in showcasing modern "dance music" on vintage records!

In late 2011, a promotional video for the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, until 2014 a Deutsche Bank casino, used the song "Booty Swing" by Parov Stelar, introducing the European-influenced style of popular music to the American public for the first time.

Booty Swings - Parov Stelar

Electro Swing is very diverse and multifaceted. It has therefore always evolved and mixed with many other styles of music, creating new sub-genres. The most established sub-genres are: Swing House, Neo Swing, Swing Hop, Glitch Swing and Swing'n'Bass!

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