Lady Keye shifted levers at random, “Hurry up Locke, we’ve got to stop this infernal machine!”
The dancers lurched about the hall to uneven music, but the greater damager were the lyrics belting out from the great machine’s conical orifice.
“Spin your pardner like a gear, grab the helm and try to steer!”
Hoping to mute the dreadful racket, Locke clamped his hands over his ears. He knew tasking a Babbage Engine with song writing while connected to a calliope would lead to monsterous results, but they were too late to stop the madman. Who knew what harm would befall the cavorting audience from listening to this racket?
A Song of Steam and Punk
I met a newcomer to steampunk at a recent soiree. They were curious if there was any music. The answer is a resounding yes, though perhaps muddied by how we define that category. I’ve used several tricks to discover music considered to be steampunk and found a number of favorites. My list here is hardly definitive, but should be a good start on your musical journey.
What Counts as Steampunk
Steampunk itself is a loosey goosey genre, so expect a broad definition. It doesn’t tend to include actual mainstream artists doing a music video inspired by steampunk. So Justin Beiber is out. After that, performers who fashion themselves as steampunks (ex. Abney Park) or sing about steampunk settings and topics. Some might limit themselves to instruments and styles of the era, or apply these concepts with modern. If you like heavy metal, there’s bound to be a steampunk version. It’s wide open to what you might find or like.
Fistful of Albums
Without further ado, let’s see what’s on my Steampunk playlist in Spotify.
Abney Park
They’ve fashioned themselves as a steampunk band and their popularity places them at the forefront anytime somebody asks for the name of a Steampunk band
Steam Powered Giraffe
What happens when mimes portray themselves as a trio of robots designed to maintain a steam powered giraffe? This group feels steampunk and their videos are amazing.
The Cog Is Dead
Another band that built itself as being steampunk, they’re a good rival to Abney Park.
Aurelio Voltaire
A bard of songs evil and macabre, Aurelio has headlined at steampunk festivals like Steampunk November.
Ghostfire
I discovered them through the obvious title of the popular song The Last Steampunk Waltz and found many more songs I enjoyed.
Scarlet Room
This artist hit my radar as “you might also like” and Hello to Hyde fits right in.
Frenchy and the Punk
This popular duo frequents the steampunk circuit, mixing punk and topics steamy
Jill Tracy
A sultry crooning into the microphone led me to spend an Evil Night Together
Professor Elemental
Rapid fire rap about a proper cup of tea, the Prof delivers in his Fighting Trousers
The Lisps
A project turned into off-Broadway show, Futurity is an exchange of letters between Ada Lovelace and a Union soldier,
The Mechanisms
The Ratatosk Express has arrived, eighty years late, in their hit performance, The BBifrost Incident
Sounds Good
That’s a tidy list, and I’m certain to add to it. Drop me a line in the comments on some other acts so I can give them a listen. Until next time, keep your feet in the airship and keep reaching for the clouds.
Keye kicked the console in frustration, and still the cadence continued.
“Toss your tea into the box, obey your leader Mecha-Vox!”
She noticed her head bobbing to the beat, steadily growing stronger.
Wait, something was wrong. The pounding grew, until the music screeched to a halt. Dancers slumped to the floor, exhausted. Soon, Captain Locke stumbled into the room, a length of pipe in his hand.
“Locke, how did you stop it?”
“Percussive maintenance.”
“Ah yes, you beat the hell out of it. How Texan of you. I should have surmised.”
For more articles in my Steampunk Gentleman series:
Research
You didn't think this was all the steampunk music in the world did you? I built my list organically, but here's a couple sources that are more exhaustive: