The typical viewer has probably heard of “Taylor Swift.” The same for “Imagine Dragons.” I might also assume most listeners have heard of “My Chemical Romance.” But I would assume most readers would not be aware of the band “Dirt Poor Robins.”

A phrase that refers to the proletariat style of living, a subtle tribute to people of lower or middle class status, the band “Dirt Poor Robins” is redefining progressive rock, and yet they’re practically unheard of. They have to be the most underrated band I’ve ever encountered.

This might be in part because rock lost some of its popularity since the early 21st century, according to Medium. But this musical group was never the kind of grunge rock that most audiences typically went for anyway. It skews toward a more inventive and mixed-genre style.

This may explain their semi-popular status. Any music that doesn’t fit easily into the genre boxes may likewise be overlooked, save for pop, which just stands for popular music and is, in principle, not actually a music genre but an amalgamation.

Still, some of their songs had millions of views, and that’s more than the writer can say about the music composed by most people he knows personally. 

“Dirt Poor Robins” leans into the progressive rock genre. Their songs include swells of orchestral or choral music in between intricate rock solos. Every album is a concept album, and one of them, “The Queen of the Night,” was turned into a silent film by the band.

Their poetic lyrics center around social commentaries on historical moments and figures, as well as commentary on the current state of affairs. Their topics can range from the philosophical to the scientific, to the religious, to the romantic. Each is a puzzle to decipher.

The music holds an oddly beautiful quality, like a floral field juxtaposed with a thunderstorm. It’s quite difficult to describe without actually hearing it. Many of the songs also make use of period-specific sound bytes and audio samples or filters.

Because of this, some of the songs have instrumental elements that could have been created in the 60s and filtered through a record player, while other segments of the same songs include bass or synth elements that auditorily resemble something out of a science fiction movie.

The altered voices, when striking harmony, vocalize in eerie but powerfully entertaining and mesmerizing chords before raising the tension into either raucous or beautiful melodies, impressive and lengthy solos and choruses that I could only describe as epic.

It’s the only band that has ever inspired me to legitimately want to write a musical besides the punk-rock band “My Chemical Romance” and indie-folk band “The Decemberists.”

Before potential listeners look at the band’s views and turn away, remember, all artists started from somewhere.

But music popularity can be affected by marketing, release timing, high-quality music videos, lyric videos, pre-established social media presence, reputation or by memes, challenges and ads.

Beyond the sense that this band knows what it’s doing musically and lyrically, one of the singers (there are two, a man and a woman) inserts a lyric into their well-received song “Wax Cylinder Sonata” that proves the band is self-aware.

“Though this could be my magnum opus / My labor must remain unnoticed,” said singer/songwriter Kate DeGraide in the aforementioned song.

Why they feel their labor must remain unnoticed is anyone’s guess. While this could be misconstruing the meaning of the lyric, they do take careful measures with their reputation. It is possible they may be remaining semi-popular on purpose.

Why would a band do such a thing? Well, fame often has an effect on individuals or artist groups in the industry. Chasing success is a road that often changes the artist, often for commercial appeal. It’s possible that “Dirt Poor Robins” doesn’t want that.

Regardless, to begin listening to their music, some good songs to start with include “Babylon,” “The Great Vacation,” “It Tore Your Heart Out,” “Enchanté,” “Welcome to Lady Hell,” “We Forgot We Were Human,” “Fever Dream,” “But Never a Key” and “Behemoth.” 

Others include “Behold the Grave” and “Human After All,” or, for listeners who prefer to listen to an entire album straight through, “Queen of Night” is an excellent pick. Otherwise, they just released a new deluxe album this year titled “Firebird.”

Gannon can be found at [email protected]