The Ramona Flowers

Bristol-based quintet the Ramona Flowers make streamlined, guitar-forward pop with high production values and a sound that's at home in the clubs but ready for stadiums. The band's sound grew increasingly polished as they went, taking new forms on albums like 2025's Made by Humans.

The group formed in 2012 after the disbandment of several other projects, taking their name from the lead female character of the comic book and film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The core of the group consisted of guitarist Sam James, bassist Wayne Jones, and keyboardist/guitarist Dave Betts, who met up with drummer Ed Gallimore and vocalist Steve Bird to begin crafting moody, electronically peppered alternative rock sounds in the vein of textural but still traditional acts like U2. They gigged often locally before catching the attention of indie Distiller Records. The label issued their 2012 EP Dismantle, a 2013 follow-up EP entitled Lust and Lies, and eventually, their full-length debut Dismantle and Rebuild in 2014. A second album, Part Time Spies, was released in 2016, and a third, Strangers, materialized in 2018. Along the way, the band shrunk to a four-piece and released a steady drip of singles, remixes, and EPs between more realized album-length projects. In 2025, the band's fourth album, Made By Humans, was released, delivering the most potent and commercially accessible version of their sound to date. ~ Fred Thomas