The new indie singles playlist features the following recommended artists and bands:
Engine Summer – Chicago, Illinois
The Study Abroad – Denver, Colorado
Family Animals – Scranton, Pennsylvania
Para Lia – Cottbus, Germany
Cape Francis – Brooklyn, New York
Engine Summer – “Exit”
From the get-go, we love the raw, zany, bluesy, funky groove of Chicago indie rock band Engine Summer‘s new indie single, “Exit,” from the fine 2019 LP, Indiana.
The band shines on track after track on this seven-song album. And we’re going to say that if you like the single track here, then who cares what we say about the album – listen to it yourself.
Listen to great albums people and please buy some from time to time (preferably via Bandcamp) to support bands like we feature all of the time on IRC.
Engine Summer is just really original and special. We love how they smash the mold and shake things up with clever, creative and fun music mixes of various genres, styles, and themes.
Guitarist and vocalist Jeremy Marsan described it this way: “We play groovy punk in the vein of Wire, Neu!, and CCR; a little swampy, a little psychedelic, a little dancey.”
We also get vibes of The Fall, CAKE and Talking Heads when listening to these guys’ latest albums, and even some of their past releases. The band obviously benefits hugely from the undeniable talents of drummer Ryan Ohm and bassist Ben Kostecki.
On Summer Engine’s Bandcamp page, supporter ‘Heather’ wrote about Indiana: “Have you ever wanted to live within a song’s groove? Or how about the album as a whole? Yes, please,” citing her favorite track as the unforgettable “Hot Glue.”
Marsan talents have graced the pages of IRC previously when we featured his solo work as an Artist to Watch five years ago.
Since then, Engine Summer has opened for Ra Ra Riot, The Symposium, The Walters and many others. Their biggest influences include Wire, Neu!, Sonic Youth, Parquet Courts, Deerhunter, and CCR.
One of the things that we really dig about Engine Summer’s music is the chugging guitars, confident swagger, and the whimsical in-your-face ‘this is how we’re doing it” reckless abandon.
It’s good to still see some punk ethos in the indie rock scene. If you’re in Chicago, and these guys are playing, make a go of it. We think you might agree after listening to this album and absorbing other tracks like “H.F.” and “I Am A Pilgrim.” There’s not a throwaway song here.
The Study Abroad – “Picturesque”
The Study Abroad is a Denver-based indie rock duo featuring the talented guitarist and vocalist Christian Fickling at the helm.
The duo’s dreamy, shoegaze-inspired style makes TSA an immediate standout from your average indie shoegaze band. Fickling is a big fan of Slowdive, The Stone Roses, and My Bloody Valentine.
This is apparent on the band’s new single – the dreamy, hazy, “Picturesque,” which dropped officially last month. The track features jangle guitars, soaring synths and Fickling’s emotional, soft vocals. It’s fitting for a lazy summer afternoon or a morning drive as the sun ascends the azure sky.
The single came together over a period of months, Fickling said, as different styles “like dream pop and shoegaze were mixed to create their own indie rock flare.” That is true.
There is a sense of authenticity in TSA’s music that is not always present in other bands who style their work after their favorite artists and genres.
The blending of genres is clearly noticeable as the listener absorbs the song. “The looped the main lead was created with different progressions over the top of it,” Fickling said.
Fickling’s vocals were recorded and mixed with guitar and bass parts previously recorded on a collection of Fender guitars. Fickling received mixing help from engineer Nick Nodurft.
Drummer John Wilson, the other half of TSA, then laid down the drum parts afterward in order to fit the beats into Fickling’s overall composition.
TSA’s debut single, “Dreamcatcher,” was released a few months ago and is the track that got things going for TSA. We’d say this is a band bleeping brighter on the indie radar right about now.
Para Lia – “Hawk Hill”
German alt. rock duo Para Lia has been dropping a series of singles from the blazing good debut album, Soap Bubble Dreams, for the past few months now. On Soundcloud and other platforms, the songs have racked up many thousands of plays and have enjoyed high engagement from fans.
The duo’s latest single, “Hawk Hill, is an indie pop-rock track from their new three-track EP of the same name.
Right out of the gates, the track grinds with multiple-layered guitars and a strong backbeat, creating an ominous feel. The creepy vocals of vocalist and guitarist Rene Methner are eventually softened by deeper melodies and the wonderful backup vocals of his wife, Cindy Methner. If you’re a fan of ’80s and early ’90s alt-rock, chances are you’ll dig this track.
People have compared the sounds to Interpol, Editors, Arcade Fire, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Sebadoh.
“Hawk Hill is about my love/hate relationship with the small insignificant town of Falkenberg, where I spent my childhood,” Rene Methner said.
“In German, ‘Falke’ means hawk and ‘Berg’ means mountain. But in fact Falkenberg has no hawks or mountains. The words ‘Hawk Hill Lane’ popped into my head one day while working on a guitar riff – it was a ‘Penny Lane’ moment, reminding me of the street I walked down every day to go to school. The vocals reflect today’s view on a town with the same fate as many small towns in rural East Germany.”
Interestingly, even though they first met in a different city as adults, the couple actually grew up in Falkenberg – on the same street. Life is more interesting than fiction as the saying goes.
Family Animals – “The Modern Life”
Ominous-sounding and yet somehow joyful – that’s the haunting new single, “The Modern Life,” from DIY band Family Animals.
There are Beatlesque psychedelic and experimental components also at work in this intriguing track from the band’s new album, The End is Mere. This is an entertaining and solid album that we urge folks to give a listen to on Family Animals’ Bandcamp page (use Bandcamp to get music please! support artists and don’t buy from corporates like Apple, Google, and Amazon).
Hailing from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Family Animals is comprised of three devoted musicians and life-long friends who share one vision: musical freedom. They are brothers Anthony Viola (drums, guitar) and Jesse Viola (guitar, keyboards), and Frank DeSando (bass).
The band has shared the stage with the likes of The Menzingers, Tigers Jaw, Motionless In White, Captain We’re Sinking!, Three Man Cannon, The Sw!ms, Crobot, The Extraordinaires, And the Moneynotes, Heavy Blonde, Badfish. Their musical influences include The Kinks, Ween, Dead Kennedys, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, and Nirvana.
Other standout tracks we’re digging: “Nuclear Confusion,” “Captain Z Bop’s Friendly Friends,” and “A Speaker in Your Stereo.” Again, great album. Listen to it.
Cape Francis – “Button Up”
Cape Francis is the solo project of Brooklyn musician Kevin Olken Henthorn, former singer and songwriter of Stone Cold Fox.
Following the break up of SCF, Henthorn started Cape Francis as a way to “connect a natural flow of instrumentation and storytelling.”
It seems to have worked out as tracks like the splendidly melancholic “Button Up” clearly demonstrates. Released earlier this year, it’s an emotionally raw love song with impressive writing and wonderfully versatile vocals delivered by Henthorn.
From start to finish, “Button Up” is an enthralling and uplifting track, and just one of a number of memorable, beautiful songs on Cape Francis’ debut album Falling Into Pieces.
According to Henthorn the LP “examines the themes of closure, identify and moving past failure through these lenses.”
One of the aims of the album, he said, is the focus on “finger-picked electric guitar, surrounded by simple arrangements of percussions and synthesizers,” adding: “Cape Francis pulls from folk and modern influences.” More so, he does so with his own signature sound.
Henthorn’s musical influences include Sigur Ros, Beach Boys, Bon Iver, Johnny Cash, Angel Olson, and Father John Misty.
