The newest indie rock songs playlist (#8) features a collection of talented DIY musicians and bands from around the states including:
Richard Berger – Los Angeles, California – (“It’s Not Gonna Go Away”)
Anti Social Club – Washington, D.C. (“Empty”)
Violent Vickie – Los Angeles, California – (“Serotonin”)
Alejandra O’Leary – Portland, Maine (“Wires”)
The Spiritual Leaders – Cavan, Ireland (“Picture on the Wall”)
Jerry Impini – Dallas, Texas (“Coronavirus, God and the Devil”)
You can stream all of the songs in this playlist at once with no interruptions at the end of this post. Otherwise learn a little about these talented and exciting indie bands and artists first. Please share as much as you can. With think this is a good collection.
Richard Berger – “It’s Not Gonna Go Away”
A do-it-all wunderkind clearly influenced by other ‘one man band’ musicians, Los Angeles songwriter and musician Richard Berger draws from the psychedelic electronica of Kevin Parker’s Tame Impala and combines it with the soulful R&B pop of Stevie Wonder.
His newest psych-rock single, “It’s Not Gonna Go Away,” opens with soft vocals floating on dense, melodic layers of keyboards supported by a driving bass riff. Jangling guitars mix with Berger’s falsetto intones: ‘I wish I was younger’,
“It’s Not Gonna Go Away” is a languorous, dreamy take on synth-pop; the progression of the track is wistful and yearning, looking back at “the mistakes of youth and their imprints on middle-age,” he adds.
Berger was drawn to the piano and keyboards at a very young age. He started writing and recording music in high school with early influences like The Beatles, Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Tears for Fears, Level 42, and Ben Folds Five.
In recent years, he started listening to more indie artists like Tame Impala, Homeshake, Mac Demarco, Anderson Paak, and Bon Iver, and is constantly “looking for new music and other indie artists.”
“I don’t really think my music fits neatly into a single genre,” he adds, “it’s probably some blend of indie/alternative to psychedelic synth pop.”
His music clearly blends together elements from the wide range of his influences to create something new and unique. Currently, he is working on completing his first album.
https://www.instagram.com/rberger25/
Anti Social Club – “Empty”
The latest lead single “Empty” from Washington D.C. indie rock band Anti-Social Club went through nearly two decades of revisions before the final track came to fruition.
All of that time and work obviously made a difference. It’s a terrific song featuring entirely new electronic percussions; lead and backing vocals; fully-refined synths; ringing guitars and booming bass from Greg Guevara (lead vocals/guitars); Mike Murphy (bass); and Rachael Fuhs (backing vocals).
The band delivers a refined new 2020 single with expressive melodies and infectious beats alongside thoughtful lyrics and heartfelt vocals. These are the elements of their sound which the band describes as “indie/alt/goth rock, with a twist of synth pop”.
Keys and programming were provided by engineer/producer Peter Dowsett and mastering from Jer Olsen.
Their influences include The Cure, The Church, New Order, Depeche Mode, Love and Rockets, Pink Floyd, Joy Division, and Radiohead.
Violent Vickie- “Serotonin”
(Now the music changes and gets dark)
Los Angeles based darkwave/electro-punk artist Violent Vickie – who also describes her music as ‘witch-house’ – doesn’t pull any punches on her blazing new single and video, “Serotonin.”
On the gritty-like track and video, Vickie hits high and low vocal notes nicely against a wavy wall of droning guitars, booming beats, crunchy synths, and tight production.
The video is haunting and dark work of art melding her artistic and musical concepts into one. It’s smart, transfixing and raw.
The L.A. unit consists of Vickie (vocals, computer, synth) and co-producer/guitarist E. The track is the first single off of her new sophomore album Division.
Vickie has been largely influenced by the sounds of Crystal Castles, Skinny Puppy, Godlesh, Sunno ))), NIN, Yoko Ono and PJ Harvey.
She has also toured with indie bands and artists like Hanin Elias (Atari Teenage Riot), Jessie Evans, Trans X, Them Are Us Too, & The Missing Persons.
Alejandra O’Leary – “Wires”
There are not many women in rock n’ roll music, let alone women equally confident in pop or rock, in English or Spanish. Alejandra O’Leary was born to a Colombian mother and Irish father and her birth name seemed to check those boxes appropriately.
Having a different sounding name and being a woman of color both challenged and shaped her as she grew up listening to crashing waves and Beatles records.
Her newest single, “Wires” is a shoe-gazey twilight rock track from the album, Everest, which is full of distinctive ‘retro-nuevo’ sensibilities, “yet it’s all indicative of its creators spunky and soulful spirit.”
She refers to her band as a ‘pop-up project,’ asserting, “the improvisatory spirit keeps things fresh and thrilling. I find it to be the most enchanting way to create music.” The resulting recordings have a ‘live-wire’ feeling to them which is reflected in the songs on the album.
Growing up in Portland, Maine instilled feelings of being both a native and an outsider. “I’ve always been at home with messiness, big emotions, and uncertainty,” O’Leary adds. “I guess that’s why I like rock n roll.”
After moving to Santiago, Chile at age seventeen, she became infatuated with the idea of creating music and followed her muse across the world for a decade, releasing four albums of original songs, sharing the stage with Guster and Asobi Seksu, and drawing positive reviews.
The sound O’Leary cultivated during this time was an expansive mix of raw rock theatrics, anthemic Top 40 pop melodies, and soulful retro flourishes.
https://alejandraoleary.bandcamp.com/
The Spiritual Leaders – “Picture on the Wall”
The Spiritual Leaders is an indie/alt. rock trio based in Cavan, Ireland with a vibrant sound, cool melodies and nearly unlimited energy.
The lads made a name for themselves around their region in recent years thanks to a local Origins scene and the band’s debut album.
Returning with the absolutely splendid new E.P. Albania Away, the lead single “Picture on the Wall” is one of our favorite 2020 DIY tracks from an overseas band to watch.
Multi-instrumentalist Fergus Brady (guitar, bass, keys), drummer Cathal Brady and vocalist/guitarist
David Reilly are all solid musicians and definitely on the same wave length. Some bands are just lucky in that regard because it’s not always an easy thing to accomplish. Sometimes the chemistry is just not there.
The little three-minute indie gem is the opening track on the E.P. We recommend listening to the entire album; it’s simply that good. One of the best of the first half of 2020 (a year which will now always be remembered, alas, for one thing that literally changed the entire world within weeks).
Jerry Impini – “Cornovirus, God and The Devil”
The timely new single from Dallas musician Jerry Impini takes on the subject matter – coronavirus – that is part of all of our lives now whether we like it or not.
In an appropriate manner, Impini adds God and the devil to the mix, and for many, that is a too familiar, yet still surreal, thing.
Pianos and keys dominate this aptly suited piano rock and singer/songwriter track. Impini’s vocals, along with the lyrics, are somehow dark and aspirational at the same time. There are some 80’s-styled elements intertwined, including the mini guitar solos.
Impini began his musical education at the age of six years old and attended Fiorello LaGuardia School of Music and the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York City as a teenager.
He writes, performs, records and produces all of his own recordings.
