The first DIY indie rock songs playlist for May 2019 features fresh tracks from the following indie artists and bands. There is a full playlist at the end of this post for uninterrupted streaming of the featured tracks.
Note: For some reason the song files are not showing up in some mobile browsers. We’re working on fixing that.
J.B. Boone – El Paso, Texas
Summer Colds – Ashland, Oregon
Mini Trees – Los Angeles, California
The Engine Above – Vancouver, British Columbia
Holden Laurence – Cleveland, Ohio
Hausers – Milan, Italy
Ronan Conroy – Brooklyn, New York
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J.B. Boone – “The World Shrinker”
The Texan songwriter and musician J.B. Boone has released his anticipated new single, “The World Shrinker,” from his upcoming EP, Severe Adventures. The upbeat, almost joyously musical track is not one-dimensional, however.
“This song is about overcoming unhealthy dependence,” he said. “For some, your ‘World Shrinker’ might be a spouse, significant other, or family member. For others, like my father, it could be his past with substance abuse.” The single “pushes you to overcome the fear and anxiety that comes with chemical dependence.”
Born and raised along the U.S. border in El Paso, Boone is currently in L.A. working on his next release.
His experiences, combined with his mixed heritage (he is half American Indian and half Caucasian), give Boone a unique perspective on life. The songs on the EP “reflect his mixed heritage, spanning multiple genres, yet they all seamlessly tie back his unique sound.
Boone’s biggest musical influences, he said, are Lumineers; Bob Dylan; Shakey Graves; Ben Howard; The Head and The Heart; Dirty River Boys.
A graduate of Texas A&M, Boone grew up in a musical family. His musician father, who plays banjo on one of the EP’s tracks, helped him greatly to develop his skills and his own style and sound. He spent time studying in Jordan, where new experiences shaped his songwriting.
“I just think our lives here are severe adventures, with hurricanes and celebrations and ecstasy and deadly boredom with ourselves and others, with some people living through it while others don’t.”
Summer Colds – “Whiteout”
Seeking to change musical direction from folk rock to indie rock and power pop, Ashland, Oregon guitarist and vocalist Nic McNamara formed a new band, Summer Colds, in 2018.
Since then, the three-piece band has worked on songs, rehearsing and recording. The result of the trio’s labors will be available on May 31st via the band’s debut LP, Here Comes Nothing.
The band’s intrepid debut single, “Whiteout,” is an upbeat, hook-driven chugger that blazes right out of the gates with driving layers of guitars, dope bass line and nicely timed drumming.
After leaving his former folk rock band, Black Bears Fire, McNamara set out “to bring to life a heavier sound” and recruited two musicians to fulfill that vision; drummer and vocalist Claire Burgess and bassist Nicole Swan.
Summer Colds has opened for other bands like Slow Corpse, Old Year, Calyx, The Juniper Berries, Yr Parents, and Glacierwolf. Their musical influences include Weezer, White Reaper, Surfer Blood, Pup, Brand New, and Wavves.
Mini Trees – “Steady Me”
Mini Trees is the brand-new musical endeavor from LA alt and indie pop artist Lexi Vega. Her latest single, “Steady Me,” is a dreamy indie-pop track that shows her growth as a songwriter in just a year.
On “Steady Me,” she is optimistic about a new relationship and yet fully aware of the problems that inevitably befall all relationships.
While the song has a dreamy, “all is ok,” cadence to it, the instrumentation and Vega’s vocals display an underlying melancholy that sits right under the seemingly bright surface of the song.
Previously, Vega’s musical endeavors revolved around her role as a drummer. But during the past the past few months, she’s been dropping her own material.
The unveiling of Mini Trees, however, brings forth her skills for songwriting and melodies. Her self-titled debut will drop on May 24th.
The Engine Above – “System Paradigm”
The Vancouver progressive rock DIY band The Engine Above dropped its enthralling new EP, Savage Fingers, today.
The lead single, “System Paradigm,” is an aspirational track featuring a mix of prog rock, indie, and alternative. It has a theatrical quality to it with an early 1970s prog signature.
“It’s the second piece of a puzzle to a much greater picture of a nautical world with the introduction of new story elements,” said vocalist and keyboardist Jeremy Tardif (formerly Jeremy Tardif Band).
The Savages Fingers EP, the band says, is a “thematic continuation” of the earlier Pilot EP. The Engine Above mixes various subgenres of rock like indie, prog, melodic and alt. rock.
The rest of the band includes drummer Earl Heath; bassist Doug MacPherson and guitarist Kerry MacPherson. The band’s musical influences include Peter Gabriel, Rush, Tool, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, Sibelius, Miles Davis, Monk
Holden Laurence – “Shadows of Old Love”
Cleveland indie artist Holden Laurence’s new sophomore album, Rewire, is full of big melodies and dark romance from a tapestry of 80’s-heavy rock, new wave, indie, post punk and alt. rock influences.
One of the lead tracks, “Shadows of Old Love,” is a mysterious indie rock love song with brooding percussions, mood-shifting guitars, and Laurence’s somber vocals. It’s interesting how Laurence conveys a balance of dread and optimism musically and lyrically.
Just like for his debut LP, Laurence once again worked with drummer Michael O’Brien of The Modern Electric. Rewire was engineered, mixed, and mastered by Shane Olivo, in partnership with executive producer Dr. Michael Bell.
With the exception of drums and percussion, McNamara performed all the instruments on the album. On Rewire, Laurence expands his musical and emotional palettes with walls of synths and glassy guitars and driving grooves.
Rewire is the follow-up to Laurence’s acclaimed debut, Wild Empty Promises. The album drops to drop on May 10th with a release show on May 17th featuring Niights and Punch Drunk Tagalogs.
Laurence’s debut album put him on the map of Cleveland’s music scene and garnered widespread praise for the unique combination of 80’s alternative and new wave together with “vivid, vulnerable songwriting.”
The band also has another single out, “Speaking in Tongues,” which it says is a ‘road trip song.’
Hausers – “Tokyo”
Hausers is an anonymous outfit from Milan. This means they keep their names and faces hidden. But what’s to hide?
The band fuses indie-rock with art to make something unlike we’ve ever seen before. It’s ego-free music that worries about creating art – visual and audio – above everything else. It’s refreshing to see that approach in the current era of music.
“We take a different approach to music creation and how we present our band,” says the band. “But this is by design and we would like to see our music speak for itself. You can feel this spirit in ‘Tokyo’ and we look forward to seeing how it’s received.”
From what we know about Hausers, the band is a trio that started in 2016. The artists behind the music have rarely met in person and they do most of their work at their homes before fusing it together.
Ronan Conroy – “The Moment Is Gone”
Brooklyn-based ‘dark indie’ songwriter and vocalist Ronan Conroy is set to drop his fifth solo LP, The Moment Is Gone, on May 30th.
The album, he says, “examines interpersonal and family relationships, the personal traits we inherit and develop and how we struggle with them, and the yearning for love and redemption.” The lead single, “Burn The Cane,” relates to the burning of sugar cane in the south, Conroy says.
The songs were written and recorded between September 2014 and October 2018, featuring musicians Ronan regularly works with Charlie Nieland (guitars, bass, keys, synth, drums) and Justin Wierbsonki (drums), with Ronan on vocals and guitar.
His first few solo albums, released over the past decade, were what he calls “dark indie”, is the predominant style on his records. For this sound, he draws from influences like The Band, David Bowie, Nick Cave, Bob Mould, David Gray, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan.
Growing up in Ireland with four brothers, his parents played everything from traditional Irish folk music to Simon and Garfunkel in the house.
He first started playing guitar and songwriting at the age of 15 and was introduced to a range of influences from 80s new wave to post-punk to metal and grunge.
He learned to play guitar from books, school friends and listening to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and John Lee Hooker records.
Conroy played in a number of bands previously including The Listeners, Lovemyth and Oh Halo from which he began experimenting with new guitar styles that inform his playing to this day.