Best new indie rock songs, indie news, best bands, reviews
Author: Max Hammer
Discovering and sharing the best DIY/alt/indie/underground music you've never heard. I've been writing about music and other topics since the mid-1990s. We are also music industry professionals - PR; promotion; management; branding; etc.
Since 2008 we’ve been curating alternative Christmas Songs playlists – because the old ones of grandparents and great grandparents just don’t work anymore.
Browse our Christmas songs playlist posts from 2008 to present.
This time around, though, we put together a playlist of non-traditional, offbeat indie/alt/rock Christmas songs with the theme (that they all fall into) being: “WTF Santa?!?!#@%$” – Enjoy and please share with others that may enjoy.
You may also want to see our post of awesome songs hitched with each stanza in the famous poem Twas The Night Before Christmas
These Are So Good: Other still-in-the-works Christmas related playlists and all kinds of themed, specially-curated indie/alt/rock playlists on our Spotify page.
November was not just a great month for regular single releases and album drops from more ‘mainstream’ and well-known indie/alt/rock/pop artists and bands, but also for DIY tracks submitted to us that most people haven’t heard.
If these DIY singles, skimmed from hundreds of submissions, did not have something interesting, redeeming or exciting about them, they’d never make our Top 10.
Don’t miss the Top 10 Indie Songs November 2021, featuring Holly Humberstone, Snail Mail, Black Marble, Courtney Barnett, Ovlov and Matt Pond PA, among others.
For the most part, we base our DIY picks mainly on what is submitted to us throughout the year. Sometimes it’ll be months after we first start listening to a song that it grows on us (or holds up as much as the first few exciting listens) – or weeks or months since the official release – and we become convinced of its place on the top of our DIY lists.
Of course, there are plenty of songs that we know right away whether we dig them or not.
Every song has been chosen for one good reason or another – it just feels/sounds good; the lyrics are impressive; the total production of the track is noteworthy; it has a hook; the song is a preview of an artist or band to watch, or all of them combined into one powerful track.
The one to ten format is not necessarily meant to be scientific or even decisive – it’s more of a loose assocation but we think the order is pretty solid.
* label-associated and/or ‘popular’/well-known
In This Installment of the Top 10 DIY Songs, November 2021:
#1 – Barrie BROOKLYN, New York
#2 – Cloud Vincent LONDON, England
#3 – RVST PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil
#4 – Drive NEW CASTLE, England
#5 – Dear Other STEUBENVILLE, Ohio
#6 – Atlantic Canyons MANCHESTER, New Hampshire
#7 – Remote Control RICHMOND, Virginia
#8 – Adam Stall COLDWATER, Ohio
#9 – Jarod Grice DENTON, Texas
#10 – Jared Rabin CHICAGO, Illinois
#1 – “Frankie” – Barrie
BROOKLYN, New York
Indie enthusiasts may – or may not – be familiar with Brooklyn indie band Barrie. For the past few years, the band has been ‘band to watch’ favorites for many blogs, especially thanks to singles like “Canyons” and “Drag” and 2019’s “Dig,” – Barrie’s last single until now.
The band’s latest drop is the melodic single “Frankie” swirling synths and a driving hook. Check out the video above.
According to the band, “Frankie” was inspired by songwriting legend Glen Campbell.
“Glen Campbell had just died and the radio was playing ‘Wichita Lineman.’ It felt relevant to the social justice movements at the moment, to the push for democratic socialism, or at least a rejection of capitalism and where it’s gotten us,” Barrie explains in a statement.
“The Wichita Lineman has a shitty oppressive job that isolates and overworks him, as many Americans do, and instead of feeling outraged on his behalf we honor and lionize his commitment to labor. The song is a great litmus test. People either find the character really heroic and noble, or find the whole situation sad and fuk’d.”
#2 – “Can You Get Over Him?” – Cloud Vincent
LONDON, England
“Can You Get Over Him?” is for people who love a bit of indie, pop, and rock, with some singing/rapping, and an infectious groove. The song focuses on this summer sound, while detailing a story of a new relationship.
The single comes byway of Cloud Vincent a 23-year-old musician born in the U.S. and currently based in the U.K.
His sound revolves around catchy cheeky lyricism and warm vibes – “for sunny days with an indie-pop take on capturing summer nostalgia.” This new track is the first single from his upcoming 2022 EP.
#3 – “My Violent Friend” – RVST
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil
The powerful powerpop anthem ‘My Violent Friend” from Brazilian band RVST delivers a catchy and contagious chorus with a theme that ” celebrates the taking of the streets and the fight between the distorted views imposed by ultra-conservative rulers.”
RVST is the cryptic rubric that has been around the few rock venues and music-friendly spaces in Porto Alegre, Brazil, since 2015. Idealized as Rust Costa Machado’s solo project, the singer-songwriter has dedicated his efforts to tiny-lenght minialbuns (EPs, if you will), where he finds room the creations of his short trajectory.
Whether for his manipulation of duo vocals, on the combination of nostalgic and fresh melodic designs, or on the employment of the second language (English, the one he works with, as a teacher for Brazilians), RVST presents on his discography an original style of making the music he loves – ambitious, universal, yet bedroom pop.
Spot somewhere between the solemn and visceral, his third release Electrified dropped in October.
facebook.com/rvstmusic
#4 – “The Rain” – Drive
NEW CASTLE, England
The nostalgia-tinged single, “The Rain,” from the 80’s-influenced New Castle, England duo of Jake Fletcher and Andy Bell is “an 80s-inspired track reminiscent of some of our favourite coming-of-age movie soundtracks.
“It’s about coming of age in a small town which no one really gets out of,” Bell adds.
On FB, the duo announced: “‘The Rain’ is out now!! This is the first song we wrote as Drive and really think it captures who we are as a band.”
Influences include The 1975, Arcade Fire, Bleachers and “anything remotely 80s sounding.”
facebook.com/drivethebandofficial
#5 – “Houses Hallowed” – Dear Other
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio
“Houses Hallowed” is the lead single from Ohio indie rock/lo-fi folk band Dear Other‘s latest release "The Wizard Clip.", a recording that explores a 1794 exorcism in West Virginia.
“The Wizard Clip addresses dead friends, eternal life, and the ghosts we live with,” the band said in a statement, adding “House Hallowed” was “recorded in the attic of Marc and Marua Barnes, the vocalists for the track, on a Tascam 4-Track. This song is an apocryphal summary of the text, exploring our relationship to the other, to the poor.”
“Our music tends to be folkloric throughout, blending elements of indie rock, folk, lo-fi, with catchy hooks throughout tying it all together”
facebook.com/DearOther
#6 – “One More Minute” – Atlantic Canyons
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire
New Hampshire indie band Atlantic Canyons recently achieved the “number one most added EP” – See The Hue – on The North American College & Community Radio Charts. Behind the moniker is Andrea Levesque and apparently unnamed band members (unless she’s a one-girl band?).
Anyways, the top track, “One More Minute,” from the EP is dreamy, lush, and perfect musical soundscape for Fall.
“It bears witness to feelings of fear and loneliness, and there is catharsis in acknowledging unpleasant emotions,” she reveals. “By allowing myself the freedom to experience these feelings without judgment, I became unburdened by them.”
A fiery passion for playing music was lit within Levesque in childhood as she learned to play piano and violin.
“I really love feeling a sense of personal connection when the music resonates with other people,” Levesque shares. See The Hue is Levesque’s debut EP, written, recorded, and produced in her rural New Hampshire home. She constructed her project remotely with the help of some session musicians she met in online music chat rooms.
OK GO drummer Dan Konopka mastered the album, adding the finishing touches before the release. Orchestral elements combine with delicate vocal melodies, ethereal harmonies, and frequent lyrical references to the ocean.
Virginia indie band Remote Control began at the start of the pandemic and thus, their first batch of songs are influenced by pandemic-related issues.
The new single, “Blow For Blow,” is a “reflection on the futulity of arguing with people online in the way that we have seen recently,” says band member Bob Spires. “The song is a self-critique of the trap we all sometimes fall into.”
While the band calls its headquarters Richmond, Virginia, band members come from the Richmond, Philly and Athens (Georgia) music scenes: Spires (the Possibilities, Nutria, Jack Logan band); Nick Bergheimer (Sea of Storms, Landmines, Volunteer); Casey Martin (Sixer, Landmines) and Adam Caldwell (Fire in the Radio).
The band combines punk, garage, rock, and indie sensibilities with a classic two guitar, bass and drums setup.
Although it’s been touch and go for live events over the past nearly two years, Spires says the band loves the “fast, hard, loud, heavy, rocking, punky, poppy or catchy bands” they see play “as they combine all of those elements into a hybrid eclectic style. With a song by Remote Control, you can expect loud guitars, bashing drums and catchy vocals and lyrics.”
#8 – “Two Beaches” – Adam Stall
COLDWATER, Ohio
“Two Beaches” is the second track from Ohio artist Adam Stall‘s independently produced debut EP.
“A love song of everlasting and longing faith and hope, inspired by the picking patterns of John Denver and dramatic transitions of classical music,” he writes. ” Alternative rock with classic rock influences, an emphasis on vocals and bass guitar.”
His hometown of Coldwater Ohio, surrounded by friends and family playing music Stall is trained in classical piano and trumpet and is now a “fully realized, independent musical effort utilizing all my past experiences and influences.”
An upbringing with the legends of the 60’s and 70’s, classical music, and the blues influenced with antique flavors, but the production and soul behind the music is striving for a new and accessible sound of rock.
facebook.com/stallmusic
#9 – “Weary Hands” – Jarod Grice
DENTON, Texas
“Weary Hands ” is the first track from Texas musician Jarod Grice‘s forthcoming album, Cradle the Songbird, which debuts in March 2022.
“The song is about struggling with your own brokenness,” says producer Chris Howell. “It starts out with the idea of feeling worn down like a rusty machine…and moves into the realization of seeing that brokenness rooted in a common birthplace. We’re all being called back to the dust; we all struggle like our fathers/mothers/generations before us.
“This type of imagery haunts many of the songs on the new album, which will most likely find an audience among the indie rock/Americana crowd.”
The band members are: Jarod Grice – vocals, acoustic guitar, keys, songwriter; Bill Campbell – drums; Paul Alexander – bass and Joseph McClellan – electric guitars.
facebook.com/jarodgricemusic/
#10 – “Cold Rain and Snow” – Jared Rabin
CHICAGO, Illinois
Jared Rabin‘s arrangement of the traditional song "Cold Rain and Snow," the title track from the new album released this year is painted with down-home Americana bluegrass colors.
The album is Rabin’s first all-acoustic record and follows 2020’s acclaimed No Direction.
The album is a mix of bluegrass standards and "New Grass" originals and finds Jared playing all of the instruments (save for drums) and handling a majority of the vocals.
Last year at about this time with all of us shuttered and nervous and hospitals overwhelmed and 2,000 Americans dying every day (still hard to wrap our heads around that), we needed distractions and humor to help us through.
What came along just in time was the forward-marching, incredibly funny and just plain stunningly-done short comedy series Sassy Justice.
Founded and created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker – the guys from South Park – Sassy Justice is a deep-fake video series featuring none other than our twice-impeached, one-term ex-president Donald Trump (although at the time he was still president and fighting – against the real numbers – to remain president by almost any means necessary even though he clearly lost the election).
The creators wrote a series of comedy sketches based on the fictional consumer advocate Fred Sassy who reports for the local TV station based in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The realism of the deep-fake is pretty damn good. And yet we all know that in a few years we won’t even be able to tell the difference between a deep-fake and reality. (That’s kind of scary.)
In the meantime, we still have Sassy Justice complete series set embedded below for you to peruse.
However, the team hasn’t dropped a new video in the series since last year, and we couldn’t find (in a quick search) any mentions of when – or if – Sassy Justice will return.
No doubt this series involved a lot of work, time and money.
Perhaps the SJ team is waiting for Trump to run again? But why would that stop the video series? The entire Trump family and all of their associates continue to be in the news all of the time.
If it was intended as a one-off series, well thank you guys for doing it. It really helped relieve anxiety.
The latest edition of best indie rock music video submissions features new indie music videos from the new super-trio Blunt Bangs; Helsinki indie band Missier; U.K. DIY artist SeaDog, plus Pinegrove and The Joy Formidable.
Blunt Bangs – ”Silence is Golden”
The new power-pop sugergroup, Blunt Bangs, recently dropped its debut single, “Silence is Golden”, a gritty track with indie-punk vibes and a chunky bassline that was produced by Drew Vandenberg (Toro Y Moi, of Montreal).
The new super-trio is the brainchild of Reggie Youngblood (Black Kids) on guitar and vocals and includes Christian “Smokey” DeRoeck (Woods, Deep State, Meneguar, Little Gold) on bass and vocals with Cash Carter (Tracy Shedd, The Cadets) on drums.
Reggie’s unquestionable indie rock contributions over the years works nicely with Blunt Bang’s pop-punk grit sound and attitude. The trio’s debut LP, Proper Smoker, is out now.
Here are two other top videos featuring the new-to-us artist Pinegrove and indie veterans The Joy Formidable.
messier – “Salt Water Flush”
Bio: “Balancing beauty and anger, hope and despair, tension and release, Finnish trio messier’s exhilarating debut, ‘On Malaise,’ is an explosive mix of indie rock, alt-pop, and classic punk energy fueled by instantly memorable hooks and airtight vocal harmonies. Location: Helsinki, Finland Genre(s): indie rock Members: Lauri Huumonen – vocals, guitar / Antti Orajärvi – vocals, bass guitar / Kristian Jokilahti – drums
SeaDog – “Tidal Wave”
Bio: Seadog is the project of Brighton-based musician and songwriter Mark Benton.
The U.K. project evolved into a revolving cast of musical friends with Benton at the helm all of the way. Recently, they’ve released the dreamy pop single and video for “Tidal Wave.” SeaDog combines a variety of influences into a myriad of sounds and lullabies with anthemic electric and acoustic textures.
Location: Brighton, England Genre(s): pop,drem,rock Members: Mark Benton, guitars/vocals; Tom Chadd Keys, synths/drum machines Has Opened For: Grandaddy, Arab Strap, Haley Musical Influences: Grandaddy, Radio Dept, Radiohead, Guided by Voices, Sparklehorse Instagram: @seadogmusic
NOTE: This post was first published on Oct 10, 2011; updated some links Oct. 2021
One of our favorite songs so far this autumn is “Don’t Move” from Phantogram; it’s simply a fantastic track that you just can’t but help to move to – even though the song title says not to move.
When we featured the song in one of the recent Fresh Tracks mixes, people downloaded and streamed it like crazy.
It only makes sense to kick off this edition of Best New Releases with the hot, new single from Phantogram. (We recommend listening first to last week’s BNR mixtape, for more stellar tracks.)
Surfer Blood return with their first release since 2010’s sensational debut LP, Astro Coast, an album that made them a huge hit in the indie circuits for the past two years. The band’s newest single is the compelling “Miranda”.
Following Surfer Blood is a double-shot from Woodsman‘s new album, featuring two songs that are masterfully arranged and executed. “In Circles,” and especially, “Specdrum,” highlight the band’s raw talent for combining elements of rock, pop, post-punk, electronic, and particularly, in the case of the two tracks below, their capabilities in creating pure jam psychedelic tunes, with impressive results.
Double-shot: “Specdrum” – Woodsman from Mystic Places EP
Deer Tick returns with a bit more rock in their sound with the lead track “Main Street,” a song which reminds us of Paul Westernberg and The Replacements, whether on purpose or just as some subliminal influence. This is a nice new maturation of style for Deer Tick.
It seemed only fitting to follow-up Deer Tick with the new single from Bear Lake (another animal-named band) who just self-released their new album, If You Were Me.
Italy’s 2010 breakout band A Classic Education return with their sophomore album and the lead track “Forever Boy,” is a sentimental, slow rock track marked by heavily melodic vocals and choruses, Wavves-style guitar licks, and percussion, and an obviously better overall produced sound throughout the album than their 2010 U.S. debut.
Just like other great surprises this week, another new-to-us band, The Beets, add more credibility to the garage rock-pop sound – of bands like The Vaselines – with their new track, “Doing As I Do” from the new album, Let The Poison Out, on Hardly Art Records.
Even better, we were lucky to find another killa track from the album, “Friends of Friends,” thanks to Pitchfork.
Incorporating electronic beat pop styling with underlying cinematic, and psychedelic, rock infusions, woven with synth sound effects, violin and guitar riffs, and an assortment of wood blocks and cowbells, the eclectic indie band Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble shine through on, “Pretend,” where they are clearly not pretending at all – the track is as real as it gets, and an incredibly complex arrangement at that.
Next, another new-to-us band, The Through & Through Gospel Review, offer one of the most memorable tracks of the week – the enchanting, almost carnival-like influenced song, “I Firmly Believe” from their self-titled, debut album.
As with other bands in this week’s Best New Releases, this is yet another pleasant surprise, and surely a band that we will keep our ears out for. In fact, we received a complimentary copy of the debut LP, and look forward to listening to it more in-depth later on; it’s just another album added with the dozens and dozens of others in our “To Listen To” playlist in iTunes.
Although we generally do not post about remastered albums, the fact that Dntel‘s remastered (with bonus tracks) LP, Life Is Full of Possibilities, is out this week, and features Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie, Postal Service) on vocals for the lead track below, definitely makes it an LP to consider repurchasing, and if you’ve never owned it before, that track, and many others, is reason alone to grab a copy.
The problem is the sound quality of the track itself. It’s ironic that it is a remastered track but is filled with what sounds like static, and we can only hope it is not intentional because that would make no sense. We’ve been unable to find any information about why this terrific ‘remastered’ track has static on it. We also tried to hunt down the originally released track, but without any luck. If anyone knows why the track has static on it – especially towards the end – we’d love to hear from you.
Next up is another band name that does not fit at all with the band’s sound and style. Gospel Music, present this semi-quirky track, “This Town Doesn’t Have Enough Bars for Both of Us” that has clear percussion influences from The Violent Femme‘s “Blister In The Sun,” whether on purpose or not.
Perhaps the only blues track in this mix, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, deliver the upbeat, and oddly optimistic, “Everything Will Be Fine,” with plenty of gusto and some steller musicianship – especially amongst the guitarist, bass player, and drummer. The vocals are clearly influenced by B.B. King’s singing style.
The Migrant mix New Orleans jazz influences with folk, pop, and rock to the appropriately thematic track, “The Hurricane.” Plus, check out other tracks, including Peggy Sue‘s “Cut My Teeth”; The Strange Boys’ amazing “Me and You”, and Russian Circles‘ “Mladek”.
One of the many compelling new DIY artists we’ve heard in recent years is the experimental singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emanuel Tägil.
He’s released a series of new singles with a retro dark-synths and various genre influences.
Born and raised in the historic Swedish city of Gothenburg, Tägil’s music reveals a gifted, and we feel, under-the-radar, songwriter and musician.
Singles like “Serenity Now” and “Attic” are his strongest drops yet.
For “Attic,” Tagil describes the song as a “weird and beautiful song with an epic climax about social anxiety,” with a single guitar, bubbling synths and Tagil’s haunting vocals. Towards the end of the track, an exciting synth riff that is only tampered by the spooky repetition of ‘corpse.’
“The song has a hero called ‘Serenity Now’ who helps with cleaning the house and comforting the guy who hosted the party,” Tagil says, adding that the song is essentially about party-crashing, but also in a metaphoric sense – modern humans have basically trashed their own party (the earth, civilization, traditions, rule of law, etc.) for decades, and it’s starting to come home to roost.
“The party is not only young people drinking,” he adds, “[but] it’s also the environment and the political climate in the world. The world crashing is depicted in many abstract ways throughout the song which takes an almost post-apocalyptic sci-fi turn.”
Recently described as a ‘master of atmosphere,’ Tägil rattles off strange and peculiar stories with manic relish powered by potent, if not unsettling, vocals driven by compelling, moody instrumentations.
Unlike most musicians, Tägil writes and sings, plays and records, all of the instruments himself, and then mixes and masters his final tracks entirely on his own.
One of the tracks that caught bloggers’ attention was Tagil’s profoundly moving, “I Remember Now,” featuring a sharp and striking vocal delivery, sudden melodic twists, and dark atmospherics; think Joy Division crossed with Editors and David Bowie.
The E.P., The Countryside Smiles to the Ghosts, was released together with four videos, which are viewable on his YouTube page.
Some of his other songs have unusual, even provocative titles such as “There’s A Deathstar Above Us” and “Go Back into the Woods You.”
According to Tagil his musical influences are many and include bands like Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Joy Division, Anne Clark, P.J. Harvey, Bill Callahan (Smog) and Wovenhand. His other musical influences also include 1990’s black metal and modern synth-pop music.
If you are excited by new, talented, experimental artists, stream Serenity Now via Bandcamp.
For those folks who live in and around the city of Gothenburg, check out one of Tägil’s regular live performances.
White Chocolate & the Cigarettes, featuring drummer Chase Spross and guitarist/vocalist Michael Whitby, is essentially a band that has done everything in its power not to appeal to the mainstream. Even their name was created in homage to how stupid most band names are. They’re not in music to make money, and this is evident in how little thought they put into what the masses will think about their music. I shared some brews with them and made them talk about the music industry.
In order to get a more diverse set of opinions I also had Kevin Evans of the band Ghost Tiger chime in via the internet from Santa Barbara, CA. Kevin and the rest of Ghost Tiger have been involved in the music industry for some time and are starting to make waves in Southern California with this new ensemble.
I decided to talk to bands of low notoriety because not many people realize what goes into becoming the music that ends up on their mp3 player, and no one understands this process better than someone who’s currently maneuvering through it. Many of us download music for free and end up at shows where we barely know anything about the band. I discussed this with White Chocolate & the Cigarettes in their home and tried to illuminate what it really takes to be known. It was a smoke-filled room that Robert Plant might have chosen as a place to die. The show posters on the wall were like obituaries, highlighting the ephemeral nature of music.
One of the hardest parts about being a musician is that everyone wants to book bands that will bring people in, and record labels are constantly berated with requests for representation from people they’ve never heard of. “You’re drowning in a sea of other musicians, even just in your city, and the internet puts you in a sea of even more musicians,” Chase pointed out. The advent of music technology available to everyone has made it so any jackass in an armchair can make an album. However, as we talked we realized how little of an effect this has had on what music is actually making it.
“Most of the music that gets recorded at home doesn’t get listened to by anyone who’s really willing to pay for it… Fucking Julian Casablancas recorded his shit on a little 8-track thing, but he knew people. Everybody in his band knew people,” Michael stated.
The meat of the thing is that people who are recording at home are often paying for equipment with money they could have invested in recording with a studio. Both methods require an investment in order to achieve quality. The deciding factor in finding success becomes if the music is quality or not and if you know the right avenues to get it noticed. “I didn’t want my personal bias going into it. We’re a two-man band, so I might as well have a third opinion,” Michael said in reference to recording their first album in a studio. He also pointed out that he didn’t really know where to market the album once it was finished, because there are so many music companies out there. Even when the album is complete it is very difficult to get attention to it. Most record labels don’t want to touch a fully formed album that has already been available for sale online for a number of months. “We put our first two years [of music] on our first album, and that’s not shoppable,” Michael said. “There are more musicians making money out there than there used to be, but they have to tour to do that…Record sales are only about recouping your expenses.” Even if you’re not in it for the money, making music is expensive and every musician would like to survive off of their art.
“When you count up the expenses that go into just having a band like, practice space rentals, gas to and from rehearsals and shows, not to mention all of the equipment needed to perform, a lot of bands barely break even. Before you have a label you can make money in all the same areas that you would with one, but having a label can give you more credibility and the same kinds of gigs will pay you more,” Kevin pointed out.
Michael and Chase have toured on their own dime, and claim that busking in Las Vegas was the most profitable thing they’ve ever done. Without a label backing you there is little chance of you making money that you don’t directly seek out and fight for. “You can’t just be passive and be doing it to do something,” Chase said. “I don’t think the internet’s done anything good for the music industry up to this point except killing the major labels,” Michael added. If you want to be successful on your own then you have to be your own publicist, manager, and music producer in many ways.
Kevin agreed with this concept by adding:
“In order to be consistently employed these days a musician often plays a multitude of instruments, sings, works as a sound technician, engineers/produce, and works as a concert promoter. In order to really make a real living as a musician, you need to do everything.”
Once you are on a label your music becomes a business model, and people expect you to dance on cue. Put on the tutu damn it, this is rock and roll baby! “If you get signed to a label, people come into your show with a preconceived notion,” Michael stated. You end up having to play shows you wouldn’t otherwise have wanted to play, and your activity on social media suddenly becomes a major conversation point.
Michael pointed out that even some of the bigger bands in their current residence of Portland had to work very hard to get where they are. “I feel like bands like Y La Bamba, Sally Ford, Sons of Huns, and maybe Wooden Indian burial ground have been around for some time in the Portland scene.” These bands appear to have meteoric rises to local stardom, but their foundations are actually in years of effort. There is also the fact that some bands just hit at the right time. Certain genres sell at certain times, and others don’t.
“I feel like all of these sub-genres come from us being overwhelmed with technology… When do we realize that we’re creating genres for the sake of creating genres? What we’re doing right now could be a whole new genre, two-man blues psych,” Michael said. “Everything has to be an iPod commercial with Feist playing in the background, and it’s fucking bullshit. If you’re stuck on these sub-genres you’re only going to look into these very small spectrums, and maybe that’s good for narrowing things down in an over-saturated market, but when does it end?”
“Labeling the music gets in the way of just listening to it and actually enjoying the music… You’ll get bands that are starting movements because that’s what they like to play, and then you get other bands latching on because that’s what’s becoming popular,” Chase added.
“Overly specific genres are inevitable if you’re trying to really express what you’re music sounds like using terms that are nonspecific in nature. Though my band would aptly fit into the genre “electronic-world-indie-rock” we have some songs that don’t use any electronics or rhythms from far off places, and some are very upbeat and poppy, so I guess that means to be really true to our sound we’d have to amend the genre to be “folk-world-electronic-indie-rock-pop” which I hope everyone would agree is just dumb,” Kevin said.
The ever-evolving world of what music genre you fit in is something that is often created by one musician. As The Guardian pointed out a couple of years ago, genres like ambient come from a Brian Eno album name. Genres like heavy metal originate from William S. Burrough’s character “Heavy Metal Kid” from his book The Soft Machine. Burroughs told The Paris Review in 1965: “I felt that heavy metal was sort of the ultimate expression of addiction, that there’s something actually metallic in addiction, that the final stage reached is not so much vegetable as mineral.” Burroughs wasn’t trying to invent a genre, and essentially it’s all a bunch of trendy doublespeak that should not define how a musician directs their endeavors.
Michael and Chase spent some time talking about what’s popular on the radio. From a musician’s perspective, the radio is both a mockery and yet a possible route to success. Radio play can be a game-changer for a band, but much of the music on the radio is… terrible. “The radio is in everyone’s car, and it’s passive and easy to listen to,” Chase said. “Music on the radio is always very well polished. They have access to great recording studios, studio musicians, and professionals.” Michael claimed to know the formula that the radio uses by saying that all is necessary is “a mediocre songwriter, a person with an image, and a producer that can fix it.”
“The music industry used to be very responsive… but now Clear Channel basically decides what we’re listening to, and they design it to be liked. Nothing gets onto the radio if it’s not a sure-fire hit. There used to be a little more chance-taking, and Ray Charles would be a perfect example,” Michael stated.
He expressed frustration with how many talented musicians still have to work day jobs because people are not willing to pay for music anymore. “The fucking 80’s are over, and it’s not all about touring and getting laid. Chlamydia is a thing, and not all of us want it.”
They started out indie and ended up famous, but the duo from Ohio have never forgotten their roots.
Proof in point: This fantastic album of blues covers and the songs and musicians who had the biggest impact on the music of The Black Keys.
Reviews from the interwebs:
American Songwriter: “The rugged Delta Kream captures the essence of what made this North Mississippi music so distinctive. While even this stellar lineup can’t truly replicate the dangerous backwoods stomp that injected a shot of adrenaline into the bloodstream of Carney and Auerbach all those years ago, it comes awfully close.”
The Guardian: “The now hugely successful pair can’t perhaps sing Burnside’s Poor Boy a Long Way from Home with any great factual accuracy nowadays, but they sound thoroughly in their comfort zone and utterly in their element.”
Glide Magazine: “This casual record isn’t meant to change the world, it is just a deep dive into the tunes the duo love; less a major release than a passion project but by adding Deaton and Brown to these sessions The Black Keys blues workouts on Delta Kream go down smooth.”
Indie/alt-rock band The Black Keys has dropped a new single from the duo’s upcoming new covers album, Delta Kream, set for release on May 14.
The band, via their website, said the cover album “honors [the] music of Mississippi Hill Country Blues, R.L. Burnside & Junior Kimbrough, among others who have influenced The Black Keys.”
Returning to their gritty, basement-blues roots, the duo pays tribute to the artists that have had the biggest impact on their music. We can’t wait to hear this album.
The revealed track, and album opener, “Crawling Kingsnake,” is a cover of blues legend John Lee Hooker‘s 1948 track of the same name. To listen to the Keys’ cover, you’ll need to sign up to become a member of the Black Keys’ famous fan club, The Lonely Boys & Girls Club.
The 11-track album features songs from the Mississippi hill country blues artists who inspired guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney when they were just starting out as an indie blues-rock duo in Akron, Ohio.
Here is the John Lee Hooker original (1941) to check out before, or after, signing up to hear the new single.
The Black Keys will be performing on April 19th as part of the Triller Fight Club boxing league pay-per-view live stream. Tickets are on sale now.
DELTA KREAM TRACKLISTING
1. Crawling Kingsnake (John Lee Hooker / Bernard Besman) 2. Louise (Fred McDowell) 3. Poor Boy A Long Way From Home (Robert Lee Burnside) 4. Stay All Night (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 5. Going Down South (Robert Lee Burnside) 6. Coal Black Mattie (Ranie Burnette) 7. Do the Romp (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 8. Sad Days, Lonely Nights (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 9. Walk with Me (David Kimbrough, Jr.) 10. Mellow Peaches (Joseph Lee Williams) 11. Come on and Go with Me (David Kimbrough, Jr.)
It’s down to the wire – the best 2020 indie music videos playlist series is wrapping up. The response was huge.
With that in mind enjoy the next batch below of 10 of the best 2020 indie music videos we saw and dig. Hope you do too.
This playlist features indie bands and artists like Second Hand Poet, Matt Jaffe; theWorst; The Mountain Chimes; Car Velos; In Between Years; Shojon; Learn To Fly; The Amber Bugs and Wasted History.
Some years ago, we were turned on to the music of the Toronto-based acoustic singer/songer Carl Lorusso Jr.
The team was keen to his sound, lyrics and especially his 2018 album, Murder Tools.
Since that time, Lorusso has gained even more followers and critical acclaim thanks to his follow-up to Murder Tools, the 2020 album For My Sins.
Lorusso also recently dropped a menancing, anti-folk track, “Two Caps of Medicine.” The track has a forboding nature about it while bright keys and effects swirl around the main riff and Lorusso predominantly-spoken vocals. He dropped four singles in total during the pandemic following the 2020 LP For My Sins.
Of those singles from last year, a counter to “Two Caps of Medicine” is the sobering, yet inspiring, lo-fi, anti-folk rock on the weirdly-catchy “Cigarettes in Windstorm.” Sweet track. There’s plenty of other solid tracks you can listen to and discover on Lorusso’s Bandcamp page.
His first breakthrough came in 2017 after his album, 100 Broken Words, was nominated for the Tonroto Independent Music Award in the ‘Best Folk/Blues’ category.
Although he did not win the award, the nomination itself was a boost to his music, self-confidence and his career. It’s a huge accomplishment for anyone, especially in a big city known for its music scene.
And for Lorusso, like so many bootstrap folk musicians in the big city, such a competitive atmosphere has its benefits and drawbacks. Yet, Lorusso has managed to continue to get his name and music out.
Covid has been devastating for musicians, especially DIY folks without a label to back them through the pandemic. For artists who were gaining a momentum right prior to the pandemic, covid has been a bitch.
That said, Lorusso has remained a constant in the Queen City with features in the press and blogs.
While we always encourage people to dig into the discography of artists’ we feature for themselves and on their own time, a few particular examples of Lorusso’s best work – i.e., Murder Tools – so far would include the upbeat “Garden of Doubt” is a happy, fast sung track, beaming with guitars and Lorusso’s nasally singing and talking in Dylan-like style.
The emulating, bluesy/jazzy number “Crooked Die” is apparently influenced by the magnificent Tom Waits.
The indie folk, gospel-like “Six Ton Burden Blues” is driven by acoustic guitars and banjos, gritty vocals, playful and offbeat lyrics and a full chorus.
Working with 2-time NOW Magazine ‘Producer of the Year’ Harrison Fine, Lorusso’s Murder Tools presented a fresh chapter in his decade-long career with artistic nods to Waits & John Prine and contemporary artists such as Nathaniel Rateliff & Ben Caplan.
The astute, experienced listener detects additional influences such as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Elliot Smith.
Lorusso’s sound is soft yet rugged; steeped in emotion with a beautiful grit underlining his songwriting and vocals.
The storylines therefore are magnified by his tight musicianship and story-telling that together nicely time and again. Few artists are able to do that time and again while simulatenously advancing their craft.
There’s a palpable authenticity to his music that is under-appreciated perhaps in the wider folk world. Then again, there are so many releaeses every month – just in the folk umbrealla – that makes it more likely that the best artists are not being heard as often as they should be compared to others that are.
Due to a number of reasons brought on by the virus, family health issues, our Top 10 Songs playlist series for 2020 fell behind.
That said, we will complete the full 2020 Top Ten Indie Songs playlist series that so many of you have followed and listened to loyally for more than a decade now. And there are dozens of amazing tracks.
The playlist below (which also is the August 2020 Top 10) features some of the best indie songs of 2020 that we’ve actually heard during the year. Please enjoy, like, and share.
Best 2020 Indie Songs Playlist
NOTES: 1. quiet acoustic dream pop dripping with vocal and instrumental melodies from indie superstars Local Natives and Sharon Van Etten 2. a drunken, lazy, childlike diddy that is DIY as you can get (and that’s awesome) 3. feel-good upbeat track with various layered atmospherics and melodic swings 4. fast-moving, energetic punk pop-inspired garage rocker with tints of cheap trick 5. moody indie-pop; a little long but worth it 6. sweet and inspiring acoustic and electric guitar instrumental duet 7. folky dark pop with soaring melodies and harmonies from indie veterans 8. fascinating and uplifting song despite sad lyrics 9. chorus-led with bumping bass and soaring guitars and percussion 10. beautiful and dreamy with sexy whispery vocals and a desert whistle
One of the many compelling new DIY artists we’ve heard in recent years is the experimental singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emanuel Tägil.
Due to a number of reasons brought on by the virus, family health issues, our Top 10 Songs playlist series for 2020 fell behind.