April was a particularly exciting month for anticipated and big-name artist releases, as well as for some surprise drops by new and on-the-radar indie rock bands.
The kick-ass new single, “Taking Me Back,” from Jack White‘s latest album, easily made our No. 1 spot. Two decades on, White’s power as a force for rock music around the globe is unmistakable. Once the unofficial frontman of indie/alt guitar rock, White has since become a global phenomenon and an A-list rock star.
“Taking Me Back” proves that White can still apply his searing White Stripes-battle riffs with new ideas and concepts.
Plus, check out the other indie rock gems from The Smile; Silverbacks; DITZ; Kurt Vile (yes again); Built to Spill (still got it!); KEG; Viagra Boys, IDLES and another 2022 sensation: Wet Legs.
The March Top 10 Songs playlist was crazy difficult to determine because of the flood of new tracks from already dropped and upcoming anticipated album releases, including artists and bands like Kurt Vile; Yard Act; Eades; Arcade Fire; Yak; Bodega; Andrew Bird; The Smile and Gruff Rhys.
Because it’s such a challenge to pick only ten songs a month, we’re also sharing our Top 50 Indie Songs for March 2022. Check that one out too and you’ll see what we mean. Simply too much exciting and kick-ass tunes coming at us these days from all directions.
But, still, we managed to squeek out our top 10 picks from all of the songs that dropped in March. ENjoy and please share to spread some love and give us a bit of inspiration juice for further playlists.
Finally: if you really love specially-curated playlists that hit on themes from world countries and VIP names to popular holiday playlists and other themes ranging from Best Roots Rock Revival; Top 2022 Post-Punk Songs (So Far); Cover Songs playlists and many more. We’d love to have you follow and share. If just great music is all you care about, let us feed you the works we’ve labored so many years to perfect.
Without further delay, let’s dive in:
Looking to stream more kick-ass tracks dropped in March from popular indie/alt artists and bands as well as small-label, lesser-known and DIY artists/bands, fire up Best 2022 Indie/Alt Rock, Vol. III.
Don’t have a Spotify premium account and prefer to listen on YouTube?
Fast and furious. That’s how anticipated, and widely-acclaimed, albums from indie rockers have been pouring out of the spout.
The year started off with a bang. Top releases for January spawned enough singles to easily fill up the top ten indie songs playlists. The top ten indie rock songs for January features new and hot singles from Band of Horses; Yard Act; Animal Collective; Beach House; Black Country, New Road; Fontaines DC; The Wombats; Beirut; Broken Social Scene and Metronomy.
And just like that – another month has passed (good, closer to spring!). There were so many additional new singles and tracks from albums that dropped in February that it made it a challenge to pick out just 10.
As a result, the Ten 10 Indie Songs for February 2020 include keeper-singles from Dehd, Spoon, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Kurt Vile, Foals, Elf Power, Jack White, PUP, Frank Turner, and Big Thief.
Top Ten Indie Rock Songs – February 2022 (YOUTUBE)
Top 10 Indie Rock Songs – February 2022 (SOUNDCLOUD)
More than ever, the choices of music are overwhelming.
Therefore, keeping focused is important. And yet, it used to be, say a decade ago, easier to focus on the ‘indie rock’ craze (which began to wane right about 2012 for whatever reason; proof is this keyword search chart from Google Trends) and a few dozen popular artists and bands.
But nowadays there are too many fking good artists and bands. And with fewer people going to blogs (you guys turned on us – sniff sniffle) to find new music and bands, there are fewer truly independent music indie blogs (like yours truly); many have closed shop or stop posting.
The advent of ad-blockers also helped put a big nail into the blogger world, as did the continued corporate take-over of the web (yes, you too Google – replacing so many naturally earned search positions by regular folks with all of your own content – hugely impacting blogger’s visibility and thus traffic.)
One of the things that will never fade out for us is putting the spotlight on talented, rising DIY indie artists and bands. The fact is that there is way too much good music out there. A possible hit record (if radio played diy music – yeah right); a genius young songwriter; a breakthrough album; a hot new band on a tear, etc., already exist with more to come.
SO, let’s celebrate what we can.
A big asterik to the title of this series would include a note that says ‘the top 10 is based entirely on the music we’ve actually had time to listen to’.
Let’s face a fact: there is so much damn good music that comes from non-labeled artists.
Here are just a few for January’s Top 10 DIY Songs of 2022 releases. In this playlist: No Suits in Miami; Marquee Sullivan; Darksoft; 8BIT WIZRD; Indigo/Lure Division; Lucas Stern; Slark Moan; The Lagoons; Cole Loomis and String Machine.
IRC’s first Top 10 Indie Songs (January 2022) for the new year presents the best new indie rock tracks we’ve heard so far this year.
New singles are dropping left and right – we’ll keep doing our best to bring you the best music you know and don’t know about.
This installment includes amazing songs from a mixed subgenre bag from rock to pop and folk to punk featuring Band of Horses; Yard Act; Black Country, New Road; Animal Collective; Beach House; Beirut; The Wombats; Metronomy; Broken Social Scene and Local Weatherman.
Enjoy and plz share and follow so we know you want more of these.
The final DIY top ten songs playlist for 2021 has dropped. Right here. And it’s a superb one.
In fact, many of the artists and bands in this particular Top 10 are also some of our top Artists/Bands to Watch in 2022. More on that in the ensuing days.
We’ve carefully listened to hundreds and hundreds of submissions this year (not to mention all of the non-submission releases), and shared those throughout the year via posts and top 10 playlists.
In the playlist below, you’re going to find a lot of nice little goodies (surprises?) from artists and bands you’ve probably never heard of before, including YEN Strange; Poploader; Connor Eko; New Moons; Loops & Loops; Andrew LaVogue; Nick County (see Nick’s album in IRC’s Overlooked Albums of 2021); Alisha Liston; Blunt Bangs and Carnation Blue.
NOTE: As with many of our playlists, we are going to use Spotify stream counts to rank No. 1 to No. 10 as much as possible (unless a song is so internally loved we’ll pump it up the count regardless) for the sequential order of the tracks. You decide which are your favorites.
A blockbuster year for album releases, 2021 is quickly coming to a close as we head in to 2022 – lots of 2’s.
From those releases have spawned a series of popular singles that make-up the last Top 10 Indie Songs playlist of the year. They include singles (and the albums) from Psychedelic Porn Crumpets; Snail Mail; Elbow; The KVB; Blake Rose; Richard Dawson/Circle; IDLES; Tonstartssbandht; Bakar and Clairo.
The sequence of the tracks is not a hard (but close) placement because we might feel like No. 4 is No. 2 in a week from now; or, again, for example, if No. 8 went up to No. 5, etc. It’s more like – these are our favorite ten tracks of the month – mostly from albums dropped during December.
That’s another reason that sequencing the tracks in a one to ten order would be skewed anyways because many of the top tracks on an album are dropped months earlier.
NOTE: We’ll be posting the Top 10 DIY Songs, December 2021 playlist in the next couple of days.
If you want to submit your own music, we’d be glad to give it a listen (as long as it falls within our genre-scope). Enjoy and please share/like/follow if you wish.
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.
The Top 10 Indie Songs for November 2021 highlights the best, and most popular, singles from some of November’s best album releases – and from 2021 in general.
Over the past few months, many of these singles have had time to really make the rounds on millions of speakers and buds. They include releases from MUNYA, Matt Pond PA; Ovlov; Holly Humberstone; Black Marble; The Flaming Lips and Nell Smith; Courtney Barnett; Snail Mail; Deap Vally with jennylee and Gov’t Mule.
Since we love so many of the songs in the Top 10, selecting the No.1 track is almost impossible.
Therefore, we are going to default and use Spotify’s number of recorded plays to rank these tracks – which were already going to make our Top 10 for the month regardless of the number of plays.
From that batch of tracks (which can be dozens), the number of plays helps whittle it down to ten tracks and to make more sense of a playlist that would otherwise be ten fresh songs in no particularly helpful order.
It’s up to you to choose which of our top 10 tracks you dig the most. D
Listen to the previous months’ Top 10 Songs playlists to discover more talented artists and bands from across the globe.
Number of Streams at Publish Time
12.8M holly 3.8M snail mail 3.4M court 500K govt mule 432K marble 372K deep 296k muny 219K lips 162K ovlov 3.9K matt
The Top 10 Indie Songs for October 2021 focuses exclusively on singles from recommended albums that dropped officially in October, including those from more ‘mainstream’ indie/alt/rock artists and bands.
This playlist features tracks from Hovvdy; Tonstartssbandht; POND; The War on Drugs; Boy Scouts; Lana Del Rey; My Morning Jacket; Fire-Toolz; Magdelena Bay and Porches.
If you missed any of this year’s Top 10 playlists, you can access them any time on the Top 10 Songs page.
IRC’s Top 10 Indie Songs September 2021 was delayed due to a glitch – it was 90% done and somehow, an hour or two later, it appears to have been over-written in some weird computer/server fluke.
Restarting something that was almost completed is frustrating but I’ve been working on mindfulness, consciousness, self-awareness, and getting over things. It helps a lot. And so does music.
Almost all of the Top 10s for this playlist are submissions from DIY and small label artists and bands spanning the genres of the indie/DIY spectrum, including the following line-up:
1. CASTLEBEAT (NYC) – “We Can Make This Right” 2. Cypress (NYC) – “Running in the Wind” 3. Walk In Wardrobe (Vancouver) – “Apology” 4. Dream of a Man in a Top Hat (Boston) – “Bill and Lulu” 5. GrandEvolution (Worcester, MA) – “Shattered” 6. House of Light (LA) – “New York” 7. Andrew Chris (Pittsburgh) – “Floatin'” 8. Confirmation & GRAU (Berlin) – “Girl Vs Boy” 9. Band Called Lovejoy (Portland) – “High Lonesome” 10. Andrew Thomases (San Francisco) – “Cure Me”
CASTLEBEAT is the indie rock project of New York City bedroom musician Josh Hwang.
He is not new to the indie scene, but CASTLEBEAT’s latest release, We Can Make This Right, is some of the best indie dream pop tuneage we’ve heard this year.
#1.
Hwang’s new album has spawned a number of singles throughout 2021, including our favorite, “Into.”
It has a circa-2009 psych-dream pop bedroom artist feel and sound that has become rarer over the years as the trends move towards more studio work and often over-refining what often would have been better kept simple.
Next up, the emotive, melodic, and wonderfully-produced folk-rock track, “Running in the Wind,” from NYC vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ben Higginbotham, and his band Cypress.
“It’s about being there for someone when you physically aren’t there,” Higginbotham says. “As a musician, I travel quite a bit, which can be hard for the people I leave behind sometimes. The song is just saying that ‘no matter where I am when you need me I’ll come to you.'”
He adds that the production was “born of my recently discovered love for Bruce Springsteen.”
#2.
A Berklee music grad, he founded Cypress as a “soulful, emotional solo project reflective of personal and professional growth.” Cypress’ indie folk/folk rock sound is rich and textured yet melodic and straightforward.”
He has opened for artists like Jaws of Love; Donovan Woods; and Toledo with major musical influences including Ray LaMontagne, The Staves, and Bon Iver.
The Dallas-born musician is joined by drummer Eli Fowler and guitarist Taylor Tatsch.
The melancholic single, “Apology,” came to us from Vancouver indie acoustic/folk musician Frankie Haubrich, who uses the recording moniker of Walk In Wardrobe.
Originally drooped in the summer, we’ve played the song quite a bit and it’s sort of a grower. The Bon Iver influences on Haubrich’s writing and recording are not just subjective – he is a huge Bon Iver fan. In fact, other than Wilco, Bon Iver is Haubrich’s only submitted musical influence.
#3.
With violin and orchestral layers, and touching lyrics, the Australian-native delivers an intricate and artistic composition that is catchy and absorbing. In Haubrich’s own words: “Bon Iver influences autotune harmonies on the 2nd verse.”
Originally working in the animation industry in Montreal when Covid hit Haubrich moved out of the big city. Working wherever possible, and writing music on the road, Frankie ended up wild lobster fishing, harvesting maple syrup in plantations, walking huskies, and in snowed in bakeries in northern Quebec.
instagram.com/walk_in_wardrob/
What do you get when you take two-thirds of Boston 80’s post-punk band, Native Tongue, separate, age for 30+ years, combine, throw in some new technology, mix thoroughly and serve?
Result: Dream of a Man in a Top Hat.
Long-time Boston musicians Lee Leffler (guitars, keyboards) and Michael Frackleton (drums, bass, keyboards) rehearse in separate houses; lyrics are typed into phones; drums are electronic, and yet, in the end, it works.
The duo’s sound has an uncompromising sensibility that is unique and all of their own, while also drawing on familiar and varied influences. Check out this new single, “Bill and Lulu.” Isn’t that something ‘else’?
#4.
In reviews of their debut album, the six-song EP Blunt Instrumentals (released summer of 2020), bloggers and others touted the duo’s music as “cool, psychedelic, experimental, wild” and “infectious.” The duo’s moniker is a challenge, and also quite curious, to say the least. We’ve always been huge fans of anything post-punk-leaning: that’s what you have here – done in the Massachusetts way.
Many years ago they opened for bands like Bush Tetras, Mission of Burma and Pere Ubu. That’s some big acts. Leffler and Frackleton’s top musical influences, according to them, are Yardbirds, Jack White, Syd Barrett, Tame Impala, Dandy Warhols, and The Beatles.
Based in the mid-Commonwealth city of Worcester, the Massachusetts indie rock/pop band GrandEvolution recently dropped the softly melodic single “Shattered,” and it certainly got our attention for the composing and producing of a dream-pop-leaning single that harkens back to the days of post-punk pop.
A well-toured band before the pandemic, GrandEvolution spent most of last year writing and working on songs for the new album Glow. “Shattered,” according to guitarist and vocalist Sarah Kenyon is “about suddenly losing your biggest supporter and feeling hopeless and empty.”
#5.
In the past, the band has opened for artists such as Soul Asylum, Kay Hanley, Tantric, and Smile Empty Soul. The trio’s biggest musical influences include The Cranberries, The Jayhawks, Butch Walker, Muse, and Radiohead.
The other obviously talented band members are drummer Scott Kenyon and bassist Gregory Bromberg.
The mysterious alt/post-rock single, “New York,” from the band House of Light is “a catchy explosion of urban celebration; nostalgic of the 90s but with fresh synth twists,” says guitarist and vocalist Justin de Vries. “It’s an urban lament.” The track was mixed by Clif Norrell ( NIN, REM, Jeff Buckley).
Launched in Berlin in 2016, the band (originally from Australia) are nowadays located in U.K. and Los Angeles.
House of Light regularly tours around the globe performing a mix of retro-rock, new wave, and psych-rock – complete with croons and shouts amidst a cinematic shoegaze-mesh of synth keys and guitar riffs.
The lyrics evoke the new-romanticism of the 80s and the disillusion of the 90s. The single is from the band’s upcoming album release, Come Into My Night.
#6.
They have been interviewed by Andy Rourke (The Smiths) and attended by Frank Black (Pixies).
The band has opened for artists such as Pete Doherty, The Drones, and Lydia Lunch and are heavily influenced by “Joy Division, Nick Cave, 80s synth pop, city sounds, Leonard Cohen, and the Cure.
The other band members are Tina Zimmermann (vox/synth); Linda Kiss (bass); Trevor Song (synth); and Phillip Haut (drums).
instagram.com/the.house.of.light
#7.
The sprawling single, “Floatin'” by Pittsburgh multi-instrumentalist, and one-man band, Andrew Chris, is “an imperfect love story.”
“I was inspired by humanity’s obsession with floating in general,” Chris says, adding, “and [how] even when we succeed in ‘floating,’ we always come back down to earth.”
The self-described ’25-year-old independent rocker/rapper’ has spent a decade working on music in his bedroom. Since the age of 15, Chris has been making beats and playing the guitar and bass with heavy influences from the 1960s and 70s guitar rock artists and bands.
After bouncing around in different bands, Chris struck out on his own. His first solo album from 2019, Studio Rat, “blends intricate genres from rap and rock to create a new sound,” but he says he’s upcoming sophomore drop will emit a new style as evidenced by the new single.
#8.
German synth dream duo Anna Lanfer (Grau) and Peter Milos (Confirmation) made the top ten for their summer track, “Girl Vs. Boy.”
Riding on the wave of his first single, “Give it Up,” which earned regular airplay on German radio, Milos teamed up with Lanfer, and Niko Stoessl, to hone in on his signature analog synth-heavy and beat-driven, futuristic sound to produce “fierce and visceral portrait of two lovers dancing around each for the new single.”
#9.
The irresistibly catchy High Lonesome comes to us via Portland musicians Sumner Rahr and Fritz Frerichs’ (aka, Band Called Lovejoy) time spent in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The two friends worked daily retail jobs and wrote, rehearsed, and recorded at home in the evenings.
The featured title single is off of the band’s new debut EP, High Lonesome.
Lyrics like “I’ve been down this road before / Uneven broken and now alone / I’m ready as hell” embody the promise of youth life: unexpected, thrilling, and exciting” stand out in particular.
Inspired by sounds from The Black Keys, The Doors, and Pink Floyd, the band’s EP journeys through “solitude, gratitude, and escape – all while creating a uniquely original narrative.”
Lead singer and guitarist, Sumner Rahr, saw overnight success on TikTok (1.6 million views ) for a cover of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” at their EP release party, propelling the band’s social following and message.
#10.
San Francisco musician Andrew Thomases says his new indie/alt rock song, “Cure Me” is: “A reflection of the political scene in America prior to the last presidential election…a compelling plea for guidance and healing in a time when nothing is certain.”
Accompanied by a psychedelic lyric video, the single serves a modern twist of the nostalgic sounds of the ’80s and ’90s, mirroring influences from The Cure, retro rock rhythms infused with captivating melodies, and a steady drumbeat.
August 2021’s Top 10 DIY Indie Songs is a compilation of tracks that we received over the summer and listened to in order to create this Top 10 playlist featuring the following indie artists and bands from across the U.S., with the exception of an entry from Canada and Sweden.
Places represented include Phoenix; LA; Denver; NYC; Whitley City; Nashville and Chicago. Enjoy and please like and share.
Wild Giants – Phoenix, Arizona (“Souvenir”) Fake Parents – Los Angeles, California (“Birthday Party”) The Mananas – Denver, Colorado (“Back At U”) Jeremy Newall – Toronto, Ontario (“Come On”) Scotch Mist – New York, New York (“Operator”) The Stupors Arizona – Phoenix, Arizona (“Simple Company”) Milano Sun – Stockholm, Sweden (“Tough Sailors”) Surviving Fate – Whitley City, Kentucky (“You”) Sam McLeod – Nashville, Tennessee (“Sam McLeod”) The Brand New Shoes – Chicago, Illinois (“With Airplanes”)
#1: Since its founding by recording artist Austin Walashek in 2018, the indie rock outfit Wild Giants has been dropping singles and playing live music all over Arizona. The band’s latest single, “Souvenir,” won over to take the No. 1 spot for DIY submissions in the month of August.
#2: Fake Parents, formerly ‘Parents’, is a Los Angeles-based indie rock band featuring members Garrett Hazen, Ryan Calaunan, and Blake Vallotton. The band records at Hazen’s home studio in La Mirada, California, and Vallotton directs the visual storytelling.
#3: “Back At U” is a recent 2021 single release from Denver indie rock band The Mañanas. The Ecuadorian indie pioneers "Nockah" originally composed the song in 2018. According to the band: “The song felt too "gringo" and out of place with their current discography. Fast forward two years, lead singer and composer Danny Pauta moves to Denver and meets with Brandon Unpingco to create The Mañanas where this song resurges. Watch the song video here.
#4: Jeremy Newall is a Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist (guitar, bass, piano, drums, synth) with influences ranging from Boy Pablo, Day Glow, Tom Misch, phum viphurit, and The Strokes. The Toronto musician’s new single, “Come On,” celebrates indie bedroom pop bliss. He writes the track is “light-hearted song about getting turned down.” To make this song much more entertaining he included samples from some iconic childhood cartoons. Last year, Newall lost his job as a touring musician in Nice, France due to covid leading to a total work-mode that resulted in various tracks that made up the EP Sheesh.
#5: The single, “Operator”, from the New York City indie rock outfit Scotch Mist bumbles along with all of the ingredients of indie pop-rock. The music project is the work of musician Eduardo Zighelboim.
#6: While no longer ‘active,’ the Phoenix indie rock band, The Stupors Arizona (formerly The Stupors), originally formed in 2005 and retired in 2011, still drops an occasional single and plays a few show or festival. This new track, “Done,” seems to have had time to simmer since 2011. Band member ‘Dibbs’ says it’s “an in-your-face-from-a-she/her-perspective on a bad breakup.”
#7: Based out of Stockholm, Sweden, indie rock/pop band, Milano Sun‘s new single, “Tough Sailors,” is what the band calls a “Storm kissed, salt-sprayed indie smash” that was “rescued from the once missing ship. Drenched with in-your-face guitar licks, psychedelic sound effects and 90’s clothing – it’s reusing sprinkles from all your favorite pop/rock decades from the 20th century.
The band is comprised of Johan Jonasson (Guitar, Vocals), Love Sivik (Bass), Zackarias Ekelund (Drums), and David Wikberg (Keys, Guitar, Vocals) with influences that include The Beta Band Beach House, Tame Impala, and Blood Orange.
#8: The brand new band Surviving Fate is a Kentucky-based duo of musical couple of Denny (all instruments,vocals) and Lyndsey Kidd (vocals) from Whitley. Denny Kidd has toured around the country in a previous band. That’s pretty much all we know about them, but if you dig the track, look them up. https://youtu.be/N40esh0xxXo
#9: “Baby Love” is the sweet new single from Nashville lo-fi/bedroom pop recording artist Sam McLeod. The single, he says, was written for the happiness he felt after the birth of the couple’s baby. “It started as a melody I started humming in Jan 2019 when I came home from the hospital with my newborn daughter” and felt a sense that as a couple he and his wife ‘made it.’ “with this amazing little girl to raise together.”
A Nashville native, McLeod’s style has matured from rock into an indie-folk sound that “creates a graceful fusion of influences like Ethan Gruska, Leelanhd, James Vincent McMorrow, and Jarryd James.”
#10: Based in the rock and roll city of Cleveland, Ohio, the Brand New Shoes is a DIY indie rock band featuring four friends and musicians who met in high school. They dropped a self-titled album in 2019, were sidelined for much of 2020, and have now released the album Still Love, featuring the single, “With Airplanes.”
