Category: Top 10 Songs

Top 10 Indie Rock Songs, August 2021 – Villagers, Chvrches, The Killers, Liars & more

Posted on by IRC Staff

August 2021 indie rock releases, and the accompanying singles, turned out to be one of the best months so far this year for new indie rock music.

Therefore, this Top 10 Indie Rock Songs playlist for August features Villagers; Chvrches; The Killers; Liars; Big Red Machine; Ty Segall, and others.

The album releases provided a good amount of listening material for the month. If you missed any of these, check out our Best August 2021 Indie Rock Albums with reviews from around the web and embedded album streams.

Please do us a tiny favor: like, share, and follow us if you dig what we do and want to encourage more. Remember, always choose love, in all of its forms.

Stream all of the 2021 Top 10 Indie Rock Songs playlists.

Top 10 DIY Indie Songs, June 2021

Posted on by IRC Staff

We were late to put together this DIY indie songs playlists for the summer due to a number of reasons, including the fact that we received double as many submissions in the past three months than in half of the year last year.

We hope that you discover some great indie rock songs, artists, and bands. This playlist features Peach Tinted; Quicker; The Ampersands; Damian Quinones; Ross Adams; Full Disclosure; Waiting for the Sun; We Are Monroe; John Lion and Luciano D’Lux.

It’s really difficult to put the songs in the playlist into a #1 to #10 order; so we didn’t really try. The same is true with all of our Top 10 Indie Songs playlists, whether they be DIY-oriented or highlighting the best in ‘mainstream’ indie songs.

Top 10 Indie Rock Songs, May 2021

Posted on by Kate Stevens

The Top 10 Indie Songs for May 2021 features a sweeping diversity of indie artists and bands, including a number of true DIYs that got our attention. This top 10 playlist is infectiously enjoyable especially when the world is coming back to life. Thank goodness indie rock is thriving in 2021. There are six entries from the U.K.!; three from the U.S. and one from France.

This playlist of our top picks (based on what we actually got to hear) include terrific releases from:

  • Mar Malade (U.K.)
  • FUR (U.K.)
  • Camel Power Club (France)
  • St. Vincent (New York)
  • Hazey (U.K.)
  • Massage (California)
  • Mia Joy (Illinois)
  • Ski Lift (U.K.)
  • Bliss Williams (U.K.)
  • Ali Horn (U.K)

Not intentionally nor by design, these Top 10 Indie Rock Songs for May 2021 are mostly feel-good, upbeat and celebratory. So put your happy shoes on and enjoy. The full Spotify and Soundcloud playlists are included at the end of the post.

This song just had to be the opening track on this particular playlist. U.K. band Mar Malade delivers the summer-time goods on “No Bird (Mr. Hardy)” with its undeniably upbeat, feel-good single booming with tropical-influenced beats and riffs, accompanied by horns and a bumbling, drooping bass line. The song is one of the little hidden gems we love coming across, and sharing.

U.K. indie rock band FUR has returned with two very noteworthy new singles, including the electrifying track, “If Only,” featured here, and which has been on repeat in the cafe for weeks, along with the other track, “The Fine Line of a Quiet Life.” Indie rock is a vague term used to identify rock artists that are or were unsigned, or have signed to small record labels, rather than major record labels. It may also describe artists which have a specific “sound”, and is therefore a genre, although this label is contested by many.:

The Paris indie band Camel Power Club‘s latest track, “Drunken Dreams,” (featuring Racoon Racoon) is impossible to ignore thanks to its mellow but catchy rhythms and melodies, as well as arguably an indie anthemic groove for 2021. We’ll still be playing this track years from now. Camel Power Club is an indie rock band based in Paris, France.

Indie veteran St. Vincent rarely misses the mark with her releases, which is one reason she has amassed a large and loyal following over the past 10+ years. With her recent recollective of her father’s record collection, she serves up another gem, including the reflective single, “Down.”

The more chill, grooving single, “Half A Feeling,” from Los Angeles indie band Massage is a kickback-and-relax song for a summer day. The band has been increasing its visibility among music lovers in the past few years thanks to the indie love their 2018 debut album, Oh Boy, garnered. Now, the follow-up recent release of Still Life has picked up strong reviews from the blogs and zines.

Another U.K. band, this time the Bristol indie duo of Tim Brown (guitar; vocals) and Justin Wilkins (drums; vocals), aka Hazey, make the list with their intricate mix of ethereal guitars and synth rhythms. Hazy is influenced by The Killers, Deaf Havana, Pale Waves, and The Cure. Perhaps the most sombre track on this playlist, the song is ironically titled “Bliss.”

We dug Chicago indie dream-pop artist Mia Joy as soon as her new single “See Us” hit the webs. The soft, whispery track, and meditative, emotive synth keys, conjures up images of floating on a puffy white cloud on a gorgeous summer day and just being happy. It’s the perfect track to chill to and even fall in love too. Joy recently signed to FireTalk Records.

London-based threesome, Ski Lift, returns with their sophomore single, “Portal,” assembled with addictive energy; a sharp, driven guitar riff; and melodic vocals to make it almost an instant for the top 10 for May.

Bliss Williams – “Falling For You”

Yet another London, and U.K., entry on this top 10. One-man recording artist Bliss Williams‘ track, “Falling For You,” was featured in our last In Dee Mail edition, and now in the Top 10. As Williams describes, the single features “sweeping strings [that] melt into harmonies far more precise than the yearning-tumbling…all served on a bed of punchy backbeat and bass groove.”

Ali Horn – “End Credits”

It only seemed appropriate to place a single called “End Credits” at the end of a playlist. But don’t let the song’s position in the playlist indicate its awesomeness as a great track in the top 10. Notice the cheerily, upbeat chorus (‘sing a happy song/happy song’), the bouncy rhythm and beat, and your tapping foot. Ali Horn is based out of Liverpool (England); making him one of six English indie bands or artists in this playlist.

[Editor’s Note]: For a relatively small country (especially in comparison to the U.S.), the number of spectacular bands, artists, and genres of rock/pop music that has come out of England since The Beatles up to today is dazzling. Considering that the U.S. has remained four to six times larger in population than England for the past half of a century-plus, ratio-wise you can say they’ve got us beat as far as one country just dominating pop and rock since 1964.

Stream amazing cat-related playlists of the best indie/alt tracks ever!

Make sure to check out our other category/theme-based playlists of the best indie/alt rock songs over the decades – playlists include Best Feel Good Songs; 100 of the Best Chill Indie Summer Songs; Akademic Playlist Series; 1,000+ of the Best Indie Songs Ever; 1,000+ of the Best Alternative Rock Songs Ever playlist; and many others – kickass playlists!

Top 10 Alternative Rock Songs, May 2021

Posted on by Rick Sosa

So far, this year has been an amazing one for new music. Across the spectrum. Below is a Soundcloud list of my top alternative rock song choices for May 2021.

A regular listener asked what the difference is between indie rock and alternative rock.

In my mind, alternative rock, or alt. rock, is straight-up rock with more of an edge, post-grunge (for the most part). Alternative rock is definitely not heavy metal nor monster metal (or whatever you call that unlistenable stuff). Indie rock is a bit softer – but not necessarily – and can represent multitudes of hybridization incorporating various genres and sub-genres (what makes it amazing). Indie artists and bands also consider, perhaps still today, as either DIY, on a small label, or ascended so high they eventually took the big money from the corporates. (They don’t need to be slain for it. The music, in the end, always matters the most.)

The best definitions for both indie rock and alternative rock, and most other genres, that I’ve come across are found on AllMusic and Wikipedia.

NOTE:

The Top 10 Alternative Rock Songs below for May 2021 represent only the tracks that I actually heard. It is by no means absolute or scientific. It’s just personal choices I’m sharing here. No doubt I’m missing some dope tracks that are supposed to be in the playlist. That’s just unavoidable. There is not the time nor resources to curate a playlist that represented THE top 10 alternative rock songs for May.

Enjoy and please like and share if you dig. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Top 10 Indie Songs Playlist, April 2021

Posted on by IRC Staff

islands-indie-rock-bandThe Top 10 Indie Songs Playlist for April 2021 features some of the best indie songs of 2021. By the way, we are launching our first Top 10 Alternative Rock Songs playlist series in a few years, so watch for that because the tracks we are gathering are keepers.

This Top 10 Indie Songs playlist includes a mix of mostly small, largely unknown artists and bands who broke through with their own track that was compelling enough to save it as among the top ten of the month. We tried to avoid mainstream ‘indie’ artists and bands for this playlist – we include the best among that group in other playlists and posts.

And on Soundcloud via Sonic Gold Media

Top 10 Indie Songs Playlist, March 2021

Posted on by Kat Nip Carver

nationoflanguage

This indie top 10 songs playlist for March 2021 is not to be missed. The top 10 songs include tracks from new, DIY, and relatively unknown artists and bands to others who are pretty much established and well known within the indie rock orbits.

Right off the bat, we just had to make Brooklyn-based indie-pop band Nation of Language‘s new single, “Deliver Me From Wondering Why,” the No. 1 track for March. How amazing is this track!?

NOL’s single has a luring, bold retro techno-beat, space-age sound effects, and impressive minimalistic keyboard work. “Deliver Me From Wondering Why,” is expansive, fun, and weird. Think Brian Eno mixed with The Talking Heads and Devo.

The musical composition and production are spectacular. This track will last into the summer. (we also have a feed here.)

Next, Montreal indie rock band ISLANDS recently dropped the exhilarating and transfixing new single, “My Brother.” The soaring, atmospheric guitars, heartfelt vocals, and captivating melodies make the song another resounding release for the band. No surprise – ISLANDS has a solid track record (that’s interesting: ‘track’ and ‘record’. Huh.) of releases and remains one of our favorite Canadian bands.

Next, The U.K. indie rock band Thrillhouse is making inroads to the U.S. music space with a number of single drops this year gaining attention, including the No. 3 track below.

The single, “Just At The Right Time,” encompasses everything indie rock folks have come to expect from the young band. This nostalgic song gem flows with the emotive, infectious, and masterfully crafted sound we have come to love from the U.K. rockers.

The chugging energy and epic melodies make the song not only unforgettable but worthy of wider recognition. “Just At The Right Time” bubbles up from softer, observant moments to racing, kinetic rhythms and joyous instrumental blowouts layered with chorus-fueled vocals. It’s thrilling and also reminiscent of Arcade Fire.


Checking in at No. 4 is the latest from U.K. indie rock band The Hunna. The band switches things up on the wonderous, heartfelt love song (and it has a twist), “Bad Place.”

Los Angeles indie pop/alt. rock trio Limon Limon get the foot-tapping and air drums going on his new love song, “Attention” (No.5)

The relatively new indie rock band Eades – out of Leeds (England) – made a big impact on the team with the fresh single, “Coltrane,” (No.6) – a tribute of sorts to the master jazz musician John Coltrane.

The song flows with a hybrid stitch of genres, sounds, and voices hinting at influences (similar to Thrillhouse above) such as The Talking Heads, Brian Eno, and perhaps unintentionally, Big Star (you know, the largely-forgotten, but legendary, 70s band that made a big impact on pop/rock and the indie movement that was soon to follow).

Genre-wise, Eades weaves new wave, post-punk and garage rock along with their “unique lo-fi recording style” to produce songs like “Coltrane.”

Eades take influence from new wave, post-punk and garage rock along with their “unique lo-fi recording style.”

Checking in at No. 7 is the latest from DIY artist Sir Sly. The Orange County California recording artist keeps the party thumping and bumping going with the electrifying dance-pop track, “Welcomes The Pressure.” Those some fab waves.

Yet another U.K. indie rock band in this top 10, London’s Simple Fiction, tugs hard on the heartstrings with the flowering, powerful song, “The Weekends” (No. 8).

It may be no surprise that English glam rockers Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard dropped a kick-ass fresh rock single, “New Age Millennial Magic”, that landed in our Top 10. The track sports a terrific 70’s ELO vibe. The Cardiff band has a special touch that has made them fairly popular.

And to close out the Top 10 is L.A. duo World’s First Cinema enthralling pop/rock track, “The Woods”. The contrast of the two parts of this song gives it a theatrical edge from start to finish.

We appreciate the art of genre-mixing: it’s essentially what indie rock is in our opinion – the freedom to write, sing, compose, produce whatever an artist or band wishes to. No doubt that includes mixing genres. That artform – which arguably has been around for a long time – has, since the birth of the ‘indie rock revival,’ produced so many sensational albums, songs, artists, and bands. And they keep coming!

So far, 2021 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for indie and alt. rock, including among DIY artists and bands.

Don’t forget to listen to the other Top 10 playlists on our site, via Soundcloud, YouTube and now Spotify.

Eyem-ma-doll.

Top 10 Indie Songs, Feb. 2021 – Melpo Mene, Three Day Monk, Iyarkai, Elephant, VOTNM

Posted on by Kate Stevens
melpo-mene
Swedish indie sensation Melpo Mene tops IRC’s February Top 10 Songs

This Top 10 Indie Songs playlist for February 2021 is perhaps one of our favorite top 10 song playlists of the past year, and we had just said the same about the January Top 10 Indie Songs playlist (recommended listening!).

The staff at IRC has shared and listened to these tracks (and many others that didn’t make the cut) over and over again. We agree that not only are these tracks our favorite 10 songs from February but still will be among the top 2021 indie tracks by the time the end-of-year playlists come out.

IRC chooses tracks carefully. We listen for songs that are original, different, heartfelt, well-crafted, and of course, brimming with talent from new, or newly discovered, indie bands and artists from around the USA and the world. (See below for our mini-reviews of each track). March Top 10 Songs is coming up soon.

The Top 10 Indie Rock Songs, Feb. 2021

1. Our No. 1 track for February goes to Swedish musician Melpo Mene (new aka is ‘heyMelpo’). IRC has been a big fan of Mene going all of the way back to our earliest years posting about under-the-radar DIY/small label artists. The first time we heard Mene it was a tiny miracle – “wow, who the bleep is this?”, we inquired. That amazing, totally – totally – original voice, and sweeping atmospheric melodic hooks are back with this new energized and uplifting single, “Wrong At Last.”

2. A sparse, somber acoustic ballad from DIY indie outfit Three Day Monk with soft, hauntingly beautiful vocals; light drum beats, swirling flutes; one of the most original and raw lo-fi indie tracks of 2021

3.  Iyarkai‘s “Rijul Chakraborthy” is a transformative, soaring, dream-like track with faint eastern influences set to new-age-like instrumentations and sound effects that include chirping birds, flutes, and slight touches of auto-tune.   It’s almost impossible not to be touched by this track.

4.   This is the first track we’d ever heard from the Dutch indie band Elephant and it hit us right in the heart and ears. this is a song you feel, and there’s even a little bit of a BeeGees vibe to this terrifically melodic and upbeat track.

5.   not a fourth of july song in the way you’d expect – but Victims of the New Math (VOTNM) deliver quiet, slumbering, light strum on guitar with filtered, almost distant vocals and featuring a neat little acoustic duel (don’t jump!)

6.  DWP with their minimalistic recording approach – love it! – ground together with pulsating keys and dual guitar jams paralleled with spoken vocals – think The Fall but with a strange and ominous dance element added in (#1 or 2)

7.   “The Other End” is an uplifting single from indie-rock collective Solar Strides. This track sonically combines the nostalgic with the contemporary, as the record brims with foot-tapping, spirited instrumentals and features the crystal clear vocals of India Foskett.

8 “Wasted” from UK DIY band Colour Tongues‘ debut album insinuates a negativity that the lyrics, dream-pop vibe, and melodies completely knockdown. Song lyrics reminisce of realizing one’s own self-worth and self-love, and that there is no time ever again to be ‘wasted’ on anyone.

9.  Short but booming full-throttle rock with a garage/punk edge, shouted (but works) catchy chorus, and streetwise attitude from the alt. rock band Harker.

10 – Weezer’s “All My Favorite Songs” is a solid track but it’s a bit too commercially slanted so it goes down a few notches to the end here for the former indie veterans now mainly commercial sellouts.

Top 10 Indie Songs, Jan. 2021 – Grouplove, Tearjerker, PEEL, Wilderado

Posted on by IRC Staff
top10indiesongs
Indie rock band Tearjerker is a band to watch in 2021. Photo by X.D. Aniel

We are late to get the first couple of 2021 Top 10 Indie Songs playlists together – mostly to pick the best indie songs from a flood of solid singles and albums dropped in the first couple of months of the new year.

The IRC team is glad that we took extra time to really whittle down hundreds of indie rock songs to come out with only the best of the best.

There is also a fair amount of tracks that we classify as more alternative rock than indie rock. You can probably figure out which are which – but to us, they are closely-aligned genres in many ways.

This Top 10 playlist is filled with powerful, intriguing, different, and must-hear indie songs and bands – some of which will be familiar and others new to many of you.  We are really excited to share these top indie songs of 2021 in the playlist below.

*February and March 2021 Top 10 Indie Songs playlists are coming out this week!  Please share and like. 

 

January 2021 Top 10 Indie Songs

By the way, we have a ton of interesting playlists on Spotify, but we prefer not to point you there. Spotify is not fair to artists and bands so we don’t encourage using it.

Plus, it’s a pain in the ass as a free user, and not too much better as a paid user.  We are Soundcloud, YouTube, and Bandcamp fans here – the platforms that are good for and to independent musicians and bands.

Just click once and let it roll through all ten tracks uninterrupted and commercial-free.  Below you’ll hear fresh tracks from bands (including indie bands that are now, for all intent nad purposes, mainstream indie) like Grouplove, Tearjerker, PEEL, and Wilderado as well as tunes from lesser-known and DIY artists and bands like Alex Walton, O Cerne, Sonar Red, Jimso Slim, NXTIME, and Up! Way Up!  Enjoy and please like and share. We appreciate you.

Stream commercial-free from 12 Top 10 2020 Indie Songs playlists – gooood stuff.

Top 10 Songs, December 2020 – Hi Frisco; Mercyfox; Thrillhouse, BDRMM & more

Posted on by IRC Staff

The dreadful year of 2020 ends with the top ten indie songs for December of 2020 featuring bands like Hi Frisco; Mercyfox; Thrillhouse, BDRMM, High School and many others.

1. moody synth pop with sweeping choruses – ok not great – Hi Frisco
2. dance pop with some influences from prince and talking heads
3. energetic indie rock track with some mean riffs – twangy guitars and synths post-punk influenced indie rock
4. haunting post-punk like track with indie rock and Cure overtones
5. twangy guitars and synths post-punk influenced indie rock
6. happy upbeat pop – sounds little like dcfc
7. energetic indie pop/rock with anthemic chorus
8. electro freak pop track that we kind of like energetic indie rock track with some mean riffs
9. hard hitting kinetic progressive indie rock instrumental
10. tints of cheap trick and kings of leon with big booming driving energy

Top 10 Songs, November 2020 – Naked House, Old Dogs (Be Safe), Phosphene, Taverns & more

Posted on by IRC Staff

As the year winds down, the Top 10 indie songs playlist below features recent drops from indie bands like Naked House, Old Dogs (Be Safe), Phosphene, Taverns and many more. Enjoy and please like and share it so we know if you dig.

1. sunny, fast-moving indie trop-pop track with love-song lyrics
2. slow burning, fuzzy post-punk with dreamy pop elements
3. great girly pop indie track good beat and riff – Phosphene
4 airy, upbeat DIY indie pop rock with a solid rhythm
5. sad acoustic indie love song from DIY artist
6. dreamy indie-pop with some cool instrumentations and whispery vocals
7. impossibly fast-moving electro-pop riffs and beats and ELO-like chorus
8. pumping beat and interesting lyrics with with a bit of weezer-feel
9. cool cat driving R&B infused beats and memorable chorus
10. aggressive, fast borderline monster metal but it clicks

Top 10 Indie Songs, August 2020

Posted on by Max Hammer

local-natives The playlist below features the best songs (that we’ve heard) for August 2020.

Please enjoy, like, and share.
 

Top 10 Indie Songs Playlist August 2020