Category: Top 10 Songs

This late Top Ten Indie Songs playlist for June 2020 features a mix of indie rock from bands across the U.S. and around the world.

While we have suffered a big punch this year, we still commit (as much as we can; smaller, less available team now) to highlighting talented and impressive new DIY indie rock bands and artists that are not heard (or hardly for their skill) elsewhere.

We are still one of the first of the original indie blogs to be publishing and we’ll do our best to do so indefinitely. If you believe in what we are doing and what to help and encourage us to keep doing what we’ve been doing for 15 years now, please think about donating. Thank you music friends!

The Top Ten Songs for June of 2020

Looseleaf – Louisville, Kentucky (“Quarantine Baby”)
Wake Up Giant – Warsaw, Poland (“Out of My Heart”)
The Collect Pond – Boston, Massachusetts (“Traveling”)
Big Loser – Austin, Texas (“Blisters”)
Hope The Flowers – Bangkok, Thailand (“Warchestra”)
Silver Bars – Austin, Texas (“Lost You to L.A.”)
Your Name Here – Tel Aviv, Israel (“A World Unknown”)
Planet Waves – San Diego, California (“Marty”)
Jordan Paul – Hamilton, Ontario (“Strange”)
A Walk in the Dark – Rochester, New York (“Spirit Van”)

We’d also like to tell all of you that we will only be using social media from now on to highlight artists and bands we like.

The Top Ten Indie Songs for May 2020 includes tracks from artists and bands from across the United States and Europe including indie artists and bands listed below. The full playlist is ready to stream. Please share it so it gets out to more indie/DIY music lovers. This playlist has a number of chugging rock and roll tracks as well.

Magnum Dopus – Memphis, Tennessee (“Get Over It”)
Richard Berger – Los Angeles, California – (“It’s Not Gonna Go Away”)
Pennan Brae – Vancouver, British Columbia (“Strut 1980s”)
Art Feynman – Los Angeles, California (“I’m Gonna Miss Your World”)
Anti Social Club – Washington, D.C. (“Empty”)
The Wind Chasers Club – Long Beach, California (“Gore”)
State to State – Los Angeles, California (“Undead Love”)
Alec Danger – Helsinki, Finland (“Ghost Notes”)
EOB – London, England (“Olympik”)

Review and play more Top Ten Songs of 2020 playlists on IRC

Related Original Posts from which Top 10 Indie Songs was determined:

2020 Indie Songs Playlist #8 – Richard Berger, Anti-Social Club, Violent Vickie, Alejandra O’Leary & More
May 10, 2020

New 2020 Indie Songs Playlist #9 – EOB, Thao & The Get Down, State to State, Grenon, Alec Danger – May 17th

Genre-Blending Playlist of New Tracks from Art Feynman, Ginger, Magnum Dopus & Others

The April Top 10 Indie Songs playlist features so many new – or newly-discovered – and talented DIY/indie musicians and bands from the west to the east and all places in between.

Genres range from straight-up indie rock and pop to love songs, R&B, singer/songwriter, roots rock and acoustic, among other genres and genre-mixing.

Interestingly, and by coincidence, the top two tracks of the month go to two Pittsburg, Penn. bands.

Congrats to the No. 1 mini-hit, the cinematic, sing-a-long track “Something Else” (and it is) from Surf Camp.

The duo features musicians Dylan White and Rich Condon who are obviously influenced by indie and surf rock with upbeat indie pop hooks.

Condon is a vocalist, guitarist, bassist and plays ukelele, and White is a vocalist, guitarist, pianist, drummer and ukulele player.

White says the single was “written from the perspective of two characters – psychologist and patient.”

“The psychologist offers what they consider help and brutal honesty,” he adds, “while the patient, scatterbrained and helpless, lays [sic] everything out on the table.”

Our No. 2 track for the month enthusiastically goes to Pittsburg independent artist Lurose and her lush, tropical, R&B-inspired “Sweet” – one of the best surprise DIY singles we’ve heard in 2020. Hopefully, more of you agree is an exceptional track – especially for a DIY solo artist.

Landing in at No. 3 is the heart-wrenching acoustic love song “Reason I Live” from the Belmont, New Hampshire band 19 MPH. This song really touched us. A great track featuring just an acoustic guitar and a vocal is always intriguing.

Enjoy and please share on your socials.

The Top 10 Indie Songs playlist for December 2019 – the last playlist of the 2010s (weird) – features an assortment of tracks from indie bands and musicians from across the U.S. and around the world.

The genres spread the spectrum from indie pop and darkwave to synth-pop and lo-fi, among others.

A big congrats to Los Angeles DIY artist Tracy Bryant for his spectacular album, Hush, that produced two Top 10 placements, starting with the No. 1 track – the unforgettable poppy new wave, mixed with some garage rock and Americana/folk sounds. The No. 2 track, “Neverending Story,” is another amazing folksy alt. rocker.

That rarely happens where one artist captures the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, but once you listen to these tracks, and his album, it becomes clearer why Tracy Bryant was one of our best ‘finds’ in 2019, and an artist to watch in 2020.

Altogether, this is a diverse and strong collection of indie DIY tracks. Startup the playlist and it will stream through all ten tracks uninterrupted.

Tracy Bryant – Los Angeles, California
Ali Hugo – Toronto, Ontario
Mårten Lärka – Jättendal, Sweden
La Palma – Washington D.C.
Rvana Shmata – Kyiv, Ukraine
Cedarsmoke – Brisbane, Australia
Summer Colds – Ashland, Oregon
Flicker Vertigo – Melbourne, Australia
QUARRY – London, England

1. Tracy Bryant – Album Review (96 Likes!)

2. Tracy Bryant – Album Review (96 Likes!)

3. Ali Hugo – Dec 2019 Indie Tracks (69)

4. Mårten Lärka – Dec 2019 Indie Tracks (69)

5. La Palma – 2019 Indie Songs (1)

6. Rvana Shmata Dec 2019 Indie Tracks (69)

7. Cedarsmoke – Band to Watch (32)

8. Summer Colds – Album Review (12)

9. Flicker Vertigo – Artist Spotlight

10. QUARRY – Album Review (72)

These are just some of the fantastic artists and bands of 2019 that we were turned on to and shared with the world – with hopes that more people will see the evidence of these new (and newly discovered) talents.

Like all of our Top Ten Songs playlists for the past decade, this is one not to be missed. The eclectic nature of the artists and bands, coupled with their individual styles and moods, in this particular Top 10, is nothing less than spectacular.

Congratulations to the Brooklyn indie band Lightouts for taking the No. 1 spot on the November Top Ten Songs playlist with the chugging indie rocker, “Lucky Strikes,” followed at No. 2 by the new Norweigan artist-to-watch Sture for his smoking and fascinating punk-alt. rock single, “Fabricated.”

But that’s just the beginning of the amazing tracks in this playlist based on listener’s streams, downloads, and likes from IRC’s posts published in November. Each individual post is linked below in case there are other tracks you don’t want to miss that didn’t make the Top 10. Enjoy.

Long live DIY, alternative, and indie rock!

Do you or a friend have music that should be heard on Indie Rock Cafe? Submit your music today.

You can stream all ten songs uninterrupted (and no commercials – Spotify/Soundcloud/etc. lol) or play them individually below.

1. “Lucky Strikes” – Lightouts (November Indie Songs, Vol. III)

2. “Fabricated” – Sture (November Indie Songs, Vol. III)

3. “Bleeding Green” – Ten Minute Detour (November Indie Songs, Vol. II)

4. “Deep Blues” – Dan Atta (Radar Love)

5. “Tides” – Tiny Kingdoms (November Indie Songs, Vol. III)

6. “How to Dance” – Richard Shirk (Album Review)

7. “Dreaming on Sunday” – Pete Cautious (Album Review)

8. “Dad” – he is tall (Artist Spotlight)

9. “Terror of War” – Kalidas (Album Review)

10. “Now You Know” – The Rope (November Indie Songs, Vol. II)

Is something better late if it’s really great?

As most of our playlists (and since you guys decide the Top 10), there are exciting indie/alt/underground/DIY/quirk rock ongs and artists/bands not to be missed, including California musician Carol Blaze; Philly’s new indie-pop band Loud Library; D.C. dream-pop quintet Distant Creatures; plus, Marble House; Dead Heads; Moron Police; Rasha Jay; Casino Garden and Electromush.

We were so incredibly busy during the past couple of months with our regular music publicity and promotions day jobs, so apologies to those followers of our Top 10 Songs playlists for 10 years now.

Stream this and all of the Top 10 playlists on the Top 10 Songs page to discover more great tracks from 2019 you haven’t heard yet.

If you have music that could make it onto one of our Top 10’s, go to our music submission page.

The November Top 10 will be up in a couple of days. The last for 2019, December Top 10, will appear in a couple of weeks (we have to review all of the data to create the top 10). As always, the Top 10 comprises the most streamed, downloaded, and shared tracks that we posted during the month in question.

1. Superstar – Carol Blaze

2. Recycle Bin – Loud Library

3. What Became of the Girl? – Distant Creatures

4. Heartbeat – Marble House

5. God Grant – Dead Heads

6. Playing With Fire – Chaser Eight

7. Captain Awkward – Moron Police

8. Don’t Revel – Rasha Jay

9. Eternal Monster – Casino Garden

10. Raven – Electromush

Yes, this Top Ten Indie Songs playlist is late. Apologies for those who look forward to our Top Ten playlists.

And while it’s late, it’s still great. All Top Ten Songs finalists were all featured on IRC during the month of September. These are the talented DIY/indie/alt. artists and bands who do not get enough love that they deserve. Maybe you’ll feel it here.

1. Ian Ferguson – Nashville, Tennessee
2. This Daze – Bergen, Norway
3. Moonroof – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
4. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Melbourne, Australia
5. Smoking Alaska – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
6. Sun Blood Stories – Boise, Idaho
7. Avalon Highway – Midsomer-Norton, England
8. Sitting on Stacy – San Diego, California
9. Toui Manikhouth – Hamilton, Ontario
10. Lennox C.B. – Toronto, Ontario

The No. 1 spot for the month of September, the track that was streamed and downloaded the most on our blog and socials/RSS/email subscribers, goes to the Nashville solo musician Ian Ferguson for his unforgettable, swaggering garage rock romp, “Worried Walk,” packed with attitude and delivered with muffled lo-fi vocals and an relentless stomping beat and guitar riff all of the way through.

Following Ferguson at the No. 2 spot for September was the upbeat indie pop-rock single, “Young,” by the Norweigan indie punk band This Daze. Rounding out the Top Three is the indie rocking track, “Trojans” from Philly indie band Moonroof.

We will never end the quest to make sure there are some truly DIY/indie/alt. blogs that will keep looking for and featuring the under-the-radar talents. Over the years, IRC has helped launch the popularity of, or put a big spotlight on, hundreds of previously obscure artists and bands. But in order for us to do more coverage, we need your help.

The top ten indie rock songs playlist for August 2019 is in and the No. 1 spot goes to San Francisco’s popular indie band Hot Flash Heat Wave.

One of the original posts – where some artists and bands that made the top 10 were initially featured – acquired over 575! Likes so far on Facebook alone.

That is one of the highest numbers of like counts on our posts in recent memory. Another playlist post in August received 199 Likes so far.

This Top 10, interestingly enough, includes two tracks about being drunk; a couple about love and a few about the natural world. Stream the in-page, uninterrupted playlist below.

1. “Floating” – Hot Flash Heat Wave (San Francisco)
2. “Your Name” – Obil (NYC)
3. “Revolution” – Mortimer Jackson (London)
4. “The Party’s Over” – Blake Maloka (Kyiv, Ukraine)
5. “Love Is An Island” – Thraz (Reykjanesbær, Iceland)
6. “Amazing Times” – Jingo Kong (Bergen, Norway)
7. “You and The Sun” – Leo Harmonay (Peeksville, NY)
8. “Hungover, Dazed and Confused” – EMU (Middlesborough, England)
9. “A Whole Year Drunk” – Boy A/C (Charlotte, NC)
10. “Open” – Hazey Jane (London)

The top ten indie songs playlists for July (especially) and August are late. Life gets busy. Summer goes fast. (It goes too fast.)

Here are the Top Ten Indie Songs for July 2019 based on your streams, downloads, likes, shares, etc.

The Gothenburg, Sweden indie rock band DAMEN took the No. 1 spot for July with the amazing song, “Sagrada Familia,” followed at No. 2 with “Into Light” by Velvet Tides, an indie rock group from Birmingham, England that shines on their 2019 single, “Into The Light.” The band lays down ambient, post punk rock similar to The War On Drugs and Slowdive.

Boundary Run is the musical project of Omaha singer/songwriter Tim Halperin and writer and producer Billy Van. Their song, “Marigolds,” is one of our favorite DIY tracks of the summer, and apparently of listeners as well. Stream below uninterrupted.

Here are the indie bands that made the July Top 10:

DAMEN – Gothenburg, Sweden
Velvet Tides – Birmingham, England
Boundary Run – Omaha, Nebraska
The Vices – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Mercvrial – Multiple Locales
Daniel Fallon – Newcastle, England
Night Lights – Los Angeles, California
Women of the Night – New York, New York
Austin David – Los Angeles, California
The Mayan Factor – Baltimore, Maryland

August Top 10 is coming up.

Text Version of Top Ten Indie Songs, July 2019

1. “Sagrada Familia” – Damen
2. “Into Light” – Velvet Tides
3. “Marigolds” – Boundary Run
4. “So It Goes” – The Vices
5. “Carnival” – Mercvrial
6. “Death of An Anthem” – Daniel Fallon
7. “Talk to Me” – Night Lights
8. “Moscow Mansions” – WOTN
9. “LIB” – Austin David
10. “Hope” – The Mayan Factor