The DIY (and small label) top 10 songs for March 2022 features kick-ass songs from DIY artists and bands stretching from the tip of Ireland to the urban sprawl of Los Angeles.
These are also ALL artists and bands to watch in our opinion; otherwise they would not have made this top 10 playlist because there are too many promising artists and bands around that many of you have never heard of – and admittedly, plenty that we didn’t know of; which is the great gift of music discovery.
Check out the other top 10s if you dig this; share and like if you can and don’t miss our new Top 50 playlists – dope, dope music only here at Indie Rock Cafe – celebrating 15 years of music blogging.
It may just be us, but Junk Drawer reminds us of a British Kurt Vile while Car Boot Sale is sounding heavily Spoon-influenced (not a bad thing). The crooning of Niall Mutter is captivating and soothing while Operation Man also shows off his vocal skills and pop sensibilities.
True that not all of these artists/bands are DIY in the traditional sense, but we consider small labels as ‘DIY’ much of the time to make things easier.
This top 10 playlist is in no particular order – you pick your favs. It’s too good of a playlist to sort out that way. All that matters is the music and whether you feel it or not.
NOTE: The number in parenthesis indicates the number of monthly listeners on Spotify.
Check out more of our playlists on IRC’s Spotify profile – many of which have been carefully, and manually, curated over the years, covering themes from VIPs in songs to world music and from best seasons playlists to playlists of great indie/alt rock/folk/pop covering themes like world countries, states, love, moods, and everyday, ordinary things. A must-check-it-out-collection. Promise.
Hans Williams is a twenty-year-old songwriter from Vermont who is an artist to watch thanks to a number of heartfelt tracks and a promising future in music.
This is shown specifically in Williams’ 2020 mini-hit DIY single, “Body On My Shoulders”. This song was written about a tragic experience Williams had.
His latest track, “All Is Well,” is, in a sense, a follow-up to “Body on My Shoulders.”
Williams wrote the latter as a way to process the suicide of his roommate who Williams was the first to discover.
The newer track, he says, is about “the period of time before I felt ready to have those conversations – before I realized what real catharsis lay behind the barrier of opening up.”
“This song is about the fear and guilt I dealt with after the fact”, Williams explains in an Instagram post.
“The completion of this song in a way feels like I’ve let some of that guilt and fear go. I hope it can do the same for anyone dealing with tragedy”.
As a result, he is receiving many messages from individuals who connect with the song through a similar experience.
In response to these conversations, Williams notes that he feels validated upon hearing that others face similar tragedies and respond in the same way that he has.
It’s funny – and alarming – how quickly trends are changing in music these days. The jaunty indie pop of Minnesota’s Hippo Campus isn’t old-fashioned now, more just out-of-season: much of their new album recalls Vampire Weekend’s work on ‘Modern Vampires of the City’ (2013) in its vibrantly preppy presentation.
Perhaps that’s why the band decided to name their third album simply as ‘LP3’: it’s a statement of intent, a sign that they mean business. It’s been four long years since their sophomore album – albeit with a brief EP (‘Good Dog, Bad Dream’) released last year – and ‘LP3’ is the sound of Hippo Campus reconvening. Most of the band recently took time out to pursue side projects: frontman Jake Luppen became Lupin, Nathan Stocker became Brotherkenzie, and the pair worked with producer Caleb Hinz (also the producer of ‘LP3’) to make their debut record as Baby Boys.
You feel that Hinz has much to do with the quality of production on this album. Not a widely known name but simply another school friend of the band’s from Minnesota, he has risen to the challenge superbly with bright and bubbly production, with the caveat that a debt of gratitude to Rostam Batmanglij’s work on ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’ appears to be a clear influence.
Irish indie rock bands like Fontaine DC and Silverbacks headline IRC’s first bi-monthly best new singles report of 2022.
We also just posted our Best Songs of 2021 – 125 amazing tracks from the best indie and non-indie albums of the year (and it was a blockbuster year for albums!). Plus, new music from Pavement, Spiritualized and Holodrum.
Dublin indie rockers Fontaines DC just announced a new album Skinty Fia for release this spring. The first new single from the band’s forthcoming third album is the driving first single “Jackie Down The Line”.
There’s confusion about the title of the album swirling around. Basically ‘skinty fia’ is an expletive, but historically it’s an Irish phrase that translates to ‘the damnation of the deer.’ Over time, the original meaning has been Anglicized and diluted.
The band have also announced a North American tour for this spring along with fellow Irish band Just Mustard.
Fontaines DC is one of the hottest Irish indie rock bands of the past half decade. The band members are Grian Chatten, Carlos O’Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan III, and Tom Coll.
Silverbacks start ’22 wih latest single from Archive Material
Irish indie band Silverbacks kick off 2022 with the fourth single, “A Job Worth Something”, from the Archive Material album due out later this month.
“A Job Worth Something” is latest single drop and their first new material of the year. The previous three singles dropped include “Rolodex City”, “Archive Material” and “Wear My Medals”.
“For most of the pandemic I lived with my sister who is a healthcare worker and was working in the designated Covid hospital in St James’ Dublin,” says frontman Daniel O’Kelly. “Unfortunately, I was far less heroic, writing copy for a car insurance company.”
“This song is about feeling embarrassed about how different our lives were at this time,” O’Kelly adds. “When it comes to telling my grandchildren what all this was like, I’ll be telling them about my sisters who have more important stories to share.”
Archive Material drops officially on January 21 .
Pavement drops ‘new’ single from massive Terror Twilight re-issue
As one of the clear purveyors of the indie/alt rock sound slack rockers Pavement will drop a deluxe reissue of Terror Twilight in February with three previously unreleased songs. Here is one of them: “Be The Hook”. Thoughts?
Matador Records will release the reissue on April 8th. According to the label, the reissue will reincarnate producer Nigel Goodrich‘s (Beck, Radiohead) original track listing suggestion along with Pavement’s final track order.
The four LP/2-CD editions will also include a book featuring previously unreleased photos and notes. Obviously, a must-have for die-hard Pavement fans.
The reissue includes a stunning 45 tracks and a remastering of the original album, as well as B-sides, rehearsal tapes, live recordings, home demos, rehearsal tapes, live recordings and sessions – such as recordings from a scrapped session at Sonic Youth’s Echo Canyon studio. In all, the compilation offers 28 unreleased tracks, including “Be The Hook.”
The LP will restore Terror‘s producer Nigel Goodrich (Radiohead, Beck) suggested sequence, yet the new CD will preserve the final track order lined up by Pavement.
U.K. indie trailblazers Spiritutalized drop second single
Ahead of the release of their forthcoming new album, long-time English space rockers Spiritualized unveiled a video for the fresh single, “Crazy.”
The single follows the release of the first single, and opener, “Always Together With You” from the upcoming album release, Everything Was Beautiful, set to drop February 25 on Fat Possum.
For 30 years, Spiritualized, easily one of the U.K.’s first popular ‘indie’ bands, has remained innovative and relevant. The new country-soul single features backing vocals from Nikki Lane. Directing the video – and inspired by Andy Warhol’s 60’s silent film, Kiss – frontman Jason Pierce, a.k.a., J Spaceman.
Speaking of ‘crazy’, the album was recorded in 11 different studios over a couple of years. Pierce plays 16 different instruments on the album with help from some 30 invited musicians, including choirs, chimes, brass and string section and finger bells.
“I felt like I’d been in training for this my whole life,” Pierce said in a statement. “There was so much information on it that the slightest move would unbalance it, but going around in circles is important to me.
“Not like you’re spiraling out of control but you’re going around and around and on each revolution you hold onto the good each time. Sure, you get mistakes as well, but you hold on to some of those too and that’s how you kind of… achieve. Well, you get there.”
Holodrum drops debut single “Free Advice”
Shimmering with disco-like electro-pop, U.K. supergroup Holodrum has drop the debut single, “Free Advice”. The track is layered and complex and atmospheric.
“When it comes to doing music, most bands fall between two extremes of doing it for some goal or as an end to itself,” says guitarist/vocalist Sam Shjipstone. “I think Holodrum is about the joy and complexity of living, and I just hope to god everyone gets to have a good time doing it.”
“[Free Advice] expresses the state of feeling invincible in the face of adversity,” says lead vocalist Emily Garner, “and acts quite explicitly as a piece of good advice, applicable to anyone that’s gone out of their way just to harsh your vibe.”
The accompanying video is steep deep in technicolour with 8-bit animation. “[It] mostly includes things we miss and love about being in a band. Namely jamming, travelling, seeing stuff and enjoying the local delicacies. Iced in a candy-core palette, the video art is a motion collage of 2D, 2.5D and isometric 3D graphics.” shares the group.
“Free Advice” is out now and the debut album drops February 25.
Charlie Duda – “Roller Coaster” -If you are looking for top notch vocal blending and a toe-tapping good tune, give Charlie Duda a spin. This new track “Roller Coaster” is perfect for you summer adventuring playlist. I love everything from the guitars to the vocals. The composition feels like what that carefree summer sound is supposed to be. I could almost squeal like I’m going down a bit hill listening to this one. As a fan of music history, I love the snowball of historic music influences rolled into this remarkable pop rock hit.
JSteph – “Those days” -So the folks who shared this track with us didn’t classify it as indie pop, but I think it fits really well. The commercial mix makes it really stand out compared to a lot of the lofi productions we get. But it is undeniably pop and we’re super excited to support the energetic vocal style on this one. “We were free to chase our dreams.” Something about this one reminds me of the excitement when I heard Ben Rector’s “Old Friends.” The 80s-90s synth sound doesn’t always connect for us, but it’s absolutely perfect on this one. I never had a Starter jacket back in the day, but this song reminded me how much I wanted one.
Johnny Cattini – “You only call me when you’re lonely” -If you’re a fan of singer songwriters, you’ll like Johnny Cattini’s sound. I love the vocal blending on this one a lot. Something about Cattini’s tone reminds me of Rusty Clanton, so obviously I’m a fan. The overall energy of the track is thoroughly pop, albeit in a sweetly understated way. This is the kind of track that I could listen to over and over. I put it on two playlists on Soundcloud and will put it on another on Spotify shortly. That’s how I really feel about this beautiful, well-written, and well-produced indie pop tune.
