#indie-rock

#indie-rock

The Fiery Furnaces had no expectations for their second album, 2004's Blueberry Boat. The sibling duo recorded it before their debut had even come out, and so had no idea that 2003's Gallowsbird's Bark would receive such wild acclaim: in an 8.4 review, Pitchfork called its shambolic rock'n'roll and frontwoman Eleanor Friedberger's arcane lyricism a a mess of weird, undulating musical bits that are hugely intriguing despite not always making a whole shitload of sense.

For a prolific auteur bent on creating a cultlike fanbase, it's essential to the sort of world-building that breeds obsession. What would the Guided by Voices discography be without its slight montages of moth-eaten ephemera; Belle and Sebastian without their early hot streak of loosies? While the streaming era has made it easy to tack bonus tracks onto a "deluxe" release or pad a record with a skippable song that might not fit into its intended vision, Joseph Stevens' lounge-pop project Peel Dream Magazine recognizes the importance of the curated yet fleeting drop.

We were trying to regroup and lick our wounds by throwing parties. We lived in Islington Mill Studios in Salford, a rundown cotton mill where students would create their textile designs. We only had three songs That's Not My Name, Shut Up and Let Me Go and Great DJ so we'd perform on stage, DJ CDs badly and pump out music. I'd jump on the drums with a loop pedal, Katie would throw on my Strat, we'd art punk it out and it felt amazing.

Listening to Snooper, the American rock band that started up in 2020 and has since rocketed to indie rock stardom, you get the impression that the band is made up of pranksters. The genre is "egg-punk", which feels like a joke in of itself - characterised in the 2010s it's defined by a satirical tone, wry lyrics, cheapo sound and use of internet memes. But the unabashed fun of Snooper is what has garnered them such a dedicated fanbase.

Perhaps it was our collective ages (millennials and Gen-X'ers who once naively thought George W. Bush would be the worst president of our lifetime) or the fact that it was a Monday evening, but the energy was less a frenzied electricity and more a grounded glow-radiating from bodies softer than the ones we squeezed into American Apparel bodysuits twenty years ago.

Like other Midwest rockers before them- The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, and Guided By Voices all come to mind-Liquid Mike like their runtimes short, their guitars loud, and their hooks easy to sing along to no matter how many beers you've had. The band's first five albums were mostly inspired by Maple's time driving the mail truck around Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the small-town shenanigans he and his friends got up to off the clock.

If you're at all interested in power-pop, Guided by Voices-esque indie rock, or melodic bangers with big guitars and even bigger choruses, you've likely already helped yourself to a nice, tall glass of Liquid Mike. Their back catalog and last year's breakthrough album, Paul Bunyan's Slingshot, speak for themselves. And if you haven't yet quenched your thirst for rock 'n' roll with Liquid Mike, now's as good a time as ever to take that first sip.

So many artists, so many songs, so little time. Each week we review a handful of new albums (of all genres), round up even more new music that we'd call "indie," and talk about what metal is coming out. We post music news, track premieres, and more all day. We update a playlist weekly of some of our current favorite tracks.

The Frank O'Hara poem "Katy" features seven lines of self-assessing declarations. It is the fifth line that I get the most mileage out of: "I am never quiet, I mean silent." When I am teaching writing workshops, specifically with young writers, teen-agers who-in many cases-have not let their sense of wonder be battered by waves of irony or cynicism, I ask them what distinctions they see between "quiet" and "silent."

Three-quarters of the way through Hand Habits ' 2021 album , Meg Duffy let loose an unexpected wail on "Concrete & Feathers," their voice twisting to an anguished howl. On their first few releases, Duffy had mostly sung in a hushed voice over intimate, introspective indie rock. But on their third album, they took bolder turns, occasionally bursting into instrumental catharsis-and pushing their singing to newly commanding territory.

The reissue of Hallelujah Sirens includes the band’s debut album and 2005 EP on vinyl for the first time, along with two new tracks.

Aston realized the combination of Gedge’s conversational lyrics and orchestral arrangements felt like musical theatre, leading to the creation of Reception: A New Musical.

"Teethe's new album, Magic of the Sale, showcases their signature slowcore sound characterized by a laid-back approach and an unmistakable melancholic tone that resonates deeply."

The Flaming Lips kicked off their co-headlining tour with Modest Mouse by teaming up with MM's frontman Isaac Brock for a collaborative cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" in honor of Osbourne.

"Airbnb continues to make money from stolen Palestinian land and contributes to the housing crisis worldwide. We do not wish to promote or profit from this. Free Palestine. Eat the Rich."

"This was the first time I've ever written lyrics in Korean," Zauner shared in a press statement. "Anyone who's familiar with my work knows how much my Korean heritage has come to mean to me, so it was very personal to collaborate with such a revered Korean band and to create something for a larger Korean audience."

Billy Jones, cofounder of Baby's All Right, transformed the New York indie music scene through intimate venues, showcasing unheralded talent and fostering community connections.

D4VD, born David Burke, emerged as a visionary artist only one year after he began writing and recording heart-piercing tracks alone in his sister's closet in Houston, Texas.

"Absolutely crazy that so-called 'journalists' keep pushing the lazy, baseless theory that The Velvet Sundown is 'AI-generated' with zero evidence..."

Hearing it for the first time, I finally thought, 'All right, I think we got something special here,' reflects Will Anderson, capturing the essence of the album.

Big Thief's upcoming album, Double Infinity, is set to release on September 5, featuring a mix of collaborators and showcasing the band's signature sound in a new light.