Tag: Indie Rock
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Alex G ‘Trick’ (2012)
Alex G is the stage alias of Alex Giannascoli, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who built his reputation with intimate lo-fi pop that combines strong melodic sensibilities with a ragged performance style. Trick was self-recorded with an unpolished charm that’s prominent from the opening song, and the album’s bedroom pop aesthetic stands out in an increasingly…
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The Promise Ring ‘Nothing Feels Good’ (1997)
As a certifiable emo kid in my teens there were a few albums that had an outsized impact on many of my favorite bands. I didn’t know it at the time, but some of my favorite artists like Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, and Jimmy Eat World owed a ton to Nothing Feels Good by…
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Arctic Monkeys ‘AM’ (2013)
Arctic Monkeys had somewhat of a second coming with their fifth studio album AM in that they did what has been nearly impossible for British rock bands over the last 40 years– completely take over American radio stations well over a decade into their career. The journey began years earlier when they harnessed the power…
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Phoebe Bridgers ‘Stranger in the Alps’ (2017)
Phoebe Bridgers’ debut album Stranger in the Alps is steeped in melancholy, with lyrics that expose some pretty raw emotional depths. But despite the dark themes she explores with reckless abandon, there’s a subtle, self-aware humor woven into every song on this album, as if Bridgers wants to reassure listeners that she’s somehow okay. Case…
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Tame Impala ‘Currents’ (2015)
With Currents, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker takes a bold step away from the introspective isolation that characterized his earlier albums, marking a profound evolution in his artistry. It manifests itself in many ways– the lyrical themes, the musical structure, and the instrumentation. Parker’s approach to this album reflects a desire to explore the complexities of…
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Sonic Youth ‘Daydream Nation’ (1988)
There are few bands who truly redefined a specific genre of music. Sonic Youth is certainly one of them. Emerging from the American underground in the mid-80’s, the band’s inventive use of alternate tunings, dissonance, and feedback was combined with the intensity of hardcore punk and further imbued with the performance art aesthetic of New…
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Mannequin Pussy ‘Patience’ (2019)
Outside of the stellar band name (you’re lying if this one didn’t catch your eye immediately), Mannequin Pussy is a pretty exceptional punk rock band. I first heard Patience earlier this year and was immediately gripped by its earnest accessibility. The album strikes a balance between chaotic energy and profound vulnerability, filled with intricate melodies…
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The Smiths ‘The Smiths’ (1984)
The Smiths have been an Indie Rock touchstone since forming in 1982 in Manchester, England, and have had a profound impact on alternative music and the culture surrounding it. Their jangly guitars, melancholic melodies, and introspective lyrics helped define the “sad boy” genre with Morrissey’s grim outlook on life. The Smiths frontman has a distinct…
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The National ‘Boxer’ (2007)
It’s been a few years since I’ve listened to Boxer. I burned through this album during my early 20’s (it was my de facto soundtrack during my commute up highway 280 from Cupertino to San Mateo during my first job out of college) and it sounds just as great as it did back then. The…
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The Matches ‘Decomposer’ (2006)
My love for The Matches was first sparked by their debut album E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals. It was one of the first pop punk albums that truly felt personal to me in a significant way– as I wrote earlier this year when reviewing the album: There was a point in high school where…
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Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer ‘Self-Titled’ (2002)
As I wrote in my writeup for Circa Survive’s magnum opus On Letting Go, I’m a huge stan for Anthony Green. From my perspective everything he touches is gold: The obvious element which makes it work Anthony Green. Green’s prolific artistic output as both a member of multiple bands (he currently fronts four of them)…
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Hot Snakes ‘Jericho Sirens’ (2018)
Hot Snakes’ Jericho Sirens marked a triumphant return for the garage punk band, delivering a raw, electrifying blend of punk rock and post-hardcore that captured the ferocious energy and unrefined edge that defined Hot Snakes’ sound during the mid-aughts. The record is notable for its urgent, driving rhythms and jagged guitar riffs, hallmarks of their…
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Fucked Up ‘David Comes To Life’ (2011)
The words “rock opera” and “hardcore punk” usually don’t go together for obvious reasons– rock operas are typically self-indulgent affairs with highly detailed musical accompaniment that unveils the story over a protracted period of time, while hardcore punk is raw and emotionally charged that attempts to get to the point quickly. Marrying the two together…
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The Smashing Pumpkins ‘Siamese Dream’ (1993)
Released in 1993, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream stands as a defining artifact of 90s alternative rock, capturing a pivotal moment in the genre’s evolution. At a time when grunge was peaking with albums like Nirvana’s 1991 magnum opus Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten, Siamese Dream emerged as a bold statement, blending the…
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Two Door Cinema Club ‘Tourist History’ (2010)
Jangly and energetic guitar-driven Indie Rock was all the rage during the late aughts and early 2010’s, especially across the pond in Europe. Irish-based Two Door Cinema Club’s debut album Tourist History (aptly named after their hometown of Bangor which is a popular tourist destination) is one of those albums that somewhat flew under the…
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TV on the Radio ‘Return to Cookie Mountain’ (2006)
Return to Cookie Mountain was released during my freshman year of high school. One of my new friends in that class burned me a copy to listen to and I distinctly remember the feeling I had when I first heard “I Was a Lover”. It was a feeling of wonderment, strangeness, and utter disbelief. Being…
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The Mother Hips ‘Pacific Dust’ (2009)
The Mother Hips are somewhat of a Bay Area institution having delivered their brand of 90’s alternative meets 70’s classic rock for over 30 years now. Pacific Dust carries on the spirit of what has made The Mother Hips such a fixture in the Northern California music scene– dynamic guitar parts, rock-steady rhythm section, and…
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The Strokes ‘Is This It’ (2001)
There are great musical achievements that stand the test of time. There are bands who are just fucking cool. And there are bands who catch fire out of nowhere before capturing the attention of the entire world. It’s not often those traits intersect so perfectly that the Venn Diagram ends up looking like a circle.…
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Grizzly Bear ‘Shields’ (2012)
I remember being in an absolute haze watching Grizzly Bear at Outside Lands in 2013, the year after they went on tour supporting Shields, and being absolutely blown away by their live performance. This was a band who had found a way to tap into the more obscure side of Indie Rock, infused with peculiar…
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The Temper Trap ‘Conditions’ (2009)
I spent the better part of last weekend listening to The Temper Trap’s 2009 album Conditions and asking myself if this album was a low-key late aughts masterpiece that time somewhat forgot. The Australian-based quartet has all of the delayed glittery guitar grandiose of Edge from U2, the driving rhythm section of Coldplay that sounds…
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Wallows ‘Nothing Happens’ (2019)
Nothing Happens is the debut studio album from Indie Pop group Wallows, who has taken the city of Los Angeles by storm in the past few years. One of the primary reasons why? The band is comprised of B-list actors Dylan Minnette (best known for his role as Clay Jensen in the Netflix smash hit…
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Alberta Cross ‘Broken Side of Time’ (2009)
Alberta Cross was a mainstay for me during college, and still stands to this day as one of my favorite alternative rock albums. Their blend of darkly sinister guitar riffs that sounded as if the apocalypse was around the corner, clear respect for the traditions of the blues, absolutely thumping rhythm sections, and the haunting…
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My Morning Jacket ‘It Still Moves’ (2003)
Well before My Morning Jacket turned the corner from underground darling into a mainstream adjacent band that your mom saw perform on the Jimmy Fallon show (she enjoyed it), they were a group of reverb-lovin’ good ole boys from Lousville, Kentucky that loved to get out there and crank out 8-minute meandering folk rock rock…
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Local Natives ‘Gorilla Manor’ (2010)
Gorilla Manor was an absolute gem of an album when it was released in 2010 and almost immediately became a fixture during my final years of college. Everything about this album brings me back to those sunny days in Isla Vista, feeling the wind on your face as you biked past front yards littered with…
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Motion City Soundtrack ‘Commit This To Memory’ (2005)
Motion City Soundtrack was a perennial favorite of mine during high school. This was the era of my life when pop punk reigned supreme and I immediately found connection with Motion City Soundtrack for a variety of reasons– our shared Midwest roots (we both hail from the Twin Cities in Minnesota), their unique blend of…
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The War On Drugs ‘A Deeper Understanding’ (2017)
A Deeper Understanding felt like a spiritual experience the first time I heard it. Principal songwriter and lead vocalist Adam Granduciel had created a world so lush and abundant it was almost disorienting at first– melodies that bloomed and transformed before your eyes, soft and sentimental, seemingly lacking a true center. It all sounded so…
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Blur ‘Blur’ (1997)
As you can probably imagine I try to expose my two kids to as much different music as possible. Every album I’ve written about over the last 15 months they’ve heard at least one song off of (I start each trip to and from daycare with one song off my album of the day and…
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Big Thief ‘U.F.O.F.’ (2019)
There’s a real beauty in seizing a moment in space that captures a specific period of time. It’s a concept that Big Thief managed to capture during the recording of their third full-length album U.F.O.F. Featuring majestic soundscapes, ethereal vocal melodies, and subtle mood changes that matriculate throughout the entirety of the experience, Big Thief’s…
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The Long Winters ‘Putting The Days To Bed’ (2006)
The Long Winters never fail to remind me of my college years for a handful of reasons. Putting The Days To Bed was released during my senior year of high school and was a mainstay during that summer as well as my freshman year in the Francisco Torres dorm rooms (6th floor represent!) at UC…
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Weezer ‘Blue Album’ (1994)
Weezer’s debut album Weezer (more commonly known as the Blue Album) took nerd rock into the mainstream and kicked off what has since been a massively successful career. The album was produced by the great Ric Ocasek of The Cars fame, and his power pop influence can be heard extensively throughout the record in all…
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Teenage Halloween ‘Till You Return’ (2023)
Teenage Halloween has exploded onto the underground pop punk scene in recent years backed by their earnest and fervent take on growing up as a young person in America who doesn’t quite fit in. Till You Return is an explosion of energy, encapsulating thematic subject matter that ranges from self-identity (the vast majority of the…
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Peach Pit ‘Being So Normal’ (2018)
As a guitar player I sort of hate listening to Being So Normal by Peach Pit because it’s such a goddamn perfect guitar record. Neil Smith and Christopher Vanderkooy absolutely shred their way through the entirety of the album with dynamic and unique lead and rhythm parts– it’s in their phrasing, note selection, rhythm, and…
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Death Cab For Cutie ‘Plans’ (2005)
Death Cab For Cutie’s lead singer and songwriter Ben Gibbard has been such a fixture in the Indie Rock scene for so long now that it’s easy to forget in 2005 Death Cab was just beginning to reach their star power. Following 2003’s excellent Transatlanticism that was released independently and saw the band achieve cult-like…
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Cigarettes After Sex ‘Self-Titled’ (2017)
We’ve talked previously about how some albums are an aesthetic as much as they are a collection of songs (The XX’s self-titled 2009 debut and Bon Iver’s 2008 album For Emma, Forever Ago being two great examples), and Cigarettes After Sex is undoubtedly a band that fits that mold perfectly. Featuring reverb-soaked guitar arpeggios, soft…
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Matthew. ‘Yesterday & Forever Ago’ (2023)
Today we’ll be covering my debut LP Yesterday & Forever Ago, which was officially released this morning. I previously covered the pretty wild turn of events that came about during the recording of this album in my writeup of the EP I released earlier this year entitled CAMBRIA: The Lost Sessions, so I won’t belabor…
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Brand New ‘The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me’ (2006)
It’s hard to put into words what Brand New meant to me during my late teens and early 20’s. They were undoubtedly one of my favorite bands for a long period of time, held the top spot for a good chunk of that, and spanned multiple groups of friends. Deja Entendu was the soundtrack to…
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