Tag: Indie Rock
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Petey ‘USA’ (2023)
Petey’s USA is a self-reflective romp through Indie rock and post-punk, combining avant-garde musical elements alongside lyrics that evoke a Virginia Woolf-esque stream of consciousness delivered with earnestness. Petey’s voice reminds me significantly of Andy Hull’s from Manchester Orchestra in the way he enunciates specific words and sort of cascades through his higher notes. It’s…
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Sam Fender ‘Seventeen Going Under’ (2021)
The very first time I heard “Seventeen Going Under” I cried like a baby. There was something about Sam Fender’s voice and the musical arrangement accompanying him that moved me in that moment, a gravitas that held a meaning I didn’t quite understand but was committed to figure out. It’s the languished longing of his…
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La Bouquet ‘Sad People Dancing’ (2019)
80’s music has had a significant resurgence over the past decade or so, rolling back in full force over a range of genres. You don’t need to look further than pop heavyweight The Weeknd’s 2020 album After Hours, Lady Gaga’s Chromatica, the success of films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Top Gun II in…
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Rainbow Kitten Surprise ‘RKS’ (2015)
Rainbow Kitten Surprise was quite the surprise (yes, pun intended) for me when I flipped on their album RKS yesterday. It was suggested to me by someone in January when I was collecting album recommendations for my one album per day listening project and ended up on a spreadsheet unattributed. Put another way, I have…
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The Shins ‘Oh, Inverted World’ (2001)
During the indie pop folk craze that dominated the early 2000’s, The Shins were gigantic. It’s pretty much impossible for anyone in my generation to not at least be vaguely familiar with the two singles “Caring Is Creepy” and “New Slang” based off their prominence in the Garden State film featuring Zach Braff, Natalie Portman,…
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Augustana ‘All The Stars and Boulevards’ (2005)
It’s only fitting we kick off the month of August with a band that bears the month’s namesake. Just putting that out there. Augustana’s 2006 All The Stars and Boulevards was released during my junior year of high school, a period of time in which college selection really ramps up and prospective college students like…
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Harvey Danger ‘Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?’ (1997)
Filled with sardonic wit and blissfully fuzzed-out guitars, Harvey Danger’s debut album Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone is a chef’s kiss representation of all the things that made 90’s alternative so titillating. Sean Nelson’s sneering and detached vocal approach is frankly a match made in heaven alongside Jeff Lin’s overdriven guitars, Aaron Huffman’s bouncing…
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Minus the Bear ‘Omni’ (2010)
Minus the Bear’s alternative prog rock bonafides had been well established by the time 2010’s Omni was released. As a high schooler I burned up their debut album Highly Refined Pirates, which featured math rock staples such as “Monkey!!!Knife!!!Fight!!!” and “Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse”. These were the days when alternative indie bands…
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ‘B.R.M.C’ (2001)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has largely been somewhat of a cult underground rock band for over two decades now, dipping into the mainstream during the garage rock revival in the mid 2000’s. They are a rock fan’s rock band through and through— grimy guitars, garage rock edgy drums, bass tones loaded with fuzz, and straightforward…
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Wye Oak ‘Civilian’ (2011)
There’s something desperately lonely about Wye Oak’s 2011 effoort Civilian, from the pensive guitars, moody vocal melodies, and aggressively driven percussion. Lead vocalist Jenn Wasner never lets a good minor key vocal melody go to waste, and her dark indie folk brand of songwriting is as immediately recognizable as it is visceral. The whole thing…
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Broken Social Scene ‘You Forgot It In People’ (2002)
Broken Social Scene were Indie darlings in the early aughts, known for their ambient instrumentals and song structures that featured an eclectic collection of musicians. What I’ve always appreciated about the group is how freely their members floated in and out of the group. Over the course of their 25-year history as a band, Broken…
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The Hold Steady ‘Boys and Girls in America’ (2006)
Boys and Girls in America was an incredibly formative album for me. I was maybe a month in to my freshman year of college when the album dropped, and after previously falling in love with The Hold Steady’s concept album Separation Sunday, which is quite honestly a must-listen as well for any fan of rich…
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Manchester Orchestra ‘A Black Mile To The Surface’ (2017)
Initially a part of the mainstream emo/alternative rock wave in the early 2000’s with bands like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday, Manchester Orchestra has hung around long enough (and been bold enough) to take on more evolved sonic stylings as their career has progressed. A Black Mile To The Surface effectively sounds like the…
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The xx ‘xx’ (2009)
The xx are almost as much as an aesthetic as they are a music group. Featuring guitars drenched in reverby delay, light electronic drum machines, subtle ambient synths, and thick bass lines that pulsate underneath it all, their minimalism is just as important as their message. Frankly it’s safe to say it’s more so. Softly…
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