Indie Rock

Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of January 2022

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Punk / 4 Comments

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

We’ve already posted reviews of cover albums by Pedico (pop-punk) and The Krontjong Devils (surf rock) last month, and compilations with covers of songs by Los Campesinos! and Townes Van Zandt were released, but a lot more great new covers came online.

Time Of The Season || Cover: The Ergs! || Original: The Zombies
Technically The Ergs! broke up 15 years ago, but the American punk rock band would pop up occasionally. After a new single in 2016, they’re back again, with four-track EP Time And The Season, out digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Dirtnap Records – each side opening with an original and closing with a cover. Besides The Remains’ Say You’re Sorry they’re also playing the Zombies’ Odessey & Oracle classic in their own style.

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New album: Green/Blue || Offering

By / / Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop / 1 Comment

Green/Blue made some waves with their self-titled debut in 2020. This week, the band dropped the follow-up called Offering. It’s a must hear if you like music that doesn’t suck.

Green/Blue consists of three veterans of the Minneapolis underground scene: Jim Blaha (Blind Shake/Shadow In The Cracks), Annie Sparrows (Soviettes/Awesome Snakes), and Dan Henry (Sgt 6 Assault/Dummies/France Has The Bomb). Green/Blue finds synergy between their sound and their art direction. Both are collages, a mixture of different styles where the look and sound of its parts may sound familiar, but the whole becomes its own new (and improved) thing. In the case of Green/Blue’s music there are parts of lo-fi jangle, gbv-fi, post punk, garage rock and a whole lot more. It’s hard to pinpoint any of the songs on Offering to a specific period or genre. All I know is that I’m blown away by this record.

Offering is a beast of a record. It is both subdued and exuberant, both complex and accessible, both instantly likeable and a grower. I am definitely buying this. Offering is out now on Hozac Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Kids On A Crime Spree || Fall In Love Not In Line

By / / Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Has it really been ten years since Kids On A Crime Spree emerged seemingly out of nowhere with their debut (mini)LP We Love You So Bad? It was love at first sight. An one-sided love perhaps, because the three-piece has been playing hard to get in the past decade, only releasing a handful of songs on three singles, two of which were splits with different bands.

No hard feelings though, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that. But seriously, Fall In Love Not In Line was worth the wait. The reverb heavy bubblegum powerpop of these ten songs surely will create some tsunami sized waves in the underground pop scene. The opening combo of Karl Kardel Building and When Can I See You Again? alone is worth the price of admission. All Things Fade and Boomdoom are also standouts, but you won’t find any fillers on Fall In Love Not In Line. Whatever they do, Kids On A Crime Spree make it sound all so spontaneous and effortless, almost like they can’t help writing hits like these.

What a week for Slumberland Records who simultaneously released that amazing Artsick record last Friday. If this is the bar for the good kind of pop music in 2022, we’re in for a treat.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Artsick || Fingers Crossed

By / / Indie Rock / 1 Comment

If you press the play button below, you’ll hear an indie rock band that clearly intends to deliver a convincing LP. Enthusiasm, fun and C86 influences radiate from the 11 short but powerful songs. We’re talking about Fingers Crossed, the debut full-length album with which Artsick follows up their 7″ single Going Down / No Clue (2018). We already knew the three band members from other admired projects – Christina Riley of Burnt Palms on guitar, Mario Hernandez of Kids On A Crime Spree* and Ciao Bella on drums, and Donna McKean of Lunchbox and Hard Left on bass – so we could expect some fine music, but their mutual chemistry creates a result that is more than the sum of its parts (apparently this is a successful remedy for their “artsickness”, which was the reason to do something else). “Satisfaction, where are you?” is the question in opening track Restless. The answer lies in this timeless, energetic record. RIYL: Talulah Gosh, Jeanines, Veronica Falls.

Fingers Crossed is out now digitally, on cassette, CD and vinyl LP through the always reliable Slumberland Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Slumberland

*Kids On A Crime Spree also released a new album this week, more on that in the coming days.

New album: Depress Mode || Greetings From Mission Viejo

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More goodness to satisfy those indie rock itches! To quote Larry David, the new Depress Mode record is pretty pretty pretty good. From the get go, Greetings From Mission Viejo is drenched in melancholy, with the band’s sole members (Riley Getz and Donovan Wildfong) singing about pandemic frustrations and longing for social connection on album opener I Wanna Hug My Friends. In other songs they sing about their social awkwardness (Social), and only feeling at home in their car (My Car Is My home).

Those dark and self-deprecating undertones in the lyrics juxtapose nicely with the music, that is surprisingly upbeat and infectious. It’s easy to fall for Greeting From Mission Viejo: a catchy and fun collection of lo-fi slacker rock tunes from the garage. Out now on Slugger Records!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Joy Cleaner || Spent Flowers

By / / Indie Pop, Indie Rock / Leave a Comment

Since their 2017 debut (Total Hell), I’ve been enjoying Joy Cleaner’s balancing act between ’90s alt pop and classic indie rock. For a moment, I thought Spent Flowers, which was released last Friday, was the band’s third album. Then I noticed the subtitle 2015-2020, and read the fine lines: Spent Flowers is an odds-and-ends collection with songs from cassingles, flexidiscs, digital only releases and compilations. To top it off, there are four previously unreleashed tracks.

In a literal sense, Spent Flowers may be a compilation album – not unlike Superchunk’s Tossing Seeds, but to me it feels like the band’s third album anyway. This is far from a collection of throwaways, and the sequencing gives the album a natural flow. Easter Tuesday and Car Crashing Through The Door are just some of the gems included on this record, but there are many more.

Order now on vinyl at Jigsaw Records. RIYL: The Lemonheads, Guided By Voices, Connections.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Jigsaw Records

New single: Nile Marr || How We Drift

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At the end of 2020, Nile Marr released his debut album Are You Happy Now?, on his own label Oldham Street Records. Now the UK singer/songwriter/guitarist – his first name is a tribute to Chic’s Nile Rodgers, his last name was passed on by his father Johnny (then The Smiths, now solo) – is back with two new songs, in my humble opinion the best he has recorded to date. A-side How We Drift is a powerful, up-tempo track with some great hooks, but the quieter Only Time Can Break Your Heart on the B-side is the real hit here – one you won’t get out of your head after one listen. Accessible indie pop/rock that every self-respecting radio station should add to its playlist right away.

“I’ve been keeping up with the Joneses // Turned out they’ve got a great family band // And they know all of the big hits // The songs about love that only you understand”

How We Drift  is out now digitally and on vinyl 7″ through Park The Van Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Pigeon Pit || Feather River Canyon Blues

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Rock, Punk / 4 Comments

As stated in my AOTY list, I thought 2021 was a great year for music. If the early releases are any indication, 2022 seems destined to continue on that path. The Drolls and Sweet Knives already dropped great records, and here is another one. It is a record I found myself playing front-to-back this weekend while taking a walk outside in dreary weather – not skipping any of the songs. I am talking about Feather River Canyon Blues by Pigeon Pit, a band I admittedly hadn’t heard before.

I immediately warmed up to folky indie rock of Pigeon Pit, although I probably should also include emo, punk, bluegrass and country when describing the sound of the band. This broad range of musical genres may scream RED FLAG! to some, but Pigeon Pit pull it off and make it sound very natural. In addition to the classic drums, guitar and bass setup, Pigeon Pit tastefully incorporates the fiddle, pedal steel and banjo. Meanwhile, all 7 members of the band contribute vocals, giving the songs a communal feeling.

There are a lot of elements I enjoy about Feather River Canyon Blues. For one, the songs are as earnest as they are catchy. In their execution, Pigeon Pit kinda sounds like a mix of John K Samson/The Weakerthans, Nana Grizol, Pinegrove, Conor Oberst and Neutral Milk Hotel – all good in my book. Then there are the cool and slightly unnerving parts where multiple singers sing different lyrics over the same melody line, for example in the standout Milk Crates. Another strength of Pigeon Pit on this particular record is how they strike the perfect balance between more jubilant tracks and more introspective ones, giving the record exactly the right kind of flow that makes listening to the record such a rewarding experience. The sequence of Milk Crates – The River – Empties is a great example of this.

I can see myself playing this a lot this year!




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: TAPE TOY || Honey, WTF

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When I saw the cover art, for a moment I thought that Nobunny was back at the front, but this release has nothing to do with American garage rocker Justin Champlin, recognizable by his bunny mask. No, this is the Dutch “bubble grunge” band TAPE TOY, and Honey, WTF is their highly anticipated debut album. In recent years we have already heard several entertaining singles from the Amsterdam four-piece, with Dive Deeper (2019) as their biggest hit, but now there is finally a first full-length – created from a broken heart and a grieving process, and musically rooted in 90’s indie rock with quiet/loud dynamics. It may be less exuberant than their previous work, but the more mature, serious and personal character of the 12 new songs has resulted in a well-balanced record that gets better and better after a few spins.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Flaming Top Hat || Photographs And Water

By / / Indie Rock / 2 Comments

The first days of the new year I enjoyed myself with Photographs And Water, Flaming Top Hat’s debut album that came out on the penultimate day of last year. The 9 electronic indie rock songs here – more than 46 minutes in total – are raw, honest and intriguing. Flaming Top Hat is a solo project by Ellie Blake. Especially for a solo effort, the tracks are surprisingly diverse and rich, with quiet/loud dynamics, complex structures and long, personal lyrics. I asked Ellie how her music came about: “A lot of the songs come from the general stress of relocating yourself and not really knowing who you are and what to define yourself by, influenced by a big move I did across the summer from West Virginia where I lived for 6 years and had a semi-solid grasp on life, to Oregon, where I don’t know anyone and I’ve gotta sort myself out and figure out like what I need to do and meet new people and all that because there’s no status quo to rely on. This arguably most comes through on my personal favorites, The Bathroom Floor Song, a ten-minute-long possibly narrative song that’s vaguely about my life from September, when I arrived in Oregon, to late December when I finished the album. Most of the other songs serve as just little snapshots of emotion influenced by little moments in my life and the music I’ve been listening to, such as interpolation of The Beach Boys’ song I’m Waiting for the Day at the end of Rigor Mortis (Summer).” For me, Talk About Your Day stands out: it’s just as melancholic and slightly gloomy as the rest, but most relatable, and ending with some good vibrations.

Photographs And Water is out now digitally. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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