Indie Rock

New single: Christopher Walkman || If I Had A Band Part 2

By / / Indie Pop, Indie Rock / 2 Comments

To finish the title of his new single, if Christopher Walkman had a band, he would write gorgeous indie pop songs with cool guitar work.

If I had A Band  Part 2 is the latest single of Christopher Walkman, an Arnhem (Netherlands) based singer-songwriter who also plays in the more noiserock oriented band Jellephant. That band has a record coming up later this year, and Jellephant member Jelle Haagsma provides bass and drums on the new single of Walkman, further joint by Mischa Hager on guitar. If I Had A Band Part 2 is the follow up to 2017’s If I Had A Band. Walkman also released a full length last year but that is a solo effort that is specifically folk oriented. On the single, Walkman plays a clean version of scrappy indiepop that is uptempo and forward moving. Both songs are strong, but I particularly am taken by Oh No.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The BQs | Tentatively Escaping

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

At Add To Wantlist, we love to post about bands that fly under the radar. Raleigh (North Carolina) band The BQs are a good example. Their new record Tentatively Escaping immediately grabs my attention, and yet I can’t find any info on the band. I have to assume the band is named after its frontman and main songwriter Brian Quast. Here is another guess: The BQs are big fans of the fuzzy powerpop of Teenage Fanclub and the guitar magic of War On Drugs: The songs on Tentatively Escaping sound like a hybrid of both those acts, and it works surprisingly well. I know nothing about the BQs, but they deserve to be more than a blip on the radar.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Invisible Rays || Landline b/w Bloom

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Let’s start with the bad news: This two-song single by Somerville (MA) based Invisible Rays is currently digital only. The good news, particularly for fans of music that doesn’t suck, is that Landline and Bloom are two killer indie rock tracks. There is a warmth and breezyness to the indie rock of Invisible Rays, which sounds equally fresh as authentically from the ’90s. Landline is the most straightforward indie rock of the two with some great dynamics, and some well-timed palm muted guitars. Bloom, in contrast, has hints of ’80s jangly powerpop. What both song have in common though is their catchiness. More where this came from, please!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New album: Motorists || Surrounded

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

The Motorists debut album Surrounded evokes an immediate sense of nostalgia, particularly to the jangly powerpop of the ’80s but also to the postpunk and other guitar-oriented genres from that era. Craig Fahner, Matt Learoyd, and Jesse Locke make up the band from Canada. They started three years ago, although the member have a history of being in bands together going back to their teenage years. Past bands of Fahner, Learoyd and Locke include Feel Alright, Leather Jacuzzi, Tough Age, Simply Saucer, We Knew and Chandra.

Motorists first caught my ears with their excellent 2020 EP From The Wreckage. Its follow up Surrounded is by no means a perfect album, and the fact that Motorists do not try to hide their imperfections is part of their charm. It gives the song an authentic rough-around-the-edges feel and I’m pretty sure the band will sound more or less like this at their live shows. Fahner (guitar) and Learoyd (bass) alternate and complement each other well, and in combination with the steady beat of Locke, they give each song a distinct vibe. The power pop oriented songs are my favorites, and Through To You is the kind of underground hit that wouldn’t look out of place on any powerpop lost hits compilation from the 70s or 80s. The more postpunk oriented songs like title track Surrounded work as well, particularly because Motorists has a talent for offsetting angular riff heavy verses with catchy and straightforward choruses. I am definitely buying this co-release by We Are Time, Debt Offensive and Bobo Integral Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Liquid Mike || Stuntman

By / / Indie Rock, Power Pop / 4 Comments

Liquid Mike is a five piece from Marquette, Michigan who just dropped their debut album Stuntman. Liquid Mike’s principal songwriter is Michael Maple, who started the band after his previous band (We Should Be Laughing) more or less dissipated with band members moving to different areas. I wrote about another project of Maple (MikeTeeeVeee) earlier this year, and if you like to hear early versions of some of the songs on Stuntman, make sure to check Maple’s bandcamp page.  Liquid Mike features one other WSBL member (synth player Monica), and is joined by three other songwriting and recording musicians: Raymond Little of The Thirties (guitar), Heather Evans (bass), and Cody Marecek of Yard Waste (drums). That accumulation of talent may help to explain why this band sounds so damn good. Liquid Mike clearly is collective with great taste in music unfitted to write songs that suck. The band’s sound is somewhere between indie punk and indie rock, with sufficient pace, energy and melody to appeal to punk and powerpop fans, and with enough diversity to appeal to fans of classic indie rock and ’80s US underground pop. Fans of bands like The Promise Ring and Laika’s Orbit should also take note of this band.

It’s discoveries like these why we started this website. My current favorite track on the record is Employee Of The Month, but I haven’t found myself skipping any of the other songs yet.  Don’t expect Liquid Mike to be a flash-in-the-pan one-hit-wonder. A new batch of songs is already in the works. Not bad for a band that has to go through lengths to get some practice done. As Maple explains: “For as long as we’ve been together, we’ve only rehearsed outside in the middle of the woods with a gas generator in a place called Forestville. It’s the only spot we have where we can be loud.”



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Dazy || MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD: The First 24 Songs

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

Be careful what you wish for. Earlier this year, I wrote about Dazy. I mentioned how I hoped James Goodson, who is the artist/music publicist/podcast host behind this one-man band, would someday release his best work on a LP. There is no LP yet, but we do get a digital/cassette compilation of all of the songs Dazy has recorded so far, including three new songs. And that’s a lot: MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD has 24 tracks of hook filled fuzzy ’90s alt pop. What stands out even more than the quantity of Dazy’s output is its consistent quality. Good luck in finding a filler track among these songs. Don’t just take my word for it, here are some blurbs from Bandcamp supporters that I fully agree with:
“It’s brand new music that makes me nostalgic. That’s why we listen, isn’t it?” (Foobella)
“It’s like someone passed the 90s through a filter so only the best bits were left: fuzzy guitars and massive hooks.” (Mark Grassick)
“We are witnessing the beginning of something truly great.” (Captain_Codeine)

MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD is out now on cassette at Convulse Records in a limited run of 50, which of course is already sold out. Fingers crossed that this gets pressed on vinyl eventually.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Coloring || Night Before

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The Coloring is a project by singer / songwriter / guitarist Josh Silva, who rightly sees music as an art, which he tries to give color, together with his friends, however they can. Four examples of this can be heard on the (digital) EP Night Before. This is indie rock like bands like OPM made about 20 years ago, with tempo changes, guitar outbursts and rap-like vocals. However, you can hear from the lyrics that it’s 2021. The song Phrases wonderfully arranges peoples favorite online phrases: “Busted. Period. I’m Dead. Fire. To Some extent. No worries. Just Kidding. Old School. And I’m Winning. Oh damn, Fam. It’s Lit . As good as one can get.” Like. 🙂

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Melin Melyn || Blomonj

By / / Blues & Roots, Indie Rock, Psych / 1 Comment

Now this is fun and intriguing, extraordinary and eclectic at the same time. Or actually: this is fun and intriguing because it’s extraordinary and eclectic, but – different than usual with this description – also accessible, catchy, summery, and light-hearted. Welsh six-piece Melin Melyn (translated: Yellow Mill) is a psychedelic country pop band that naturally blurs the line between folk, rock, pop, surf, psych, and jazz, singing about weird tales of colorful characters and magical worlds in both English and Welsh. The music is just as eye-catching and exceptional as the cake in the cover photo, but also just as carefully constructed, cheerful and tasty – respecting the virtues of the past but determined to throw a party in the present. The six songs on debut EP Blomonj are all different, but all hits in their own way. Like they say: “Mwynhewch!” Enjoy!

Blomonj is out now digitally and on 12″ colored vinyl through Bingo Records. RIYL Kaizers Orchestra, The Zutons. The Golden Dregs.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New album: LittleBoy || QuarterLife

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Anyone who wants to, can nowadays record songs and share them with the world, but not everyone has the talent and perseverance to do so convincingly. Zach DeZago Adams succeeded. While the New Yorker is still young – before work and children hijack his life, as he expects – he shows that you can get a lot done in music and media on your own. As LittleBoy he writes, plays, records, produces, and sings everything himself, and he does it in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of the early work of Car Seat Headrest. This is appealing, guitar-driven lo-fi indie rock with searching lyrics. “Why am I writing this song?”, Zach asks in Can’t Last. The answer is as simple as it’s true: so that you and I can listen to it. Stream the ten tracks of LittleBoy’s new album QuarterLife below.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Darrin Bradbury || Artvertisement

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American folk satirist Darrin Bradbury has released his third album, Artvertisement, in which he tells 12 tragicomic stories in 27 minutes and 46 seconds. Tempo (up, down), styles (folk, country, rock, punk), and instrumentation (electric and acoustic guitars, synthesizer, drum machine, piano) of the songs vary, but it’s the lyrics that steal the show. Each track opens with a telling line that represents another extraordinary thought from the singer / songwriter that sets the tone for the next 2-3 minutes, in which quotable observations, some name-dropping and sometimes a remarkable conclusion follow, before the next fanciful thought comes from the speakers. I won’t claim that the music will stand the test of time, but for now I’m having a great time with this record. RIYL Craig Finn, Courtney Barnett, Jeff Rosenstock.

Out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through ANTI- Records.

Add to wantlist: ANTI- Store || Bandcamp

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