Indie Rock

New album: Oh Condor || Emergency Psychic

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In our forage for new music, I believe most of us drift towards music that sounds familiar, but has some elements of surprise. Dayton (Ohio) four-piece Oh Condor offer exactly that on their LP Emergency Psychic. Oh Condor play an exciting and brand of college rock with elements of emo, shoegaze, math and ’90’s alt rock. Those familiar elements draw you in, but the band keeps you on your toes, and maintains your interest with plenty of unexpected twists and turns in any sonic direction, within and between songs. Thoughout it all, the band somehow manages to create a coherent whole that sounds fresh and exceeds the sum of its parts. An impressive feat for a collective that has been making music together for 20 years. Emergency Psychic is out now on Blind Rage Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Blind Rage Records

New EP: Mesh || Mesh

By / / Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Mesh is a relatively new post-punk band from Philadelphia. They just dropped their self-titled debut EP in the pond and it is making some significant waves. It was recently picked as Bandcamp’s Album of the Day, and it’s easy to see why. There is not a weak song on the EP, and with Company Jeep it contains at least one hit for the ages. “One of these days you’re going to lose it || You’re going to lose your cool,” frontman Sims Hardin sings in the song, and the video offers some examples of what happens when that time arrives.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Gimme 5! Massage Share 5 Albums The Band Listened To While Creating Still Life

By / / Alternative Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop / 2 Comments

Photo by Thaddeus Ruzicka

With ‘Gimme 5!’ we take a peek into the collections of artists we admire. The premise is simple: artists WE like share 5 records THEY love.

You regret the things you didn’t do. It’s not just a beaten-to-death encouragement to those in doubt, there is actual research to support the claim. Basically, we are much better in recalling and regretting cases of inaction than action. And not buying the first LP by the LA based, impossible-to-google masters of jangle pop Massage is one example. That record, the 2018 Oh Boy, is a must add collection piece for any self-respecting fan of underground pop music. It also is impossible to find. Oh Boy is a heartfelt and messy record filled with pop gems inspired by The Feelies, the Go-Betweens,  and Twerps. Massage founder singer/guitarist Andrew Romano, calls Oh Boy an “anti-ambitious” record: “Nothing kills the kind of music we want to make faster than the sense that a band is trying too hard.”

Now, three years later, the band returns with their follow-up record. It’s called Still Life and it sounds less messy, more produced, and more deliberate without losing the charm and sincerity of their debut. There is a warmth, vulnerability and delicateness to the music of Still Life that, in combination with the band’s songwriting chops, gives these songs that little extra that helps to distinguish a lovable record from a likeable record. This may stem from the band’s strong intragroup connection: Massage is a collective of friends, inlaws and spouses. Anyhow, these qualities are on full display in two of the album’s early singles Made Of Moods (embedded below) and Half A Feeling. Slumberland Records already gave the record its stamp of approval, and that isn’t even the band’s record label. Mt. St. Mtn. (US), Tear Jerk (AUS/NZ) and Bobo Integral Records (EU) will co-release Still Life on July 2nd. Don’t sit on this one, like I did with the band’s Oh Boy. I have no doubt Still Life will end up in many AOTY lists.

Below, the band discusses some of their influences for Still Life. As you’ll discover, Massage is a band that not only loves creating the best underground pop imaginable, they also love obsessing about other bands from the genre.

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New album: Good Sleepy || everysinglelittlebit

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The juxtaposition of band name and record label: coincidence or intentional? Not sure, but the debut full length of Massachusetts based Good Sleepy is indeed released by No Sleep Records. A similar contrast can be found in the music of Good Sleepy. It’s both full on pop and full on mathy emorock; it sounds both conventional and as a breath of fresh air, and although the songs are absolutely packed with suspense and variations in pace and dynamics while remaing parsimonious (only one song surpasses the three minute mark), none of the songs feel rushed. Together, these contradictions make everysinglelittlebit a marvel to listen to. It has that rare quality of a record that sounds like a grower, but offers immediate rewards. Out now on black with cream splatter vinyl (ltd to 300) and cream with black spatter vinyl (ltd to 200). This may sound eerily similar but in reality looks quite  different. Anyhow,  whatever variant you choose, No Sleep essentially guarantees a lack of buyer’s remorse with this one.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || No Sleep Records

New album: Holiday Ghosts || North Street Air

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

Any day Holiday Ghosts releases a new record is a good day in my book. North Street Air is the follow-up to West Bay Playroom (2019), and their self-titled debut (2017), both of which ended up high in my AOTY lists. What stands out first about North Street Air is the album cover, which unlike the multicolored previous record sleeves is limited to just red and blue. In terms of the music, the change is less explicit. It’s not a copy paste version of the first two records, but there is a progression in the band’s sound that feels natural rather than forced. North Street Air may have slightly more slower paced songs, but overall it has that same lo-fi ramshackle nature that is one of the charms of the music of Holiday Ghosts. There is a pureness, sense of joy and contagious energy to their indiepop, and it’s another one to skip the wantlist and go straight to the collection. Out now on Fat Cat Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Fat Cat Records

New album: Love Supreme || Tuesday / Dinsdag

By / / Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Punk / 1 Comment

Love Supreme is what happens when four forty year olds in an existential crisis get together every Tuesday to share some laughs, food and fondness for 80s/90s punk rock and indie. Tuesday / Dinsdag (Dinsdag is Dutch for Tuesday) is recommended listening for people who dig Mission of Burma, Bob Mould, Replacements, and Dinosaur Jr – basically the majority of artists featured by Michael Azzerad in his classic book Our Band Could Be Your Life. Sounds Haarlem (a Dutch record store) will release the record on white vinyl in September. Until then, you can stream the record on Bandcamp. And while you’re there, make sure to also check their 2019 record Poetry For The Youth. There are worse, much worse ways to spend your Tuesday evenings, I promise.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Sounds Haarlem

New EP: Thank The Bus Driver || Where We Droppin, Boys?

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Despite the subtitle ‘A fortnite folkpunk album,’ you don’t actually have to be a fan of the video game, or folkpunk for that matter, to appreciate the new EP of Seattle band Thank The Bus Driver. The songs on Where We Droppin, Boys? are semi-acoustic and though there are some folky elements they also have anthemic gang vocals and the dynamicism and lyricism to appeal to fans of emo, and altpop. I’m pretty sure the band members listen to a lot of Weakerthans, Modern Baseball and Mountain Goats while playing video games. Watch them sing along to their own songs and play fortnite here.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: The Blue Dancers || Call me back

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The Blue Dancers, a post-punk / indie rock band from Mexico, made their debut at the end of last year with the great track So Far. Now they have released their fourth (digital) single: Call Me Back is jangly guitar / synth pop as we hear too little lately. Hopefully those first songs will be pressed together onto vinyl soon. RIYL Real Estate, DIIV, Beach Fossils.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Fightmilk || Contender

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Here’s the “difficult” second full-length album from UK four-piece Fightmilk. It’s called Contender, which is also the title of the opening “song”, one of the three interludes on the record – the other two are called Tender and Bartender, which immediately illustrates that the UK indie rockers are good at the language game. According to Lily (vocals / guitar), Alex (guitar), Healey (bass) and Nick (drums), the new songs are louder & quieter, stupider & more serious – those things go together – than their previous work, but expect radio-friendly pop punk with entertaining lyrics and enthusiastic vocals. Out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Reckless Yes. Listen to stand-out track Hey Annabelle! below.

RIYL Martha, Nervous Twitch, Dream Wife, Dude York, Fresh. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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New album: Refrigerator || So Long to Farewell

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Refrigerator’s beautiful previous album High Desert Lows made it to the top of my Music Year-End List of 2018, so you’ll understand that expectations were high for successor So Long to Farewell, just released on vinyl LP – cover art by Jean Smith – through Shrimper Records. The new (12th!) album of the American lo-fi indie rock combo, formed in 1990 by Shrimper founder Dennis Callaci and his brother Allen, is strong again, but not an easy one. The fourteen songs have a richer band sound, more improvisational and experimental, more varied also. And then of course there are the dark lyrics. Anyway, an album worth giving it the time it deserves (Time Well Wasted, as the title of one of the tracks goes). So much respect for these guys. You won’t get it more indie than this.

Add to wantlist: Revolver USA || Grapefruit Distribution

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