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Tennessee

Pump Action gave soul a potent shot of style in their alt-rock single, Blood Thinner

Posted on 21 November 2023

For their latest release, Blood Thinner, Nashville’s most dynamic alt-rock outfit, Pump Action, synthesised a cultivated-in-emotional-resonance soul-infused blend of rock, funk, and blues.

By anchoring the track in the traditions of songwriting, following the grooves into evocative territory and juxtaposing their old-school song crafting with freshly envisioned sonic style, the quartet, which came to be in the practice rooms of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music established itself as one to watch.

After a stripped-back intro which gives the John Mayer-esque vocals plenty of room to breathe, the instrumental layers start to intricately interweave to deliver a progressively compelling testament to their naturally rhythmic talents. By never letting the introspective poetry within the ode of unfaltering passion become overshadowed by the tight driving force in the rhythm section, Pump Action became unequivocally worthy of placement on your playlists next to Allen Stone, Fleet Foxes, and Polyphia

Blood Thinner was officially released on November 10th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dave Wilbert was born to take the wheel and drive in his country-rock earworm, Tractors and Trucks

Posted on 29 October 2023

Springsteen was born to run, but Dave Wilbert was born to take the wheel and drive in his country-rock earworm Tractors and Trucks, which delves beyond the stereotypes and into the intricacies of the identities of people who spend their lives outside of the city smoke.

Tractors and Trucks rips up all the tropes and cliches of country and scatters them like confetti within the anthemically polished production which will lure you in with the bluesy pop grooves and ensure you’re suitably hooked by the slide guitars which follow the solos which exhibit Dave Wilbert’s command of a fretboard.

The Fairview, Tennessee-residing artist was born and raised in rural Indiana, where he practised the hard-working virtues extolled in this infectiously feel-good hit, which will undoubtedly give those living the rural life a potent shot of pride.

Tractors and Trucks was officially released on October 6th; add it to your country-rock playlists by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

McKay exhibited cybernetic sickness in their indie folk punk single, Plugged

Posted on 14 September 2023
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If the Beatles psychedelically strode across Pavement’s indie rock obscurity and checked into the Neutral Milk Hotel, the sonic result would groove in the same vein as McKay’s single, Unplugged.

The indie folk punk outpour of raw striking rancour inhibits nothing as the track veers from kaleidoscopic psychedelia to gritty instrumentation and lyrical volition that allows you to feel the inward visceral frustration that encompasses our inability to be a perfect portrait when the landscape that surrounds us warped by increasingly digital dystopia.

I’m pretty sure we can all relate to the exposition of how toxic dopamine habits compel us to stay hooked up to all the wrong lifebloods and leave us at further odds with ourselves. Given the evocative immersion Plugged provides, it is no surprise that McKay has become one of the hottest indie acts in the Nashville scene.

Plugged will debut on September 14; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Amy Corey instilled compassion into country pop with ‘If I Could’

Posted on 16 August 2023

When Amy Corey isn’t writing and recording radio-ready hit singles, she’s giving TEDx talks, being an Ambassador to the HCMC Peace and Development Foundation in Vietnam and being proactive in her role as a mental health motivational speaker.

The Vietnam-born artist, who was adopted to America at six months old, has melodically extended her mental health advocacy in her latest single If I Could, which soulfully shares some of the sonic proclivities with Taylor Swift’s country pop records as Corey strides into her own with her compassionately compelling vocal and lyrical lines, which allude to the immense crushing gravity of loss.

There’s just enough ambiguity in the lyrics to allow the listener to wrap their own meaning around the lyricism, which amasses an emboldening energy through the momentum of the classic pop crescendos. It’s a stunning release from an artist evidently intent in her mission to spread empathy and understanding in a world that can all too often feel devoid of it.

If I Could was officially released on August 8th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

McKay versed indie-folk-punk poetry in their latest sardonically scintillating single, Bad Liar

Posted on 1 August 2023
McKay

Bridging the sonic gap between Neutral Milk Hotel, Mumford and Sons, and Bob Dylan is the confessionally exhilarant indie folk single, Bad Liar, from the storytelling four-piece, McKay.

While the vocal melodies prove all too well that McKay know how to hit their harmonised vocal notes with euphonic precision and honed cadence, Bad Liar favours the visceralism of raw spoken word expression, allowing the meta lyrics to hit harder than a candid meteor from space.

With each progression, the single drifts from different eras of folk, while the harmonica timbre will throw you right back to the 70s, the folk-punk energy and massive indie folk choruses fast-forward through the decades at breakneck speed.

The Nashville-hailing outfit may be best known for their passionate performances during live shows, but thankfully, for all of us across the pond, their insightful lyricism and dynamic presence resonate just as well on record.

Bad Liar will hit the airwaves on August 1st; stream it on SoundCloud and follow the affably rogue outfit via Instagram and TikTok.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lindsey Sampson – Sand: An Elemental Folk-Pop Triumph.

Posted on 27 January 2023

With frenetic synth sequencing that made us nostalgic for the soundscapes from Alan Vega, the pop singer-songwriter, Lindsey Sampson’s latest single, Sand, is an elemental triumph.

Oceanic momentum flows through progressive rising tides in the un-archetypally structured single that harnesses deep reverence for natural phenomena and articulately observes how nature often works to reflect introspective sensations.

Lindsey Sampson, who spends her time between Nashville and New England, marries the soul of country with a contemporary indie folk pop edge that is definitively hers. We can fully attest to her ability to appeal to the spirituality that lies within us all – regardless of whether we nurture that relationship or not.

Since her humble beginnings, the singer-songwriter has been nominated for the award of Best Female Performer at the New England Music Awards and received many other accolades along the way while performing solo and as part of her folk-rock band, Visiting Wine. 

Sand will officially release on January 27th. Dig your toes in on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nikol spoke for the outliers in their electroclash hit, Not Like You

Posted on 26 January 2023

The Nashville Alt-Pop trio, Nikol, seared their authenticity across the defiantly autonomous latest single, Not Like You. After hearing the disjointed electroclash instrumentals pulsate against the hypersonically sticky sweet vocal lines, you will never think of individually the same ever again.

After a turbulent storm of distorted electronica sets an instantly anthemic tone, the confessional lyricism fed through effect-laden pop vocals affirms that true outliers don’t colour outside of the lines through an edgy wanton desire to create a difference from the mainstream. The lyric “It’s not that I don’t want to fit in, life is better with imagination” poignantly says it all.

Any fans of Dead Disco and Shiny Toy Guns will undoubtedly want to discover Nikol before they get even bigger. So far in their career, they’ve hit the stages at The Vans Warped Tour twice and secured multiple licencing offers, which placed their alt-pop hits on hit shows, including The Real World and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. If any act has what it takes to blow up like an atom bomb in 2023, it is Nikol.

Not Like You was officially released on January 6th. Stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Robots! Attack! break free through a bitter-sweet epiphany in their melodic rock hit, Tangled

Posted on 18 January 2023
Robots! Attack! by Robots! Attack!

Taken from their debut eponymous LP, the standout single, Tangled, from the Memphis-based fourpiece, Robots! Attack! is a reverently evocative rhythmic trip back to the alt-90s.

The breeze of the midwestern melodies is brought down to earth by southern grit in the grungy amalgam of punk, rock and harder-to-pin-down alternative inclinations that allow the outfit to carry fleeting reminiscences to Incubus and Deftones in their magnetically imploring vocal harmonies and the softly angular guitar lines that are never all too far away from an off-kilter breakdown.

While the lyrics allude to our tendency to fictionalise the characters in our own stories and give them far greater roles than they were destined for, the accordance-soaked instrumentals abstract any bitterness from the bitter-sweet epiphany of realising that time with some protagonists is always finite.

Tangled is available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bleach Bath – Branches: The Only Sludge Pop Debut You Need To Year This Year

Posted on 20 December 2022

With the rhythm section dripping as much sex appeal as the most aphrodisiacal tracks on the Deftones’ White Pony album, the alt-90s oozing from the droning walls of shoegaze guitars that have been distorted out-of-kilter and the killer sludgy pop hooks, the debut single, Branches, from the Tennessee-based artist, Bleach Bath, is beyond promising.

The tinges of emo to the lyricism, which runs through the insecurities that every girl will have battled with at some age, ensured Bleach Bath came out with all vulnerable guns blazing. It is impossible not to get on a level with the singer-songwriter and band frontwoman who has been tearing up stages across Tennessee, priming herself to make an unforgettable debut.

Any fans of Honeyblood, Wolf Alice, Ex Hex, Hole and My Bloody Valentine won’t want to skip this grungy kaleidoscopic dream of uninhibited angst and relatable uncertainty.

Branches was officially released on December 2nd. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Not The Kind You Know: GUNTER knows that the time is up inside La La Land

Posted on 12 November 2022

With his much-awaited new double album, Nightmares + Daydreams on the way in a few days, GUNTER realizes that the moment is now as he looks to veer far away from a checked-out world on La La Land.

GUNTER is a Memphis, Tennessee-based indie pop singer-songwriter and music producer who makes those inspirational anthems the world can embrace with grace.

Freeing himself rather far from the bad habits which almost took his soul, GUNTER moves out from inside his own head and flies so bravely, looking for a new place to call home. With soothing vocals that take our breath away with each listen, it’s hard not to truly get wrapped inside this terrific single.

La La Land from Memphis, Tennessee-based indie pop singer-songwriter and music producer GUNTER shall be the change many cores need after much inner turmoil. Sung with so much genuine honesty and sizzling with fixating flair at each juncture, surely many spirits shall be replenished after soaking in this.

When you feel like change is needed after many self-reflective chats to oneself in the mirror, it’s time to move on.

Turn your ears up on Spotify and see more news on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen