Browsing Tag

90s Indie

Sleeping in Circles honeyed their indie-post-grunge seminal single, Grey, with beguilingly artful melodicism.

Posted on 25 August 2023

The Little Rock, Arkansas outfit, Sleeping in Circles, bridged the gap between Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden in their honeyed-with-melodicism standout single, Grey.

With sludgy hooks by the smorgasbord and a gruff yet soulfully smooth vocal melody striking enough that it will continue to reverberate through your consciousness long after the quiescent outro, Grey is an unforgettable indie release that stands as a testament to the trio’s songwriting chops.

Grey is the first single to be released from the upcoming LP, which is due for release in September 2023. If the rest of the album carries the same evocatively arrestive beguile of the title single, Sleeping in Circles will be the creators of the most seminal post-grunge album of the year.

Grey will be available to stream on all major platforms from August 25; hear it via their website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

London Graffiti put the writing on the wall in their art-rock tour de force, These Words

Posted on 2 April 2023

Keeping the soul of grunge but stripping back the sludge, the Oxford, UK-based alt-indie rock outfit London Graffiti unleashed the ultimate aural eye-prickler with their latest single, These Words.

If you melded the pensive folky panache of Frightened Rabbit with the art-rock arrangements of Radiohead and the progressively dark atmosphere of Porcupine Tree, you’d get close to the evocative mark made on the indie rock landscape by the band that has already won the favour of plenty of mainstream radio stations, including BBC Introducing.

It is impossible not to be choked by the emotion-fuelled energy in the single, which also pays tribute to the National, Joy Division, and the Doves. Originality oozes from every effortlessly cool pore of These Words, yet never to the detriment of the projection of frantically inhibited dejection.

These Words was officially released on March 16th; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sonica unveiled their ethereally experimental shoegaze revival, Wait for Me

Posted on 11 February 2023

With one of the most experimental revivalist approaches to Shoegaze known to the airwaves, the Perth-based outfit, Sonica, easily set their lush reverb-swathed tones apart from the rest. Intent on not being another Lush, Ride, or Curve replica act, Sonica found innovative ways of distorting their dream pop melodies without bursting the semi-lucid bubble

The bleeding vocals from Claire Turton stand up to the mesmeric plate, containing the same ethereal beguile as Cocteau Twins and Siouxsie and the Banshees in the moody standout single, Wait for Me, which pushes grungy tones into the midst of the euphonic kaleidoscopic accordance. Leaving ample space for the gritty and cold timbre of 80s post-punk, the four-piece revisited the golden era of shoegaze by taking a route never tread before.

Wait for Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

London indie-rock renegades JW Paris shared their lascivious appetite for destruction with ‘She’

Posted on 14 November 2022

The shimmer of wavering Pavement-esque guitars meets the indie anthemics of Blur in the standout single, She, from the London indie trio JW Paris’ debut EP, Stuck in a Video, which implanted off-kilter killer hooks into the airwaves on October 28th.

Reminiscences aside, the band that has sent distinction ricocheting through the underground since their 2017 debut always bring a potent shot of their own renegade indie-rock flavour to their tracks. The critically acclaimed act has a habit of drawing you right into the swaggering melodicism through the lyrics that will smother anyone who has ever felt the odds stack against them with resonance.

Never ones to toy with cliches, JW Paris found a gritty way to pay ode life’s protagonists who sell sanctuary to us amid our appetite for destruction with She. With “she tried to run me over, she blows my mind” written into the lyricism, JW Paris cut to the marrow of the human proclivity to gravitate to modern-day sirens. If you haven’t been there, in the words of Bukowski, what truly horrible lives you must lead.

Stream JW Paris’ debut EP, Stuck in a Video, in full on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DC’s 90s indie rock renegades, Spunk Davies, delivered a fuzzed-up blast from the past with ‘High Tide’

Posted on 24 October 2022

Almost 30 years after their inception, the Washington D.C.-transpiring fuzzed-up rock n roll renegades, Spunk Davies, are launching their album, Your Turn to Scheme: Best of Spunk Davies 1993-97. Comprising of freshly mastered hits and material that has never before hit streaming platforms.

The seminal scuzzy indie rock meets garage rock track, High Tide, is the perfect introduction to their relic of a release that swarms with mid-alt-90s nostalgia and stays true to their dive bar-esque brand of hard, fast, and loud indie that has filled iconic venues, such as the 9:30 and the Black Cat in DC.

Their sound is one that countless bands are keen to derivatively assimilate, but notably, there’s nothing like the real deafening deal that Spunk Davies assertedly delivered in the infectious energy of High Tide. If you remembered them from the 90s, prepare to fall back in love with their erratic riff-gasmic frenetic edge. If, like me, Spunk Davies are new to your ears, set your expectation for one of the most authentic indie acts you’ve heard in the last decade.

The official music video for High Tide premiered on October 15th. Catch it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Girl Racers hit the mid-90s lo-fi indie slack-rock sweet spot with ‘Never Again’

Posted on 14 October 2022

Taken from their hotly anticipated EP, Sometimes, the nostalgically minded and tonally discerning up-and-coming outfit Girl Racers have teased us with the sludgy effect-laden anthem Never Again.

It is authentically indie in the 90s to these ears. Not just the sound but the attitude/aesthetic too. Somewhere between early 90s indie slackers Archers of Loaf and Glasgow Scotland’s noiseniks Urusei Yatsura, Girl Racers found their colourfully garagey sonic signature that is set to scribe itself across indie lovers’ synapses with the first hit of this pessimism-decorated hit.

Never Again will officially release via Bug Dump Records on October 14th. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by James Cook

Britpop bites back with snarling teeth in JW Paris’ grungy no-wave single, Electric Candle Light

Posted on 25 March 2022

JW Paris, the UK-based three-piece that is quickly becoming revered for its pornographic guitars and biting Britpop swagger, have unleashed their stickiest alt-90s earworm to date with Electric Candle Light.

The Crampsy garagey prelude paves the way for surf rock meets no-wave indie hooks that won’t fail to reel you into the volatility of the sonic triumph. It easily matches the energy of Blur’s Song 2. Yet, notably, JW Paris is a caustic cut above the rest with their jarringly arrestive synth lines and subversive lyrics that acknowledges the rose-tinted glasses that nostalgia always filters through.

The single was recorded and produced at Buffalo Studios by JB Pilon and mastered by John Davis (Blue, IDLES, Foals, Primal Scream, U2). With that in mind, it never really had a chance of falling flat. Since making their debut, they’ve been a constant feature on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, Absolute Radio X, and Radio X. They’ve also shared stages with The Amazons, Skinner Brothers, Yonaka and Avalanche Party.

Electric Candle Light will officially release on March 25th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Keep up to date with new releases and tours via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Following the release of Electric Candle Light, they’re set to hit the road again with Dead Freights.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Elegant Chasers went off-kilter with the grungy panache in their sophomore single, Sunshine Mourning.

Posted on 4 February 2022

The Elegant Chasers brought their grungy panache back to the airwaves with the release of their sophomore single, Sunshine Mourning. We’d scarcely lost the earworm that was implanted through their debut single, Lets Ride, but we found ourselves gripped by Sunshine Mourning in a completely different capacity.

This time, the post-punk tinged track is as caustic as one of Sonic Youth’s most discordant releases in the verses and hooky enough in the choruses to give that stadium-filling effect that resonates as volatile gravitas once you get caught up within it.

The one-man powerhouse is taking full advantage of his independent artist freedom. Instead of attempting to appease moguls by pandering to the mediocrity in their tastes, he opted for an off-kilter track that splices together Nirvana-reminiscent drums, cleverly distorted vocals (we are talking Mike Patton level clever here) and guitars that are pliant enough to make your head spin. It is the epitome of an alt 90s aural riot. We can’t wait to hear what follows in his debut album.

Sunshine Mourning will officially release on February 11th. You can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Swedish power-pop duo Hazy Weekends evoke indie nostalgia with their debut EP, ‘Hurricane’.

Posted on 7 July 2021

Swedish power pop artist Hazy Weekends have made their debut with their stormer of an alt-indie pop, EP, Hurricane. With guitars that cut with the same angular precision of My Bloody Valentine’s introducing the lead title track, the usual cynicism you usually feel when hitting play on a new artist instantly slips away.

As the power-pop single progresses, the duo starts to come into their own through absolvingly vibrant instrumental melodies paired with the indie rock vocals that pay ode to the 90s Britpop era while the artist claims the sonic tones unequivocally as their own.

If you already have the Charlatans, The Stone Roses, The Manic Street Preachers or Inspiral Carpets on your playlists, Hazy Weekends will fit right in alongside them.

Hurricane is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Simon Husbands pulls punches with their single ‘Fighting The Man’

Posted on 16 November 2020

‘Fighting The Man’ is the first track from Simon Husbands’ new debut album ‘POP’ – after “45 years of working with other artists”. As a taster for what’s to come it’s really rather good.

A classic ‘three-and-a-half minute’ pop song, all classic indie-rock in a supercharged 90’s Britpop/punk kind of way – Ash, maybe, Cast, or the Bluetones – with some classic rock flourishes to Husband’s Les Paul-swathed guitar playing, but there’s a definite Nick Cope of the much-missed Candyskins (and now the excellent CBeebies Nick Cope Popcast) to the vocals here, too.

‘POP’ the album is released on December 4th, but you can hear ‘Fighting The Man’ on Simon Husband’s website – and it’s a perfect taster for what’s to come.

Review by Alex Holmes

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