Browsing Tag

Canadian Indie

Spotlight Feature: Bye Malo created the ultimate indie paradox in his sweetly toxic single, September

Posted on 16 September 2022

While some artists paint themselves as the perfect protagonists in their lyrics, the up-and-coming indie artist, Bye Malo, opted for self-effacing honesty in his latest single, September.

With the admission that he left his feelings at the door in a fractious relationship that isn’t worth wasting a wedding on, he lets the candour pour through his raspy indie vocals, which cause evocative friction against the saturated in delay catchy chord progressions.

Anyone that still believes they can fix (manipulate) ‘broken’ men will be left loving to hate the portrait that Bye Malo painted in September, which is the first single to release from his latest project.

Check out Bye Malo on Spotify.
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Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pulse Park went sub-zero in their off-kilter new wave indie single, Sine Wave

Posted on 24 April 2022
Phonac Music by Pulse Park

Canadian alt-indie newcomers, Pulse Park, have sent us right back to the golden age of new wave indie with their latest release, Sine Wave. I’ve long been fascinated with the bleak tales of Shackleton and other Arctic explorers exposed to bitterly cold untold misery. To stumble on a three-piece that first met during an arctic expedition in Canada and started to learn their instruments under the unrelentingly dark skies, was nothing short of serendipitous bliss.

All of Pulse Park’s music is an effigy to the less than temperate expedition that led to the development of their morosely arresting take on off-kilter new wave indie rock. The sweeter than sweet vocals are just as melt worthy as the vocal timbre from Tiger Army, The Smiths and Slowdive while the instrumentals kick up a hypersonic storm around the emotion-driven harmonised vocals. As far as we are considered, Sine Wave is the epitome of the indie earworm.

You can check out Sine Wave for yourselves by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Winternom – True: Meet your new existential alt-indie playlist staple

Posted on 8 March 2022

The alt-indie-folk-rock newcomers, Winternom, are set to bring souls in from the cold with the standout single, True, from their sophomore album, The Cold or the Crowd. Sonically, the hazily sweet single sits between Elliott Smith and Pavement, with a few proto-punk-meets-psych-pop nuances.

Lyrically, the Ottawa, Canada-hailing artist comes into their own with their witticisms that walk the line between existentialism and affection in a way that pays ode to the Alt 90s while still delivering emotive modernism. Despite its overarching lo-fi vibe, the dreamy textures in True never resonate as brash. Instead, they keep the tones bright to contrast the less than sunny, deeply relatable vocal disposition.

True is now available to stream along with the rest of Winternom’s triumph of an album, The Cold or the Crowd via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ash Ravens takes us ‘Home’ in his latest emotionally enriched alt-indie single

Posted on 3 March 2022

With gorgeously finger-picked Spanish guitars blended into his latest swoon-worthy indie single, Home, Ash Ravens’ latest offering couldn’t be more soulfully arresting.

The monocultural-mould smashing finesse in Home makes a lot of sense when you start to look at the stamps on the bi-lingual artist’s passports. From his birthplace Bangladesh to the Sunset Strip to Melbourne to his current home Canada, he’s traversed the globe and picked up the sweetest tones along the way.

Ravens’ international experience also puts plenty of context behind Home, which blends pop, rock and country to concoct a consolingly cosy soundscape that will undoubtedly act as the antidote to homesickness. With Ravens’ vocals running at an evocative parallel with Elliott Smith and the instrumentals bleeding as much catharsis as The Beatles’ haziest tracks, Home is an instantly unforgettable triumph.

The official video for Ash Ravens’ latest single, Home, premiered on February 17th, 2022. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

WE ARE MONROE – BABY LOVE: euphorically dark indie post-punk. 

Posted on 2 June 2021
‘BABY LOVE’ is just one of the three tracks that feature on the latest EP, ‘MOVEMENTS’, from WE ARE MONROE, a Canadian-based alt-rock powerhouse making waves by showing the softer, more affable side to post-punk.
With Kessler-style cuttingly angular guitar notes over danceable beats and shimmering synths, BABY LOVE is an enliveningly authentic track that proves why WE ARE MONROE hasn’t failed to gain plenty of momentum with their euphorically dark indie sound. With Gus Van Go (Arkells) on production, it comes as no surprise that BABY LOVE boasts an anthemically absorbing feel that you’ll want to delve into time and time again. BABY LOVE will undoubtedly be a hit with any fans of Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Spector, Bloc Party and Kasabian.
BABY LOVE is now available to stream via SoundCloud.
Review by Amelia Vandergast