Browsing Tag

Indie Rock

Join Solar Eyes on a rapturous plateau by ascending with the ethereal aesthetic in their alt-indie single, Top of the World

Posted on 23 October 2023

Take the kaleidoscopic scintillation from the National’s guitars and the indie rock croons of the Arctic Monkeys, splice them into a dreamy to the point of romantic etherealism new wave production, and you will be left with something akin to the latest single, Top of the World, from the Birmingham-based duo, Solar Eyes.

The amorous air of elation is superlatively contextualised and synthesised into the single that pulls you into a captivating score that all too readily shares the experience of being on a rapturous plateau.

The Fierce Panda Records-signed outfit comprising Sebastian Maynard Francis and Glenn Smith has been making major waves since making their debut; this year, they’ve performed at The Great Escape and SXSW, and their music has featured on everything from BBC MOTD to Sky Sports, which stands as a testament to the commercial potential that oozes from the pores from the dynamic outfit which will undoubtedly reach even bigger heights in 2024.

Top of the World is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

wych elm gave grunge a place on 21st-century airwaves with their pitchfork-permeated single, ‘Burnt at the Stake’

Posted on 11 October 2023

Wearing their Angel Olsen and Courtney Barnett influences on the sleeve of their guitarwork and their devil-may-care vocal lines, the Bristol-based trio, wych elm, gave their latest psychedelically sludgy feat of alt-indie, Burnt at the Stake, as much mainstream appeal as their hits that have surpassed the million stream mark.

The winding carnivalesque-with-macabre-glamour melodies are carved through by the angular syncopated notes to ensure the tension is succinctly taught before the breaks into the choruses that blister with catharsis.

Burnt at the Stake is the first single to drip from the forthcoming EP, Field Crow, which will drop on November 13th. Make sure wych elm is on your radar for the deliverance of it and in your gig calendar for when they embark on their UK tour from the same date.

Burnt at the Stake was officially released on September 30th; stream it on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The indomitable indie rock powerhouse, Sam Scherdel, rose-tinted bitter-sweet euphoria in his latest single, R.E.T.R.O.

Posted on 9 October 2023

 After a phenomenally successful year which has seen Sam Scherdel secure support slots for Two Door Cinema Club and receive critical acclaim from across the board, Sheffield’s indie rock spearhead has delivered another hit of exhilarant romanticism with his latest single, R.E.T.R.O. If the waves Scherdel makes with his ear for euphoric earworms get any bigger, we’ll all need to seek higher ground.

The retrospective take on gratitude is a stunning attestation to our proclivity towards tenderly holding the past while struggling to amass sentimentality for the present. The sepia hues of nostalgia will always bring rose-tinted light in our darkest hours, but as much as we want to re-manifest the past, as Scherdel did so sonically consummately with the shimmering new wave pop nuances atop his signature Springsteen-esque indie rock grooves, us mere mortals are confined to the present.

“R.E.T.R.O. was written in 2021 after the initial lockdowns. It’s a bittersweet pop record which contains the message to appreciate what you have whilst you have it, as the moment it’s gone is the moment it hurts.”

With producer Gavin Monaghan (Editors, Robert Plant, Paolo Nutini), the singer-songwriter who always knows exactly which melodically electrifying buttons to press to evoke deep emotion, demonstrated his versatility without watering down the authentic alchemy barely contained in his previous releases.

R.E.T.R.O. turned back the airwaves on October 6; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tiny Camels have got the minuscule hump in their sophomore release, One of Those Days

Posted on 28 September 2023

Determined to reinvent Britpop for the 21st-century airwaves, the Cardiff-hailing outfit, Tiny Camels, made melodious headway with their sophomore single, One of Those Days.

By abstracting the laddish swagger that became as synonymous with 90s Britpop as bucket hats with a sweeter vocal register that defies gravity with its interstellar soaring hues around the eternal sunshine in the indie pop guitars that wrap around the kaleidoscopic atmospherics, Tiny Camels delivered euphoria without the hits of ecstasy.

With indie rock hooks as sharp as the ones crafted by the Vaccines when they semi-permanently implanted Post Break-Up Sex in our mind for the entire duration of 2011 around the jangled and angular elements of new wave indie that creates a romantically effervescent sphere of the soundscape, One of Those Days lies on a plateau above the rest of the 2023 indie landfill.

One of Those Days hit the airwaves on September 22; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MODEL CITISIN – Been and Gone: Manic Street Preachers Fans Will Glue Themselves to This Debut

Posted on 27 September 2023

Proving that time isn’t linear, the London-based outfit, MODEL CITISIN, fronted by Nick Swettenham, brought the 90s Britpop era right back around with their debut single, Been and Gone.

Muso nostalgists are hardly in short supply, but nothing about Been and Gone even comes close to antiquated. The resurgence of the brassy euphoria, psychedelically tined guitar tones, and crescendos carved from violin strings will tempt the souls of the most world-weary indie fans out of repose.

Unravelling as a mash of the signatures of the 90s, with enough room for authenticity in the high-octane melodic hooks that could ensnare a stadium, it’s impossible not to get excited about the foundling outfit’s potential.

With superlatively orchestrated guitar solos that could give James Dean Bradfield a run for his virtuosic money augmenting the sentimentality of the single, which throws in a few Grandaddy-esque synth lines for good measure, Been and Gone is easily one of the most promising debuts I’ve heard in 2023.

Been and Gone was officially released on September 22; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The masters of funked indie rock melodicism Kinda Joke questioned ‘Where Is Home’ in the shimmering nostalgia of their latest single.

Posted on 18 September 2023

Kinda Joke brought a touch of playful panache and lashings of shimmering 80s nostalgia to their standout indie funk pop single, Where Is Home, taken from their debut LP, Cat Alarm.

If you can envisage the middle ground between Reverend and the Makers and the Midnight, you’ll get an idea of what awaits from the masters of indie rock melodicism and funky rhythms. With an atmosphere that enraptures from the first groove pocket-carving bassline and enough hooks to necessitate the hook, line and sinker metaphor, Kinda Joke’s ear candy couldn’t be more radio-ready.

Where Is Home is the sixth single to be released by the international trio; the German, Italian and Spanish flags all fly under the banner of the outfit which originally formed in Munich, where they discovered after jamming with each other that their sessions were somewhat reminiscent of an intoxicated Phil Collins-Coldplay-Dave Grohl amalgam.

Where Is Home is due for official release on September 15; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Skittish became the ultimate purveyor of folk-rock nostalgia with ‘Mannequin’

Posted on 2 September 2023

The LA-residing indie folk-rock artist Skittish is fresh from the release of their eclectic era and genre-spanning seventh LP, Midwest Handshake. Genre-fluidity may have become the default position for artists in the 21st century, but few succeed in making a smorgasbord of style as cohesively electrifying as Skittish.

Midwest Handshake is a route back to the golden era of emo via a road never taken. Jeff Noller’s vocation in film sound production in recent years allowed him to sonically visualise his concept in panoramic colour.

This time, Skittish enlisted Ben Etter (Deer Hunter, Kaiser Chiefs) to mix and master the album in his analog-centric studio, resulting in a project that draws you in with nostalgia and quells modern malaise with lyrical resonance that could have only been rendered in our blighted with dystopic blues era.

With the Weezer-esque guitars lending themselves well to the earwormy hooks and the drawling with deadpan attitude vocals in the verses evolving into adrenalized harmonies in the standout track, Mannequin, you couldn’t ask for more serotonin from a single. The raucously riled deliverance of unity is the ultimate olive branch to the disenfranchised by ennui outliers. After one hit, you will want to devour the cinematic album whole.

Mannequin hit the airwaves on August 25; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dictator stood at the vanguard of social action in their psychedelically funked indie-rock single, Enough is Enough

Posted on 1 September 2023

The latest single, Enough is Enough, from the Scottish four-piece, Dictator, is a grooving odyssey of indie synth-rock socialist rancour. Socialism may have become a dirty word as of late; Dictator wore it as a badge of honour in their track that pushes back against the political elite and supports strike action, knowing it’s better than having late-stage capitalist blood on your hands.

They may have taken a different approach to the Manics to prise eyes and ears open to the hypocrisy that could easily be obliterated if there was enough momentum for a Masses Against the Classes movement. But by opting for a synthy and sugared with shimmering pop hooks arrangement and pouring as much soul into the indie croons as humanly possible, they efficaciously got the message across their rhythm section that reminisces with the Happy Mondays and their brand of psychedelia that was delivered with as much colour as hits from the Zombies.

Enough is Enough was officially released on August 30th, and we’re officially obsessed. Get hooked by heading over to SoundCloud or Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Budapest indie-rock troubadours Dirty Slippers are back on our radar with their latest electrically melodic hit, Wide Open

Posted on 23 August 2023

Ahead of their Abbey Road Studios-recorded fourth album, the Hungarian act that is breaking serious ground in the UK, Dirty Slippers, unveiled their latest single, Wide Open.

By wearing their heart on their jangly expertly melodised hooks and putting an angularly exhilarating spin on 00s indie rock so that it bridges the gap between emo and indie new wave, Dirty Slippers transcended indie landfill to reach a new plateau of nostalgic yet refreshing aural euphoria.

While traversing the trappings of life from love to loss, Dirty Slippers painted across the entire spectrum of human emotion in Wide Open to deliver an anthem that you’ll be able to verse from the top of your lungs in the sanctity that the vindication delivers.

After being introduced to the four-piece via their heart-in-throat hit, Honest Kid, it is a pleasure to have the Budapest indie-rock troubadours back on our radar. Although, seeing how far they have come since releasing that single is even more gratifying.

To name a few accolades and achievements, they’ve been lauded by the international press, aired on international radio stations, and even sealed spots on the weekly charts. Something tells us that the best is yet to come for them; you just *cant* help falling in love with them.

Wide Open will debut on the 22nd of August. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ethan Senger augmented retrospective regret in his seminal single, Everything

Posted on 15 August 2023

Ethan Senger became the New Wave Indie Rock equivalent to Springsteen in his fastidiously manicured latest EP, Standing Still, featuring the standout single, Everything.

Balancing anthemic instrumentals with intimate proclamations of ruminative regret, Everything ticks all the right indie pop-rock boxes while setting the bar for any artist who wants to give their heart-on-sleeve lyricality galvanising propensities.

The lyric “I don’t know you but we talk all the time” just goes to show how honed Senger’s song crafting has come since he made his debut; as for the superlative guitar work, which has seen Senger revered by industry tastemakers as a virtuoso, you’ll have to experience it for yourselves to understand why the Atlanta-born-and-raised artist is an icon in the making.

You will often hear music fans moaning that they don’t make them like we used to, but the truth of the matter is that the music industry doesn’t produce global artists as they did in earlier eras. If they did, Senger’s poster would be on the wall of every aspiring guitarist.

Ethan Senger’s Standing Still EP is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast