Browsing Tag

Jangle Pop

Forget your ex, fixate on Good Time Locomotive’s debut new wave pop-rock hit, Lines of Symmetry

The London-hailing prodigal sons of jangly new wave pop-rock, Good Time Locomotive, put the silver lining on your last sanity stripper of a relationship with their debut single, Lines of Symmetry, which allowed them to more than stay true to their moniker.

If you thought that Stranger Things delivered a potent shot of 80s nostalgia, you’ll be wishing your hair was bigger from the first time the crooned-over chorus hits in Lines of Symmetry. This wholly relatable dance-worthy hit is the nearest thing to closure that most disenfranchised hopeless romantics out there will get; consider the absolute earworm of a melody as bonus material.

Good Time Locomotive may be a fresh-faced outfit, but it comprises a collective of seasoned musicians who have enough musical chops between them to officially dub themselves as a powerhouse. We can’t wait to roll with the emotional punches in their forthcoming EP, due for release this summer.

Lines of Symmetry will officially release on May 13; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mike Marnelakis laid bitter-sweet affection intimately bare in his pop hit, I Can’t

Greek singer-songwriter, Mike Marnelakis, released the most superlatively bitter-sweet love song with his latest pop hit, I Can’t – definitively proving that the line of light and dark appears within us all, every emotion, and every phenomenon.

Starting with an acoustically strummed and stripped-back intro, the prelude and first verse laid affection down with intimately bare candour. His loaded with emotion vocals harmonically drift into the chorally polished tones, allowing you to drink in every ounce of apathy that inspired the carresively pensive single.

After the proclamation that there is no truth without pain, the progressively seamless single builds into an 80s jangle pop hit that will swell the hearts of The 1975 fans.

I Can’t is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Krystal Scarlet attests that fantasies can come true in her euphonious pop hit, Wonderland.

London-based pop breakthrough artist, Krystal Scarlet, dropped in on the airwaves for the first time since her infectiously vindicating 2021 hit, Won’t Forget, with her new 80s-inspired single, Wonderland, on December 16th. The funky indie guitar chops pop around the snappy percussion and colourfully vibrant electronic synthetics create an uplifting earworm that all too easily takes you to the titular destination.

With pitch-perfect euphonious harmonies, Krystal Scarlet carries the Taylor Swift effect before coming into her own via the authentically indie grooves in the track that will leave you humming to the tune of the fantastical euphoria for days on end.

The track that celebrates the kind of love that can abstract you from your own daydream and take you somewhere even sweeter isn’t one that you can passively let pass you by. Obsession is non-optional.

Wonderland is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Deadpan indie rock icons in the making, Hairpin, walk ‘The Line’ in their latest earworm

Fans of deadpan indie in the same vein as John Grant, Spector and Jack Ladder will be just as hooked on the sardonic candour in Hairpin’s earworm of a sophomore single, The Line.

With a funk-riding indie disco beat as the backbone to the track that allows angular guitar melodies and gravelly post-punk-Esque basslines to form arrestive progressions under the magnetic indie drawling vocals as they lament the frustrations of contemporary connections, it is all too easy to succumb to the grip of the snappy, swanky hit.

The NYC independent five-piece, fronted by Nate Pozin, self-produces all their material, allowing it to retain its autonomy, which has seen the up-and-coming outfit make short work out of making their mark in the industry.

So far, they have sold out every show in New York by word of mouth alone. In a time where alt-indie rock success stories are tragically few and far between, it speaks volumes of their revolutionary capacity to win over a crowd and forge playlist staples from their home studio.

The Line is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tom Fleur has made his debut with the indie jangle pop gem, Paranoia Song

Any indie artist that kicks off their career with a track as bold as Paranoia Song is one that we will always champion. The up-and-coming artist, Tom Fleur, opened his debut single with the lyric, “I’m on edge on the edge of the bed”, sung in a This Charming Man-esque vocal melody and sealed a place on our radar forever.

To freshen up the iconic new wave indie jangle pop sound, Fleur threw in the influence of 60s girl group melancholia and Ray Davies characters, but he’s every bit as self-aware as Morrissey was back in the day before he couldn’t figure out why his career tanked around his rampant racism.

After promising that his lyrics also explore the themes of hedonism, anxiety, and love, we can’t wait to revel in more of his intellectual introspection wrapped around his colourfully distinctive guitar lines. Finding a new artist that compels you to drink in every swoonsome syllable so as not to miss any of the disconcerted resonance doesn’t happen every day. I haven’t felt this lyrically seen since I first slipped into the solidarity of The Fear by Pulp.

Paranoia Song is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Freak out with the anthemically resonant single, Trauma, from the Atlanta indie powerhouse, yin.

Discussing inter-generational trauma no longer has to be confined to the therapy sessions you can’t afford, and posting statuses online that will result in a cascade of patronising care reacts. Atlanta’s most relatable alt-indie three-piece, yin, is here to make sure of it with their latest single, Trauma.

The infectiously maniacal high energy lets you ride the rare peaks that intersect the depth of the isolated lows. Strap yourselves in for the most anthemic indie jangle pop guitars you’ve ever heard as they sail through the dynamism that brings Take on Me to mind with the eccentrically soaring climactic choruses that leave the 1975 and Bleachers in the archetypal dirt.

In the style of Yung Blud, yin pair euphonic sonics with dark lyrics that make no bones about alluding to the dark places we drift into and all of the even darker thoughts that keep us company during the bouts of anxious madness that late-stage capitalism has left us to linger in. With their debut LP, Someone Who Isn’t Me, set to release on November 22nd, all eyes and ears should be on yin right now.

“There’s something really wonderful and terrible about being human in the modern age. We’re all struggling with the mere fact that waking up and convincing ourselves that we don’t hate each other is normal, and there’s always this emotional and spiritual push to try and love and cherish the little that we have to call our own. We just want to be honest about all of the sad parts as well as the really amazing happy parts.”

Trauma is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fading Out created the ultimate indie jangle pop anthem for the socially awkward with ‘So Embarrassing’

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Brooklyn—based singer-songwriter, Fading Out (Evan Bieber) has launched the latest single, So Awkward, from his forthcoming debut EP, Maybe I Thought About You Once, and shared the ultimate indie anthem for the socially awkward.

With his upbeat approach to broaching cringeworthy moments, it is enough to instil you with a newfound sense of humility. The single, inspired by those everyday moments that compel you to run the second a micro faux pas slips out, is just a fraction of the introspective gold forged in his upcoming LP.

With a sonic palette that would complement any playlists featuring Peace, Swim Deep, Viola Beach and Jaws, So Embarrassing would be on the cusp of contemporary trends if it didn’t transcend them with the extra vigour in the angular jangle-pop guitars, which any indie rock fan will register as next level. Fading out even gives Marr & Robert Smith a run for their money with the intricately melodic gravitas in this colourful earworm that will stick to your synapses like superglue from the first hit.

So Embarrassing will officially release on October 17th. Check it out on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Manchester’s Dakota Avenue cry out for sanctity in their indie anthem, Slap Me Silly

No feeling can compare to hearing a sentiment that you’ve only ever heard reverberating around the most private corners of your mind versed through compassionately honeyed vocals. And that is exactly what the Manchester-based outfit, Dakota Avenue, delivers through their latest single, Slap Me Silly. Far from a masochistic howl into the void, Slap Me Silly claws into the soul-biting issue of needing someone that knows you enough to offer a firm guiding hand to pull you back into a state of sanctity.

It is about time Manchester’s music scene stopped being defined by nostalgia and started to revolve around the contemporary crafted resonance delivered by acts as energizingly profound as Dakota Avenue. Their indie jangle-pop melodies, cataclysmic crescendos and 80s-inspired synths are a hotbed of evocatively charged stylised alchemy.

But Dakota Avenue certainly hasn’t failed to gain traction; they’ve garnered radio play from Amazing Radio and XS Manchester, performed live sessions for BBC Introducing and played to thousands at festivals, and garnered critical acclaim from across the board. As a fellow Mancunian, I wouldn’t hesitate to sell Dakota Avenue as one of the hottest acts this side of the Mersey.

Slap Me Silly is due for official release on June 3rd; check it out for yourselves here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

San Gabriel brings panache to 80s indie-pop through his latest single, Tape Machine.

It was impossible to forget San Gabriel after hearing the luscious guitar tones in his debut single, Another One. Based on his third single, Tape Machine, it’s safe to say that he’s found his signature sound by mixing shimmering shoegaze guitars with 80s dance-pop beats that bring the energy while his angular guitar notes add absorbing layers to his instantly enamouring aural eclecticism.

Listening to Tape Machine instantly becomes a subjective experience as you’re enraptured by the sheer innovation and the magnetically warm vocal timbre that practically bathes you in soul. Despite the striking authenticity in his sound, it’s all too easy to succumb to efficacious hooks in the high vibe poppy hit that masterfully stands leagues apart from other indie newcomers in 2021. If you’re as tired as I am of indie assimilators, you won’t regret hitting play.

Tape Machine is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shake off the existentialism with Chris Sunfield’s symphonic baroque pop single, Tomorrow’s Here.

‘Tomorrow’s Here’ is the latest symphonic baroque pop release from singer-songwriter Chris Sunfield. It carries a similar uplifting finesse to the Manic Street Preacher’s latest album with plenty of extra added cosmic bliss.

With the orchestral scores against the enlivening jangle-pop riffs that prop up the layered choral vocals, Tomorrow’s Here is a sure-fire serotonin fix. With ‘we are asleep inside, we are the dreams we hide behind, who we fear to be, slumbering in a bed of history’ as an opening lyric, straight off the bat, you get the affirmation that Sunfield is an artist with a wealth of enlightened intelligence to offer to the existential.

Tomorrow’s Here is now available to stream on Spotify – don’t sleep on it.

Review by Amelia Vandergast