Browsing Tag

the strokes

Indie Landfill Finally Sees Daylight: SilverHorizon’s Come Down Is Garage Rock with The Strokes in Its Blood

Posted on 30 July 2026

The seminal single Come Down from SilverHorizon’s eponymous debut LP sounds as though it could have been fired straight from the barrels of The Strokes’ own canon. Formed in 2024 in Worcester County, Massachusetts, the alternative-rock powerhouse already carries the nerve and live-wire looseness of an act sharp enough to tear straight through the static of relentless indie assimilation.

The swanky, garagey, gyrating energy is fed unrelenting momentum through the rhythm section, driven by Connor MacEachern, while Bryce Broberg’s vocals croon style into substance and the guitars are filtered through a nostalgic kaleidoscope of scuzzy effects to achieve authentic indie-garage earworm aesthetics. With drummer Kenny Snider locking the whole thing into motion, Come Down feels restlessly ready for sweaty rooms.

For anyone who felt their growing pains while listening to The Walkmen as they debuted, or anyone who got hooked into indie through the devil-may-care ensnaring force of Fontaines D.C., SilverHorizon is the light at the end of the tunnel of indie landfill. Their influences may include Two Door Cinema Club, Royel Otis, Alexsucks and Arctic Monkeys, but the band already sound like they are chasing their own damage.

They have the attitude, the songwriting chops and that certain je ne sais quoi of charisma that lands in just the right spot between cocky and magnetic. If any indie band has what it takes to break through in 2026, we’d put our money on SilverHorizon.

Come Down is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shaky Riffs Through the Annals of Rock with the Unshakable Swagger in ‘Quiet in the Night’

Posted on 7 March 2025

With guitars on surf control in the garage rock earworm, Quiet in the Night, the solo virtuoso Shaky riffs his fans through the most stylised annals of rock, pitting low-down and dirty glamour against unshakable euphoria. The single has already racked up over 57k streams on YouTube alone since the music video premiered, amassing plenty of hype for the prodigal son of rock before he unveils his debut album this April.

After a promising start in his youth as a touring guitarist, Shaky stepped away from music to raise his family and keep his grandfather’s manufacturing business afloat. Now, with his three children older and the business stabilised, he’s back and making up for lost time, recording everything in his home studio—not for lack of resources, but because DIY is what he does best.

Founder of Shaky Records and a veteran of projects including Killer Bangs, The Hammills, Petal Crush, Cold Fronts, and The Swinging Fingers, he’s no stranger to the scene. If you like plenty of substance and sticky-sweet lyrical sensibility behind your salacious swagger, you’ll want to devour Quiet in the Night time after time.

Stream the official music video for Quiet in the Night on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mikey Mosher – ‘Tell Me!’: A Scuzzy Slice of DIY Indie Garage Rock Romanticism

Posted on 9 December 2024

If Fidlar and The Strokes met in a garagey middle ground and took a few production and vocal cues from John Grant, the result would reverberate in the same deliciously scuzzy vein as the latest self-written, produced and recorded single, ‘Tell Me!’ by the Chicago-based DIY musician and visual artist, Mikey Mosher.

With the only other hands brought to this single and self-shot and directed music video being Joseph at Freeman Mastering, it’s safe to say that Mikey Mosher has honed his multi-faceted talents enough to emerge as a master of all sonic trades.

The aesthetic of the release is perfectly complemented by the warm, saturation-rich visuals, which hark back to the DIY videos which reigned supreme in the era of indie sleaze; now that Gen Z is determined to live through the epoch they missed the first time around, Mikey Mosher is well-placed to make major waves throughout the US and beyond.

If you can’t get enough of the haplessly hopeless romanticism in ‘Tell Me!’, keep Mikey Mosher on your radar to stay posted on his new album, Atlantis, which is due to drop in early 2025.

The official music video for ‘Tell Me!’ dropped on November 26^th; stream it on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Wrong Party is ‘California Bound’ in their glimmer of indie garage rock nostalgia

Posted on 14 September 2024

The Southern Kentucky/Northern Tennessee fourpiece, The Wrong Party, delivered an irresistible invitation to revisit epochs of rock via an unchartered route with their third single, California Bound.

With nods to everyone from The Strokes, Pavement, Placebo and Iggy and the Stooges in the honeyed with vintage hues production which also teases the distortion of 90s Seattle grunge and grooves through bluesy psychedelic guitar licks, California Bound is pornography to sonic nostalgists.

The way the influences and eclectic stylings enmesh in the garage-rock-esque release is an undeniable attestation to the band’s unique vision and mission to make up for the shortfall in real and raw rock in the past few decades. If you would rather get a lobotomy than listen to Highly Suspect or Royal Blood, The Wrong Party, fronted by Matt McNew, is made for your playlists.

California Bound hit the airwaves on September 1^st; stream the single on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

James Sebastian electrified rock n roll reverence in ‘Looking for a Sign’

Posted on 10 May 2024

James Sebastian’s latest single, Looking for a Sign, erupts with the fervour of rock’s golden age, packing an electrifying punch that makes it clear he’s owning the proverbial stage. As a prodigal son of rock ‘n’ roll, Sebastian channels the spirit of iconic acts from The New York Dolls to The Strokes to The Beach Boys, yet his sound remains unapologetically rebellious and tantalisingly original.

Looking for a Sign insists you get swept up in its compelling hooks and Sebastian’s natural frontman charisma, reminiscent of a cult leader’s magnetism. This track roars through speakers with an energy so raw and a production so slick, that it’s akin to witnessing the exhilarating James Sebastian live experience.

Rather than attempting to reinvent the rock ‘n’ roll wheel, Sebastian tunes into a deep reverence for the genre, projecting it through a release that radiates defiance to its core. The track exemplifies liberation, embracing the craziest facets of one’s character and running wild with them. It’s a celebration of individuality, crafted with a keen awareness of rock’s historical context but driven by a modern, fierce pulse.

Looking for a Sign captures the essence of Sebastian’s growth as an artist—confident and poised to deliver high-energy performances that resonate across generations. His journey from vibrant live shows across the UK, including iconic venues like The Cavern and The Macbeth, to a burgeoning streaming presence, underscores a trajectory filled with promise and rock ‘n’ roll heart.

Looking for a Sign will be available to stream on all major platforms from May 10^th via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Emotional Chaos Unravels in the Melancholy of Magenta Wave’s Indie Rock Allegory, Why Am I In Love With You

Posted on 17 April 2024

Magenta Wave’s latest single, “Why Am I In Love With You,” vocally tears at the heartstrings with a fervency akin to Thom Yorke and Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchinson. This track is an atom bomb of melancholy that flips the usual narrative of romanticism upside down. It melodically implores listeners to explore the agony of falling in love when your relationship with yourself is on unsteady ground.

With the guitars sonically visualising the disorientation of losing control under another’s influence, and the rhythm section driving this tormented vignette forward, the vocals find an achingly affecting hallowed ground to project their agony over. The soaring, vintage-toned guitar solos resonate like a battle cry from a scarred soul, marking Magenta Wave’s unparalleled ability to shake up the indie rock scene with their ingenuity and sincerity.

This piece is the second single from their upcoming EP, “Sold My Soul,” mastered by Ed Brooks, known for his work with Pearl Jam and Death Cab for Cutie. It is an essential listen for anyone who still finds sanctuary in the candour and inhibition of indie rock.

Magenta Wave, having become legends in Bellingham, WA, before moving to Seattle, continues to blend alternative, indie, and psychedelic rock in their unique sound, making “Why Am I In Love With You” a poignant reflection on love and self-discovery

Why Am I In Love With You was officially released on April 12th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Messy Mike – Things Are Crazy: An Alt-Indie Remedy to the Malady of Modernity.

Posted on 21 March 2024

Messy Mike used the cinematic sheen of neo-doo-wop to add transcendent melodic ascendence to his vintage-toned alt-indie rock allegory of how darkness permeates the psyches of us all – regardless of how hard we endeavour to push away the shadows of ennui.

Things Are Crazy goes beyond unravelling as a sonic sign of the times, the kaleidoscopically colourful release that will be a hit with any fans of The Strokes goes one strident step further to deliver vindication and salvation in the same rhythmic breath.

Regardless of how much we know that this dystopia dogs us all, that doesn’t get in the way of bringing our sanity into question; if you can relate, Things Are Crazy will give you all the answers you’re looking for; sift through the layered instrumentals, gentle acoustics and sweeping organs and hone in on the soulfully caressing vocal lines for a remedy to the malady of modernity.

Stream Things Are Crazy on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anxious affection resounds in The Good Neighbors’ synth-swathed synthesis of alt-pop and indie-rock, Room for You

Posted on 4 March 2024

The Good Neighbors borrowed a cup of earmilk from The Strokes for their latest single, Room for You, before pouring it into a synth-swathed production that eclipses the contemporary indie synthwave trend.

After moving away from their syntheses of alt-rock and punk, The Good Neighbors aligned their creative ambitions with their passion for painting across the alt-pop and indie-rock spectrum. Room for You not only exhibits the duo’s softer side; you can FEEL the authenticity, soul and delicious devil-may-care approach to constraint-less fusionism. The seminal single is uninhibited expression in scintillatingly melodic motion.

The jazzy neo-pop middle eight extends the experimentalism to the nth degree to assert the Buffalo, NY-hailing duo as genre fusionists that are a cut above the rest as they regale a vignette of anxious affection and explore the neuroscience of expanding our minds to accommodate people capable of turning our world’s upside down. Hit play and meet your new aural addiction.

Room for You will hit the airwaves on March 1^st. Stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Leah Nawy has unleashed her iconic indie pop rock playlist staple, Friend of Mine

Posted on 3 January 2024

We’ve been obsessed with the NYC pop rock pioneer Leah Nawy ever since sinking into her lusciously groove-pocketed debut single, NUISANCE, which has racked up over 46k streams on Spotify alone since its release in 2023. In the opening verses of her sophomore single, Friend of Mine, the singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist exhibited a softer and more vulnerable side in her confessional release which alludes to how opening yourself up to people is only priming for the scars that will be left when you inevitably part ways.

When there’s little to separate realism and pessimism after life experiences have taught you that optimism is the outlook of the naïve, sentiments which unravel with the same pensive sting as the lyrics in Friend of Mine are inevitable. Yet, by the time the track reaches the midway mark, it transcends into a soulful power ballad before metamorphosising into an indie rock anthem for the disenfranchised but tenacious despite the bruises masses.

By bursting the bubblegum pop bubble with spikes of cultivated indie rock, the melancholy within Friend of Mine adopted a brand-new ferocity as an attestation to how you can reflect on your shortcomings without falling into a trap of self-pity. With a voice as indomitable as Lady Gaga fused with a cutting-edge indie pop rock signature sound, she’s a rare artist whose work merits her being referred to as an icon. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

Friend of Mine was officially released on December 22. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Crux sharpened their socially conscious knife in their garage rock protest ‘Dreamseller’

Posted on 1 December 2023

For their latest ensnaring alt-rock synthesis, Dreamseller, Newcastle’s breakthrough act, Crux, took a break from touring the Seattle sound through mutative prog-rock instrumental arrangements and left plenty of room to explore garage rock nuances, noted through The Strokes-esque vocal delivery which adds an element of precariousness to the deadpan croons Alex Turner wishes he could execute with such devil may care finesse.

As the basslines stab and roll through the electrifyingly vintage production, the angular guitar lines carve through the atmosphere and the percussion consistently works to the singular aim of adding an element of tension to the single that will pull you back in time after time. The magnetism within the refreshing distinction and creative confidence which sees the release swathed in swagger is far too addictive to quit.

Since emerging in 2019, Crux’s name has become synonymous with their fiercely uncompromising style and their ability to sharpen their grungy prog-rock signature with a socially conscious edge. With Dreamseller, the outfit revamped their sound and scathed at the commodification of musicians and the industry which sees no value within art, unless it can be exploited at the expense of the artist.

Dreamseller was officially released on November 24; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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