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Music Blog for Indie Rock Fans

archie razed the airwaves with his latest augmented with attitude and style alt-indie hit, Mayalyn

Posted on 20 November 2023

With a voice which resonates with over 155k monthly listeners on Spotify and the confidence to create under the mononym archie, knowing that the name will become synonymous with his anthemic new wave indie aesthetic, it is no surprise to see that the 19-year-old singer-songwriter has hit razed the airwaves with his latest augmented with attitude and style single, Mayalyn.

With a vice-like grip which hits all the provocative and evocative marks, the track that starts with a saturated in delay jangly indie pop instrumental arrangement beneath his raspy croons, reminiscent of the 1975, evolves into a fiery feat of overdriven and modernised rock. With a seemingly infinite sequence of twists and turns, every progression is a revelation with Mayalyn. A revelation which paints its orchestrator as one of the most essential artists in 2023.

The classically trained Scottish singer-songwriter may only be getting started but he’s already giving every other up-and-coming act tips on how to raise the bar with lyrical ingenuity, which goes hand in virtuosic hand with his ear for a melody that will consume you when brought to life with his impassioned intensity.

Mayalyn was officially released on September 22; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Negate your way through the chaos with Midamerican Elevator’s jangle pop compass, Turn Left

Posted on 18 November 2023

With jangle pop guitar melodies reaching the epitome of effervescence under the dreamy vocal honey which tastes just as sweet as the harmonies that ensured Debbie Harry’s name would never be lost to history, the latest single, Turn Left, from the Chicago Indie Rock outfit, Midamerican Elevator is a resonant revelation.

By lyrically tracking how hard it can be to keep pace with the tumultuousness of modernity and how easy it can be to go around in circles, Turn Left speaks volumes to anyone who knows how it feels to be consumed by the franticness of society that leaves so many of us without a compass.

Between the killer chord progressions which elucidate that Midamerican Elevator will never be pedestrian at best and their capacity to fuse soul with style, they’re ones to watch out for. We’re stoked they’re back on the airwaves following the successful launch of their 2022 debut LP, Moon Ruler.

Turn Left will give indie rock fans a sense of direction on November 17th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Drift away with the fiercely dreamy ardour within Mums Favourite’s latest single, Loveboat

Posted on 18 November 2023
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HRGRsjJ-PFGiLuYZlktjnxIQyKkcLNbm/view?usp=sharing

Carrying the atmosphere and attitude of Honeyblood, The Breeders and Throwing Muses, the indie rock nostalgists Mums Favourite gave vintage bluesy soul an injection of punk visceralism with their latest single, Loveboat.

After lulling you into a false sense of dreamy and lofty ambient security, rancour starts to rile in the riotously clever production, which lyricist and lead vocalist Sasha Theunissen always keeps command of with her dynamically captivating vocal range.

After taking their sound which stands at the vanguard of alt-indie ingenuity around the world since their 2017 inception, the Adelaide-hailing quintet has established itself as an outfit for anyone who harnesses a proclivity for aural curveballs. Executing an archetypal track to this superlative level would be an achievement, but with the experimentalism it contains, it is clear to see that the trailblazing outfit has a career which reaches the pinnacle of promising.

Loveboat was officially released on November 8th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Connor Fyfe has released the stickiest earworm of the year with his new wave indie track, Cars

Posted on 17 November 2023
https://on.soundcloud.com/A1cfi

After becoming the youngest act to sell out Kings Tut in Glasgow and perform at TRNSMT, the 17-year-old Connor Fyfe is already in the habit of making history with his songwriting chops that are as sharp as they are sticky-sweet. His latest single, Cars, gives plenty of clues to how his ascent has been an unfaltering upward trajectory since leaving school in May.

With a bigger-than-Blossoms synth-drenched sound that borrows from the new wave synth pop genre while ticking all the right indie rock boxes, the momentum within Cars is momentous, but the adolescent prodigy knew just when to inject a sense of fragility and vulnerability into his vocal lines to ensure it’s a track that sucker punches the emotional and rhythmic pulses simultaneously.

Co-written with the legendary Ross McNae of Twin Atlantic, Cars pulsates with commercial appeal; each intricately clever chord progression embeds the earworm even deeper while the soulful synergy between the impassioned vocal lines and synthy indie rock synthesis ensures it will deliver endless euphoria.

With the promise that there are plenty more tracks in the pipeline, don’t be surprised if Connor Fyfe is one of the biggest Scottish artists since Lewis Capaldi.

Cars will officially be released on November 17th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Speaker Cabinets unleashed euphonically augmented sci-fi escapism in their alt-indie sophomore LP, Tales from New Babel

Posted on 9 November 2023

For their sophomore LP, the Barcelona trio Speaker Cabinets spun ‘Tales from New Babel’ over an indie aesthetic that will ricochet you right back to the 00s alt-indie rock era with reminiscences of Kasabian, The Futureheads, and The Courteeners.

With an additional layer of Euro folk in the opening single, Ghost Town, there will be little deliberation as to whether Speaker Cabinets stamped down a distinctive sonic signature within the anthemics of their dance-worthy and constraintlessly daring concept EP. When you’re not ensnared in the hooks, you’ll be immersed in a sci-fi tale of retribution. The standout single, The Fall, is a straight-up space rock attest to the imaginative ingenuity of the powerhouse, who will seemingly go to any mind-altering length to deliver euphonically augmented escapism to their fans.

The band’s electro-heavy sophomore LP was released on October 20 along with a 6-episode podcast, which shares the story of their zany creation. Delve into the sonic sci-fi franchise, you’re unlikely to regret it.

Stream the Speaker Cabinets sophomore LP by heading to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Therum etherealised existentialism in his psychedelic darkwave score,  Mirror of Stars

Posted on 3 November 2023

Therum searched for identity in the cosmos in the standout single, Mirror of Stars, from his psychedelic darkwave album, Darklines Within Us; in the process, he added a new ethereal trajectory to the evolution of existentialism.

Through croons, which call out into the void of the alien soundscape that would be on a plateau beyond our perception if it weren’t for the huge bass adding weight to the release, are resolvingly efficacious in their interstellar mission of drawing you right into the melancholic soul of the art rock Tour De Force.

If you have ever struggled to make sense of the material and social reality we’re confined to and feel an even greater sense of alienation when you try and situate yourself in the context of the twisted tapestry of existence, Mirror of Stars is proliferated with apt consolation.

VNV Nation once declared that this world is just an illusion trying to change you. Therum’s more astute observation of disillusion, duality, and the mind being as unchartered as the galaxy feels far more nuanced.

Mirror of Stars will be released as part of Therum’s LP, Darklines Within Us, on November 3rd. Stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Space out with the rock-licked soul in Church Burglars’ kaleidoscope of psychedelic shoegaze, Fairy Tale Ending

Posted on 1 November 2023

If you take your rock classically cut with a twist of spacey psychedelia, explore the riff-carved cosmos in the standout single, Fairy Tale Ending, from Church Burglars’ debut album, Subconsciously Conscious.

With soaring riffs as strident as the licks orchestrated by Slash’s fair hands fused with the soul-lavished euphonic sensibilities of the Flaming Lips and Pink Floyd, Fairy Tale Ending is a prog-rock meditation on the highs and lows of diehard romanticism. The endlessly caressing vocal lines which have more in common with the Shoegaze pioneers than your average rock outfit draw you right into the gravity of the bitter-sweet release, which stands as a testament to the LA-based outfit’s determination to make real music for real people.

After the founding members met at Berklee College of Music in Boston shortly before the COVID pandemic, frontman Mike Foltz used the international live music breather to travel to LA to record the debut LP independently with the exception of a few lead guitar parts laid down by Alec Grugel. With the full line-up finalised, Church Burglars are making waves in the live circuit; grab any opportunity to see them in an intimate setting before you have to join legions of fans filing into arenas to witness the virtuosity of Foltz.

Fairy Tale Ending is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Oxford singer-songwriter Emma Hunter brought Latino Post-Punk to UK shores in her artfully augmented single, Guilty

Posted on 29 October 2023

If Iggy Pop is the Passenger, the Oxford singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Emma Hunter is the driver in her biggest single and battle of conscience to date, Guilty, which hit the airwaves on September 29.

With her artful sonic signature scribed through her Flamenco guitars augmented with a brashy and garagey high-octane post-punk energy that will ensnare fans of Siouxsie Soux and Debbie Harry, this guilt-riddled and demon-parading evolution is a far cry from her former releases which reach the epitome of affectingly arresting.

Hunter’s new-found strident approach to enticing listeners into her conceptually cunning creativity will undoubtedly put her on the right trajectory towards the reverence she’s deserved from the outset. As much as the industry maintains that it favours authenticity and talent, her absence from the charts is a damning testament to their appetite for melodic monotony.

Stream Guilty via YouTube and Spotify and keep up to date with Emma Hunter’s new music via Facebook and Instagram. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Harry Guntrip lured us into contemplation with the analogue synth ambience in ‘Overhead’

Posted on 24 October 2023

Guitars and synths take turns at the steering wheel in the seminal single, Overhead, from the Scottish singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer, Harry Guntrip (AKA Joel Moore), who prises influence from the alt-90s to craft his melodic narratives which beckon experimental familiarity.

With the vocal lines carrying as much resonance as Arab Strap’s slow and deep timbre fused with Grandaddy-esque lo-fi analogue synth-driven melodicism, Overhead achieves a beguiling balance between artistically assertive and intimately emotional to embrace you with striking poetic polyphonic tenderness.

We can’t wait to hear what is lingering in the pipelines from Guntrip; his art is the perfect companion to contemplative nights which necessitate amplifying the sweetness of the bitter-sweet dichotomy.

Overhead was officially released on October 13; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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