Browsing Tag

00s Indie

Heatwavers – Today I’ll Mostly Be: A Sunlit Anthem for Modern Malaise

Posted on 25 June 2024

Heatwavers have made their debut with Today I’ll Mostly Be; an enrapturing anthem which effortlessly melds the vibrant sounds of the ‘60s with the spirited essence of 00s indie. The iridescent-with-soul indie pop production is bolstered by garage rock licks and dusted with the glitter of jangle pop to deliver an infectiously hooked earworm that you’ll want to lean on every time you need the reminder it’s okay to be fallible and dogged with fear of the future.

The unshackling sun-bleached tour de force of hedonically melodic bliss introduces an idiosyncratically awkward archetype with a soul of gold who leads the listener through the reverie designed to liberate from the aches of inadequacy.

The chorus reprise of “I’ve tried my best and I need a break from life, so today I’ll be mostly getting drunk and high” flips the narrative of the typical summer pop hit to deliver a resoundingly bitter-sweet sign of the times marked by the dangers of self-awareness and the traumatic influence of the current climate. The sunny-side-up sonics paired with the realism within the lyricism ensured that Today I’ll Mostly Be will be the seminal sound of the summer.

Formed during a serendipitous stroll in Mykonos, James (UK) and Nige (NZ) of Heatwavers embarked on their musical journey across continents. Their shared love for 60s pop and indie rock, influenced by bands like Best Coast, Surfer Blood, and The Shins, fuels their creative dualism. Despite the physical distance and the constraints of the pandemic, they triumphed with a zeitgeisty cocktail which juxtaposes an effervescent sonic palette with introspectively deep lyrics.

Today I’ll Mostly Be is now available to stream on SoundCloud, Spotify, and Bandcamp.

Connect with Heatwavers on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Columbia’s Craig Lewis Opened a New Chapter with His Debut Single, Everything’s Changing’ in His Sonic Rebirth Solo Project

Posted on 3 May 2024
Those Heavy Souls

The disbanding of Columbia was a bitter pill to swallow in 2022, but if anything can sugar it, it is the debut single from frontman Craig Lewis, who has lost none of his strength as a one-man powerhouse in his new project, Those Heavy Souls.

“Everything’s Changing” is a far more lyrically intimate exhibition of Lewis’ artistic edge, whereas the alt-90s and 00s indie aesthetic, inspired by Kasabian, The Stone Roses, and Doves, remains just as infectiously robust. As you mourn the pace at which our society is disintegrating from recognition, you’re caught up in the kinetically tight, flawlessly produced mourning of what we’ve lost in recent years. Everything’s Change is the ultimate salve for the socialist soul looking for a semblance of sanity and sanctuary.

Lewis’ ability to take a deeply lamentable subject and augment it into a rhythmically compelling hit is a sure-fire testament to the fact that Columbia may have never reached the stadiums that they were well equipped for, but that hasn’t got in the way of Lewis delivering euphoric swagger infused with a quintessentially British sense of ennui.

We already can’t wait to hear what is lingering in the pipeline from the artist who knows exactly how to hark back to the nostalgia of the Britpop era without assimilating. He isn’t just merely exploring intersections; he’s pushing boundaries to the point of deconstructing the framework of nostalgia.

Everything’s Changing will be available to stream on all major platforms from May 3rd. Find your preferred way to listen via Those Heavy Souls’ official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Culture Bloom harmonised to the nines in their spectrally raw acoustic indie & alt-rock synthesis, Nightmare

Posted on 8 October 2023

‘Nightmare’ is the first synthesis of acoustic indie and alt-rock to spill from the debut EP, Aren’t You Proud?, from Denver Colorado’s most nostalgically euphonic drop-dead stunning duo, Culture Bloom.

If Placebo penned bitter-sweet symphonies in the same vein as The Verve and mainlined a little Death Cab for Cutie into that vein, the alt-90s melodiousness would hit with exactly the same force of impact as Nightmare.

The emotional weight carried within the harrowed and haunted layers of vocal harmonies as they collide with the stabbing guitar lines resonates as infinitely more than the sum of all parts, allowing Nightmare to stand as a testament to the song-crafting capacities of the duo that should be on every alt indie fan’s radar.

Stream Nightmare on Spotify and stay tuned for the EP release on October 20th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lost Foxes opened the mundanity trap in their installation of indie pop nostalgia, Petrichor

Posted on 7 October 2023

Lost Foxes elevated South Carolina’s indie scene with their poetically plaintive latest single, Petrichor. Hearing it, you’d be forgiven for thinking the past two decades have been erased by the echoes of the early 00s in the melodies that haven’t lost their ability to wrap a noose-like grip around the rhythmic pulses and pluck the heartstrings in time with the angular guitar notes.

The intimate lo-fi touches to the chamber string-accentuated release make it effortless to lock into the resonance that is strewn across the verses which reminisces on darkly mundane days as the instrumental effervescence lets the sun shine through the salvation of escapism.

The four-piece has come an illustriously long way since their early days of playing with loops on Logic Pro and singing about beans in 2020. Following the inspiration of Twenty One Pilots, AJR and COIN, they got to work on their debut album, Welcome to Kiff, which debuted in 2022 to tell the tale of three protagonists escaping totalitarianism. Petrichor is the latest chapter in the outfit’s legacy, and it is one you’re going to want to read time and time again.

Petrichor was officially released on September 29: Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jake Kulak leaves nostalgia in the past with his stadium-filling Garage Rock/00s Indie Amalgam, Caution Tape

Posted on 24 February 2023

Garage rock and 00s indie converged in the latest radio-ready single from the breakthrough artist Jake Kulak & the Modern Vandals, who will undoubtedly reach even greater heights in their already accoladed career when this riff-soaked euphonic masterpiece hits the airwaves.

Attaching the word masterpiece to a review may sound like a hyperbolic stretch, but there’s no exaggerating the infectious energy in the vintage angular guitar melodies that pop even harder than when the Strokes hit the fretboard.

Caution Tape is the perfect introduction to Kulak’s signature stadium-filling guitar chops, which flood the track around the lyrics that lick resonance into the mix by alluding to the lengths we go to in a bid to evade stagnation.

So far in his career, the Connecticut-hailing artist has toured across the states and beyond, tearing up stages in Norway and Sydney, and picked up multiple awards and nominations along the way. On the basis of Caution Tape, it is all too easy to see why.

Caution Tape will officially release on February 24th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The alt-rock nomad, Charlson, moved into darker synth rock territory with his single, Night Sounds IV

Posted on 14 October 2022

Alt-rock nomad Charlson bravely extended his synth-dripping single, Night Sounds IV, across an epic 7-minute duration. While that track length may make Gen Z recoil in fear, this 00s indie-loving millennial was absorbed by every dark synth-dripping progression.

With a similar vibe to Johnny Marr’s debut album, Night Sounds IV from the independent artist’s forthcoming album, Night Sounds. It’s an energetic introduction to Charlon’s new venture into indie rock territory. One which pays a nuanced ode to Poison Ivy’s decadence and the Generation Terrorists era of the Manic Street Preachers in the crunchy guitars in the second segment of the enduring cry in the dark before it breaks into an orchestral laced outro.

The high energy of the release that comes complete with synthy blues motifs is an apt sonic reflection of those feelings that plague us when our heads hit the pillow. It certainly won’t help you sleep, but it’s a gregarious extension of solidarity for anyone with haunted self-awareness. Jack Kerouac’s quote of ‘the only people for me are the mad ones’ certainly springs to mind.

Night Sounds is due for release on October 14th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Go Go Gadget Pink Packet shakes it up in his intimate alt-indie hit, Sno Globe

Posted on 14 August 2022

Taken from his sophomore album, Unfinished Art, Go Go Gadget Pink Packet’s standout single, Sno Globe, is an emotion-driven hit of alt-indie, which throws back to the 00s while simultaneously embracing autonomously expressive melodic innovation.

Starting with an almost outtake-y prelude, the zealous lo-fi indie single breathes bedroom pop intimacy, with an extra flavour of sticky-sweet power-pop in the overdriven guitars, which carry as much emotion as the raw yet sugared vocal harmonies.

In his own words, the Sherrill, NY-based solo artist, writes common man blues records, perfectly encapsulating the immediate resonance you find in the dejection.

Sno Globe is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lewis Shepperd has released his fervently soulful alt-indie track, Follow You.

Posted on 24 April 2021

Alt-indie-rock rarely falls into the swoon-worthy category, but when it packs as much soul as an Amy Winehouse record along with stormy melodic instrumentals, it is impossible not to be overcome by the level of feverish alchemy. Lewis Shepperd’s latest single, Follow You, is the perfect example.

With a curveball of a breakdown, the track briefly evolves into a feat of alt-hip-hop before the dreamy indie vocals breathe more expressive soul into the timeless single as they find synergy with the guitars that carry hints of blues. After honing in on their talent in function bands, it is safe to say that Lewis Shepperd’s place is well and truly in the original music scene. The individuality and gravitas that he brings to the airwaves are practically unparalleled.

Follow You is now available to stream on Spotify. Connect with Lewis Shepperd via Facebook & Twitter.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ins Kino is ‘Coming Around’.

Posted on 22 April 2021
Coming Around by Ins Kino

Ins Kino is the recording project of Raleigh, North Carolina, based singer-songwriter Evan Farkas, and ‘Coming Around’ is the first single from his forthcoming debut EP. There’s a melancholic-yet-upbeat feel to the track, reminiscent of The Divine Comedy, early Smiths, or My Life Story. That could be down to Farkas’ use of strings and woodwind over a pushy, bouncy rhythm section, rather than simply relying on the more usual ‘indie’ guitar, bass, and keyboards approach.

It’s a nice mix of cynical and optimistic, chilled-and-mellow yet somehow bouncy-and-upbeat all at once, hooky melodies and a catchy pop chorus coupled with orchestral, cinematic sweeps and swooshes from the off-beat instrumentation, Farkas’ vocal beautifully delivered in that sort of almost-distracted, sardonic Neil Hannon, Ed Harcourt kind of way. It’s undeniably chamber pop, but with an eye to lazy, witty lyrics and deep, crooning vocals.

You can hear ‘Coming Around’ on BandCamp, and follow Ins Kino on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Peter Horton brought in an eccentric new wave of electro-pop with ‘Out of My Head’.

Posted on 18 April 2021

Before singer-songwriter and instrumentalist Peter Horton’s relocation from NYC to Tokyo, he performed with artists such as El Niño. After putting down roots in Japan and being inspired by the culture, he was ready to make his debut as a solo artist.

His debut album, Spirit of Inquiry, released in 2020, containing 20 tracks that meld elements of 00s alt-rock with 80s synth-pop. The lead track, Out of My Head, kicks off with angular indie jangle-pop riffs before the synths start to do the heavy lifting with the melodies while the guitars lace the soundscape with effervescently brash garage rock tones.

The eccentricity, combined with the sonic innovation, which Peter Horton brought to Out of My Head, will be a fresh experience for even the most discerning indie-pop fan. The lyrics are sure to resonate with anyone struggling to get back on track and feeling on top. Given that we have all just collectively endured a global pandemic, Peter Horton’s intended audience will have expanded exponentially.

You can check out Peter Horton’s debut album by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast