Browsing Tag

Alt Indie Rock

Spotlight Feature: Tim Jackson reached the pinnacle of tender tenacity in his alt-indie single, An Unusual Time

Posted on 26 April 2022

With his standout single, An Unusual Time, taken from his sophomore album, Litter in the Park, the London-based singer-songwriter Tim Jackson, proved that the most consoling tracks don’t evade the grittiest facets of our existence, they encompass them and deliver us from them with pure transcendent panache.

An Unusual Time is so soothing it’s practically medicinal for the way Jackson contends with the unrelenting uncertainty in all of our lives with infectious ease. Sure, there’s been no short supply on exports of lockdown-inspired singles, but Jackson’s Elliott Smith-Esque vocals and tender tenacity are something to behold time and time again. There is as much nuance in the endlessly unravelling lyricism as in the mellifluous complex time signatures that bring an organic dynamic to the indie alt-rock meets jazz sanctum of a soundscape.

Here’s what Tim Jackson had to say about An Unusual Time

“This song is something we can all relate to after several years of once in a lifetime events; it speaks to the sense of bewilderment I was feeling when I wrote it. The title is both lyrically straightforward and cheeky, given the odd 5/8-time signature.”

Litter in the Park is now available to stream in full via Spotify.

Keep up to date with the latest releases from Tim Jackson via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

West Ridge Circle – Stuck in This Chair: The Ultimate Off-Kilter Alt-90s Ode to Ennui

Posted on 20 April 2022

Taken from their debut EP, Nobody Home, West Ridge Circle’s standout single, Stuck in This Chair, is an eclectic array of era-spanning rock nuances and modernist lyrical vulnerability.

Fans of Pavement, Pixies and Nirvana will want to drink up the 21st-century melancholy that drips through the lyrics and captures the frustration that lingers in unrelenting ennui. It’s tracks like Stuck in This Chair that prove there’s a beauty in collective misery, that now, we can hear lyrics, and it isn’t an Olympian stretch of the imagination to get on the same level. Granted, that isn’t always a given, but West Ridge Circle are thriving on the funk that is writhing through our existential hive minds.

With the J Mascis-style guitar chops, the despondent Americana blues-rock vocals that come with a tinge of the Seattle alt-90s sound and the eerily relatable lyrics, Stuck in This Chair has all the makings of a melancholy alt-rock playlist staple. We hope there’s another release nestled in the pipeline.

Stuck in This Chair is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

djamesk13 plays with discordant ethereal phenomena in his latest single, ‘An Angel- The Devil’

Posted on 5 April 2022
https://soundcloud.com/djkemp13/djamesk13-an-angel-the-devil

London alt-rock solo artist, djamesk13, came in with his scuzzy Champagne Supernova-ESQUE latest single, An Angel- The Devil, which plays with ethereal phenomena and no-wave-y discord that will throw you right back to the alt-90s.

The lo-fi production caustically compliments the overarching moody energy of An Angel- The Devil as djamesk13 uses his magnetically deadpan vocals to deliver the hooky meta lyrics. There’s no room to wonder why so many alt-rock fans have already jumped on the singer-songwriter’s fourth release. We hope number 5 is already in the pipeline.

An Angel- The Devil is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Chris Hart has launched his soulfully eviscerating indie-alt-rock hit, Are You There?

Posted on 25 March 2022

Riffy, grooving jangle-pop guitars prop up Chris Hart’s soul-infused indie vocals in his latest bitter-sweet alternative hit, Are You There? which navigates the lament left by the cognitive dissonance of people’s intent, actions and words never matching up.

Lyrically, it’s a no holds barred scathing evisceration of flaky objects of our desire. In every other aspect, Are You There? seeks to take the pain away through absorbingly virtuosic riffs, indie disco beats and energetically cathartic choruses with soulful RnB nuances.

More impressively, the Atlanta-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer pulled the radio-ready hit together with his own fair hands. It isn’t every day you encounter an artist with god-tier guitar skills and the ability to build a hooky earworm. His talent discernibly isn’t to be slept on. Get him on your radar.

Are You There? will officially release on March 25th; you can check it out for yourselves via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

No genre was safe in The Vista’s poppy alt-indie-rock fusion single, Truth Be Told

Posted on 13 March 2022

We may have been in a post-truth reality for a few years now, but here to burst that dystopic bubble is the indie rock outfit, The Vista, and the instantly iconic single, Truth Be Told, which melds classic rock with garagey proto-punk and smoother than smooth alt-indie rock.

With vocals that sit between country-blues crooning and bitey pop-punk vocal lines, they exude just as much exuberance as the anthemic vintage guitar tones that surge around the crunchy basslines and atmosphere-building percussion.

We can’t wait to hear what the Birmingham-based outfit have in the pipeline. They may have only appeared to shake up the indie scene in 2021, but their shockwaves are already cataclysmically strong.

Truth Be Told was officially released on March 11th. It is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zofia Alaya dropped the temperature in her latest alt-indie single, COLD

Posted on 4 March 2022

London’s ethereal alt-indie-rock songstress, Zofia Alaya, is set to drop the temperature with her latest single, COLD, which paints with chillier tonal textures to reflect the cold nature of the human experience.

It is one of the hardest life lessons to realise how cold, calculated, self-involved and downright narcissistic a significant proportion of humanity truly is. For anyone that is already schooled in that regard, COLD is a stunning reminder that, even if that behaviour is prolific, it’s still fundamentally wrong.

The deeply compassionate single has all the experimentalism of The Mars Volta paired with Zofia Alaya’s vulnerably moody vocal timbre. It is nothing short of arrestive – especially in the presence of the poppy hooks that make an addictive earworm out of COLD.

COLD will officially release across all major platforms from March 4th, 2022.

Check out Zofia Alaya via Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fauna recollects on disillusionment in pre-COVID times in their alt-indie-rock anthem Didn’t Wanna.

Posted on 21 May 2021
Fauna

With so many big names springing out of the Manchester music scene, breaking alt-indie-rock artist Fauna have some stiff competition but their latest single, Didn’t Wanna, establishes them as an artist worth a spot on your radar and in your gig diary.

Didn’t Wanna was written during lockdown while the fourpiece recollected on those nights out that aren’t worth the Uber fare because the minute you find yourself in a crowded room, there is no place you would rather be but home. Despite the relatable disillusionment, Fauna succeeded in creating a fervent earworm out of Didn’t Wanna. Every introvert will want it on their feel-good playlists.

With sonic angular riffs sweeping through the soundscape that was constructed through influence from Kings of Leon, Peace and Foals along with instrumental stylings of 70s rock and 60s psych-pop, Fauna’s sound in their fourth single hit the airwaves as an endlessly distinctive one.

Instead of crawling out of a mould cast by Manchester icons, Fauna’s constraint-less sound breathes an air of ingenuity into Manchester’s music scene, often stifled by Joy Division, The Fall and the Smiths assimilators. If you needed any additional reason to love the pioneers, they also brewed their own Didn’t Wanna IPA to coincide with the release.

Didn’t Wanna hit the airwaves on May 21st; you can hear it for yourselves via SoundCloud and Spotify.

Connect with Fauna via Instagram and Facebook

Review by Amelia Vandergast

You are good enough: Edja shows us the way to fulfilling your dreams on electrifying second single ‘Song For Who’ve Been There’

Posted on 27 February 2021

After blessing us last month with her lovely debut ‘Happy‘ that gets the feet tapping with confidence, the lovable Edja returns to shower us with an inspiring message to us all, on the call to follow your inner desires on ‘Song For Who’ve Been There‘.

Edja is a galvanizing Italy-born, London, England-based indie-rock singer-songwriter, who performs with an old school energy that has you looking deeper within yourself, she had her doubts before but forged through the whispers in her mind to now do what she loves. Playing music is what she truly adores and sings to help others that are stuck in the quicksand of their own minds, needing a caring hand to rise up and never go back to that scary place again.

This is the story of breaking down your self-imposed limits and re-training your curious brain to believe in yourself so you can take that first step forward, building momentum the further you go. With so many of us behind the curtains at home, the need for an encouraging message like this, has never been more important in our lifetime.

The stirring song shocks you into action at first, Luca Chessa’s guitar and powerful production fires into action like a speeding train that meshes so well with Edja’s stunning vocals. You are sitting in your seat and feel her fire inside that gives you chills all over your body.

‘Song For Who’ve Been There‘ from London indie rocker Edja, brings you to a place in your mind that has you thinking through the walls and instead of letting them hold you inside, you find the urge to break them down and doing what you know you are actually capable of.

Her message is so real and needs to be heard far and wide, as if you regret never taking that shot when you know you could of scored the winner, will haunt you forever. After all, if you love something enough, why not try it out and see what happens. You just never know.

Hear this epic single full of stirring beauty on Spotify and see more of her uplifting life on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Making it work: Vinyl Grenade ‘Find A Way’ to our inner senses with powerful new single

Posted on 20 February 2021

With passion strewn all over this stunning track, Vinyl Grenade return with this supremely powerfully sung rock ballad about love and how you will ‘Find A Way‘, if you love each other enough to make it work.

Vinyl Grenade are an exciting four-piece online band, who set out to make original music that soars into your heart and never lets go. They sizzle deliciously on your speakers griddle and fuse a song together that grabs your attention and makes you feel self-reflective about previous times you with found a way, or when things faded into the night and weren’t seen again.

This is the true story about hiding the worst parts of you from your special human, as you don’t want to lose them. This is only driving a wedge in between you, which you’ve just realized and you find yourself wanting to make amends as soon as possible, to rectify the situation.

‘Find A Way‘ from online indie-rock act Vinyl Grenade, is that strong explosion of soundscapes that you makes you wonder if you can be together with that special soul that you really care about so deeply. With a sensational electric sound that has your hairs standing up to attention, they transform the day with an epic track worthy of many spins.

Sometimes no matter how hard you try, things seems to just go pear shaped. Giving it another shot through heartfelt communication, is the only way to really know for sure if its meant to be, or not.

Hear this excellent new single on Spotify and see more on FB.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Life at the moment: Chachee is honest and reflective on new single ‘Sad Day’

Posted on 27 January 2021
Dark Light by Chachee

Taken off his upcoming thirteen-track album ‘Dark Light‘, that is due for release on the 5th February 2021, Chachee shows us into his mind on the introspective ‘Sad Day‘.

Brooklyn, New York-based 90s lo-fi punk and indie rock artist/drummer Chachee, is a supremely creative musician who makes that nostalgic music that ebbs and flows at reality, while taking you to a thoughtful place that enables you to look deep inside yourself.

This is an artist who plays music to learn about himself and to ask questions about life that can’t be answered yet. A truly deep soul who is a refreshingly honest man in these times of flashy posers ,who get way too much attention for doing very little.

The quirky mixture of acoustic and digital sonic layers fuses with his sense of humor to life right, is a unique outlook that brings so much value to this song for us to hear with a reflective glance, as we know the feeling all too well.

‘Sad Day‘ from Brooklyn’s self-taught soulful indie artist Chachee, is the intriguing tale of how we are feeling as humanity right now, as each day seems longer than the last with relief still far off. He sings with such a reflective tone that is so rare in music these days. Each day has been a challenge and the hope for a brighter path might still be far down the road, with many detours ahead.

Feeling down is completely natural at the moment, as we grapple with habits that have perhaps defined us, as we realize who we actually aren’t really friends with after all. Sometimes its okay to have a sad day and be off. Tomorrow is going to be a brighter day after all.

Stream this vivid daydream on Bandcamp.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen