Browsing Tag

Indie New Wave

Von Venn illustrated the beauty of goodbyes in their 80s new wave single, In Time

Posted on 3 July 2023

As intrepidly melodic explorers of hope, loss, longing, nostalgia and attraction, Von Venn allow you to simultaneously experience all the aforementioned bitter-sweet sensations with their classic yet modernistically compelling guitar-driven indie singles.

Their latest slick with 80s new wave soul serenade, In Time, unravels as a panoramically rhythmic triumph which pulls you in from the first progression. From there on out, the melodies hold on tight with their ethereally caressive fluidity and refuse to let you go until you reach the slow fadeout, which proves how intrinsically entwined you become with the single, that illustrates the beauty in goodbyes.

With the singer and songwriter Gary Cox fusing his influences from Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, The Blue Nile, John Martyn, and John Lennon, Von Venn leaves nothing to be desired on the atmospheric originality front. The layered guitars against the harmonised vocals resound like a sonic Elysian dream.

In Time was officially released on June 23; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

New Wave Indie Came Crashing in Through the 80s Cinematic Atmosphere in LUXTHEREAL’s Latest Single, She Said

Posted on 6 February 2023

The unforgettable Phoenix, Arizona alt-rock outfit, LUXTHEREAL, is on cuttingly sharp new wave form once again with their latest single, She Said. Any fans of Psychedelic Furs and Echo and the Bunnymen will undoubtedly want to add the nostalgic-for-the-80s amalgam of new wave, power pop and art-rock to their playlists.

The soaring vocals add an ardent edge to the sample-driven music universe orchestrated by LUXTHEREAL to abstract us from our own existence defined by our mortal coil and existential dread. With guitars as atmospheric as the ones that ring across Lips Like Sugar between the riffs and guitar hooks that carry as much emotion as the strident vocal lines, She Said is aural escapism at its finest.

She Said was officially released on January 27th. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Sun Hit an 80s New Wave Atmosphere in Sabet and Doherty’s Single, At the Brink of Dawn

Posted on 30 January 2023

Docking their boat at the harbour of 80s new wave atmosphere, the soundtrackers, professional songwriters and producers, Sabet and Doherty, orchestrated a sonic depiction of when the sun hits in their single, At the Brink of Dawn, taken from their sophomore EP, The Secret.

Starting with cavernously choral angular guitar work in the same vein as Slowdive, the instrumental aural escapade builds into a feat of full-bodied beguile through the percussive fills brought by Doherty, best known for his work with Ben Folds and They Might Be Giants.

The oceanically cathartic testament to the collaborative chemistry that spills between the two artists is a unique invitation to slip array from the fray of typically structured music and become part of the flotsam while you trust in the expert orchestrators, who drift you into one of the sweetest 80s rock crescendos towards the outro.

At the Brink of Dawn is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pulse Park went sub-zero in their off-kilter new wave indie single, Sine Wave

Posted on 24 April 2022
Phonac Music by Pulse Park

Canadian alt-indie newcomers, Pulse Park, have sent us right back to the golden age of new wave indie with their latest release, Sine Wave. I’ve long been fascinated with the bleak tales of Shackleton and other Arctic explorers exposed to bitterly cold untold misery. To stumble on a three-piece that first met during an arctic expedition in Canada and started to learn their instruments under the unrelentingly dark skies, was nothing short of serendipitous bliss.

All of Pulse Park’s music is an effigy to the less than temperate expedition that led to the development of their morosely arresting take on off-kilter new wave indie rock. The sweeter than sweet vocals are just as melt worthy as the vocal timbre from Tiger Army, The Smiths and Slowdive while the instrumentals kick up a hypersonic storm around the emotion-driven harmonised vocals. As far as we are considered, Sine Wave is the epitome of the indie earworm.

You can check out Sine Wave for yourselves by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast