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Indie Rock

Versonic twisted the melons of 90s Britpop with Come On (Up for Air)

Posted on 19 February 2023

The acclaimed indie rock act, Versonic, has twisted the melons of early 90s Britpop yet again with the anthemic angular melodicism in their bitter-sweet latest single, Come On (Up for Air).

With a bassline that will make any Pixies fans palpitate over and the opening lyric, “how does it feel to be suffocating on your own again”, which grabs your attention by the throat, it’s safe to say Stephen Connor’s award-winning writing skills are as sharp as ever.

How he managed to pull the euphoria from “cos no one’s gonna save you, no one’s looking for you and no one’s gonna make it alright (for you)” was nothing short of genius. The painfully honest yet lyrically liberating nature of Come On is just one of the reasons to delve into the artful reinvention of the 90s Britpop wheel.

Come On (Up for Air) was officially released on February 17th. Hear it on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jimmy Nebula has unleashed his indie psych pop serenade, Take It All

Posted on 11 February 2023

If the Stone Roses hailed from LA instead of weathering the grim up North UK weather, their indie hits would have been as euphonic on the ear as the Cali-residing artist, songwriter and producer Jimmy Nebula’s latest single, Take It All.

Just one of the singles to feature on the forthcoming LP due for release this Spring, Take It All is tinged with psychedelically sunny heat to warm the blisters of melancholy that pop in the same vein as Joy Division’s in the soul stirringly pure release, which also carries a touch of the Pixies and R.E.M.

Beyond any reminiscences, Take It All is a triumph in its own melodic right; through Nebula’s ability to meld light and dark, soul-stirring and heart-tearing feels. If emotion doesn’t flood to the surface while you’re listening to Take It All, you may want to check if you still have a pulse.

Take It All is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Romantic Indie-Rock Raconteur Griffin Robillard is Electrifying in His Anthemically Rythmic Hit, Laws of Longing (LOL)

Posted on 10 February 2023

For the exact same reasons I fell in love with Editors from the first hit, I felt my pulse quicken to the snappy electro-indie gravitas and vocal magnetism from the indie rock raconteur Griffin Robillard, in his single, Laws of Longing (LOL).

The production is as polished as it is colossal as it wraps around the die-hard romanticism in the lyrics and the dance-worthy rhythms evocatively heightened with every ardently pitch-perfect vocal stretch. With Grant Eppley (The National, Maggie Rogers, Spoon) in charge of production, it was never going to be lacklustre. Yet, clearly, the raw material already came with a scintillating sheen.

When most people endure a broken-off engagement, they fall into an insular vacuum of self-pity. Notably, it did little to quell Griffin Robillard’s intensely passionate drive, which puts a visceral amount of momentum into Laws of Longing. It is just one of the singles found on his upcoming debut album, Big Pieces Energy, penned-post-heartbreak and due for release on March 10th.

Laws of Longing will officially release on February 10th. Hear it on Griffin Robillard’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Freak of the Sea provided the ultimate fix of pacifistic solace in his alt-indie anti-gun anthem, The Bullet

Posted on 28 January 2023

It is a disillusioning and confusing era for pacifists to be enveloped in; substantial consolation ebbed and flowed from the Avant-Garde-tinged indie single, The Bullet, from Freak of the Sea (Christopher Jacques).

The anti-gun anthem, which lyrically revolves around the resonant reprise of “I’d rather take a bullet than shoot a gun”, is, unfortunately, a necessity given how we’re numbed to the horrors of gun violence through over-exposure to massacre.

While the guitar melodies run in a crystal-clear vein, dark and torrid effects disrupt the quiescence to a disarmingly conceptual effect. If you could imagine what it would sound like if Modest Mouse drifted into the waters of post-punk, you will get an idea of what the Portland, Oregon-based artist triumphantly achieved with The Bullet.

When Jacques isn’t crafting aural comfort, he runs the Dandy Warhols’ recording studio, The Odditorium. He’s worked with everyone from The Shins to The Dandy Warhols to Slash to Cowboy Junkies and countless other icons of alt music. Yet, notably, his associations are one of the least impressive facets about him.

The Bullet will officially release on January 26th; hear it on YouTube. The new EP, Out to Pasture, which The Bullet was taken from, will drop on February 10th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Scottish indie innovator Cameron Ferguson delivered a kaleidoscope of choral indie colour in his energising anthem, Jungle

Posted on 27 January 2023

https://soundcloud.com/cameronferguson2/jungle-1/s-7T4jyIjpCH6?si=7fab9bfb4e9148eca63ed089c9c4d7d8&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

After a string of successful singles released through 2022, the Scottish indie singer-songwriter Cameron Ferguson is here to show us what the future of indie sounds like with his latest single, Jungle.

With colourfully choral tones that will spill serotonin into the synapses of any fans of The Stone Roses amidst Ferguson’s quintessentially melodic distinctive brand of indie written with live performances in mind, Jungle is a rhythmically addictive triumph of a release.

The untraditional structure that throws a mind-melter of a curveball in as an outro is a testament to the artist’s ingenuity and boldness in bringing a new wave of indie into the arena. He could easily give Capaldi a run for his money.

Jungle will officially release on January 27th. Hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Two cultures collide in Rob Carey’s consoling amalgam of Americana and proto-rock NEW YORK STATE OF PLAY

Posted on 3 January 2023

Any fans of Violent Femmes and the Psychedelic Furs will easily find a place on their playlists for the jangly proto power-pop guitars against bluesy twangs of Americana in Rob Carey’s latest era-spanning alt-indie single, NEW YORK STATE OF PLAY.

The blissful harmonies entwined with the enrapturing warmth of his nostalgic tones pushed into overdrive, bypassing innovation, around the Billy Bragg-Esque edge of everyman blues, are a melodiously amalgamated remedy for the soul.

By day, Rob Carey is a mental health nurse and counsellor. By night, he uses his understanding of the complexities of the human psyche in his compassion-driven singles, which efficaciously envelop you in their consoling melodicism.

NEW YORK STATE OF PLAY officially released on December 14th. Hear it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ye Angst – 15: A Superlatively Succinct Alt-Indie Rock Remedy for the Soul

Posted on 2 January 2023

The indie singer-songwriter Ye Angst is renowned for sharing his artistic vision through the looking glass of youthful angst. In his evocatively enriched discography, which dates back to 2011, the perfect example is his exemplary single, 15. The jazz-blues piano keys around the Americana folk-rock body unravels as a superlatively succinct remedy for the soul.

In the same way, Cohen, Cat Stevens and Lou Reed emanate elevated grace, Ye Angst is in the habit of implanting ethereally cathartic instrumental accord in his singles that will effortlessly take you to a higher plateau while the lyrics and vocals pull you back down to our ennui-imparting earth.

Nearly a decade has passed since the release of 15, but the timeless single still resounds with glistening gospel for the impiously disenfranchised. Even around the complex instrumental interludes that give way to Journey-Esque heart-in-throat vocals, you’ll be caressed by the upliftingly melodic single, which perfectly rounds itself with orchestral strings for a filmic touch.

Succumb to the soul in 15 by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mike Power – I Like You: prepossessingly pure alt-rock

Posted on 16 December 2022

Fuelling the intimate feels of Elliott Smith with the swanky proto-punk zeal of the Kinks and the melodic colour of the Beatles, the latest single from Mike Power which carries eccentric echoes of Pavement, Courtney Barnett and Decemberists, is a soul-rendered alt-rock riot.

The tight instrumental framework of I Like You allows the affably sweet sentiments in the uninhibited declaration of passion to hit that little bit harder as you lose yourself in the blossoming soul that heightens the winding alt-90s influenced rhythms to the nth degree. It doesn’t quite drop the L word, but I think we can all agree that the ‘like’ phase in a foundling relationship when we’re enamoured by every idiosyncrasy is just as prepossessing.

I Like You is just one of the singles to feature on the increasingly popular sophomore album, Compulsions, from the NYC-formed Mike Power band. We wholly recommend making time to appreciate the dynamism of it in its entirety.

I Like You is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Deadpan indie rock icons in the making, Hairpin, walk ‘The Line’ in their latest earworm

Posted on 16 December 2022

Fans of deadpan indie in the same vein as John Grant, Spector and Jack Ladder will be just as hooked on the sardonic candour in Hairpin’s earworm of a sophomore single, The Line.

With a funk-riding indie disco beat as the backbone to the track that allows angular guitar melodies and gravelly post-punk-Esque basslines to form arrestive progressions under the magnetic indie drawling vocals as they lament the frustrations of contemporary connections, it is all too easy to succumb to the grip of the snappy, swanky hit.

The NYC independent five-piece, fronted by Nate Pozin, self-produces all their material, allowing it to retain its autonomy, which has seen the up-and-coming outfit make short work out of making their mark in the industry.

So far, they have sold out every show in New York by word of mouth alone. In a time where alt-indie rock success stories are tragically few and far between, it speaks volumes of their revolutionary capacity to win over a crowd and forge playlist staples from their home studio.

The Line is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

WD-HAN matched the chaos of the universe in their raucously seductive feat of electrifying indie rock n roll, Straight Lines

Posted on 24 November 2022

Rock n’ Roll provocateurs WD-HAN are in lascivious form in their latest single, Straight Lines. After an Arctic Monkeys-Esque intro, Straight Lines quickly evolves into a blisteringly hot indie rock renegade of a track, full of raucous swagger, seductive vocal lines and riffs that will sucker-punch you into sonic submission.

WD-HAN has scintillated us with every release since they appeared on our radar in 2019 with their single, Spaceman. With a sound ever-evolving yet never veering from what makes them so viscerally raw yet tightly finessed, if you haven’t got them on your radars yet, what are you even doing with your lives?

Straight Lines throws away any sense of existentialism. While so many of us doomscroll on Twitter to justify living in fear and stagnation, WD-HAN proves that you can still be a force to be reckoned with and match the chaos of the universe.

After dominating the Floridian rock n roll scene, WD-HAN has recently relocated to LA, where they’re set to make their mark after opening for the likes of Paramore, Walk the Moon, Silversun Pickups and Kaleo.

Straight Lines will officially release on November 18th. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast
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