Browsing Tag

Indie Rock

Desperate Times Call for Damning Juggernautical Anthems, Cardiff’s Columbia Answered That Call with Their Dark Psych Rock Hit, Disorder

Posted on 18 November 2022

Following the phenomenal success of their 2022 album, Embrace the Chaos, the Cardiff indie alt-rock innovators, Columbia, have unleashed the all-consuming furore of their post-punk-tinged post-Britpop single, Disorder. With the harbingering urgency of the swaggering vocals as they paint a damning depiction of our dystopic bleak modern age against the vortex of psych guitars, Columbia reached the pinnacle of visceral realism with Disorder.

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a newly discovered band since I tuned into Desert Mountain Tribe for the first time. It comes as no surprise that their producer at Kings Road Studio described Disorder as the biggest sounding track he’s made with a band. It’s a juggernaut that makes no bones about dragging you into the dark disparaging societal view was born from.

Disorder is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Spheres packed their alt indie synth-pop debut, The City of Lights, with evocative kryptonite

Posted on 16 November 2022

If it’s been a while since a debut single has left you utterly obsessed, delve into The Spheres’ alternatively inclined amalgam of 80s synth pop, indie-rock, and dance, The City of Lights. From the suburbs of Toronto, the duo lit up the airwaves with their infectiously hook-rife account of the frontman’s complicated relationship with his city of birth, Karachi, Pakistan. “In the city of lights, you die just for dreaming”, is cuttingly efficacious in alluding to the toll it took on the singer-songwriter and producer Reza Habib.

With the vibrato in the vocals spilling evocative kryptonite across the catchy synth-pop melodies, The City of Lights will blind you with its luminous soul before the solid riffs and punchier vocals conclude the track on a raucous high that will leave you itching for more. Thankfully, that itch will be scratched as more singles from the debut album will drop before its full release in Spring 2023.

Stick The City of Lights to your synapses by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Frakard – Slate: Play It Loud, See It Live

Posted on 11 November 2022
Frakard

Cardiff’s loudest and tightest alt-rock trio Frakard went into frenetic overdrive with their latest single, Slate. With their respective influences counting Architects, Soundgarden and Steely Dan, Slate is a melting pot of familiarity fed through stylistic raucous swagger.

Sonic appeal aside, Slate truly comes into its own through its witty questioning of our relationship with nostalgia, the nihilism that comes with age and the ever-pervasive climate change fear. If you’re anything like me and you’re sick of lyricists that scrape the bottom of the IQ barrel when penning their lyrical hooks, you will be a Frakard fanatic by the time this anthemic juggernaut of a release that comes with an arsenal of razor-sharp lyrical lines hits the outro.

Slate will officially release on November 11th. Check it out on Spotify and scope out Frakard on their official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

‘No Escape’ as Canella Throws Everything But the Kitchen Sink at Their Short and Sweet Sophomore Release

Posted on 28 October 2022
Canella

Somewhere between the vocal melodies of Angel Olsen, Taylor Swift & Hayley Williams sits the arresting timbre of Canella’s vocalist in their sophomore single, No Escape. The short and sweet indie-rock release unravels through complex instrumental layering, a pinch of Avant Garde pop production and a juicy chorus that you won’t be eager to get out of the grips of.

The rising indie rock outfit from Albany, NY, and Colombia, respectively, takes inspiration from 00s alt-rock and they’ve gone down a storm based on their accolade as the winners of the WCDB Radio’s Song of The Year for their debut single, Quiet Love. With their sophomore release now galvanising the airwaves, more hype is sure to follow.

No Escape will officially release on October 28th; it will be available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DC’s 90s indie rock renegades, Spunk Davies, delivered a fuzzed-up blast from the past with ‘High Tide’

Posted on 24 October 2022

Almost 30 years after their inception, the Washington D.C.-transpiring fuzzed-up rock n roll renegades, Spunk Davies, are launching their album, Your Turn to Scheme: Best of Spunk Davies 1993-97. Comprising of freshly mastered hits and material that has never before hit streaming platforms.

The seminal scuzzy indie rock meets garage rock track, High Tide, is the perfect introduction to their relic of a release that swarms with mid-alt-90s nostalgia and stays true to their dive bar-esque brand of hard, fast, and loud indie that has filled iconic venues, such as the 9:30 and the Black Cat in DC.

Their sound is one that countless bands are keen to derivatively assimilate, but notably, there’s nothing like the real deafening deal that Spunk Davies assertedly delivered in the infectious energy of High Tide. If you remembered them from the 90s, prepare to fall back in love with their erratic riff-gasmic frenetic edge. If, like me, Spunk Davies are new to your ears, set your expectation for one of the most authentic indie acts you’ve heard in the last decade.

The official music video for High Tide premiered on October 15th. Catch it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Orbit 17 is star roving in their intricately spacey electro-indie-rock single, Helium

Posted on 21 October 2022
Waves on Wires (EP) by Orbit 17

The ethereally talented Los Gatos, California-residing indie artist, Orbit 17, weaved another feat of transcendently intricate electro-rock with their latest single, Helium, taken from the Waves on Wires EP.

With Hendrix-style solos implanted into a dreamy spacey tapestry, authenticity evidently wasn’t hard to come by for Orbit 17, who will undoubtedly be a hit with fans of Beach House, Radiohead, Slowdive and Grandaddy.

Lyrically, the single reflects on the friends we have made along the way but left behind or outgrown. Without a hint of bitterness, Helium vocally rekindles the fond memories while the instrumentals act as an abstract reflection of the isolation that is all too easy to succumb to. In every conceivable way, Helium is a stunning release with the capacity to give you the heart-in-throat feels.

Helium is now available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Girl Racers hit the mid-90s lo-fi indie slack-rock sweet spot with ‘Never Again’

Posted on 14 October 2022
Girl Racers

Taken from their hotly anticipated EP, Sometimes, the nostalgically minded and tonally discerning up-and-coming outfit Girl Racers have teased us with the sludgy effect-laden anthem Never Again.

It is authentically indie in the 90s to these ears. Not just the sound but the attitude/aesthetic too. Somewhere between early 90s indie slackers Archers of Loaf and Glasgow Scotland’s noiseniks Urusei Yatsura, Girl Racers found their colourfully garagey sonic signature that is set to scribe itself across indie lovers’ synapses with the first hit of this pessimism-decorated hit.

Never Again will officially release via Bug Dump Records on October 14th. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by James Cook

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

Sam Scherdel versed from the ashes of a quick-to-burn romance in his indie anthem, Brave Mistake

Posted on 14 October 2022

There was no forgetting Sam Scherdel after he emerged as one of the hottest indie acts out of Sheffield since Arctic Monkeys with his single, Don’t Really Like You. His loved-up anthem has been followed by his vulnerably bold single, Brave Mistake.

The titularly dualistic track opens itself up to a world of ambiguity, but all of that resolves through the lyrics that allude to the termination of a relationship where love lingers despite the toxicity that breeds within the dynamic.

It’s enough to reduce the majority of post-breakup tracks to immature clichés through the soul-deep bitter-sweet reflection that is relayed to anthemic guitars and emotionally distilled keys that hammer home the melancholy as Scherdel reflects on the fleeting beauty of a quick-to-burn romance. The die-hard romantics out there are going to feel their hearts in their throats to this emotionally charged hit that will imprint the seemingly innocuous reprising probe of “how the devil you doing?” across your mind.

We couldn’t be more stoked to hear that a 2023 album is in the pipeline.

Brave Mistake was officially released on October 14th. Hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Vince Spano tracks cyclical torment in his achingly intimate alt-indie-rock single, Been There Before

Posted on 11 October 2022

Austin Texas-hailing artist Vince Spano left our hearts raw and our ears honeyed with his alt-indie-rock latest single, Been There Before. He’s been on our radar for a while, but with each new release is a new testament to his consistent development as an expressionist and artist.

It is always a pleasure to track the progression of an artist; to bear witness to Spano’s development, which happened in such a short span of time, has only affirmed what we already knew about this inspiringly talented artist. He is an icon in the making, and if anyone can revive the love for rock, it is Spano.

The introspective lyrics are just as intimately vulnerable as the instrumentals, which amp up the wistful melancholy through the gentle tremolo guitars, soft focus and harmonic backing that contrasts his grungy rock vocal timbre.

Here’s what Vince Spano had to say on his latest release:

“Been There Before is a continuation of my last single, conveying a more emotional approach to the same subject. In this track, my sound pays homage to the rock music I grew up with, but it is also fresh and new, entwining nostalgia and innovation.”

Been There Before was officially released on October 7th, ahead of the upcoming EP, The Prescribed Project. Check it out on SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast