Browsing Tag

shoegaze

Wohn delivers a sonic blast of alt-90s nostalgia in his scorching hot alt-rock single, Junjito.

Posted on 28 July 2021

Up and coming alternative artist, Wohn has released his relatable EP, Waiting for Life to Happen; the lead track, Junjito, is an arresting amalgamation of shoegaze, post-punk and garagey psych-rock that any fans of the alt-90s will want in their ears.

After a shoegazy prelude, the mostly instrumental release starts to centre around the artist’s ability to lay down riffs at blistering speed and his ability to make a soundscape fraught with tumultuous tension with his over-driven angular lead work.

After an ebb in the veracious momentum, the pensive vocals make an eerily captivating appearance before Wohn lays down a scorching-hot, seemingly endless solo that is leagues apart from other contemporary alternative artists. We truly can’t rate Wohn highly enough. He not only evokes angsty grungy 90s nostalgia, but he also puts a visceral signature spin on it. We can’t wait to hear more of in the future.

Junjito is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Door Is Locked: Brooklyn’s monroe and she want to break free from this burning world on ‘Crash Over Me’

Posted on 15 July 2021

Taken off their unmistakable four-track debut EP called ‘White Hot Fire‘, monroe and she edge bravely towards the slippery waters edge to smartly get far away from the heat-filled world of fiery disillusionment on ‘Crash Over Me‘.

monroe and she is a Matt Monroe and Lea Leone-created Brooklyn, New York-based indie trip-hop duo who fuse in sensational shoegaze and dream-pop into their stupendous sound.

”In spherical lightness, Lea Leone describes how the world burns, over a crashing guitar she sings how she can hardly breathe – only to then ask herself if that doesn’t simply mean to live.” – monroe and she

You feel their astonishing soundscape that feels like you are watching the world heat up with them, as they try and heal up our imagination with a carefully penned and totally captivating song for the ages, that is up there with the best of 2021. Being challenged daily seems to be the new normal when it shouldn’t, as they elegantly show us into their wildly creative consciousness.

‘Crash Over Me‘ from the Brooklyn-based indie monroe and she, is a quite magnificent display from a truly elite outfit who put on quite a remarkably transfixing performance. The beat is so terrifically crisp and spellbinding, her vocals strike vividly into your mind, as you are wrapped beautifully inside such a supremely stunning track.

Hear this new single on Spotify and see more on their growing IG music page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

OFFtrack – Too Dumb for Your Guns: Trippy Ethereal Alt-Electronica

Posted on 12 July 2021

‘Too Dumb for Your Guns’ is the electrifyingly ethereal latest trip-hop single from the mesmerising alternative artist OFFtrack. The Bahrain-based band formed in 2019 to rapturous acclaim before COVID-19 called time on the live music scene.

Their love of post-punk and trip-hop classics worked its way into the latest release which captures the disjointedness we feel trying to connect in anything in our dystopic world through trippy rhythms pulled together with dreamy guitar melodies, cutting overdriven shoegazey discord and glassy synths.

The single questions the ulterior motives of those driving society to destruction through seductively demure vocals and strikingly dark meta poetry serving as lyricism.

Any fans of Warpaint, Policia and Portishead will want to make room on their radar for OFFtrack.

Too Dumb for Your Guns is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Swedish power-pop duo Hazy Weekends evoke indie nostalgia with their debut EP, ‘Hurricane’.

Posted on 7 July 2021

Swedish power pop artist Hazy Weekends have made their debut with their stormer of an alt-indie pop, EP, Hurricane. With guitars that cut with the same angular precision of My Bloody Valentine’s introducing the lead title track, the usual cynicism you usually feel when hitting play on a new artist instantly slips away.

As the power-pop single progresses, the duo starts to come into their own through absolvingly vibrant instrumental melodies paired with the indie rock vocals that pay ode to the 90s Britpop era while the artist claims the sonic tones unequivocally as their own.

If you already have the Charlatans, The Stone Roses, The Manic Street Preachers or Inspiral Carpets on your playlists, Hazy Weekends will fit right in alongside them.

Hurricane is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Fox Evades – soaring, spacious dreampop with ‘Someday’

Posted on 24 June 2021

Fox Evades is the solo project of Manchester-born singer songwriter and producer Jordan Mae. Following up the success of debut single ‘The Heart That Drowned’ and follow-up ‘Bira’, both of which garnered interest from BBC Introducing’s Hannah Fletcher, comes third single ‘Someday’.

A soaring, spacious three minutes of echoey dream-pop, reminiscent of Desperate Journalist, Belly, Slowdive, or The Cure, ‘Someday’ is deliciously gentle and atmospheric, tangibly breakable and ethereal, with a picked repeating guitar line that could have come straight from Three Imaginary Boys or Seventeen Seconds, and Mae’s haunting, delicate voice evocative of Tanya Donelly or Toni Halliday on vocal duties.

It’s truly excellent, and a beautiful, ephemeral taster for Fox Evades’ debut EP due out later this year. You can hear Someday on Spotify; follow Fox Evades on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Post-punk pioneers, Tube Amp 101, are set to release their single, ‘Strawberry Smile’

Posted on 15 June 2021
Tube Amp 101

Perth, Australia’s most promising indie post-punk outfit, Tube Amp 101 are set to release their sophomore EP, True Friend which features their mesmerising lead single, Strawberry Smile.

Fans of Echo and the Bunnymen, Desperate Journalist, Big Thief and the Smiths are sure to appreciate the overdriven tones overlapping snappy, fervent percussion to create a bed for the dream pop-style vocals that add a stunning sense of vulnerability to the release.

Living in Manchester UK, I’ve heard my fair share of post-punk and indie jangle pop, but it is safe to say that nothing flows in the same lusciously dark vein as Strawberry Smile.

You will be able to check out Strawberry Smile from June 18th via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Atlanta indie artist Sarah Rae explores the multifaceted nature of love with her new single, ‘Poison Ivy’.

Posted on 7 June 2021
Sarah Rae

With her latest alt-indie single, ‘Poison Ivy’, Sarah Rae explores the contrasting layers of love, melodically shifting between light and dark transitions in the Shoegaze single that will undoubtedly be a hit with fans of Hooverphonic, Portishead and Slowdive.

It is singles like Poison Ivy that remind you that there’s no such thing as a realistic ‘happy’ love song. They’re about as true to life as superficially stretched smiles in social media posts that are aimed to deceive people into believing that your life is a 24/7 soirée of aesthetic euphoria.

Poison Ivy starts with chilling angular notes that feed into the stylish trip hop-style soundscape that allows the vox to find perfect synergy with the reverb-swathed instrumentals as they bleed into them, still allowing the poignancy of the lyrics to haunt the progressively enthralling track that gets better with every listen.

Poison Ivy is due for official release on June 9th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Walker Tex delivers mesmerising grunge folk in his latest single, ‘Make Me Smile’

Posted on 3 June 2021

Under the influence of 70s folk and grunge, up and coming artist Walker Tex has made major waves since he started introducing his original material to the airwaves in 2020.

His latest release, and his most popular single to date, Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), carries all of the soul of a track by Dylan or Cat Stevens and all of the sonic appeal as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.

The singer-songwriter carries the same hypnotic magnetism of Cohen with his whiskey-soaked vocals; when blended with alt-90s-inspired tones, Make Me Smile is simultaneously a shot of nostalgia and an introduction to the future of alt-indie folk.

Make Me Smile is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Azure Wolf depict internal conflict in their alt-indie single, ‘Chateau’.

Posted on 26 May 2021

Winchester, VA-based ethereal indie rock artist Azure Wolf brought their haunting tones to the airwaves once more with their double a-side release, Chateau / Honey Rush.

Emotion and the potential for honest human connection run at the forefront of Chateau; the delicately angular shoegaze guitars bring an air of fragility and vulnerability to the release while the lyrics find powerful meta ways to relay the complexities of pain. With lyrics such as, “I’d drink that poison just to swallow that pill”, Azure Wolf artfully illustrate how much internal conflict lies in each of us.

Founding member and vocalist Victoria Backle’s vocal timbre effortlessly establishes Azure Wolf as a distinctive artist that wouldn’t be out of place on a lineup with Slowdive, The National, Interpol or Editors. Yet, she leaves you in awe of far more than her vocal range. With every release from Azure Wolf, you get a sense of the bravery it took for each of the members to throw themselves in completely.

Azure Wolf’s latest release is now available to stream via Spotify and Bandcamp.

Connect with Azure Wolf via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Yves Steady – Chamomile King: A Hazy Lo-Fi Indie Art-Rock Lullaby

Posted on 10 May 2021
Yves Steady - The Demos by YVES STEADY

For his latest release, East London-based solo artist Yves Steady curated his demos from the past four years and invited listeners on a journey of intimate aural exploration; the best introduction to his artfully psychedelic sound is Chamomile King. The semi-orchestral soundscape resonates like a garagey, drowsy take on Charlatans while feeding in the same stylish, evocative despondence of Dinosaur Jr.

The sweet and steady chords in the choral feat of new wave indie couldn’t possibly hold more catharsis when they are up against the vocals that sit perfectly in the mix without bleeding or dominating the track that will be a hit with indie, psych, art rock, and folk fans alike.

Chamomile King is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast