Browsing Tag

Solo Artist

Progressive pioneer, Junkhouse Bones, has released his latest single, Only a Name.

Posted on 17 September 2021
Junkhouse Bones

Elements of prog rock, Midwest emo, indie, garage rock, and pop all feed into the latest single from the genre-melding self-taught solo artist Junkhouse Bones (Dominic Orteza). After starting with a trashy garage rock prelude, Only a Name loses its discordant textures as the melodies get sweeter and the vocals provide even more nectar to make sure that the earworm sticks to your synapses like superglue.

With riffs that allow Orteza to show his rock and roll stripes and the cleverly formulated instrumental breakdowns, it’s impossible not to be hooked by the release that consistently piques your interest with clever motifs and aural curveballs.

Only a Name will be released on September 17th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

OGGY created the ultimate break-free 80s rock anthem with her third single, Find My Way.

Posted on 12 September 2021

OGGY’s latest single, Find My Way, shifted us from curious to obsessed before the first chorus hit. The rock-inclined London-based singer-songwriter has what it takes to leave the same impression on the airwaves as Amy Winehouse with her endlessly uplifting jazz-fused finesse.

After being born in a small, closed-minded Croatian town, OGGY (Olga Savic) found herself inspired to create the good that she couldn’t find in the world through her music. After securing some Croatian festival slots, she knew that to truly make her mark she would have to leave her hometown. After moving to the UK in 2017, she started to study songwriting in 2020 – which is when she came into her own as a songwriter and performer.

Find My Way is the ultimate break free rock anthem that follows the journey of finding new love after heartbreak. This one is definitely for the scorned romantics out there. The shimmering guitar tones, choral atmosphere and OGGY’s sultrily fierce vocals are enough for your heartbeat to fasten alone.

Find My Way officially released on September 10th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Spotify or Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pop-punk pioneer Chelsea Lyn Meyer has released her latest single, What You’re Doing to Me.

Posted on 9 September 2021

Chelsea Lyn Meyer reinvented pop-rock in her latest single, What You’re Doing to Me. The feisty anthem averts romantic tropes and explores the obsessive nature of romantic affection around hooky choruses and romantic rock and roll licks.

Rarely will you find a singer-songwriter as honest in their expression as Eastern Pennsylvania’s Chelsea Lyn Meyer. Women all too often get shunted into the crazy category after a relationship has burnt out, but Meyer made no bones about celebrating every ounce of her visceral emotion in What You’re Doing to Me, which may just be the pop-punk anthem of the year.

What You’re Doing to Me is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bad Weather delivers an anthemic alt-pop reminder with ‘Caring Is Cool’.

Posted on 7 September 2021

Perth’s most promising alt-pop artist, Bad Weather, has released his stickiest earworm to date, Caring is Cool, which merges anthemic nuances of power-pop, pop-punk, 80s pop and contemporary indie-pop in the same vein as M83 and The 1975.

The sonic eclecticism is one thing, but Bad Weather (AKA Callum Robertson) has plenty more in his aural arsenal than just crumbling genre constraints with his sound. His ambition to bring the best out in people through his music rather than attempting to emanate the cool indie rock stereotype will leave you instantly enamoured. I can only imagine how hard the choruses of sticky-sweet high vibes, overdriven guitars and galvanising synths hit when hearing them live.

Caring is Cool is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Danny Mortimer revitalised alt-rock with his single, Opener

Posted on 24 August 2021
Danny Mortimer

There was no forgetting the Scottish melodic rock progressive Danny Mortimer after his haunting 2018 single, Anything But Silence. Discernibly, lockdown added even more virtuosic flair to his melodic ability; if his latest single, Opener, is anything to go by.

After a scuzzy hard-rock riff as a prelude, Opener unravels as a lyrically tender Trans-Atlantic time capsule to the 90s with hints of both Paul Draper and early FNM Mike Patton in the vocals that pour plenty of soul into the otherwise strident and emotionally-charged track.

Opener will be released on August 20th; check it out by heading to Danny Mortimer’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Paul Bidault – Who Do You Think You Are?: Dark Swinging Murder-Folk

Posted on 20 August 2021

If you cranked That Handsome Devil’s sex appeal up to 11, you’d be left with Paul Bidault’s latest swampy, swinging, dark-jazz folk track, Who Do You Think You Are? Which experiments with a more maleficent side of the sound that Tom Waits made iconic.

With swing band percussion rattling around trombones and consistently evolving guitars in the richly dark and eerie soundscape, Bidault’s whiskey-soaked murder-folk vocals that wouldn’t be out of place in the Psychobilly scene have the perfect atmosphere to fall into.

The Paris-born, Mexico-city based artist is one to watch for anyone that gets their kicks from stumbling into tracks that carry familiar themes while completely reinventing them through the artist’s vision.

Who Do You Think You Are? was officially released on August 20th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Spotify or the artist’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sanny Veloo has released his misanthropic alt-rock single, The Human Race Ain’t Worth Saving

Posted on 3 August 2021

Sany Veloo’s latest scuzzy garage rock hit, The Human Race Ain’t Worth Saving, is a playlist staple for every misanthrope. The high-octane hit channels the angst of 90s grunge, the instrumental flair of rock n roll and the energy of a pop-rock anthem.

Before making his solo debut, the Singapore-born and raised artist was in the band, Boredphucks before they were banned by the government for their polarizing music. It doesn’t get more rock n roll than that, does it? Now residing in Melbourne, Australia, Veloo carries the same commitment to creating unapologetically expressive tracks. We probably don’t need to mention that, given the title of his latest release.

With the powerful and colourful instrumentals in The Human Race Ain’t Worth Saving, Veloo created an ironically euphoric atmosphere for the listener to complete our undeserving sentience.

The Human Race Ain’t Worth Saving is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

David Wakeling has released his grungy jangle-pop earworm, ‘Extraordinary’.

Posted on 6 July 2021

One of Portland’s most notably virtuosic singer-songwriters, David Wakeling, has unleashed his latest absolving single, Extraordinary; a mellow yet sonically ardent aural invitation to simultaneously explore the golden eras of indie and grunge.

With the fuzz of Dinosaur Jr paired with the enlivening new wave indie jangle-pop guitars, it is a revival like no other.

With his love for rich and captivating vocal harmonies manifesting through Extraordinary that lamentedly explores expired romantic possibilities, the soundscape is one of those tragically rare cathartic hits that allows you to pour your own emotions into the progressions.

You can check out Extraordinary for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Don’t Have Time: Sam Thul has seen the warning signs before on ‘That Road’

Posted on 20 June 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEbhDsaTiIQ

Bringing us a lovely new single that urges us to avoid the negative and only focus on the positive, Sam Thul drives us down a place which is filled with holes but also rainbows on ‘That Road‘.

Sam Thul is an experienced Pennsylvania, USA-based former band member of a multitude of different acts and is now fully immersed as a solo artist, as well as an avid reader, movie fanatic and gamer.

”This entire song was written, recorded and mixed in about three weeks in my home studio/office/medieval tavern space lol. After a few false starts, I finally ironed out the quirks and decided it was finally finished and ready for people to listen to it.” – Sam Thul

With a mellow tone that is totally authentic and made with a warning sign to us all, he helps us to avoid the life trap of worrying about things that you can’t control. His voice is controlled and full of intrigue – he sweeps away the dusty street for us to drive through – with our eyes wide open.

‘That Road‘ from the soulful Pennsylvania, USA-based indie-rock solo artist Sam Thul, shows us a man who doesn’t want to go down a path that knows will waste his time. Avoiding the path that has only has tasteless bones scattered throughout is the not the way he wishes to venture down anymore. The good vibes are the only thing that will keep his mind alive from here onward to that true happy place.

Stream this new music video on YouTube and check out the IG page for more.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Ricky Hoffman sings the Black Cat Blues in his latest alt indie-folk single.

Posted on 9 June 2021
Debut Demo by Ricky Hoffman

Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, the Microphones, Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens will want to hear Wisconsin singer-songwriter Ricky Hoffman play the ‘Black Cat Blues’.

The expressively ardent Midwest folk single wouldn’t be out of place amongst other iconic cat-inspired tracks; it carries the same endearing panache as Stray Cats’ Stray Cat Strut, Squeeze’s Cool for Cats, and, of course, Love Cats by The Cure. Through the snappy percussion, accordant rings of the acoustic guitar, and the woody bends of the bass, Hoffman created the perfect platform for his unpolished and organic blues-folk vocals that will stay with you long after Black Cat Blues has faded to a close.

Black Cat Blues is now available to stream via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast