Tag Archives: Indie Rock

Enjoy it While it’s Fresh: High Pop

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Recently, Spencer Fox (the dude behind Slates and a contributor to our website) sent over a lot of music from SUNY bands he thought we should check out.  Although we’re still getting around to listening to all the great music (there’s a lot of good stuff), High Pop stuck out to me as an instant standout.  Hailing from our great and surprisingly filled with more great music than we ever though home state of Connecticut, High Pop are a group of friends making indie rock that is bursting with creativity and influences.  Last summer, the group put out the fantastic Hip Hip Hooray LP which strikes at the same nostalgically grungy and emotive sound that has been coming from a lot of great bands lately.  Tracks like “‘loner” mix sweet vocal harmonies with heavily distorted guitars like You’re Living All Over Me-era Dinosaur Jr. while tracks like “i wanna run with you” and “oh no” are perfectly out of tune skate punk rockers that references more recent acts like Wavves.  By the end of the LP, High Pop sound less like a band trying to create music in the shadow of established indie rockers and more like kids with a lot of ideas and enough talent to make those ideas into amazing music.

-PK

EP: Walrus – Lamb Girl

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Last I heard from Walrus, they were making delightfully out of tune indie-rock on their Sisters EP.  Walrus have made some fidelity improvements to their sound and more importantly upped their experimentation and ambition as well with these new tracks off a split cassette with Sheepman.  Walrus’ contribution to the cassette includes the psych-rocker “Sleep” that grows from acoustic strumming to a climactic guitar solo finale and the John Lennon-channeling “Space Tigers”.  It’s awesome to see that Walrus are rising to the potential that I thought I heard from their earlier music.

-PK

mp3: Only Real – Blood Carpet

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With each new breezy release, Only Real proves that his guitar-based brand of pseudo hip-hop is more than just a novelty.  While “Blood Carpet” is decidedly more rock than rap, Only Real still talks through his verses with the kind of cadence and swagger that most rappers aspire towards.  When the chorus hits, however, it’s all falsetto led sunshine pop that defines Only Real’s signature sound.  When we first heard his track “Cadillac Girl”, we were honestly unsure of how his sound would translate into more singles.  If “Blood Carpet” is any indication, we should expect plenty more great material coming from Only Real in the coming year.

-PK

mp3: Alex Calder – Light Leave Your Eyes

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When it comes to all things jangle-pop, indie-rock and lo-fi, there aren’t many labels with a better line up right now than Captured Tracks.  The newest single from the label comes from Alex Calder, which is either a guy with some art lovers for parents or a band that have forever condemned themselves to google search obscurity.  On the real though, “Light Leave Your Eyes” shows a lot of promise for the group that could give the mobile maker some competition a few years down the line.  ”Light Leave Your Eyes” has Alex Calder following in the footsteps of fellow Captured Tracks signees DIIV, Mac DeMarco and Beach Fossils with a heavy veil of jangle and reverb covering their composition.  Maybe I’m just hopelessly addicted to this sound but “Light Leave Your Eyes” manages to stand out from being average with a great use of guitar dynamics that keep the track interesting throughout the 3 gorgeous minutes.

-PK

mp3: Juba – Bloodvessels

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“Bloodvessels” sounds like a song that a band would have to work up to, developing their sound and strengths.  The track explodes with a huge guitar led sound not too different from DIIV while still sounding instantly recognizable and unique.  With “Bloodvessels”, Juba have released one of the best debut singles I’ve heard from an indie rock band in a while.  Juba is based out of Lisbon, Portugal, which is a scene I have no idea about so if bands like Tropical Tobacco and Juba keep putting out stellar music it will be a city to watch out for.

-PK

Enjoy it While it’s Fresh: A Beacon School

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Back in 2008, like most aspiring hipsters of my generation, I was obsessed with a brand of high energy indie rock led by artists such as Tokyo Police Club, Vampire Weekend and Born Ruffians.  The first concert I ever attended was at a local teen center in the neighboring town which featured high school bands Midi & the Modern Dance and the Seascape.  Although both bands found the inevitable end that faces most high school groups, both bands left their mark on my music taste and education.  Patrcik Smith, the guitarist from the Seascape, just put out a new EP with his band A Beacon School and it manages to capture all the same energy of indie rock circa 2008 without ever getting bogged down in nostalgia or influences.  Much like Teen Suicide did for emo-punk on their EP earlier this year, A Beacon School manages to recapture all that made me love indie rock in the first place without sounding tired or overdone.  Most of the success is due to Smith’s highly melodic and versatile guitar playing which bends and evolves dynamically throughout each track.  This definitely has me wanting to listen through some older Tokyo Police Club and Born Ruffians again.  Stream my favorite tracks below and the entire EP after the jump.

-PK

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mp3: Mining Boom – Telecom

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Right now Mining Boom are repping Perth, Australia better than just about anyone on our radar and are delivering a steady stream of catchy and sunny lo-fi jams.  Their newest single “Telecom” is dedicated to the Australian communications company of the same name with an irresistibly sweet hook about calling someone as much as they can.  Whether or not it was a conscious choice, “Telecom” sounds straight out of the same era that the company ran a monopoly in Australia (the 80s) with touches of synths with their wall of sound guitar work.  The track continues to build upon the same great character and personality that Mining Boom have managed to create with hardly over 7 minutes of released material and we can’t wait to hear more of their upcoming Dining Room II.

-PK