#best indie rock bands | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

manysmallhands · 4 months

Text

Top 10 Albums of 2023!

This was all supposed to work out differently. As i recall from the now long distant past, my original plan was to do a countdown where i put up one post a day throughout December. However, I got Covid on December 1st and that plan immediately became lame and useless. After that, my assumption was basically that i wouldn't be able to do any of this, but i got better more quickly than i'd anticipated and found myself working on these reviews in bits as the month has gone on. So, having rushed through all the the song blurbs that i wanted to do, here i am on New Year's Eve with a more or less finished Top 10 albums to put up.

The only problem is that there are ten quite lengthy reviews here and the vibe is already pretty tl:dr. But tbh that's fine: there really is only my girlfriend who ever reads everything (and i believe her, trust is what love is all about after all) so for anyone looking at this and thinking blimey, that's a lot of text, my advice is: you don't have to read any of it. Just look at the albums, scan thru to see if it sounds like something you might like and give one or two of them a listen if that looks like the case. The words are really just to keep me occupied but i'd like to hope that someone likes some of the records.

I said yesterday that i would reveal what the best one is and so I am now delivering on that important promise. The best one is Scarlet by Doja Cat. Anyone who follows me on whatever platform already knows that the best one is Scarlet by Doja Cat. Don't make me say it again.

Barbie - The Album

Few people have seemed much interested in the Barbie soundtrack, other than the punters who kept it atop the compilations chart for four months. I, as ever, channel the spirit of the populous. The sound is basically 80s synth pop updated for a modern audience - the likes of Haim and Ava Max slot in predictably well - but its the extra dimensions created by how the artists interact with the film that provide some of its more interesting aspects. Sam Smith’s Man I Am reflects a surprisingly LGBTQ Ken despite protestations (certainly its "I'm not gay bro, but..." T-shirt is prompting a lot of questions already answered by the shirt), while Billie Eilish dwelling on life as a manufactured product makes for interesting and uncomfortable parallels in What Was I Made For. Mark Ronson’s plasticky production suits its subject to a tee, further cementing the conceptual unity of the project.

Star turns abound throughout the album as A-listers like Dua Lipa and Lizzo bring their best games alongside some terrific and unlikely downcard cameos. What Was I Made For? and Dance The Night were both deserved #1s, but the pacey pop punk of GAYLE’s Butterflies and Dominic Fike’s breezy, hook laden Hey Blondie are as much highlights as any of the bigger names here. Special mention should be made for Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken, a blockbuster 70s rock number that, whilst puncturing the wider stylistic template, is batshit and hilarious enough to more than justify its place as well as netting him a surprise hit too. The quality lapses once or twice (Tame Impala in particular are bloody awful) but by the time Ava fires the final laser I’m generally happy to go back and start all over again. With banger after banger here, my verdict is in: the Barbie soundtrack is *Charli voice* HOT!

Claire Rosinkranz - Just Because

While this has been a year that I’ve gotten more fully into pop, it took a while for me to find many new albums that I’ve been interested in. This may partly be to do with me clinging to an idea that LPs ought to be substantial beyond having good hooks and charm. In truth, all I needed to do was revert to my indiepop training, where bands have never knowingly been fussed about having any great weightiness. But even so, it took Just Because to make it clear to me that no, you really don’t need any grand vision at all: a high number of great if frothy pop songs will do just fine. It’s a record which bounces from banger to banger in an endearingly sunny style, with each tune so catchy that their lightness becomes a strength rather than a weakness.

Rosinkranz’s voice seems to mark her out as one of the many Billie clones who populate the current pop scene but her musical ambitions are both simpler and more instantly engaging. Not yet 20, her songs have an element of schoolyard whispers which add a welcome silliness here and there, but she also plays with the intensity of youthful emotions to make them a little heartrending even as she goofs off. Highlights include Dreamer, a break up song where the vocal makes it clear that she’s far from as done as she says she is, and Wes Anderson, which offers some sombre advice but packages it in a song so sweet that you’d never know. But in spite of all this it makes no end of year lists (well, maybe just the one), being merely a lovable set of songs that are very hard to forget. Need it be more? I don't believe so.

Doja Cat - Scarlet

Mired in discourse throughout the year, Doja Cat still found time to make a chart topping single (Paint The Town Red) that took the world by storm and a cracking album which, sadly, did not. Scarlet was in my opinion the better of the two: largely ditching the afrobeat pop of Planet Her, Doja staked her claim as an old skool rapper and brought it off pretty well, mixing hard rhyming with her more scattershot pop delivery and sounding entirely comfortable wherever she landed. While flitting musically between modern RnB and neo-soul grooves, her subject matter was largely taken up by how much she hated her fans, a bold strategy that found her shedding support even as blistering tracks like Fuck The Girls shaped up as some of my favourites of the year.

Whilst I’ve found myself uncomfortable with both the company that she keeps and the views which she may or may not subscribe to (i feel safe in saying that she's a right wing edgelord but i suspect that’s the least of it), Scarlet is such a good album that I’ve found myself, if not making excuses for her, then at least deftly navigating around my distaste in order to keep listening to it. While Agora Hills often reminded me how serious she is about her scumbag of a boyfriend, it’s still a song that can submerge me in its beauty entirely; while some of the complaints from her online audience are less easily dismissed than others, it’s more comfortable just to think about the morons calling her a devil worshiper, especially when she mocks them so wickedly on the elegant Skull And Bones. Am I the problem? Maybe I am: it’s a place I often find myself in with hip hop, where faves are frequently problematic and exceptions beg to be made. As such, I can not wholeheartedly recommend this record to people who might want to take a principled stand against some of her bullshit. I can only say that, as a musical talent, there was no one better all year.

Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard?

After 2021’s fairly middling brace of albums, Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd always felt like it was going to be a return to form and this time the faithful were not disappointed. It was another epic and sprawling record which unfolded like a cross between The Bible and a 50s musical. While changeable in style, ranging from hammy country ballads to trap beats and beyond, the thing that springs to mind most often is the Great American Songbook, as Lana takes the melodramatic grandeur of those standards and soaks them in her own messy and complicated worldview. This draws in family, romance, the future, her relationship with religion and how it all scrappily fits together, ranging widely and wildly across 75 extraordinary minutes.

Much of the album feels like it’s being broadcast from a kind of dreamworld, although one that overlays with reality neatly enough. Lana’s dismissive “if you want some basic bitch go to the Beverly Centre and find her” line undercuts the mood on the otherwise lush and evocative Sweet but the impact is hilarious rather than jarring, a perfect marriage of the strange and mundane. In contrast, the brooding A&W initially brings that realism to a far more uncomfortable level, before goofing off wonderfully in the second half in a way that only Lana ever really dares to do. Much of the record feels like it's creating its own language, as key phrases (“let the light in”, “when you know, you know”) are repeated and musical themes come back around in strange modulations. All in all, while perhaps less satisfying as a pop record than Norman Fucking Rockwell, Did You Know… feels like her most complete statement on a personal level yet, whilst still working well within the broader world that she’s spent over a decade constructing.

Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We

Despite liking the odd song or two, I have until now been largely immune to Mitski over the full length of an album. But The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We has a much more organic sound than I’m used to hearing from her, well adrift from the polished guitar rock of her big 10s records. Instead, it takes many of its cues from classic folk and country, occasionally lush and expansive, often determinedly sombre but always at a distance from the areas where she’s generally been at home. Opener Bug Like An Angel is a brooding scene setter, where Mitski unveils the terse and grumpy presence we will grow familiar with over the next half hour. The main elements of the album are already in place - the spare instrumentation; Mitski’s extraordinary voice, hard and intransigent but still full of yearning; the occasional, overwhelming interjections from the wings. It all creates a distinctive atmosphere, extremely intense but intimate too: we’re allowed into Mitski’s world but there’s a lot to take in.

Lyrically, the songs are both heavily allusive and extremely personal, like hearing ancient parables told by the characters from the story. Surprise hit My Love Mine All Mine seems to sit apart as a relatively standard love song but a closer listen reveals deeper layers; the placing of her love as something independent from its object makes it feel more of a piece with the album’s other enigmas. At a time where Mitski seemed to be cooling on being a rock star, The Land Is Inhospitable adds a new twist to her long musical journey, seemingly presenting a more intimate portrait while in fact retaining most of her essential mystery. As an album, it really is quite something: what that is I’m less certain of but I like it regardless.

Olivia Rodrigo - Guts

Tho I wouldn't have called myself a hater (I don’t think I would have been bothered enough), I don't really like Olivia’s all conquering debut Sour, which I thought a bit too one-note and overpopulated with slushy ballads. But by the time Guts came around I was open to listening again, drawn in by its excellent singles and primed for a different experience. Vampire, the best of them and more or less of this year, was a fantastic example of taking something that Olivia is clearly very accomplished at (the grand piano lament) and then, rather than running that into the ground, instead using it as a springboard for an entirely different idea. Get Him Back and Bad Idea Right hark back to earlier guitar based tracks like Brutal, but on Guts they form a much more substantive part of the album, cementing its brand of addictive pop grunge and working up a much goofier version of her messy teen persona.

Elsewhere, the ballads did in fact return. Some have speculated that this may have been a bad idea (right?) but for me they’ve been growers, particularly the likes of Lacy and The Grudge, where Olivia explores the bitterness of youth and uses it to tear holes in the people who’ve wronged her. But if I’m honest, it’s the rockers that I’m usually waiting for: whether the new wave pastiche of Love Is Embarrassing or autumnal Cure homage Pretty Isn’t Pretty, each one feels like a mini-revelation and it’s the style that I hope she leans on most in the future.

Palehound - Eye On The Bat

Palehound have been around for a while now and every so often I’ve given their records a try and haven't really managed to connect with them properly. Eye on the Bat has been the first exception, though whether that's because it’s any better than the others or I just made more of an effort with it I don’t know. Its template is certainly well worn in the indie world - country rock with varying degrees of aggression or melodic sweetness - but there’s still a lot here that grabs my attention, especially in the charming indie pop of the title track and the heart-rending melancholy of Route 22.

But the thing that caught my ear the most was Ellen Kempner’s disarming honesty, with much of the album spent documenting what sounds like a deeply messy break up. Whether she’s bitterly picking through the fall out on Independence Day or remembering some hilariously embarrassing bedroom scene on opener Good Sex, Eye On The Bat's almost diaristic view is mesmerising throughout, making you warm to Kempner even as she works thru some of her own worst traits. And aside from anything else, her understanding of relationships underlines her strengths as a lyricist, as she dissects their complexities with wit, sympathy and occasional anger to capture all the stuff that transcends whatever we were hoping for in the first place.

Poppy - Zig

After the wild ride that commenced with 2020’s extraordinary pop/metal mash up I Disagree, Poppy has journeyed thru indie rock, goth and punk to wind up back where she started, only not quite. Zig may represent a return to pop - indeed it’s produced by Weeknd affiliate Ali Payami - but it’s one that’s filtered thru all of the places she stopped off along the way.

The crepuscular grind of Church Outfit and Knockoff sound like more danceable versions of the I Disagree sound, while the crunching title track suggests that she can still go as hard as ever. But there are nods to a lighter side here as well, particularly in the strong trio that wind up the album: The Attic recasts her sound in a euphoric drum n bass clatter whilst closer Prove It kicks up a remarkable blend of manic hyperpop and gentle electro-balladry, whilst still working in the rich emotional palette that she’s developed in recent years.

In one sense this is a huge departure from the frenetic punk of last year’s Stagger EP but the vibes here stake out territory that you’d still find oddly familiar. Some of the gothy ballads are less immediate than other songs but nothing on Zig is boring, just varying refinements on her ever evolving musical journey. The critics were split, occasionally rattled and sometimes just plain baffled, but that’s only to be expected by now. Poppy follows her own plan and rarely sticks to the same tune: in truth it’s a privilege just to be a witness to the chaos.

Sweeping Promises - Good Living Is Coming For You

One thing that I find missing in a lot of modern guitar based music is snappy songs with good catchy hooks. While Sweeping Promises appear to place their focus elsewhere - their high concept sound is best understood as someone broadcasting direct from 1979 through a wristwatch speaker - their second album still finds time to deliver fully on the tunes. Good Living Is Coming To You is steeped in bubblegum melodies and memorable choruses, with songs that become earworms before you’ve even registered how catchy they are.

More than anything, it's dominated by Lira Mondal’s imperious vocals: whether it’s in the cascading harmonies of Throw Of The Dice, the fierce yells and hisses that close out the title track or her sweet voiced switch-outs on Ideal No, her character springs out of every song in a way that few singers ever really manage to impose. While you might think that the post punk era has been mined to death by now, Sweeping Promises drag new life into it by going back further: their sound may be heavily rooted in a specific moment but the elements of songcraft often have more in common with 60s girl group classics than gnarled art rockers. Ten bangers and no filler: Good Living Is Coming For You is everything I wanted from it and more.

Wednesday - Rat Saw God

While the queasy vibes of 2021’s Twin Plagues are still high in the mix here, it was the welcome injection of melody on Wednesday's third album that managed to alert the media. That lightness was more apparent in Karly Hartzman's lyrics than you might notice on a passing listen too: though often praised for her grimly amusing takes on middle American backwaters, the key to them was her deceptively soft touch, casting a sympathetic eye over grisly scenes even as she retained their gnarlier undertones.

Single Chosen To Deserve, with its crunching chorus and heartwarming romantic turnaround, feels like the designated big moment from the record but in reality Rat Saw God has an embarrassment of riches. Quarry in particular, with its Waterloo Sunset-esque signature and matter-of-fact dissection of grim local gossip, is an almost pop version of the most haunting aspects of Hartzman's craft, while the washed out bounce of closer TV in the Gas Pump pitches a lonelier scene in a similarly gorgeous manner.

This is not to forget that Wedneday can still rock extremely hard when they want to, especially on the brutal 8 minute Bull Believer, an ambitious multipart epic that ends with Hartzman screaming “FINISH HIM!!!” repeatedly over the chaotic finale. But while Rat Saw God brought this kind of sawtoothed sound back to widespread acclaim, its real trick was how it sugared the pill just enough to get it past even the most determinedly sweet tooth.

14 notes · View notes

tablerockantichrist · 5 months

Text

foxing 11.14.23 in dc / 11.18.23-11.19.23 in boston💞

#concert photography #foxing #foxing the band #foxing band #indie rock #emo #art rock #i love them with my entire heart #my photos #best weekend of my life #save

7 notes · View notes

kellymagovern · 1 year

Photo

Sticky Fingers - “How To Fly” [x]

#Sticky Fingers #Sticky Fingers band #stickyfingersedit #Dylan Frost #Paddy Cornwall #Seamus Coyle #Breaker Best #Freddy Crabs #How To Fly #Caress Your Soul #reggae #indie rock #rock #reggae rock #reggae fusion #my gifs

21 notes · View notes

likedasleep · 1 month

Text

-the 1975 Munich 3/18

6 notes · View notes

savage-kult-of-gorthaur · 9 months

Text

THROWBACK TO SUMMER VIBES IN 2011 -- THE "SUMMER IS FOREVER" TOUR/LINEUP.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on a promotional concert poster design for lo-fi/indie/surf rock bands BEST COAST, WAVVES, & NO JOY, performing live at the Granada Theater in Wilmington, CA (L.A.) on the 24th of January 2011.

Unfortunately enough, I dont own any WAVVES on hard copy, but I've been a huge BC fan for years now, and I own pretty much everything they've ever released on CD format. Love them to bits!

Source: http://thewitzard.blogspot.com/2011/01/wavves-king-of-beach-live.html.

7 notes · View notes

maggiethecatchatterley · 2 months

Text

Ho consumato questo album❤️

40 anni❤️

3 notes · View notes

lee-the-tumbleweed · 3 months

Text

The White Ravens - Fight Scene Chapter (ง'̀-'́)ง

This is the first chapter I’ve written for my original story, but it’s taking place somewhere in the middle of the plot. 🥊

Background info before we get started so you’re not entirely clueless:

Zoya is the main character. 🎸

This occurs before my two girlies in their duo, indie-rock band become girlfriends (Zoya and Eleanor).

Lilith (little, bullying, bitchy antagonist) is part of a duo pop band. She competes fiercely in the local music industry against ‘The White Ravens’.

All characters here are 17ish.

Setting: Large high school courtyard in London, late 1980? 🇬🇧

Warnings: blood, physical violence (ofc), swearing (thanks Zoya xxx), stab injury, mention of drugs.

Enjoy!

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“Admit it.”

Silent. Lilith went silent. For one in her life, she had nothing to say.

Zoya breathed heavily as she towered over the blond teen, her knuckles going white as she gripped at the collar of Lilith’s shirt. Her heatbeat pounded in her ears.

“Admit it.” Zoya repeated through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, okay,” Lilith’s voice was feeble under false confidence, “ I stole your cassette.”

Zoya’s hand clutched tighter. “Admit everything.”

“I- I copied your music sample. I published it… as my own. I’m making $1000 a week because of it,” Lilith spoke while trying to maintain eye contact, “There, I said it.”

Zoya’s glare forced Lilith to spill. “Oh, and I did start that rumour about you and the um… drugs.”

Zoya finally got it. A full confession.

It was deisel poured into a pit of fire. Zoya’s grey eyes - usually vibrant and steady - now soiled with blind fury and bloodlust.

A crowd had already gathered. A few peers watched with concern. Most students considered running to get a teacher, then dismissed it at the thought of missing the start of the fight.

Zoya tried to control the flames, but Lilith was a professional arsonist and Zoya couldn’t surpress any longer.

She had already started. In a swift motion, her fist smashed against Lilith’s solar plexus. It sent her stumbling back, gasping for air. Her jaw dropped with disbelief.

Lilith looked at Zoya with eyes that spoke murder. She sprinted towards Zoya, swinging foolishly, but Zoya blocked and dodged.

Lilith loved how her face looked. So Zoya decided to ruin it.

Every punch from Zoya bespoke strength. Although she acted uncontrollably, a small part of her brain told her not to overdo it.

She didn’t want to deal with the repercussions of manslaugher.

“Tired already?” Zoya growled as Lilith panted.

The once cocky and arrogant teen had been reduced to a small, frail girl. Her hair was out of place, makeup smudged, sweat trickled from her forehead. Blood poured from her nose. Bruises had started to form. Her lip swelled.

The crowd yelled and cheered. Some chanted Zoya’s name.

Others looked with horror.

Then Zoya slapped Lilith across the face. Lilith, on her knees and wide-eyed, looked like a child who was getting punished.

Zoya had slapped her. It was as if Zoya told her “I’m superior, and you know it. Everybody knows it.”

The reaction from Lilith caused Zoya to smirked derisively. Lilith couldn’t handle it.

Zoya was caught off guard when tackled by Lilith. She was shoved, landing harshly on her hip. Zoya landed a few extra punches on Lilith’s face because of it. After a short scurrying of feet and flinging of hands, Lilith herself ended up immobile, both arms pinned behind her.

Zoya begun pushing the blonde’s arm in an odd angle, slowly putting more weight on it. Lilith eyes watered as she shouted. The terror and agony on Lilith’s face was foreign.

“Stop, please. Just stop.” She sobbed.

“Stop?” Zoya scoffed. “Please. I haven’t even dislocated your shoulder yet.” The words came out eerily. Her eyes bore holes into the girl. Zoya, fueled by the endless torment Lilith had put her through, was blinded. However. there was still someone who could help her to see.

A familiar voice from the distance grew louder. It was a voice Zoya’s brain would not and could not block out.

“Where is - hey, let me through! Zoya!”

Eleanor pushed her way through the crowd and stood puffing. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene.

“Jesus Christ. Zoya, what are you doing?”

Zoya spoke softly, her large, muscular build still pushing Lilith’s arm. It was strange, and she was scolding a second ago. Almost like she was suddenly tired. “Stay out of this, Eleanor.”

Eleanor shouldn’t be seeing this. This is too much. She wanted Eleanor to leave.

Zoya did not look up to meet Eleanor’s gaze, for she knew the influence it would have on her. Zoya would immediately follow whatever instructions she gave out. So instead she focused on the girl below her and whispered again.

“Listen carefully, you cretin. If you keep pissing me off, I’ll have to-“

Shunk!

The rest of her words were sputtered. There were gasps from the crowd. Everyone stoped moving and time slowed.

Zoya felt as if she had been pushed into icy water. Has she been punched? No, it wasn’t possible. Lilith didn’t have the strength for something like this. She tried to comprehend the weird feeling in her stomach.

But then Eleanor cried out.

She rushed to Zoya, looking distressed and cursing under her breath. “Somebody get a teacher.”

Shit, Zoya thought, recalling the time when she almost ran over a puppy on the road and Eleanor foul-mouthed like a sailor.

It’s never good when Eleanor swears.

Something warm trickled down Zoya’s lower side. Still kneeling, she reached towards the dampness. Her fingers were met with a sticky liquid as well as something cold and metal-like. Zoya glanced down and found a pair of scissors embedded deeply into the side of her abdomen.

Lilith stared, horrified, scrambling to get to her feet. She hurried off, and a few boys sprinted after her.

“That bitch,” Zoya grunted, still kneeling, “she made me stain my school uniform.”

Blood bloomed on her shirt like dark ink on paper.

The floor beneath her swayed as her vision clouded. She shook her head to clear it.

She tried standing.

It worked.

But it felt like she was on a boat.

She tried walking.

Where to? She had no idea. She just wanted to walk away, away from the eyes drilling into her.

Eleanor gently grabbed her arm. “Zoya, I need you to lay down. I’m going to have to put pressure on it.” Her voice was doused in worry but it didn’t wobble.

“I’m fine, I’ve got it.” Zoya croaked, clutching to her side feebly. She tried a smile but it was more of a grimace, her body protesting for every movement she attempted.

Walking didn’t work.

She took a couple of steps and started tumbling forwards.

Eleanor caught her in her arms with enormous effort and placed Zoya on her back.

El pushed down on the the wound with her own school jumper she swiftly took off, trying hard not to move the embedded scissors whist it’s points were possibly prodding organs. Blood seeped through the dark fabric and stained her fingers.

Zoya wanted to apologise for the grime but she couldn’t find her words.

Sure, Zoya's been injured before. She's fallen from trees and skateboards. She's broken a couple of bones and gotten nasty cuts. But being stabbed in front of schoolmates takes the cake. She couldn’t shake this one off.

The dull throbbing increased and turned into an excruciating sensation. It was too much. Her eye brows furrowed. Zoya’s brave facade was cracking, and the embarrassment of being so hurt only made it worse.

She was scared.

Eleanor ordered her, voice stern, “Zoya, keep listening to my voice. Keep your eyes open, medics are coming. They’re going to patch you up.”

All Zoya could reply with were restrained nods.

Eleanor’s voice was the lifeline Zoya clung to. Her touch was firm as she pressed down on the wound, the pressure brining both pain and relief at the same time. Zoya’s fingers twitched as she tried to hold Eleanor’s bloodied hand, a wordless plea for support.

“I’ve got you, Zoya,” Eleanor’s voice was a steady anchor. Zoya’s frantic eyes met Eleanor’s gaze, finding comfort in their familiarity of blue and green.

Zoya held onto Eleanor until she couldn’t no longer. Her cold grasp went slack.

Images flickered as her mind drifted in and out of consciousness. Classmates, teachers, police, paramedics. People looking down at her, trying to talk to her.

She sunk deeper and deeper into the icy water as sound begun to fade. Her emotions sputtered to a stop. Soon all was peaceful and quiet, darkness overlapped.

Zoya could rest easy knowing Lilith’s nose would never be straight again.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Thanks for reading!

I understand how difficult it is for original writing to get attention, but I've been thinking about this story for too long and it suffocates out all my other writing ideas. These girls have all my heart ;)

(I should really write some fluff now)

How was it?

Please let me know what you think, or if you found any errors/areas that need improving. I'd really appreciate it!

2 notes · View notes

scalpelsister · 6 months

Text

Aja Volkman of Nico Vega, photography by Bryan Greenberg

#nico vega #aja volkman #bryan greenberg #alternative rock #alt rock #indie rock #rock bands #rock ladies #female fronted band #rock music #ok sorry for the tag spam but i am deeply deeply worried about how underrated this band is #and i think that theyre the best. maybe ever. :)#not to be bandom parasocial on main but aja has meant. so much to me over the past..... 11? years #and she greatly improved my music taste lmao. gateway drug to female led alt rock bands #AND I MET HER!!!!! which if I could do it again I would have done things differently but. i was like. 14 lol so #an e ways. listen to nico vega or else.#my post

3 notes · View notes

voltfruits · 7 months

Text

Ratboys dropping the best album of their career... Wednesday doing the same with an album called Rat Saw God.... Kara Jackson making a song called 'rat' which is arguably the highlight of her debut album..... 2023 truly is the year of banging rodential indie music

#i don't understand why some people are saying 2023 isn't a good year for music. it's the best since at least 2018 #volt.txt #tunes tag #indie rock #ratboys #wednesday #wednesday band #kara jackson

5 notes · View notes

hazardsoflove · 2 years

Text

my favorite thing about me is that i was never in bandom so i’m not burdened by anything. peace and love to the rest of you

#the first fob album i heard was save rock and roll. i started seriously listening to mcr just a month ago #panic i dont rly care abt but i also first listened to them around when i first listened to fob. vices will always be famous tho #everything ik abt bandom i learned from julie and kel. and des #i am Free #i guess the offset is i was a superwholock so. slay i guess #i was too busy listening to indie bands no ones heard of in middle school. that and mainstream pop i guess #like. i knew Of it bc my ex best friend was in it. i just did not ever feel like listening to it until it happened in a way i couldnt avoid #like w fob my songs know what you did in the dark played on the radio and i was like this slays….and that was that fob is now one of my fav #band of all time. and w mcr like Obviously ive know wttbp for a long time idr when i heard it for the first time middle school prob #and then i knew teenagers. that was it until julie and then i heard mama and planetary and asked for an mcr playlist for my fic #and that was that and now look at me. crazy how things happen u know #r.txt

11 notes · View notes

mxrisacoulter · 1 year

Text

a woman at work asked me if id been to pompeii today and the absolute herculean level of restraint I demonstrated i-

#personal #there's a finite number of people who know me personally #and believe me to at best be indifferent to award winning british indie pop/rock band bastille #and i will do my best to keep them in ignorance of my insanity for as long as possible #if it kills me

1 note · View note

manysmallhands · 4 months

Text

My Favourite Songs of 2023 pt. 3: 20 - 11

Carrying on from yesterday’s post: may the penultimate countdown commence!

20. pinkpantheress - Capable Of Love

youtube

While Boy’s A Liar was by far the bigger hit, Capable Of Love was the single that captured pinkpantheress at her best this year, combining her sad girl tales of romantic doubt with a beat that goes hard enough to give you a paradoxically huge lift. While i can't help but worry about how terrified she sounds, her super sweet garage pop is a solid favourite of mine and I'll guess I'll just have to reconcile that with my conscience.

19. Jeff Rosenstock - FUTURE IS DUMB

youtube

This year’s HELLMODE album saw Jeff in a slightly more reflective mode than usual but FUTURE IS DUMB was a nod to past glories, setting his frustrations about the modern world to dayglo punk pop played fast enough to comfortably sever your head from your body. While the takeaway - “the world doesn’t owe you” - seemed somewhat nihilistic, the general feeling of one man trying to make sense of a collapsing society was as relatable and moving as ever.

18. Black Thought /El Michels Affair - The Weather

youtube

On something of a roll after last year’s album with Danger Mouse, Black Thought uses the El Michels band to full effect here as the pair speed up and slow down in perfect coordination on this summeriest of street scenes. Leon Michels works up a blissed out soulscape as the Roots star rhymes with intricacy and precision, by turns laid back and fiercely intense.

17. Aoife Nessa Frances - Fantasy

youtube

Grandiose in design and epic in scope, Fantasy (not the Mariah song) takes Aoife’s moody psychpop template and gives it an extraordinary makeover. Decorated with orchestral fantasia, it sounds like the kind of music you might find in a high class opium den and that’s before you even get to Aoife’s velvety swoon of a voice. I honestly didn’t think she had this in her.

16. Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For?

youtube

Billie’s second number one was a grower, a pristine piano ballad that managed the tricky business of projecting deep sadness without veering into mawkishness. Bille is ostensibly talking about Barbie (duh), but the lines seem to blur into her own commodification and the notion of becoming “just something you paid for” cuts uncomfortably close to the bone.

15. Caroline Polachek - Dang

youtube

While the best songs from the "Desire, I Want To Turn Into You" album were actually from previous years, Polachek finished 2023 with a flourish, issuing a single that was an improvement on every last one of them. Built around a sample that sounds like a cat being strangled and a flash of old Hollywood melody, Dang sounded strange and glitchy but alway compelling. One of the best examples yet of her idiosyncratic vision of pop.

14. Palehound - Route 22

youtube

Palehound’s Eye On The Bat album was their first to really make a dent in me, and Route 22 is both typical of its strengths and a standout on its own merits. Ellen Kempner’s bleary country rock ballad explores the lines between loving someone and the need to be appreciated, with its honesty all the more touching for the beauty of its setting.

13. Wednesday - Chosen To Deserve

youtube

“I was here first!” I cry as I brandish my old Wednesday albums but it’s still a nice feeling to watch the world catch up, as well as interesting to see bands find themselves exalted who wouldn’t have gotten the time of day a few years ago. “Chosen To Deserve” itself is a sweet natured country rocker powered by a bone crunchingly fierce riff, as Karly Hartman’s tales of misspent youth skirt the line between humour and something more uncomfortable.

12. The Mountain Goats - Fresh Tattoo

youtube

Jenny From Thebes is an album that requires a little patience but its second single found The Mountain Goats at their most immediate and effective. While it starts life as a breezy narrative ballad, Fresh Tattoo feeds off of its momentum to make a convincing shift to anthemic territory by the last verse. By turns warm, witty and extremely memorable, this is as good as they've ever sounded.

11. Olivia Rodrigo - Get Him Back

youtube

Inescapable for months on Radio 1 (where it even had its own jingle), Olivia's love/hate anthem manages to indulge all her best instincts, especially her theatricality and love of 90s guitar rock. Powered by a surprisingly good rap/rock delivery, it’s filled with immensely quotable lines from top to bottom but be sure to seek out the clean version to hear the best one, cos everyone knew that guy was missing a screw!

4 notes · View notes