Rolling INDIE 2021

I am not the best person to start a rolling indie thread, because I don't listen to or like that much indie rock, but it was between starting a whole thread for Kiwi Jr. or starting a rolling thread in which to house Kiwi Jr., so I opted for the latter.

Which is to say, the new Kiwi Jr. album is Quite Good. Not as noisy as their first (which I also liked), with more of a Television Personalities//C-86 vibe to it. But still very much in the bands-that-sound-like-Pavement mode. Though enough less than the first one that I didn't want to just post it in that thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR6l6R74vYI

Man, that dude really does sound like Malkmus.

Yeah, almost distractingly, but overall they're peppier and poppier than Pavement.

Tbf Sounding like Pavement in 2021 is equivalent to sounding like the Velvet Underground in 1994, which Pavement sometimes did

lol we're old

It’s more like Dean Wareham aping Lou Reed’s vocal tone or something.

Have Beach Bunny had any traction on here? Their new EP is so good.

Wow, he really, really does sound like Malkmus. I feel like this takes a little time to get going, but the title track rips and I enjoyed it more after that point.

i was under the impression that the band sports had broken up, but if they did, they're back with a very solid new ep. the first track was my favorite on first spin, a simmering, slow burning strut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm4rXte2zZY

Does indie pop get a pass here? These are 3 of my favorite songs of the year so far:

Nana Yamato - do you wanna
Sun June - bad with time
Men I Trust - tides

for a laugh, play the men I trust song on spotify

Yeah played it last night and thought my speakers had broken for a minute there.

The Kiwi Jr record is really growing on me, pretty fun.

Yeah played it last night and thought my speakers had broken for a minute there.

my immediate thought was "damn, stylistic detour huh?"

They need to get merzbow to do a proper remix now

Goat Girl - On All Fours is a really excellent album

Agreed. The Goat Girl album is so good. For some reason they weren't on my radar before this. I need to go check out their debut.

lol was just coming here to post about Goat Girl. I like it! I like the range of settings and textures. Post-punk with splashes of prog and symphonic swells.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXium0u9xPI

Goat Girl is really cool! Not what I expected.

the band name/album title combo is not my favorite, and definitely sets you up for something way different, like I was thinking Pissed Jeans or something

Yeah I was avoiding it because of the name. This is right up my alley. Some songs like Anxiety Feels even remind me of Stereolab or at least to Sadier.

lol so I started this thread saying I don't listen to much indie and then this year there's all this indie stuff I like. e.g., the Cassandra Jenkins album, a BNM that is at least quite good new music.

Or I guess it's really an EP. But it's good. Gorgeous sax playing on it among other things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SxE2Hr64pY

thanks for posting that track - i had only listened to the spoken word cut (which i really couldn't stand) and this is much more alluring

The spoken word one works in the flow of the record I think. The vibe of it all reminds me a little of Astral Weeks, minus the Celtic mysticism but with the musical fluidity.

the cassandra jenkins album (it's short at 31 minutes and 7 tracks but that's still enough to be an album and it's being called that) is fantastic. absolutely sublime sophisti-folk. i didn't really connect with "hard drive" (presuming this is the spoken word one sean is talking about?) when i first heard it on its own but it works so much better in the context of the album. the arc of the songs slowly dissolving into ambience across the course of the album is wonderful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEBjfsyhUAs

extremely recommended for fans of kaputt

the arc of the songs slowly dissolving into ambience across the course of the album is wonderful.

Yeah that’s a good description. The final instrumental track is gorgeous, instead of tacked-on it feels like a culmination or coda.

Just now getting around the Goat Girl myself, I did this. I'm not sure what I expected, but this is more Stereolab-ish than I expected, in a rather good way!

Nightshift from Glasgow are a female vocal outfit with a postpunk pop sound. Byron Coley hears some Athens, Ga in their sound which I don’t. More Delta 5 and Shopping. New effort Zoë is on Bandcamp

wish i could get into the cassandra jenkins but asmr shit makes my skin crawl and i can't take the mouth noise close mic shit

seems like it's good music though

my wife was like "is this aimee mann?" which i thought was a pretty sick burn, still like it tho

the new nana yamato album is interesting stuff, her song "fantasy" sounds like if a mary timony band had a drum machine and nico on lead vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCe_g-RRBhY

Speaking of Mary Timony, she’s doing a virtual show March 4 for the re-release of her Mountains first solo album. It’s a paid event with link on her Bandcamp

I like this Really From album. Neo-post-rock? Post-post-rock? They're interesting. (And are in the category of hard-to-Google bands, so I can't even tell if they've been discussed on ILM.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyOtw2hD55w

I think I mentioned it on the emo thread. some really cool stuff going on though it does feel a tad frontloaded to me

That may be, it's one of those albums I've put on and let run a few times, so I can't swear I've paid attention all the way through. The last track is good, tho.

this might be my favorite album of the year so far, super fuzzy indie-pop from a 21-year-old Australian woman i'd never heard of until a month ago:

https://fritzmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pastel-2

Oh nice, I've been on a Frankie Rose kick all weekend and, while this doesn't sound identical or anything, it's where I'm at right now.

Yeah this Fritz album is good! Thanks for that. Tuneful shoegaze/dreampop with winsome vocals is pretty much my jam.

Yeah I've really been liking that album the last coupe of weeks! If you're into "tuneful shoegaze/dreampop" don't miss the Jetstream Pony album from last year, one of my favorites that this Fritz album reminded me a bit of.

https://jetstreampony.bandcamp.com/album/jetstream-pony

Some of this Fritz very nearly fills the Alvvays-shaped hole in my life, but still I hunger for a follow-up to Antisocialites.

totally. well said.

i bet it's not too far off.

i don't know why any band of any real size would release an album right now vs. waiting till they can tour again. not saying that's the case w/ Alvvays, but you have to think they're probably getting close w/ LP3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C_tFlCkWVM

new mannequin pussy is great

stuff like this is why tiktok is the best app pic.twitter.com/dasGE6f2o3

— chet porter (@chetporter) March 23, 2021

I guess this thread is as good as any for Ethel Cain, she crosses a lot of boundaries — dream-pop emo with a SoundCloud overlay? I like both tracks so far from the forthcoming EP. Also went back to last year’s Golden Age EP, which is more atmospheric and a bit less pop than this, also very good. She’s interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnEJZC8hQ18

what is a SoundCloud overlay? i don't know what that means.

She’s absorbed some of the production and aesthetic of SoundCloud rap. Her other recent single “Michelle Pfeiffer” features actual SoundCloud rapper Lil Aaron, though not rapping per se.

“michelle pfeiffer” is a banger, it’s true

New Reds, Pinks & Purples is lovely, sort of like a lost Television Personalities album

https://theredspinksandpurples.bandcamp.com/album/uncommon-weather

really lovely album, reminiscent of talk talk, pygmalion, and last year's loma album

really into this, thanks

really lovely album, reminiscent of talk talk, pygmalion, and last year's loma album

― ufo, Tuesday, July 13, 2021 3:16 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Between the Weather Station and Cassandra Jenkins, Talk Talk references are having a year

this really reminds me a lot of Fear Of Men too

Orange Peels are one of those bands I routinely forget about and then am very happy to rediscover (loved "Back in San Francisco" forever ago, then kinda lost track til Begin the Begone in 2015, then lost track again). Their new double album is sounding really good -- https://theorangepeels.bandcamp.com/album/celebrate-the-moments-of-your-life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_-ArFC5PkA

Alien Boy

by that, I mean where do we want to talk about Alien Boy and their upcoming album, which comes out Aug. 20? here? in this thread? or should they get their own?

this band is amazing.

Thank you for posting this Lightning Bug album, geoffreyess, I'm on my first listen and I'm really enjoying it. <3

same ... a wonderful discovery

i don't know where else to say this but someone should tell those LVL UP guys they're better together than apart

wasn't sure where else to put this but i love this song by a side project of dave c from tops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FARX0350sHo

I guess Shannon Lay is more indie-folk than folk-folk, wherever the distinction is. Obviously influenced by English folkies, but kind of her own hybrid of American and British styles. (Reminds me a little of Ryley Walker in that sense.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ18ZZznLZE

I like this Jordana/TV Girl track. Very '90s radio vibe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w62ZQgnBO7Q

The Dummy record is really good and fun. Not really original and very Stereolab-y but this is high quality sruff imo.

Wow, it's super Stereolab-y.

I like this Nation of Language album. This song has kind of an Ultravoxy vibe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1sno-oy8-I

Three 15 year olds! Lost in The Woods is amazing

https://floridamanofficial.bandcamp.com/album/florida-man-ep

indie soty noms? my vote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTTTEfurozI

sloppy jane album is a fun bit of intricate baroque pop, gleefully over the top (gong hits, string quartets, the works)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FekEWAUKcho

the wednesday album is pretty solid comfort food indie rock, not doing anything special but quite good at its sound anyway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZstVTHCCcGs

posted this in the 2021 lists thread - discovered Indigo De Souza's Any Shape You Take via Said the Gramophone's SOTY list. Pop alternative/grunge that reminds me of Nilufer Yanya. "Hold U" (above) is lighter than the rest of the album and is infectious.

I dig the next track on the album, "Way Out"

sloppy jane album is a fun bit of intricate baroque pop, gleefully over the top (gong hits, string quartets, the works)

oh didn't know there's a new one! I loved the last one, will check it out.

yeah the indigo de souza album is great

i don't really hear the nilufer yanya comparison though, yanya's doing something much more distinct with her sade+pixies+post-punk thing while this is a pretty typical sort of us indie rock

saw a p4k article on water from your eyes, checked 'em out, and they actually seem sorta great. ambitious fuzzbombs with sadier/melody echio's chamber-style vocals. the noisier they get, the more i like them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWJ11XodSlM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6C3cRd0-zk

annoyingly, their 2021 album has songs called "quotations" and ""quotations,"" it's the former that i like, tho the latter is interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB6kbkgA31A

Doesn't look like there's a 2022 indie thread nor anywhere else it seems appropriate to post this, but the new Florist album is gorgeous and will appeal to fans of Big Thief, The Microphones, and presumably Emily Sprague's past work, though I've only dipped my toes in

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/florist-florist/

Really like both of these quite different songs by Disq, a band I had never heard of before I heard Cujo Kiddies on the radio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3sYUKm2YK4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwjCKeggYXk

anyone here dig flasher? punchy, easygoing, indie comfort food with some solid hooks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Hkt_KtleM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu2gxtXAoUA

Flasher <3 <3 <3

Brilliant band. I don't think I like the new one as much as the punkier Constant Image but it's solidly enjoyable nonetheless.

well of course there's no 2022 indie thread, indie died with trust fund

but then it came back!!!!!!

https://trustfund.bandcamp.com/track/capital?from=fanpub_fnb_trk

Love this song:

https://hazysourcherry.bandcamp.com/track/i-wanna-kill-your-girlfriend

https://surfacetoairmissive.bandcamp.com/album/shadows-leap

Let's get our hearts broken again

also impossibly lovely and only 20 minutes long: this

https://denizenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mouth-a-jar

shades of Scott Miller, Bob Drake and even Cardiacs in amongst the more regular power-pop sounds

enjoying this new Sobs record. power pop forever

Yeah, it's good... though except for a hyperpop-ish coda in one song, it's so explicitly 1990s-sounding that you'll feel the Crystal Pepsi make your teeth hurt (or whatever cliched metaphor you prefer).

We've been talking about the Momma album (Household Name) in the "Sounds that sound like the '90s" thread – but want to mention it here too, as I've been listening to it daily since discovering it there. Yes, they sing kinda like Veruca Salt (a stated influence), and reference a few Pavement and Smashing Pumpkins songs in the lyrix... but it's not just a nostalgia exercise, the songs are so good!! I'm really into this album.

(btw – Tracks 2 and 9 are the highlights)

I've been enjoying Vancouver band Dumb, who were mentioned in the Best-Of 2022 thread (for this year's album, Pray 4 Tomorrow). They are total early–Parquet Courts clones; their band name suxx; and they don't really have "songs" (more in the way of cool jams)... but they sound great!

Would appreciate recs of other bands on a similar tip...

They are definitely masters of their craft.

Heard this playing in a store, looks like it came out last year; it's not really "indie," more just standard throwback rock, I guess... good tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rQuAWoRPM

The Heavy Heavy - Miles and Miles

dead meat by the tubs is really good - jangly but propulsive, angry but catchy. really like the vocals, which the bandcamp page compares accurately to richard thompson.

I like this new "Blondshell" album – apparently she's an L.A. local who was doing pop stuff under a different name, then shifted to '90s-style rock.

"Tarmac" is top track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71y4IS2dMa4

the description of an l.a. native who switched from indie to pop was not very inspiring, but gotta say i'm impressed with the blondshell album! some lovely melodies and production touches, like the high, ny dolls-esque piano that rings through "salad," and the choruse...well, they pop

Turns out she's actually an NYC native, and moved to L.A. to study music.

ok i guess that explains it

(I'm not sure if it explains anything, lol... just wanted to flesh out the backstory, as I had originally posted "L.A. local" and then learned more)

really like this new rvg record. well-produced, and well-written set of '80s alternative inspired rock music. it's post-punk at times, cure at times, sometimes will touch on psychedelic furs. the most striking song on the record is "squid," which is a fun and sinister bit of camp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAEevfmZSr4