Rolling rock and indie-pop 2023

"this shoegaze band kind of sounds like mbv" is definitely a "boss baby vibes" kind of take

if i were to give my own "boss baby vibes" kind of take, it would be: these guys are like a fuzzier breeders.

mbv is def not my primary frame of reference here. feeble little horse is far to shambolic of an outfit, and much less focused on overwhelming with a wall of sound.

*"too" not "to"

Incorporating bits of mbv guitar in their more tempo changing 2023 indie with 90s influences sound

Meanwhile the #1 song on Billboard's Hot Rock and Alternative chart is :

"Something In The Orange"
Zach Bryan

“Nothing Rhymes With Orange”

#3 country

Dude's album is 2 hrs. long (34 tracks)!

I heard a Niall Horan cover of that song the other day on the radio.

doesn't feel much like rock or indie pop to me

nice little power pop record

https://liquidmike.bandcamp.com/album/s-t

https://themthere.bandcamp.com/album/river-holds-peace-some-live

new kiran leonard live album is some folk-rock guitarchestra brilliance, fully fully recommend this shit. fairport convention for the information age m8s

liquid mike record is great!

i quite like this song "Honey" by the band Purr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MLk_qPhyOw. it's kinda dream-pop i guess but gradually builds into something more intense. chorus makes me think of besnard lakes. the rest of the album is fine but fairly anonymous imo.

really liked the recent album by austin group being dead. zany, sun-drenched surf-y rock with sinewy guitar lines and chintzy keys. reminds me of the unicorns (and not just because they have a theme song)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd91t8SDm4g

Rock/indie rock albums I'm enjoying this year

Oozing Wound - We Cater For Cowards (verging on metal, shades of the Am Rep bands of the 90s)
Italia 90 - Living Human Treasure (arty, snarky post punk)
Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer (I think this has been mentioned on ilm elsewhere, this has a lovely dreamy shimmer to it)

Bar Italia - Tracey Denim

wow, yes to the Unicorns ref on this, which i adore!!!

bar italia is so good

Blondshell has released a handful of singles which aren't on this year's (great!) album (...which we've been discussing over in, er, "Rolling INDIE 2021").

This one's an original – "Cartoon Earthquake":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SHLlMlt2f0

"Charm You" is a Samia cover or collab – great riff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccs65_gxIBg

Finally, a nice Cranberries cover - "Disappointment":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO2GZ_j-6uY

really digging sweeping promises

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2oXVpcZn2U

everyone should backtrack up to that Liquid Mike album posted by ciderpress at the end of June

yeah i think i may have undersold it, now having listened to it approximately 1000 times

So few 90s revivalists get it right but Say Sue Me really nail it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qAmN8kRZBs

Can't stop listening, literally on repeat, to that Blondshell song "Charm You" (which I posted above). The original (by Samia) isn't too bad either... but what a cover!

Cool new Blondshell song ("Street Rat"), from a Deluxe Ed. of her album (out in October). I really like this artist! Discovered she's opening for Liz Phair when I see her in November, which is great news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbCXx0bPx-Q

Like one of the songs on the album ("Sepsis"), the groove of this song almost has a Pinback feel...

ciderpress! just in case you want physical product and missed out the first time: https://kitschyspirit.square.site/product/liquid-mike-self-titled-lp/751

Pinback? Checking it out immediately

Yeah let me know if you agree! “Sepsis” in particular.

I can hear the production similarity, reminds me of P’s “this red book” particularly, but the groove itself is a little too laid back…Nice song tho

If your favorite type of music was early Wild Nothing:

https://beachvacation.bandcamp.com/album/coping-habits

I was listening to WN when I clicked on this thread lol

Yeah, I know, I'm literally staring at you from the street right now

lol

Trawling through bands playing GonerFest and enjoying the new album from Dutch band Lewsberg - less VU-via-the-Clean than their earlier stuff, more VU-via-Young-Marble-Giants. Very droll/dry/deadpan.

https://lewsberg.bandcamp.com/album/out-and-about

this album by hollow hand is really good, reminds me of early shins, but psych-y and more guitar-forward. occasionally creeps into 70s kinks territory. good songs, especially "i'm going to let you break my heart" and "where i am is here"

https://curation-records.bandcamp.com/album/your-own-adventure

morrisp, just wanted to second your Blondshell suggestions. She was among a group of 2023 musicians that Yasi Salek recommended on a recent episode of Bandsplain.

I spend a lot of time trying to find stuff like this that really hits me. I mean, there are a lot of bands out there that are going for grungy, 1990s alternative/indie. Wolf Alice has been one of my favorite bands of the last decade, and they've done this very well, and blended it up so that it's a recognizable whole, with good, unique songs. But a lot of times, bands in a similar vein end up being kinda a "spot-the-influences" exercise for me - "ah, here they sound like Nirvana, here they sound like Veruca Salt, etc." But this is really amazing in every respect. I was pretty sure when they got to the guitar solo on the first track that they were gonna have what I need. I'm only halfway through the record so far (and listening to the Street Rat video, from upthread), but I'm so excited about this.

Great to hear! :) Yeah, it’s the real deal…

(There’s a deluxe version of the album now, with a few add’l tracks)

Matt Cameron and Mary Timony on this, can say that the whole album is excellent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM87iGzKoeo

Shoegazy new single by Momma (cover of a song by another band, which covers a Momma song on the flipside):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1yMBSEMozk

Blondshell covered Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy" for Amazon Music (I think you need AM to hear it, so no sweat if you don't have that). She does a good job with a song I never cared for... makes it sound more like a Liz Phair song, which is an upgrade IMO.

yoooooo

https://goldenapples.bandcamp.com/album/bananasugarfire

Just listened to Lewsberg - Out and About, mentioned above back in September. I hear Yo La Tengo in addition to the VU . Nice enough but very locked in to those styles

"Charm You" is a Samia cover or collab – great riff

Gonna have to reup this Blondshell song as my #1 indie-pop (or whatever) banger of 2023; please listen to it in preparation for EOY voting! ;)

Time for a 2024 thread

Rolling rock and indie-pop 2024