Category: News

The Year in Indiepop…According to Nathan

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As we’re all looking back on the year 2019, I tend to gravitate towards lists with little agenda, other than to shine a light back on the year in the areas I adore. For one, the indiepop scene. Now, there’s always a great big debate about what indie pop is, so for all intents and purposes, I admit that I just don’t care, so the genre’s purists can yell at me later. Now, this may read as a best of, but merely this is the stuff that stuck out in my brain, so if I missed something, I love you and I’m sorry. Honestly, it just gave me a chance to make a fun playlist (2+ hours!) full of hits for all you pop fans.

 

 

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Pulsing Synth Pop from Arch of Love

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I’m not totally sure what’s going on with everyone in masks throughout this video, but they all seem to be grooving to this new track from Arch of Love, so I can get behind that. It’s a cool synth pulse moving the song along, cut in the opening moments by this meandering guitar chord, building this heavy pop feel that leaves the floor open for the vocals. It definitely has this nostalgic feel to it, build upon 80s new wave sounds, though you can clearly hear the group trying to make things much brighter and bolder, particularly in the way Chelsea Brennan’s voice hits those higher tones.

Joyous Pop from the Just Joans

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I’m glad the musical world hasn’t stopped just because year end listing is in full swing, as we wouldn’t have been gifted this glorious pop number from the Just Joans. For me, this song’s all about the vocal constructs that give the tune success. Don’t get me wrong, the track has the right musical punch where necessary, but it’s definitely the delivery of the lyrics. They definitely have that sort of disaffected youth or perhaps that sort of deadpan melancholy, but the “wee guys” choral backing track really makes the song something more than memorable. Just imagine if Arab Strap wanted to be a proper rock band. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of the Just Joans will be out on January 10th via Fika Recordings.

Fresh Fanclub Track

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The indiepop scene in Austin has its ebbs and flows, but over the last few years, Fanclub have been keeping it going, pretty much on their own. Today they share their newest tune, another propulsive guitar pop number with Leslie’s voice offering that textured softness pop fans fawn over. As always, they employ a fair amount of synth samples in their work, which add that energetic pulse, building in layers sound to avoid the banal pitfalls of the genre. As always, they’ve nailed the perfect balance in this tune, and let’s hope that another single and news of an LP follow in the very near future.

The Hazy Seas Share Heavy Heads

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There’s a whole lot of alliteration in that headline, but there’s a whole lot of reasons to listen to Chicago’s The Hazy Seas too. For one, you can’t tell me that as soon as those guitars start dancing their way into the scene that you’re not just tapping your toes incessantly. The rhythmic pulse adds extra bounce too, giving this song great energy to push things forward. Interestingly, there’s nice juxtaposition with the vocals, coated and cloudy, kind of this dark solemnity, which matches up with the song’s lyrics taking on the subject of making tough decisions and feeling lost while others look on at your life. The group will release their debut LP in early January of next year, so keep your eyes peeled.

Hot New Track From Beach Bunny

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Man I have been completely absent this week from the blog world as things have gotten pretty hectic in my real working world. This does not mean I’m not still finding great new tunes, I’m just letting Nate dog take the lead for now. As the week closes out, I had to find time to share this new track, “Ms. California”, from Chicago based outfit Beach Bunny. It’s a beautifully executed, rocking number in the vein of a Best Coast or Alvvays but with a lot more polish in the delivery. It’s quite fantastic.

This track appears on the new album Honeymoon, due out on February 14th via Mom + Pop.

ThunderStars Announce Number Stations

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If there’s one thing I love supremely, it’s the dreamier side of guitar pop. Luckily, there’s a new act in Austin playing about by the name of ThunderStars. It’s a pretty heavy guitar tune, kind of like taking great bits of Galaxie 500 and filling in the edges with even more fuzz. The rhythm section seems to exist mostly to provide the song with a natural heartbeat, only erupting when called upon to take a little bit of a musical excursion to build some texture into the tune. It’s all the bits of all the sorts of good stuff, be it dream pop or shoegaze or just alternative; the fuzz here just curls my pop toes. They’ll be releasing their album Number Stations on January 10th.

Chill Russell Share New Single + Hotel Vegas Show

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Our friends in Chill Russell love to brandish their pop rock licks all over our town, and tonight they’re going to be doing so with a new set of tunes beneath their belt. They’ve got a show tonight at Hotel Vegas, and they’re very likely to play this brand new single off their forthcoming EP (recorded with Frenchie Smith). They toss out some solid alternative riffs and attitude for the verses, but this track definitely gets its punch in the chorus; it almost sounds like they were listening to The Breeders “Cannonball,” with just a hint more venom in there. They release the single and celebrate in style over at Hotel Vegas at normal adult hours, doors are at 7 PM.

Delicious Indiepop from Fortitude Valley

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I knew without even listening to this great Fortitude Valley tune that it would rule. The project stems from the mind of Laura Kovic, who played keys in Tigercats (a band that rules), but she grabbed members from Martha and Night Flowers (more bands that rule), so you knew, knew…it was going to be good. I was absolutely right, as the song starts slow, building in the natural movement over Kovic’s warm voice; I love how the fuzzy guitar shoots off in the distance behind the more purposeful licks in the very front. I was charmed right away, but the big hook comes around the 2 minute mark when extra backing vocals are included to really pull on your pop strings. As of right now, the band are wrapping up their debut, so here we are on proverbial pins and needles.

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