Although Future Clouds and Radar evoke two words that are plain annoying – “beatlesque and power pop" – the Austin outfit’s 2007 self –titled two disc debut, won over many new fans and even went so far as to be named fourth best album of the year by Harp Magazine. Their follow-up, Peoria, is a tight eight song 35 minute affair, and while not as grandiose as its predecessor, this one still finds the band enrolled at Beatles U.
Hold onto to your headphones as Skeletal is more all-night dance mix than cohesive album – what some might call brilliant and others call unfocused and cracked out. Listen at your own risk.
ith their fourth studio release, Structure and Cosmetics, The Brunettes continue a tradition of 1960s pop-influenced indie rock as seen through artists such as The Shins, Belle and Sebastian and others. And what the Brunettes specialize and excel in is the sort of silly, saccharine tinged love songs and danceable pop that haven’t been heard in close to 40 years – but with a modern interpretation.
With Neko Case and Dan Bejar playing live with The New Pornographers, artists that had two of 2006’s best albums (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Destroyer’s Rubies), the evening’s performance in Tucson could have been billed as: The New Pornographers feat: Neko Case and Dan Bejar.
if Elliott Smith was the front-man for your band, they’d surely sound like Earlimart’s bag of introspective indie pop bliss. On their follow-up to 2004’s critically acclaimed Treble & Tremble, L.A.’s Earlimart revamp their ELO meets west coast indie on Mentor Tormentor.
Bolstered with an impressive arsenal of instrumentation—piano, strings, banjo, harp, flute, French horn, harmonica and more—Challengers, the much-anticipated fourth album from The New Pornographers, is a positive step forward in the development of a band that has continued to evolve with each subsequent record.
Stars of Track and Field is a three-piece indie pop band from Portland, Oregon. Paying reference to their elders of indie genre, their name is in reference to the Belle and Sebastian song of the same name found on their 1998 album – If You're Feeling Sinister. Glide recently met up with the Stars of Track and Field after their Seattle date and had the chance to talk with frontman Kevin Calaba. The conversation spanned songwriting, life on the road, and politics.
If there are three words to best describe Apples in Stereo – its unfortunately 'cutesy indie pop.' Associated with the Elephant Six Collective – a group of bands which also includes Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal and The Olivia Tremor Control – New Magnetic marks the Apples' first release in five years, and first on Yep Roc records. Is it for everyone? No.
Although Wincing the Night Way may not offer much to grab onto lyrically, The Shins have created a new wall of sound that will surely keep them relevant and James Mercer as just another guy in The Shins.
Indie pop is amazing: it is an endless stream of music, all roughly built around the same instruments and musical structure, yet one can still find music that sounds refreshingly new, interesting, and listenable.
