POSTS TAGGED : Indie

English Teacher – ‘Good Grief’

English Teacher are a Leeds quartet trading in meaty and razor-sharp sprawling post-punk alchemy who introduced their wares with ‘R&B’ via the ‘Nice Swan Introduces’ series earlier this year.

English Teacher have wasted no time, following up with new single ‘Good Grief’. While its predecessor was a meaty mash of searing riffs, soaring guitars and crunching drums, ‘Good Grief’ moves with a touch more  buoyancy and sprinkled with hooky refrains. It swaggers along with confidence and attitude while basslines rumble and guitars bash and cymbal crash while Lily Fontaine’s deadpan vocal croon has all the bite and rasp required. Another superb tune from the Leeds outfit – very, very promising!

Take a listen below.

The Reverse – ‘Cocktails in the Rain’

The Reverse are a London-based indie outfit with a flair for blending acerbic guitar pop with electronic textures.

Latest single ‘Cocktails in the Rain’ is a case in point; a beautifully understated piece of electronic, shimmery pop marked with a real sense of melancholy and longing. Hushed, lilting vocals flow gently on by, oozing with melancholy and pulling at the heartstrings while a soft beat patters below flourishes of warm synth and gentle bright strum. The Reverse prove masters of hook, harmony and heart; ‘Cocktails in the Rain’ is one of those songs, filled with such heartfelt beauty, glowing warmth and just the right amount of melancholy to leave you unable to resist its allure but all the better for it. An absolute treasure.

‘Cocktails in the Rain’ is the lead track from their new EP ‘If The World Ends Now’ released on Blang Records.

Take a listen below.

Sub*T – ‘Table for Four’

Based in California, Sub*T are a garage rock duo who’ve got a penchant for laid-back, lo-fi, 90s inspired grunge-tinged indie.

‘Table for Four’ is the latest single from Jade Alcantara and Grace Bennett and it delivers all that and more. Endearingly ramshackle, it introduces us with an easy going languid air as riffs meander amid a mild layer of warm fuzz, there is an overwhelming sense of melancholy and loss. The latter qualities are rendered by the emotional weight of the rousing vocals, which spurs ‘Table of Four’ toward an impassioned, rousing climax that is explosive. Ramshackle indie packed with passion, fuzzed-up distorted guitars, sweet licks and crashing drums – it is a potent blast of noise and distortion that is so pretty damn irresistible – it is rare that just two people can make such an appealing racket. 

A brilliant intro to the pair’s wares, listen to ‘Table of Four’ below. It is lifted from their debut EP So Green, which is coming soon.

Vanessa Van Ness – ‘The Early Bus’

Vanessa Van Ness is a New York-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with a penchant for eerie post-punk with psych brush strokes.

Van Ness’ latest single ‘The Early Bus’ is a very personal one, intimate and hypnotic, it is fraught with a harrowing sense of eeriness as it deals with her brother getting hit by a car when they were kids, and taking an early bus each day to visit him in the hospital over a span of six months. A stirring, emotionally charged and sentimental track that musically nods in the direction of 70s/80s UK post-punk and motorik krautrock. Melancholic vocals whisper and flicker above a hypnotic groove while guitars shapeshift and evaporate amid the sparse sea of atmospherics, synth and psych brush strokes. ‘The Early Bus’ is incredibly powerful, moving and captivating – it may be dark and eerie but is also extremely touching too.

Listen to ‘The Early Bus’ below:

SPRINTS – ‘Modern Job’

We’ve been tracking Dublin-based post-punk outfit Sprints for a while now and have impressed no end on each time of asking with their raw, raucous and potent post-punk sound.

Following on from the phenomenal Manifesto EP earlier thai year, Sprints return with news of new EP called A Modern Job, which is due out via Nice Swan Records on March 11 2022. Sprints have already left an indelible mark with releases to date and like their previous work is a fired-up, raucous blast of post-punk. Exploding out of the blocks with ferocious vitality and energy, Karla Chubb’s spoken-sung vocals bite and rise with a focused anger amid the dark, bass-heavy rumblings, sharp guitars and searing noise. Dark, brooding and bone-rattling, potent and poignant;  impressive stuff as usual.

Listen to ‘Modern Job’ below:

Anna Vincent – ‘Nothing Wrong’

London singer/songwriter Anna Vincent, known for her work with My Tiger My Timing and Heavy Heart – the latter caught our ear on more than one occasion in recent years with wonderful explorations of ‘90s indie rock, shoegaze and dream pop. – will release her debut solo album Under The Glass on 29 October.

The album was recorded mostly at home (and in lockdown) during 2020 and was inspired by late 60s and early 70s folk and folk-rock by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, John Martyn, Jackson Browne, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, as well as indie rock like Wilco, Elliott Smith and Teenage Fanclub.

And with the record’s release only weeks away, Vincent has shared ‘Nothing Wrong’, a third single lifted from the forthcoming album. Vincent takes us on a melodic meander through a wonderful woozy world of warm dreamy allure with hazy psych brushstrokes while rippling guitars shimmer a gentle pattering groove undulates beneath the lush and breezy vocals that cruise above.

Listen to ‘Nothing Wrong’ below and keep an eye out for Under The Glass on 29 October.

Maida Rose – ‘Every Day Is Blue’

Maida Rose is dream-pop pairing of Roos Meijer and Javièr den Leeuw from Dutch seaside city the Hague.

Having introduced themselves with ‘Harmony of Heartache’ and ‘Where Do We Go’, the pair are back with another wonderful single, ‘Every Day Is Blue’. It is woozy, richly melodic and marked by a pang of wistful melancholy and dreamy tones.

Smooth, breathy vocals cruise calmly over a gentle strum, shimmering guitar and gently waltzing groove as rich melodic allure pours from the lush, dreamy atmosphere. Like it’s predecessors, ‘Every Day Is Blue’ is oozing with heartfelt nostalgia, nostalgic for a dream that has passed but it has a lovely, human optimism, and leaves a warm wistful glow and a feeling that all things – good, bad or indifferent – eventually pass. Utterly beautiful stuff once again.

Listen to ‘Every Day Is Blue’ below now:

Air Devi – ‘Lint of a Masterpiece’

Air Devi is the moniker of Philadelphia singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Devi Majeske who has been really impressing in recent times with a slew of sumptuous singles.

Beginning life as a home recorded lo-fi indie pop project, Devi released debut EP, ‘Swanning About’ last year, and singles ‘Move Without Place’ (2020) and ‘Mosquitos in the Backyard’ (2021) – and is back with another sublime piece of woozy, starry-eyed dream-pop in ‘Lint of a Masterpiece’. Soft pattering drums and warm melodic vocals usher in the dreamy vibe as guitars jangle gently amid a plush haze of warm alluring fuzz. It meanders along hypnotically subtly adding layers and layers of sound, triumphing as a sitar leads the charge to an emphatic climax. ‘Lint of a Masterpiece’ is yet another piece of indie-pop brilliance from an artist that continues to impress no end.

Listen to ‘Lint of a Masterpiece’ below – you won’t be disappointed.

Remington Super 60 – ‘See This Through’

Remington Super 60 are a Norwegian outfit with a penchant for lush, retro-flavoured indie-pop brimming with warmth and dreamy nostalgia – a niche they have carved out over almost two decades. 

In mid-March, the trio – Magnus Abelsen, Elisabeth T & Christoffer Schou – released a brand new seven track EP ‘Nouvelle Nouveau’ – a veritable treasure trove of serene, beautiful and beguiling pop perfection. ‘See This Through’ is the fourth and final single from Remington Super 60’s mini album Nouvelle Noveau released earlier this year – a veritable treasure trove of serene, beautiful and beguiling pop perfection. ‘See This Through’ deals directly with the breakup between the bands producer Christoffer Schou and singer Elisabeth Thorsen, and unsurprisingly, it is very personal for the two. Lush, dreamy vocals hover gracefully above a soft pattering of gentle waltzing beat while gently strummed guitars shimmer and glow amid the soothingly warm hypnosis. While darkness may permeate the origin of the song, it is delivered in a light, fluffy and breezy package that is as close to pure pop perfection as you are likely to hear today.

Listen to ‘See This Through’ below and you can check out the EP now.

Sakura & Aloa Input – ‘Another Rainbow’

Hong Kong via London to Vienna, musician and songwriter Sakura has joined forces with Neo-Krautrock outfit Aloa Input for new single ‘Another Rainbow’; and together this collaboration delights and enthralls with a sweetly hypnotic and spaced-out dreamer.

Driven by a gently undulating and hypnotic rhythmic groove, Sakura’s captivating, cool and hushed vocals snake above while guitars shimmer, flicker and twang amid the hazy world of lush and dreamy atmospheric splendor. It is sweet, cosmic and lavish psych-infused dream-pop perfection that dazzles and hypnotizes, grows and seeps into your senses with each and every listen, and leaving you better for it.

Nothing short of stunning, listen to ‘Another Rainbow’ below: