Rolling 2016 Indie Rock/Pop Thread

i'm digging it
between this and the new parquet courts some good indie rock classicism

Haven't been posting a lot lately. There is so much music mentioned on this thread to absorb. I will check out everything mentioned here in time. Wanted to comment on one thing:

The Cullen stuff is good! Is it similar to the Smith Westerns at all? Heard of them but never heard them.

Sorry, totally missed this. I tried a Smith Westerns album (Die It Blonde), and while it has a couple of moments, I wasn't a big fan...it just seemed too absent and not very distinct. Since that band's split, two other members went off and formed Whitney, who imo don't possess the same flavour for layering and chord sequences that make Cullen interesting on his own.

I agree that Dye It Blonde is a bit hit-miss, but their 2013 album, Soft Will is fantastic throughout. If you are a fan of Cullen Omori's latest release, you definitely should check out that Soft Will album out as well.

As far as a slightly less-regarded indie-rock/pop albums go, Rogue Wave's latest, Delusions of Grand Fur album is taking up a lot of my listening time. I'll admit that I ignored the band's output the last decade or so, but I really enjoyed two albums released in the early-to-mid-oughts, Out of the Shadow and Descended Like Vultures. This new one hits a lot of those same sweet spots.

I forgot rogue wave existed!

The new Steve gunn is pretty darned good

I've heard the Whitney album, it's gorgeous

the album came out last year and its only good in spots but this track moves like a heat-seeking missile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUf6vuLhm-o

yeah I like that album ^ but def was bummed that it isn't all closer to that track (and, to a lesser extent, Dream Date)

New Broncho streaming here in its entirety:

http://bronchoband.com/

I just ordered it.

Moving a little slow this month, but the playlist is updated through today:

ILM's Rolling Indie Rock Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist

xp I'm torn on this Broncho album. The songs keep getting better with each album, but the singing keeps getting...worse?

Overcast dynamics of new Mogwai album's unblinking steady state search proving v. appropriate today
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/09/480591818/first-listen-mogwai-atomic

There is a bit of a hurdle to get over with the singing on a Broncho album. I adjust to it pretty quickly, but then again I listen to death metal, so adjusting to weird vocals is something I've gotten pretty good at. I do like the way everything has gotten hazy and smeared out on the new one - kind of like a stoned T. Rex, also maybe a bit of Radio Dept.

this whitney album has a nice relaxed summer happy vibe:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5yMCA6HdFAeL1aqUjxO3MO

So like Katie is a friend and I've had this album all year but I don't post about friendmusic unless it's absolutely warranted

http://www.stereogum.com/1882958/artist-to-watch-katie-dey/franchises/interview/

I can't tell if this record is ILM-material or not but it's just.. really incredible

I've seen her name mentioned before. Your cosign and the fact that she's from Melbourne is probably enough for me to check it out

unkillable from asdfasdf was nice, but Fear O' The Light is a big step up, really looking forward to this.

http://scontent.fewr1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13501637_10157064222460597_2840708129212725108_n.jpg?oh=7f006a658d4e02c5521b14651de5a1ab&oe=580273D9

So if I am wrong about this band in this thread, blame Ned... :)

Big Ups
Before A Million universes
(Tough Love / Exploding In Sound / Brace Yourself)
Release Date: March 4, 2016

http://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2016/02/Big-Ups-Before-A-Million-Universes1-640x639.jpg

http://explodinginsoundrecords.bandcamp.com/album/before-a-million-universes
http://open.spotify.com/album/2SX7FMqNdK5eia2tMdXwXN

I saw Big Ups, a Brooklyn band, opening up for Perfect Pussy in a West philly basement right before Christmas last year. Liked 'em enough I picked up the vinyl of their 2014 debut Eighteen Hours of Static. And I still like 'em and I think you will if you like bands such as Slint or Polvo. The new one seems more expansive than the debut - more tempos, more vocal textures, more ideas. And most of them work pretty well.

Will check, thanks Bri. Just finished my first listen to Deerhoof's The Magic(on promo, not First Listen, though that's linked below. Dunno how sound quality compares, FL's sometimes isn't as good). 15 tracks in 40' 29", and I know I haven't taken it all in, but plenty instant gratification---"Plastic Thrills" could've been the fitting title track---and I love the drumming throughout:
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/480602873/first-listen-deerhoof-the-magic

yeah, ive never been a huge Deerhoof guy but i thought that new one sounded great...for the band's fans, is this their most "accessible"? or no?

Also, here's my 4th of July jam, to barbecue some fireworks & frie some freedoms:
Hit Reset, by The Julie Ruin. Despite the title, it doesn't seem like retro; for one thing, the lines flying by seem like fine fresh fragments of a life being lived, different points and segments of the timeline still felt and in focus---refocus, reset---although there might also be some well-chosen presets on that vintage keyboard.
Haven't got quite gotten into the first three tracks yet, compared to all the others' jamming hooks, which make me want to go back to college, ca. '79---8x, jam a chair against the door, and play this album about four times in a row, schooling the U. Not that it would take four spins to do that, because we also have here some early (lessee, K. Hanna's 47 now---) or at least definite assimilation of primetime BlondieCarsB-52sBanglesGo-Gos along the way:
http://www.npr.org/2016/06/30/480605934/first-listen-the-julie-ruin-hit-reset

Also need to dig up my Le Tigre sides---now, if they could get JD Samson to do a few club mixes of these---not strictly necessary, but I'm greedy.

https://soundcloud.com/sargent-house/russian-circles-mota -- holy crap

playlist is updated.

Shoulda put this here instead of that mostly-oldies What Are You Listening To thread

Adia Victoria, calls it "gothic blues", fan of Fiona Apple for unreals, pretty good so far:
http://livestream.com/accounts/1164825/events/5911922

― dow, Saturday, August 6, 2016 5:26 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Pickathon, yall

― dow, Saturday, August 6, 2016 5:28 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

A lighter touch than FA (no vibrato!), which you might think would spoil it but no (not even on this Robt. Johnson cover)

― dow, Saturday, August 6, 2016

"Cain't get through, cain't get through, ah you're stuck in the, Souuu-uth, stuck in the South." Amen.

she's pretty good yeah

I'm somewhat biased, because I'm on friendly terms with a couple of people in the band and have been following their live shows for the last couple of years, but I really love Izzy True's new album; Isabel Reidy's songwriting, like their cheerfully grotesque comics, has a playful quality that doesn't preclude evoking longing and dread.

http://youtu.be/_1B0HMJ9UnE
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/izzy-true-releasing-debut-album-nope-touring-dates-lp-stream/

Estonian shoegaze

https://open.spotify.com/track/0R48lP1ity6BrBrac0fLwo

dunno much about this guy except he's got two lovely singles out this year and he's from Denmark

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

He reminds me of...Blinker The Star? That's a weird influence for sure.

Allo Darlin'

Dear all,

After eight years of playing, laughing, driving, dancing, singing and generally having the time of our lives, we are calling it a day. We will be playing our last show at the Scala in London, December 11th 2016. (http://www.wegottickets.com/event/375604)

Wait, don’t be sad! Although we are generally a reflective and nostalgic bunch, this is not an overwhelmingly sad decision or twist of fate for us. Most bands have to stop actively recording and playing shows at some point, especially those like us who don’t have this as our day job.

As some of you may know, we now live in two different countries, and these days have enough children to at least field a five-a-side football team. Many years ago we took the decision that our friendship was more important to us than our ”career ”as a band. This meant that we didn’t tour relentlessly and didn’t let the music business get in the way of what brought us together in the first place: the joy of music and the thrill of playing with people you were lucky enough to call your friends.

It is hard to find the words to describe exactly how much fun it has been to be in Allo Darlin’, and what a privilege it has been to make records and play shows from Brisbane to Bern, Boston to Bristol. We feel extremely fortunate that we came along at a time where it was possible for a DIY bunch like us to make records and play shows without an enormous advertising budget or a proven business plan. We were incredibly lucky that the Field of Dreams approach seemed to work, but not without the help of some wonderful people, most of all Sean from Fortuna POP!, and in later years Mike from Slumberland. We had so much wonderful support from others in the indiepop community, like John Jervis from WIAWYA, Tom from Fika, Camilla from Weepop, Indietracks, and New York Popfest to mention but a few of the many.

Lots of people help to get records out and heard and they don’t always get recognition, so we’d like to thank Lucy Hurst and Daniel Gill for working so hard for getting press coverage for us, and Olli Dutton for helping us get on the radio in the UK. Other people we’d like to thank are Craig at Cargo, Jim and Nicole at Ground Control, and Joe at Angular Publishing. We would especially like to thank our soundman Al Harle, who taught us how to be a bit more pro when we were touring and generously gave his time when he could have been paid a lot more money by somebody more successful. We’re sorry we never got to be big Al! We’d also like to thank Simon Trought and Giles Barrett, who were always so helpful and fun to record with, and helped us find our sound.

Of course, none of this would have happened without the support and love from you guys, the audience, who came to our shows and bought our records, gave us your floors to sleep on and helped to set up shows. Your generosity and feedback was always inspiring and appreciated! Please keep on supporting the bands you love, telling them they played a good show and buying their records. You will probably never know how much this means to them.

We hope to see as many of you as possible at the Scala, and thank you so much for giving us the time of our lives.

Elizabeth, Bill, Paul and Mike

Never heard of em?

one of the great pop bands of the past decade. if yr gonna quit, might as well do so after releasing a near-perfect album:

https://allodarlin.bandcamp.com/album/we-come-from-the-same-place

I thought bout giving Slow Club their own thread (they're certainly deserving) but figured they're a better fit here. One Day All Of This Won't Matter has really grown on me - their least immediate album, but on balance maybe their strongest? The '70s-rock lilt is a more natural fit than the overt soul influences of the last album, and the relative lack of belting is refreshing (though Rebecca Taylor does have a pleasantly amateurish belt). Also, it has one of my favorite openers of the year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzFTRbn17bE

Lastly, I've yet to hear their RSD covers album from last year, but it has one of the more endearingly eclectic sets of cover choices I can recall: https://www.discogs.com/Slow-Club-I-Swam-Out-To-Greet-You/release/6919836

im digging the new Happyness song

https://soundcloud.com/happyness-4/friend-of-the-revolution

Ha, I didn't know about this thread. Would have been a better place to post about the new Thurston Moore single.

A-side of an upcoming single to benefit the Chelsea Manning Support Network. Moore's and Sedward's guitars sound really good on this. Not sure what I think of the vocal parts yet; something of a Lou Reed quality to them:

http://pitchfork.com/news/68462-listen-to-thurston-moores-new-track-for-chelsea-manning-chelseas-kiss/

really enjoying the new ultimate painting record. they cover a decent amount of ground with their pretty limited palette. guitars sound real nice

Coming up: Letters To Cleo, first release of new music in 17 years--- more info, download link for advance track here:
http://noisetrade.fanbridge.com/campaigns/show.php?id=1380592&sid=258258979

Ultimate Painting album is lovely agreed

the LVL UP album is pretty good if you're OK w/ a band that doesn't try at ALL to hide its love of Pavement / Built to Spill / The Microphones / Neutral Milk Hotel

Nice one

Also sounds like Alex G and Neutral Milk Hotel

Yeah

re xpost Allo Darlin', had trouble w the album, but some of it was very fine, and here's hoping for more from Elixabeth Morris---my P&J ballot comments last year:

From a land down under, also from late ‘14, Allo Darlin’ ‘s We Come From The Same Place brings us the fetching (come hither, in a sunny way, unintimidating even to geek me) voice of Elizabeth Morris, with pleasingly creative turns in her accent and songs that don’t get in her way, yet demo-bare tracks that kinda do, in terms of distracting inertia, while others put ribbons on the slack---but when the whole band gets it together, pretty nice indeed.
Still, any Oz rock Svengali might well consider putting Morris in a whole new musical setting yadda-yadda, anyway it's worth checking out.

There's something very delicate and unassuming about the Ultimate Painting album that doesnt remind me of Pavement / Built to Spill / The Microphones / Neutral Milk Hotel at all tbh

"Skippool Creek" on the Ultimate Painting album does remind me of a slowed down version of Luna's "23 Minutes in Brussels"

I wasn't saying Ultimate Painting reminds me of those bands, I was saying the new LVL UP album does ... a lot.

Sorry, now I see that the confusion lies in the name LVL UP you thought UP = Ultimate Painting. In fact, there is a band called LVL UP and they have a record out on SubPop.

many xposts: love the newest Slow Club album - just like I love all Slow Club albums. such a wonderful band.

yay!

Enjoying Georgia Ruth's new album...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLcd70qx5jc