Athens-based indie rock outfit Monsoon – expertly comprised of Sienna Chandler and Joey Kegel – has proven its propensity for balancing delicate harmonies with hard-hitting lines. The duo’s dynamic is energetic, edgy, and self-aware in a way that we haven’t exactly experienced before. And their new album Ghost Party is more evidence of all of that.
The first track “Walking Legs” seems to get you on your feet in just that way, starting out slow and careful and building into a cacophony of epic sound. “Third Voice” brings in more pop elements, an introspective track about change and hope at its core. The title track delves into the brokenness Chandler felt during a particularly dark time, ending with Haunted Mansion-esque energy. (If you can’t quite relate even now, having lived during an insufferable pandemic, then kudos.)
The meandering nature of “Don’t Move” is almost a palate cleanser sound-wise, though the lyrics seem to question preconceived notions in a less-than-subliminal way. “O Brother” continues with morbid metaphors, while the one-minute-long “Dark Colossus” discusses a unique love, laced with the same darkness as its predecessors.
The soundscape of “Submission” feels like it hopped right out of an indie film like 500 Days of Summer, while “Nightshop” has more of an underground, pop-punk sound to it. Ninth track “Red Blood” keeps that punk spirit alive, at times akin to the haunting chant of “red rum, red rum” from that quintessential horror flick we all know and love. The composition sounds more like a spell being cast, but that doesn’t vary much from many of the tracks on this release.
While “Pig Pen” is not about our favorite Peanuts character, it does introduce whirring guitar parts that make us want to headbang all day. The album rounds everything out perfectly with the eleventh track “Beetlebee,” which starts with a whisper and ends with an absolute bang. In fact, the song feels much like the progression of the album as a whole. We’re particularly fond of it, and can’t wait to see the live performance.
Walking Legs
Third Voice
Ghost Party
Don’t Move
O Brother
Dark Colossus
Submission
Nightshop
Red Blood
Pig Pen
Beetlebee
Get your first listen to Ghost Party on February 18th.
We’re not sure what is behind the vintage-esque music videos and clips of footage that are making the rounds in the industry, but we’re big, big fans. Retro indie-pop artist Buster Baer’s entire newly-released EP, Mock Twang, and the accompanying music video for single “Get Deeper” are certainly no exception. A bit of beautiful nostalgia, the music video follows our protagonist musician and a dog… or, rather, a human in a dog costume. Beautiful views, brief violence, a baseball bat, and some marijuana are all seen under psychedelic magentas that will absolutely take you back in time.
Emerging as a solo artist after her time as the frontwoman of surf-pop band High Wasted, Jessica Louise Dye returns with a new side to her musical persona under the moniker Hello Lightfoot. Taking cues from her experience DJ’ing at clubs and throwing chaotic themed parties, her solo work takes listeners into a more intimate look at herself while keeping a gritty and high octane indie-pop sound. Hello Lightfoot’s sophomore single “shame” is no different, serving as an anthem for personal release.
Backed by a punchy synth-pop instrumental, the track rebels against trauma with an emphatic drive to take back control of one’s own emotions. The beat and vocal melodies in this song does a great job of sonically painting a turbulent journey out of a storm- psychologically speaking, as if Hello Lightfoot and the listener fights through their demons with a sense of optimism and relentlessness. Whereas other songs on similar subjects captures a feeling of suffering, “Shame” feels like a middle finger to your inner self’s spiritual attacker, daring it to try hitting again. On the single’s message, Jessica explains:
The concept of feeling shame is one I can relate to and is distinctly tied to feeling embarrassed or even just shy in social situations. It’s something I’ve worked on a lot. I consider myself an extrovert with introvert tendencies. The line “muzzle be damned” is a reference to silencing your own opinions around others as a means to be more amicable. It’s very easy to lose yourself if you’re catering to the likes and dislikes of others. Being a nice guy can be a curse sometimes.
“Shame” is out on all platforms and stay tuned for Hello Lightfoot’s upcoming project.
This past year has disrupted how I understand the concept of time within our society.
Staying inside for weeks felt like months, and primarily interacting with my peers via Zoom merely emphasized the ever-increasing feelings of physical alienation I was experiencing. However, in retrospect, I wish I had done more during this dark period the world was and continues to endure. Everything has made me realize how no matter what’s going on outside, life doesn’t last forever, and we have to enjoy the time we have while we still have it.
English indie heroes The Wombats illustrate this realization with the fourth single off their upcoming five studio album Fix Yourself, Not The World titled “Everything I Love Is Going To Die.” The harmonious guitars and punchy drums are captivating from the start, backing the lyrics sung by frontman Matthew “Murph” Murphy that focus on how everyone needs to acknowledge and appreciate how beautiful their lives are in the moment before they are simply memories lost to time.
When explaining the song, Murphy described the song as being “about the impermanence of life and the beauty of each passing second.”
“The key line for me is ‘Icarus Was My Best Friend, So I’m Gonna Make Him Proud In The End,’ which I guess is a playful take on living life to its fullest even though the consequences of that might be dire,” he said. “Certainly not a call to Nihilism, however, but perhaps a call to being present and the joy that can be found in appreciating each moment we find ourselves in.”
All in all, the song is another jangly, electro-pop anthem from the band that won’t stop giving. Their new album Fix Yourself, Not The World comes out January 7, 2022, and you can pre-order it here. Less than two weeks later, they plan on starting their worldwide tour in support of the album in North America before heading overseas to Europe and the UK later in April and May. All dates are below.
North American Dates: January 20 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DC January 22 – The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA January 25 – Terminal 5, New York, NY January 26 – House of Blues, Boston, MA January 28 – Corona, Montreal, QB January 31 – St. Andrew’s, Detroit, MI February 1 – Newport, Columbus, OH February 3 – Park West, Chicago, IL February 4 – The Fillmore, Minneapolis, MN February 5 – The Truman, Kansas City, MO February 7 – Cannery, Nashville, TN February 8 – Buckhead, Atlanta, GA February 10 – House of Blues, Houston, TX February 11 – Emo’s, Austin, TX February 12 – House of Blues, Dallas, TX February 14 – Ogden, Denver, CO February 15 – Union, Salt Lake City, UT February 17 – Showbox Market, Seattle, WA SOLD OUT February 18 – Venue Nightclub, Vancouver, BC SOLD OUT February 19 – Revolution Hall, Portland, OR February 21 – The Regency, San Francisco, CA February 22 – The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA February 25 – The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
European/UK Tour Dates:
April 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds April 15 – The O2, London April 16 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff April 18 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow April 22 – Mountford Hall, Liverpool April 23 – Mountford Hall, Liverpool April 29 – La Machine Du Moulin Rouge, Paris (France) May 1 – Carlswerk Victoria, Cologne (Germany) May 2 – Übel & Gefährlich, Hamburg (Germany) May 4 – Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm (Sweden) May 5 – Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo (Norway) May 6 – DR Koncerthuset, Copenhagen (Denmark) May 7 – Huxley’s Neue Welt, Berlin (Germany) May 9 – Gasometer, Vienna (Austria) May 10 – Backstage Werk, Munich (Germany) May 12 – Estragon, Bologna (Italy) May 13 – Fabrique, Milan (Italy) May 14 – Komplex 457, Zurich (Switzerland) May 16 – De Roma, Antwerp (Belgium) May 17 – Paradiso, Amsterdam (Netherlands) May 18 – De Oosterpoort, Groningen (Netherlands) May 19 – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht (Netherlands) May 26 – Open Air Theatre, Scarborough
New York indie-pop artist Benjamin Lazar Davis has announced his new self-titled LP alongside a video for the first single off of the project, “Remember.”
Known for working with a diverse array of artists, ranging from Anaïs Mitchell to Okkervil River, Davis is far from a newcomer to the music industry. The collaborative efforts shine through on the LP with contributions from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros pianist Mitchell Yoshida, Lake Street Dive bassist Bridget Kearney, and Rubblebucket bandleader Alex Toth, among many others.
Girl Talk’s Sarah K Pedinotti assisted Davis with the production of “Remember,” not only by co-writing the title but also by starring in its visuals beside her cousin Desmond to represent the past and present in addition to their similarities and differences.
Davis’ directorial debut depicts the Pedinotti’s wading through a river, blowing bubbles, and running through a forest as a yellow butterfly motif periodically flashes in and out, perfectly encapsulating the song’s fusion of Sufjan Stevens’ nostalgia-ridden longing for the past and The Flaming Lips’ technicolor psychedelia.
“Remember is an old song written in London after a failed attempt to connect with a crush that had always had a boyfriend but had become single. The song foreshadowed my life on both coasts of the USA. It was recorded in my parents’ house with Lars Horntveth on the minimalist reeds and Luke Moellman (of Great Good Fine Ok) on their old Steinway upright piano. Joan As Police Woman sings some crazy effected vocals in the last verse!”
The self-titled LP will come out on November 19 and is available to pre-order now via Bandcamp.
Harborcoat’s newest LP, “Joy Is Elusive”, debuts on October 1. The sextet, based in Lansing, Michigan, has created a set of songs that are lyrically thoughtful and musically varied. The band’s influences include R.E.M. (the name Harborcoat is from an R.E.M. song), The Smiths, and Billy Bragg and you can hear the impact of those artists on “Joy Is Elusive”.
Band founder and primary songwriter Matthew Carlson explains:
A record titled ‘Joy Is Elusive’ is almost certainly going to be about depression, anxiety and a lifelong struggle with mental illness. That much is true, but there’s more. I think for so many of us, we deny ourselves true joy, or are too afraid to go out and find it. I know that is certainly true in my own experience. The people and the stories in this record are living lives of survival, not a full life. They’re eking out these threadbare existences of shabby surroundings, little hope and the occasional diversion from their struggles. Those diversions most often come by way of self medication or desperate choices with dire consequences. The lyrical content of the album is buoyed by joyous and dense musical foundations. These songs embrace the ethos of what Tom Waits once called, “Beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.” These songs are like short stories with chords. The band name is pulled from an early R.E.M. gem, and the music brims with nods to our heroes. The songs recall the crunchy power pop and harmonies of Teenage Fanclub; the introspection and melodic storytelling of Billy Bragg; and sprinkled in are moments of 80’s esque Brit-Pop or working-class anthems. These influences, however, do not define the record, but they are merely a strand of DNA in Harborcoat’s collective musical helix.
Just before we began recording the record, my Dad died very suddenly. It seemed very likely, I was not going to be in a spot logistically or emotionally to go through with the sessions. My family, and friends all stepped up and convinced me what a tremendous relief it might be to spend a week recording with friends at the family cabin. It was the best possible diversion. I maintain that you can hear our collective grief between the notes of the record, but maybe I just can’t remove myself from it. The loss of my Dad, the uncertainty of the pandemic and the collective anxieties that come will all of that certainly informed the process and the finished product. It feels now like a tribute to ho him that we were able to create something beautiful from all of that darkness.
Two particular track favorites of mine are ‘Help Me Out Somehow’ and ‘Hear Me, I’m Courageous’. Both have spirited, Indie rock melodies with poignant lyrics. Following the release of “Joy Is Elusive”, Harborcoat heads out on an eight city tour to finish up 2021.
Have you ever had a case of massive bitterness over love lost or heartbreak in general? Glittering synth-pop project This Coast Bias really wades through it with new track “Waste of Time.” Despite the danceable pop composition, the song itself does not waste any time in dissecting that past love. The music is like candy to your ears, almost detracting from the reality of it all. Even so, it gets to the point, expressing the worthless nature of the relationship, and then cuts out clean. Explains the artist of the new track:
The ‘Waste of Time’ chorus kinda popped into my head when I was brushing my teeth one night. I wanted a hook that was unquestionably directed at the listener; one that didn’t dance around the issue. It’s kind of a brutal verbal dagger. The instrumentation also harkens back to a more indie sound that I’m steeped in usually, with minimalistic percussion and a little lofi synth solo in there.
Brazilian indie-pop artist Libra is making us appreciate that unique and beautiful summer night feeling with his new single of the same name, featuring the gorgeous vocals of Marnie Price. The video is shot to mirror Libra’s iconic vintage style, as he strums a beautiful mirrored guitar and meanders through the streets of Southern California. Vibrant cuts to preparing tasty summertime beverages add an appeal to the video that you can almost taste.
This is the perfect track to enjoy while your summer nights wane. The video is just as indulgent and beautiful.
DIRECTED BY ZEH MONSTRO IMAGES BY BORIS FRAT EDITED BY JULIAN DE LA CELLE
North Carolina-based musical collective The Collection really hit a beautiful stride with their latest release, a call to action called “Loud.” The indie-alt pop group has created a string of gorgeous tracks together, each with underlying tones of hope. “Loud” follows this pattern, with an expansive and freeing nature.
Lead singer Wimbish was inspired to write the track after protesting last summer following the George Floyd murder.
I watched as peaceful, angry protesters were cornered and attacked by the police. I was one of those maced in the face, alongside many. Over the next many months, I grew angrier and angrier watching white moderates and even “liberal” friends of mine argue over the validity of the protests – how they were being carried out, etc.. and it was astonishing to me – their refusal to lend their voice, to this very necessary movement.
The song serves as an anthem for protest, unity, and a sense of empathy for the times ahead. You can check out the beautiful melody and intrinsically catchy lyrics below.
