The new single by Swedish indie rock band Girl Scout, “I Just Needed You To Know”, shows the range of the band in terms of their musicianship. It’s entirely in the realms of punk music, with driving drums and bass, distorted guitars, and an intentionally raw and unpolished production. The song never lets up for its entire duration, especially as it approaches noise rock-levels of volume at its climax. The song can appear loose and sloppy, yet it’s still obviously controlled and well thought out as more than just a fun studio jam session.
From what it seems, Girl Scout is still finding a distinct identity based on their previous singles more in line with contemporary bedroom indie pop. However, garage-inspired songs like this and “Do You Remember Sally Moore?” show they refuse to be pigeonholed. They’re successful in part because of the talents of members Per Lindberg, Viktor Spasov, and Evelina Arvidsson Eklind; but also because of the vocal range that front-woman Emma Jansson provides. Throughout many of Girl Scout’s songs, her voice can change from soft and vulnerable, angsty and grungy, or powerful and belting out. The latter is seen especially in “I Just Needed You To Know” as her voice almost becomes a powerful instrument in itself, soaring upwards and refusing to be buried under sludgy guitars.
The song is an easy recommendation for indie rock fans or anyone who’s a fan of fast-paced 90’s alternative rock. Despite only gaining attention last year through the release of two EPs (Real Life Human Garbage and Granny Music, respectively), the band’s popularity is rapidly growing as they embark on a summer tour opening for Alvvays. Considering the mountains of energy contained in the track, I’m sure it’ll become a Girl Scout live favorite for years to come.
English indie rock outfit The Vaccines – made up of Árni Árnason (bass, vocals), Yoann Intonti (drums), Justin Young (lead vocals, guitars) and Timothy Lanham (guitars, keys, vocals) – dropped a track today that, at first look, could be considered misleading. The title “Love To Walk Away” gives off the impression that the song will be a positive one, perhaps one about finding empowerment in walking away. However, the lyrics come from the perspective of an outsider – an assumed lover – who is experiencing grief as the result of a crumbling relationship. They watch the runner prepare to run. With lyrics like “How come you’re always leaving?” it is implied that this is patterned behavior.
Sonically, there is a sunny disposition that just does not align with the lyrics, almost making the contemplative message more palatable. (Hey, who really loves confrontation or existentialism THAT MUCH?)
Says Young of the release, co-written with Andrew Wells: “This is the song responsible for the album’s direction sonically and thematically. Given the record’s central theme is not knowing what direction you’re headed in, it feels poignant that the music was so sure of itself so quickly.”
Check it out below.
The Vaccines 2024 US Tour Dates with The Kooks Feb 29 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle Mar 1 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel Mar 2 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall Mar 4 – Toronto, ON @ QET History Mar 5 – Montreal, QB @ Mtelus Mar 6 – Albany, NY @ Empire Mar 8 – Boston, MA @ MGM Fenway Mar 9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Fillmore Mar 11 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 Mar 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel Mar 13 – Washington DC @ Anthem Mar 15 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Mar 16 – Minneapolis, MN @ Filmore Mar 18 – Denver, CO @ The Fillmore Mar 19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Union Mar 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Palladium Mar 22 – San Francisco, CA @ Fox Theatre
Kenzo Cregan trekked into the depths of SXSW 2023 this year, performing his signature indie rock for audiences from around the world. Though it wasn’t his first experience in ATX, he still seemed to allow the magic of the event – and the excitement around performing it – seep into his bones. If you’re looking for a quick, optimistic interview and an amazing artist to follow, this is it.
an interview with kenzo cregan
imperfect Fifth (iF): What was the first song or album that you remember hearing, and does that work of art have any influence on how you approach your music today?
Kenzo Cregan (KC): The first album I remember listening to was The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I believe it is the pinnacle of great songwriting and production. It absolutely influences my songwriting. However, I only hope to touch the surface of that level of artistry.
iF: Tell us a little bit about what got you started in music, and how this project came to be.
KC: My musical journey began very early. My father was and still is a professional musician. He taught me how to play guitar, and the origins of rock n’ roll. My mother used to also be a singer back in the 80s, and both of them encouraged me to go after my dream. This current project was the result of a lot of trial and error. I finally realized what kind of project I want to have, and how I want to express myself musically.
iF: What did the road to SXSW look like for you, literally or figuratively?
KC: Well, this time around, there wasn’t a tour leading up to it. The bass player in my band joined me to form an acoustic duo for this run. We played 5 shows throughout the week, saw some other great bands, and made some great connections. We also got to explore the city quite a bit. We ate some good BBQ and went thrifting!
iF: Was this your first time at SXSW, or have you been to good ol’ ATX for the madness before?
KC: I had been before with a different project, and have been to Austin on tour.
iF: If you have been, do you have a favorite go-to spot for food, bevs, or people-watching?
KC: There’s this cool boot shop called Allen’s Boots that I went to before. So I had to stop by there for a quick look around.
iF: Best showcase, besides your own?
KC: The Dr. Martens Showcase was awesome! We saw this really cool punk band called “Dream Wife”. Definitely one of the best live performances I’d seen in a while!
iF: What was the most magical thing you found in Austin?
KC: Honestly, there was this Moroccan food truck we ate at on our last night. It was on Congress. Some of the best I’ve had in a while. Highly recommend!
iF: What’s your absolute favorite word right now, and why?
KC: “Love” will always be my favorite word!
iF: If you had the ability to tell the future, would you like it?
KC: Probably not. Feel like we’re heading towards some dark times, unfortunately. That’s why we need love now more than ever.
iF: What’s coming up for you that you’d like us to tell everyone about?
KC: I’m currently in the process of repackaging my music on all streaming platforms. As well as some new music in the works! Can’t wait for everyone to hear!
iF: Anything you’d like to add?
KC: Just want to say it’s always an honor and a privilege to be recognized for my music. Thank you for sending over these questions!
Tennessee-bred indie rock outfit Colony House – expertly comprised of artists Will and Caleb Chapman, Scott Mills, and Parke Cottrell – celebrates the release of their new full-length The Cannonballers today. Equal parts thrilling and entrancing, the album is a wild ride from the intro of the initial track “Landlocked Surf Rock” to the very last notes of “I’m Not Dyin’.” Chapman’s vocals are smooth, the lyrics are relatable, and the indie rock edge is cut slightly with high production quality.
Admits the band: “We tried to stay away from getting stuck on a theme, but I think being back home for such an extended period of time after traveling so hard for the last ten years informed a lot about this album.”
In fact, their home base served as the main inspiration for the album. Says frontman Caleb Chapman: “We got to see the seasons change and experience our home again for the first time in a long time. I think I was falling back in love with Tennessee, and I started revisiting some old memories and old relationships in my head that pertained to certain geographical locations as well as just emotional places I had spent my most formative years.”
We suggest melting into tracks like “One of Those Days” and “Don’t Give Up on Me” when in a contemplative mood, and turning up the volume on tracks like “Landlocked Surf Rock” and the beach-worthy title track.
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.
Under the moniker Tummyache, producer/artist Soren Bryce blends the spirit of 1980s indie rock with 1990s alternative to forge a DIY rock sound. Fresh off a relocation from the USA to London, Bryce follows up a series of indie projects with her upcoming album Soak. In succession to the project’s first single “D.I.Y”, she dropped the video for the album’s self-titled track on October 22nd.
As a companion to the track’s turbulent nature with its juxtaposition between drowsy vocals and adrenaline-fueled guitars, the music video shows a sense of the artist’s aimlessness morphing into restlessness. The visuals of Bryce wandering against the backdrop of a dreary neighborhood alternates with frantic dancing and strobe lights within the confines of her home, which would reflect the disruption of moving to a new place during the uncertainty of the pandemic. Bryce explains:
“Soak was inspired by newfound neurotic and tedious habits that formed during the isolation of the pandemic, while adjusting to being in a new country. A new kind of forced domesticity caused me to avoid reality and I wasn’t able to fall back on my usual escapism methods. I learned a lot about myself”.
“Soak” is out now on all platforms and check out the music video below! Be on the lookout for Bryce’s eponymous album as Tummyache, releasing imminently.
Brooklyn-based indie rock trio Anna Sun illustrates the euphoric and unforgettable feeling of finding true love with the video for their debut single “Mine.” The pastel-singed visuals follow vocalist and guitarist Sam Aneson’s endeavors to ensure her lover understands how confident she is in their relationship and how much they mean to her at the end of the day.
Accompanied by performances from bassist Andrew Shewaga and drummer Nikola Balać, the video encapsulates the dreamy, vibrant energy from the track while also adding a layer of lighthearted humor that helps it stand out from the crowd and any other productions as of late.
I started this song with the intention of writing a bubblegum love song, and it turned into this larger than life, kind of romanticization of codependency. I think there’s something overly optimistic about the style of this song that matches the lyrical content.
I spent so much of my life obsessing about being in a relationship. It was shoved down my throat in the media that I consumed growing up as a girl. Prince Charming and all that. It became exhausting, and it started distracting me from bettering myself. I realized my programming at some point in my twenties and made a distinct effort to not make romance my number one priority. This song came out of the concept in my head I was drugged with my whole life.
The speaker is making her current relationship out to be absolutely perfect, the missing puzzle piece to her life. “I can do anything now, since I’m with you! I’ve been waiting forever for someone like you, and now I have everything I could ever want!” There’s a part two to this song, and it’s a rude awakening.
I have always struggled with codependency, and I think this song was my attempt to take the piss out on myself. The idea that another person being your partner can make you invincible is not a very healthy concept, in my opinion. I mean, I don’t know about you, but the only way I’m going to stand in the rain and not get wet is with an umbrella, not because I have a boo.
Check out our exclusive premiere below, and then show the band some love over on Facebook!
Producer: Sam Aneson Co-Producers: Nikola Balać, Andrew Shewaga Director: Sam Aneson, Nick Snow, Stephanie LeBlanc DP: Nick Snow Stylist: Liana Mack Editor: Sam Aneson, Nick Snow
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.
Former indie rocker, Neal Wright, highlights the Chinese board game, “Go”, in his most recent work. Being an avid player for most of his life, Wright honors the abstract strategy game under his project name, Wave Collector. The artist’s new single, The Masterpiece, tells the story of and pays homage to Dosaku’s masterpiece.
Upon meeting The Masterpiece, one is not greeted in a gradual manner. On the contrary, I suggest you prepare for an abrupt “hello”: a “hello” filled with immense variety, and one that will occupy your full attention.
Within the first 15 seconds, the audience is engulfed by electronic instrumentation, ethnic pulsations, ambient noises and vocal recordings. If this sounds like a lot, your assumptions are correct. This track will, quite literally, take hold of you and lead you through an experiential journey based on novel sounds; and it will not wait for you to give the go-ahead. As a listener, allow yourself to take a step back and let Wright take control.
As a rising voice in Portland, Oregon’s electronic music scene, Wave Collector is uncategorizable and is anything but ordinary. Forget about that 3:00 pm caffeine crash– in four minutes, Wright will have you feeling re-energized and ready to take on masterpieces of your own.
