Little Realities: Flat Mary Road’s Power Pop Breakthrough
Flat Mary Road break through with Little Realities and deliver jangly, hook-laden power-pop with a touch of Harry Chapin thrown in for good measure.
indie rock
Wilco Play It Too Safe on ‘Cousin’
Wilco can stand out from the roots-informed indie pack, but Cousin shows they are content to go with the flow even as they get back to experimentalism.
Zzzahara’s ‘Tender’ Is Exactly That, Plus Irresistible Hooks
Zzzahara’s Tender is poignant and sincere above all else but is also a fantastic and sonically relevant collection of pop rock with no time to waste.
DIY Lifer Jeff Rosenstock Reignites Early 2000’s Pop-Punk
The musical style of Jeff Rosenstock’s HELLMODE takes you back to the carefree days when being politically correct wasn’t the brunt of our anxiety.
DeYarmond Edison’s ‘Epoch’ Is a Box Set Bildungsroman for Bon Iver
Bon Iver emerged from the ashes of DeYarmond Edison along with Megafaun. Epoch is an archaeological endeavor documenting the eventual success through devotion to craft.
‘Where Were You?’ Compiles Leeds Music From 1978-1989
On Where Were You? the Leeds of 1978-1989 sounds like the times, but not a particular place. In that sense, it’s true indie music.
Girls Against Boys on Their Criticized ’90s Album, ‘Freak*on*Ica’
Girls Against Boys are the crucial and criminally under-appreciated link between ’90s alternative rock and the 2000s post-punk boom. Freak*on*Ica plays well in these times.
Teenage Fanclub on Life, Death, and Remaining Seated
The simple joys of writing songs and sharing them remain the driving forces for indie pop veterans Teenage Fanclub. Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley discuss.
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Guts’ Awakens the Angsty Teenager in All of Us
Olivia Rodrigo sings of fame, pain, heartbreak, and growing up on Guts. There’s rage, yearning, and reckless behavior here that transcends generations.
Ratboys Continue Refining Their Volatile Guitar-Centric Indie Rock
On the band’s fifth full-length release, Ratboys find themselves settling into extended roles and a diverse sound for their most affective effort yet.
Garage Popsters Bark Get ‘Loud’
Mississippi husband-and-wife duo Bark offer up power pop filtered through a hazy lens of distortion on Loud, their most fully realized work yet.
Slowdive’s ‘Everything Is Alive’ Is a Masterpiece of Subtlety
From the haunted guitars to the impressionist vocals, from the most spell-binding drones to the brisk tempos, this is a Slowdive album through and through.