A tidal wave of beautifully overdriven riffage comes crashing into a vocal harmony as delicate as a strand of silk in one track, while another features glowing kaleidoscopic melodies that ride atop a smooth beat as though they were always meant to be joined in sonic matrimony. As indebted to the storm rock of Pelican as it is the vulnerability of Unknown Pleasures, The Brothers Union’s Pain and the Opposite is scarcely dull and consistently…
In his new 2-song EP, Too Bright to Fade Away, troubadour Reed Waddle experiments with elements of easygoing folk/rock and indie pop to forge a fantastic pair of ballads more than worth your time this summer. Both the title track in Too Bright to Fade Away and its counterpart in “Bells of Brooklyn” borrow a lot from the Bakersfield sound of the 1970’s, as well as a dose of tempered, Neil Young-style poeticisms,…
Blushing with a wintry melodicism that feels surprisingly appropriate this June, Paul Mark & the Van Dorens’ “December at the P.O.” has an aching compositional integrity that essentially comes standard on the album Gravity, currently out everywhere quality indie music is sold and streamed. Armed with Mark’s trademark poetry and a glowing piano as sterling as that of “I Spin When You Grin,” “December at the P.O.” is rightly the closing…
In their new single, titled “Come As You Are,” Mad River deliver an unquestionably uplifting listen devoid of any over the top theatrics that separate true hits from fleeting trends. From the get-go, there isn’t a speck of pessimism to be sifted through in these lyrics – Mad River have a lot to get off their collective chest, but of all their emissions, negativity influences none of them. There’s a…
A little anxious but attractive to listeners who dig chic grooves in contemporary pop, the sensuous and alluring beats in “Lemon” are perhaps the perfect yin to the yang that is Hewas’ lead vocal. If you’ve never heard of Hewas before, don’t feel left out – “Lemon” is his official studio debut, and it’s hitting record store shelves at a particularly important time this season. Eclectically stylized but not quite…
The Side Deal is not your run-of-the-mill rag tag band. These guys can play and they have themselves a solid hit in the updated rendition of “I Can See Clearly Now” out now via Goldie Records. If one song could encapsulate the hopes and dreams of a nation, and the summer of what to come, this is the time. “I Can See Clearly Now” is a bright, bright hit. Originally…
Few songwriters today can claim to be as eclectic as Seattle’s Electric E. A former resident of New York City, there’s no doubt the songs on Babylon Music and 3 Sides to Every Story have a distinctly urban flavor, but Electric E never confines himself to electronic music alone. Babylon Music is more varied overall than 3 Sides to Every Story – this is clear from the first song. The title track recalls Tom Waits in some ways…
Though not as attractive as the guitar parts in the song are, the synthetic shards of melodicism that comes skating through the backdrop of Gianni Bodo’s “Hurricanes and Butterflies (Flowers Don’t Die)” are an irreplaceable cornerstone of the track’s harmony. As integral to the development of the hook as any of the other components of the composition are, the synth element in this single serves to create balance and warmth…
There aren’t many independent players in Canada that have the kind of buzz that Francine Honey has going for her right now – and justifiably so. Honey has been on a whirlwind ride through the last three years, and in 2020, she’s taking all of her professional knowledge and hammering out one of her best performances yet in “I Carry On.” “I Carry On” is being released as a double…
To say that April has been an exceptionally good month for indie musicians and their fans just might be too big an understatement to make. With new releases coming from across the underground spectrum, it can be difficult to keep up with the true cream of the crop – but among those I’ve personally reviewed lately, Lily Vakili Band definitely shines above the rest. Vakili’s new song, “Facial Recognition Technology,”…
