Tag: indie rock

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Silk Skin Lovers Return with a Melancholy Yet Dance Floor Friendly Bop

Silk Skin Lovers — Félix Foucambert (vocals, guitar), Jean-Baptiste Halin (bass, bass synths), Lucas Lerbret (guitar, backing vocals) and London-born Callum Taylor (keys, backing vocals) — is a rising French indie rock outfit that emerged into French scene with a handful of singles inspired by and informed by nightlife and nightlife revelry. 

Last year’s debut EP, Bloom saw the band crafting material that frequently bounced between playful optimism and delight to late-night melancholy. In many ays, the EP evoked the blurring of memories from a night out to the brink of sobering up a bit as you head home — or when you arrive home, whichever came first. And although the EP’s material is primarily rooted in a magical surrealism, there are points where it reveals a thoughtful band concerned about serious issues of the day, including racism and police brutality.

“The first seeds of Bloom were planted in the summer of 2020,” the members of Silk Skin Lovers explain. “As a young and developing band, we found ourselves growing in a context that was harsh and complicated, as opportunities for artists were scarce to non-existent for a period. The EP was a natural response to not only the artistic restraints we were faced with, but the frustration of being away from what we love to do, and further from our aspirations as musicians.”

Earlier this year, I wrote about the uptempo Smiths-like EP single “Moon 1AM,” a track that revealed itself to be deceptively upbeat: the song is actually a dreamy and bittersweet rumination meant to make you dance away your sorrows for a few minutes.

Silk Skin Lovers followed that up with the Beach House-like “Forever,” a slow-burning ballad centered around atmospheric synths, shimmering, reverb-drenched guitars, gently padded drums and Foucambert’s achingly plaintive vocals. The end result is a song that simultaneously evoked euphoria and melancholy.  

The French pop outfit’s latest single “Wake Me Up When We Get There” continues a remarkable run of hook driven, dance floor friendly bops. Featuring glistening synth arpeggios, shimmering guitars, Foucambert’s achingly earnest delivery paired with metronomic-like thump and the act’s knack for infectious, razor sharp hooks, “Wake Me Up When We Get There” is a decidedly indebted to 80s pop — and if you’re a child of the 80s, you’ll probably think of A Flock of Seagulls, Human League and countless others.

But much like the previously released “Moon 1AM,” “Wake Me Up When We Get There” sees the band specializing in — and subtly refining — what the band has dubbed “happy melancholy.” It’s the sort of song where you can bond with those who have experienced a similar heartache as you with a knowing nod — and the sort of song meant for you to dance away your hurt for a few minutes.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Casual War Shares a Brooding and Stormy New Single

Currently split between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., emerging indie duo Casual War — Maria Law (vocals) and Erik Mattingly (guitar) — have been playing together since 2018. The duo initially made a name for themselves playing clubs in Milwaukee and D.C., before gradually evolving their sound towards a dreamier, desert rock-inspired sound — with the duo continuing work on the project remotely. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about “No Help,” a cathartic and anthemic song built around a classic, grunge rock song structure — dreamy contemplative verses with shimmering guitar lines and stormy choruses with buzzing and distortion pedaled power chords. And at the heart of the song is Law’s plaintive, power house vocals singing lyrics about a reckless, terrifying and dangerous love — the sort of love that burns out quickly and leaves you a devastated and heartbroken shell.

The bi-coastal duo’s latest single, the gauzy and slow-burning “Promontory” featuring shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars paired with Law’s achingly plaintive vocals, glistening synths and hand clap-led percussion that builds up to a stormy climax that’s reminiscent of PJ Harvey.

As the duo explain “Promontory” is about “taking the last step from a broken past and the first step toward an uncertain future. It’s the moment right before you decide whether to take a leap of faith.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s Tallies Share Shimmering and Longing “Special”

With the release of 2019’s self-titled, full-length debut, Toronto-based dream pop outfit Tallies — Dylan Frankland (guitar), Sarah Cogan (vocals, guitar) and Cian O’Neill (drums) — exploded into the national and international scenes: The album received praise from the likes of Under the Radar, DIY Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, MOJO, Bandcamp Daily, Exclaim!,  KEXP and others. And adding to a rapidly growing profile, the Toronto-based dream poppers have opened for Mudhoney, Hatchie, Tim Burgess and Weaves. 

The band’s Graham Walsh and Dylan Frankland co-produced sophomore album Patina, which was recorded at Palace Sound, Holy Fuck‘s Baskitball 4 Life and Candle Recording is slated for a July 29, 2022 release through Kanine Records here in the States, Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada and Bella Union in the UK and EU. The album, which was understandably delayed as a result of the pandemic is simultaneously a labor of love and a bold step forward for the Canadian trio: Firmly rooted in their penchant in juxtaposing light and dark, the album continues to see the band drawing from Lush, Beach House and Cocteau Twins, but with a greater emphasis on shimmering guitars, earnest, lived-in songwriting — and a well-placed, razor sharp hook.

The album will feature, the previously released “No Dreams of Fayres,” an ironically upbeat single that sonically brought The Sundays‘ “Here’s Where The Story Ends,” while documenting Sarah Cogan’s struggles with depression — in particular, thee moments, when she was trying to work it out, but just couldn’t find the energy to do so.

“‘No Dreams of Fayres’ is a reflection of thoughts that I remember going through my mind when I stayed still in bed,” Tallies’ Sarah Cogan explains in press notes. “Feeling as though staying still in bed was the only thing that would help the sadness – basically, disconnecting myself from family, friends, and having a life. Finding the way out of depression was hard but possible. ‘No Dreams of Fayres’ is also about the realization of letting yourself feel real feelings but not mistaking them for emotions. I had to learn to get a grip of what I wanted out of life and go for it with no self-sabotage – which was music, as cliché as it sounds. It pulled me out of bed, physically and mentally.”

Patina‘s latest single “Special” continues a run remarkable run of deceptively upbeat shoegazer-inspired jangle pop featuring Cogan’s plaintive vocals, Frankland’s shimmering reverb-drenched guitar lines and O’Neill’s propulsive drumming paired with their unerring knack for razor sharp, anthemic hooks. But despite its breezy nature, the song is underpinned by a an aching and familiar yearning: “‘Special,’ as Sarah Cogan explains “is about longing to be seen and heard by those who matter to you most. Sometimes, feeling invisible is particularly painful when the indifference comes from someone whose opinion means a lot to you.”

Directed by Justis Krar at IMMV Productions, the accompanying video for “Special” features carefully edited stock footage from movies and home videos: The video begins with fingers and toes — dipping into water, or shampooed hair before following a troubled and bored couple, who have deeply unaddressed issues. You can read the pain and heartache in both of their faces, and it further emphasizes the themes at the heart of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Blake Morgan Returns with a Yearning Ballad

Blake Morgan is a New York-born and-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and the founder and President of ECR Music Group. In his role as President of ECR Music Group, Morgan’s ideas, opinions and editorials on music and the music business have been regularly published by a number of major media outlets including The New York Times, Billboard Magazine, CNN, Newsweek, Variety, The Hill, NME, The Huffington Post, and The Guardian. 

As a producer, Morgan has collaborated with a who’s who of music from Lenny Kravitz to Lesley Gore, and a lengthy list of others. Since the release of 2013’s Diamonds in the Dark, Morgan has been extremely busy: he has a remarkable six-year run of sold-out shows at Rockwood Music Hall that often feature guest spots from a number of Grammy and Tony Award-winning artists, who join him for unique, on-stage collaborations; 150,000 miles of touring and sold-out shows on both sides of the Atlantic; and production work on over 20 albums by some serious A-list artists. 

Late last year, the New York-born and-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and music biz exec released “Down Below Or Up Above” to praise from the likes of The Aquarian, Post-Punk.com, Culture Catch and my dear friends at Glamglare.

Morgan’s fifth album, Violent Delights was released last week through his ECR Music Group and in the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of its released singles:

  • “My Love Is Waiting” a rousingly anthemic and brazenly hopeful love song that views love as the important, necessary and powerful force of our world. But underneath its anthemic hooks, the song, which at points nodded at The Police‘s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” Joe Jackson and JOVM mainstays Palace Winter revealed a penchant for old-timey pop craftsmanship paired with an uncanny knack for a well-placed, razor sharp hook. 
  • “Baby I Would Want You,” a swooning and euphoric guitar pop song that manages continue a remarkable run of brazenly earnest love songs while nodding at Elvis Costello and XTC‘s “Mayor of Simpleton.” While unintentionally referencing — and being fitting for — our current, near apocalyptic moment, the song’s narrator seems to say to his love, “welp, the sink is sinking, the water is rising, and there ain’t much else we can do — but we got each other.”

Violent Delights‘ latest single, album title track “Violent Delights” is a slow-burning, pop ballad featuring angular, reverb-drenched guitar and angular bass lines, and bursts of twinkling keys paired with Morgan’s plaintive delivery and his unerring knack for sharp, rousingly anthemic hooks. Much like its predecessors, “Violent Delights” is a proud, unabashedly earnest love song full of very adult yearning.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Chicago’s Así Así Shares a Hypnotic New Single

Chicago-based indie outfit Así Así — Fernando de Buen (vocals, guitar), Ben Geissel (drums), Celeen Rusk (vocals, keys) and Sam Coplin (bass) — can trace their origins back to 2018, as the continuation of a previous project, El Mañana, which was originally founded in Mexico City before the band’s members relocated to Chicago. Whether as El Mañana or Así Así, the Chicago-based band is a part of the city’s growing Latin rock scene — and has played at a number of venues across the Chicago area. 

Así Así’s sound sees the quartet and blending elements of rock, dance and Latin with arrangements that feature acoustic and electronic drums, synths, guitars paired with propulsive grooves frequently create material that’s haunting yet upbeat and catchy. 

Their debut single “Carne Molida” was released back in 2020 and received coverage in Remezcla, Filter Mexico and Indie Rocks, as well as airplay on Mexico City’s Reactor, 105.75FM.

Recorded at Palisade Studios, the Chicago-based outfit’s Fernando de Buen and Marcus Reese co-produced album Mal Otras is slated for release later this year. Last month, I wrote about album single “Yo La Sé” is a dreamy and expansive track featuring a driving, motorik-like groove, glistening guitars, de Buen’s plaintive vocals and an uneasy bass outro. While the song evokes the sensation of waking up from an unpleasant and incredibly vivid dream, the song thematically focuses on a familiar sensation of all of us now — a deep-seated frustration over the seemingly never-ending stream of terrible news.

The Chicago-based quartet’s latest single “Me Quedo Ahí” is a trippy song heavily indebted to 70s and 80s psychedelic cumbia with hints of the indie rock that they band has been known for with the song featuring glistening keys, reverb-drenched guitars, a strutting bass line, and shuffling rhythms paired de Buen’s dreamy vocals and a glistening guitar solo. The end result is a song that may arguably be their trippiest yet most danceable song to date.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: common goldfish Shares a 90s Inspired Visual for “Feel The Fuzz”

common goldfish is the solo recording project of a somewhat mysterious London-born, Tottenham-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, who as a musician has made a name for himself busking along the canals of Hackney Wick and playing the London gig circuit. And as a producer and songwriter, under the moniker of J Love, been credited on songs that have have received critical acclaim from media outlets like Mixtape Madness, New Wave Magazine, and GRM Daily.

The mysterious Tottenham-based artist’s debut as common goldfish “Feel The Fuzz” is an upbeat, optimistic and decidedly late 80s-early 90s Manchester-inspired bop centered around fuzzy guitar lines, blown out breakbeats, a funky and propulsive bass line and common goldfish’s easygoing delivery paired with a euphoric boy-girl led hook and subtly modern production sheen. If you’re a child of the 80s and 90s as I am, “Feel The Fuzz” will bring back nostalgic memories of The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Stereo MCs and the like, complete with an uplifting much-needed message to the listener. 

“The track embodies the sense of dreamer’s optimism (‘the fuzz’) and the feeling that led me to change career paths and pursue my passion in music,” the creative mastermind behind common goldfish explains in press notes. “We only lead one life, ‘Feel the Fuzz’ is about helping people see that they should value their experiences over materials and not always seek the easy options in life.”

Directed by Ed Rigg, the accompanying video is shot with a grainy analog feel reminiscent of Beastie Boys‘ “So Whatcha Want” and others, and as a result, it makes the video appear as though it were originally shot and released sometime between 1989-1992. Centered primarily around the London-born, Tottenham-based artist performing the song in a local skate park, accompanied by skaters and graffiti artists, the video captures the local skater and music scene with a loving specificity.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rising Los Angeles-based outfit Automatic — Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals) — met while immersed in their hometown’s DIY scene and started jamming together back in 2017.

Since then, the trio became a local club circuit mainstay. Their full-length debut, 2019’s Signals saw the trio quickly establishing their sound, which paired motorik grooves with icy atmospheres.

Excess, Automatic’s forthcoming sophomore album is slated for a June 24, 2022 through Stones Throw Records. Sonically Excess reportedly rides the imaginary edge where the ’70s underground met ’80s corporate culture — or as the band says “That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream all for the sake of consumerism.” Using that particular point in time as a lens through which to view our uncertain and seemingly apocalyptic present, the album’s material sees the trio taking aim at corporate culture and extravagance through deadpan critiques and razor sharp hooks.

“Skyscaper,” Excess‘ third and latest single is a dance floor friendly bop featuring glistening synths, relentless four-on-the-floor, a disco-like bass line paired with an icy and insouciant delivery and razor sharp hooks. Sonically, “Skyscraper” strikes me as a slick and effortless synthesis of Blondie, Devo and Talking Heads while being both ironic and politically charged. The band’s Halle Saxon explains that “Skyscraper” is ” . . .about spending your life making money and then spending it to fill the void created by said job.” Lola Dompé adds, “Kind of like going to LA to live your dreams.”

The past few weeks have been rather busy for the trio: Just after playing shows with IDLES and Parquet Courts and two sets at Los Angeles’ Cruel World Festival, the band will open for Tame Impala for two shows later this month. They’ll then head to Europe for a lengthy run of shows that features stops across the European festival circuit including Primavera Sound, Wide Awake and Best Kept Secret.

Over the fall, they’ll play a short run of shows with Osees. More dates will be announced in the near future. But in the meantime, tour dates are below. And you can click here for more tickets and info: https://automatic.band

Tour Dates

US (with Tame Impala)

May 24 : Wilmington, NC – Live Oak Bank Pavilion

May 26 : Columbus, OH – KEMBA Live! Festival Stage 

UK & EUROPE

May 28: UK, London – Wide Awake

May 29: UK, Manchester – Yes

May 30: UK, Leeds – Headrow House

May 31: UK, Brighton – Green Door Store

Jun 01: FR, Lille – L’Aéronef

Jun 02: FR, Paris – L’international

Jun 03: FR, Angers – Levitation

Jun 04: ES, Barcelona – Primavera

Jun 05: ES, Barcelona – Primavera

Jun 08: IT, Ravenna – Beaches Brew

Jun 09: CH, Neuchatel – Festineuch

Jun 10: CH, Aarau – Kiff (with Choir Boy & Soft Kill) 

Jun 11: DE, Mannheim – Maifeld Derbi

Jun 12: NL, Hilvarenbeek – Best Kept Secret

Jun 13: NL, Amsterdam – Bitterzoet

Jun 14: NL, Nijmegen – Merleyn

Jun 15: DE, Berlin – UFO Sound Studios

Jun 16: DE, Koln – Bumann & Sohn

Jun 17: BE, Charlerois – Fete De La Musique 

Jun 18: NL, Den Haag – Grauzone

US (with Osees)

Sep 05: San Francisco, CA – Chapel

Sep 06: San Francisco, CA – Chapel

Sep 07: San Francisco, CA- Chapel

Sep 09: Portland, OR – Roseland

Sep 10: Seattle, WA – Neumos

Sep 11: Seattle, WA – Neumos

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Hummingbird Shares Breezy and Anthemic “Home”

Hummingbird — Felix Lavallard · Vincent Verye · Geoffrey Margain · Timothée Borne — is an emerging yet somewhat mysterious, French indie outfit. Their latest single “Home” is an anthemic and breezy bop featuring strummed acoustic guitar, live drumming, a sinuous bass line, fluttering synths and a rousingly euphoric hook.

While “Home” sonically recalls a slick synthesis of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix-era Phoenix and 80s pop, the song is an optimistic yet kind of bittersweet one that suggests that life is ultimately one big, very long, very wild journey.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Jonathan Personne Shares Deceptively Breezy “Un homme sans visage”

Jonathan Robert is a Montreal-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who is best known for being a co-founder and co-lead vocalist of the internationally acclaimed JOVM mainstay act Corridor. Robert is also known for his work as an animator and visual artist.

Back in 2019 Robert released his solo-debut as Jonathan Personne, Histoire Naturelle, an album that sonically drew from desert dream pop, Western Spaghetti rock and jangle pop. Thematically, the album focused on the potential end of the world. (Hitting the nail on the head a bit too hard, perhaps?)

Robert’s Jonathan Personne sophomore album, 2020’s Guillaume Chiasson-product Disparitions was primarily written while the Montreal-based artist was touring with Corridor, and came about in a quick and fluid fashion. While seeing him continuing with his particular brand of intimate and sensitive songwriting, Disparitions was largely inspired by a moment when music became a source of profound disgust for him. “I spent a lot of time touring away from home. Towards the end I felt like I was reluctantly going to do something that I had longed wished for,” Robert explained in press notes.

When he was able to do, Robert went to Quebec City-based Le Pantoum, where he and producer Guillaume Chiasson used analog recording techniques to record the album’s arrangements of electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, Rhodes and timpani, as well as electronic samples, mellotron and synths.

Robert recently signed with Montreal-based label Bonsound, who will release his latest single, the Emmanuel Éthier-produced “Un homme sans visage.” “Un homme sans visage,” sees the Montreal-based artist eschewing the dense and complex arrangements on his previously released material, and going for a simpler, almost minimalist approach. Centered around a gorgeous Mellotron melody, jangling guitar, a simple yet propulsive rhythm, bursts of lap steel, Robert’s plaintive falsetto and big hooky choruses, the new single manages to be breezy yet deliberately crafted — while being lovingly inspired by the sounds of the late 60s. But under the breeziness is a song that’s actually a bittersweet sort of modern fable about a man, whose face is badly burned in a fire.

Directed by Robert, the accompanying video plays with shadows and light, amplifying contrasts and the image’s grain to create a dusty, old-timey aesthetic, while capturing the artist performing the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares a Mind-Bending Visual for Trippy “A Night in Bethlehem”

Over the course of the past two or three years or so, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON. And with the release of Out in the Dark, the Parisian-based JOVM mainstay quickly established a sound that at the time, he dubbed as “urban rock on psychedelics.”  

Late last year, the Israeli-French artist released his critically applauded sophomore album Hour After Hour, an album that sonically was a decided change in direction with the material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to the Israeli-born, Parisian artist. 

Magon closed out the year with his third album In The Blue, an album that saw him drawing from two completely different sets of influences — 70s rock like Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart. Written around the birth of the artist’s daughter, the album is centered around what may arguably be some of the most introspective songwriting of his growing catalog — while featuring a more assertive delivery. 

In the lead-up to In The Blue‘s release, I wrote about three of the album’s singles:

  • “The Willow,” an introspective bit of 70s-inspired art rock, that follows its characters on a trip to Egypt, where its primary narrator sees the titular willow. But interestingly, the trip serves as a larger and deeper metaphor for its characters, who are all desperately trying to find something — perhaps themselves or a deeper, hidden truth? 
  • “Egyptian Music,” a slow-burning vibey ballad of sorts, centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars paired with impressionistic yet introspective songwriting — with the song equally evoking nostalgia and regret. 
  • “Forever,” vibey, mid-tempo song that’s one part AM rock, one part post-punk centered around impressionistic lyrics touching out regret, forgiveness, love and time and its inevitable passing sung by a narrator, who seems burnt out by just about everything. 

Continuing upon a remarkably prolific period, the Israeli-born, French-based artist’s forthcoming album A Night in Bethlehem is slated for a June 3, 2022 release. Last month, I wrote about A Night in Bethlehem single “Hailey’s Comet,” a dreamy bit of psych pop centered around glistening and reverb-drenched post punk-like guitars, a simple back beat and fluttering, intergalactic-like feedback that touched upon the immensity of historical and cosmic time.

The song’s narrator spends the song wondering how life and humanity will be the next time Halley’s Comet passes by our part of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061. How many of us will be around? What will we say about this moment to our descendants? Will history be kind to us? 

A Night in Bethlehem‘s second and latest single, album title track “A Night in Bethlehem” continues a run of trippy, psych rock centered around a chugging motorik groove, angular bursts of guitar paired with a razor sharp hook, intergalactic feedback and Magon’s ironically detached vocals in a song that thematically explores the surrealist fringes of mysticism.

Fittingly, the accompanying video for “A Night in Bethlehem” is a lysergic trip through both Bethlehem and the cosmos.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Originally founded in beautiful Amsterdam, the rising indie duo Donna Blue — romantic couple and muses, Danique van Kesteren and Bart van Dalen — quickly established a dreamy and cinematic sound seemingly influenced by Phil Spector, Wall of Sound-like pop, Pasty Cline, yè yè and David Lynch‘s Twin Peaks with the release of 2017’s self-titled debut, which featured “Sunset Blvd,” a track that received airplay on Elton John’s Apple Music radio show Rocket Hour.

Back in 2020, Dutch indie label, Snowstar Records, released the duo’s self-produced and self-recorded five-song EP Inbetween saw the duo continuing upon the sound that quickly won them attention nationally and internationally — while also drawing from Roy Orbison, Julee Cruise, Nancy Sinatra, Patsy Cline. The end result was an effort that evokes late nights wandering narrow European streets, daydreaming in smokey cafes, sitting in bars reflecting on your life while nursing a drink. Personally, the EP’s material immediately brings back very specific memories: walking through Amsterdam’s Centrum and Red Light Districts late at night, the prostitutes summoning men with a wink and a wry smile, and passing drunk revelers on the street; and walking through Frankfurt-am-Main’s Haupwatche and Romer Districts with the surreal and lonely ache of being a foreigner.

Donna Blue’s highly-anticipated full-lengths but Dark Roses is slated for a May 13, 2022 release through Snowstar Records. The album is reportedly features 11 dreamy and cinematic tracks that feel like a film score for a romantic, film noir. While playing with the feeling of being alive, yet in a carefully sculpted parallel world, the album’s material finds the duo taking on a decidedly twangy Western sound inspired by Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni and John Barry paired with dreamily sensual vocals.

Dark Roses‘ fourth and latest single “The Beginning” is a slow-burning, lush, and cinematic track centered around shimmering and twangy guitars, soaring keys, propulsive, hi-hat driven rhythms paired with van Kesteren’s aching vocal. Fittingly, “The Beginning” sounds as though it should be part of the opening credits of a gorgeously shot and surreal film set in the Amsterdam or Berlin suburbs that’s one part social commentary, one part Romantic mediation, one part love story and one part psychedelic freak out.