Alternative Rock
M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Turns 10: An Enduring Era of Indie
I’ve heard M83’s “Outro,” the final track of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, in more TV commercials than I can count. Never mind the widespread usage in TV shows, films, and trailers: I’m talking strictly 30-60 second advertisements, the commercials you’d like to mute, tune out, or fast forward through. The usage of the song in media was arguably the most widespread around 2014, but even today, ten years after its release, music supervisors still gravitate towards “Outro” because of its humongous, cathartic climax, a waterfall of synths cascading into a vast cosmos of sound. Upon listening to Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming for the first time ten years ago, I doubt many people heard “Outro” and thought to themselves, “This is the sound of leasing a new Mazda.” Nevertheless, the song and album truly end...
Guided by Voices Announce New Album It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them!
It’s a day that ends in ‘y,’ which means we’re due for a new Guided by Voices album. The prolific rockers’ 34th (!) studio set is called It’s Not Them. It Couldn’t Be Them. It Is Them!, and it arrives this Friday, October 22nd. This is the second album of the year from Robert Pollard and co., following April’s Earth Man Blues. The 15-track effort was written by Pollard with production from Travis Harrison. It includes the singles “My (Limited) Engagement,” “High in the Rain,” and “Dance of Gurus,” and you can check out all three tracks along with the album artwork and tracklist below. Pre-orders are ongoing. Earlier this year, Pollard formed the new group Cub Scout Bowling Pins, which released its debut EP Heaven Beats Iowa in January. In 2020, GBV unveiled three m...
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Share New Single “What If I”: Stream
In just a couple of weeks, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats will release their third studio album, The Future. Just ahead of its release, the soul-rock band have shared the new single “What If I,” which features backing vocals from Jenny Lewis and Lucius’ Jess Wolfe. “What If I” is a laid-back, twangy jam whose narrator is coming to terms with their life’s purpose — or lack thereof. “What if I just can’t discover? What if I’m just taking too long? /Or I’m wrong, my vision is cluttered, I’m stumbling on,” Rateliff croons in the song’s opening lines. “What If I” then gradually crescendos, with Lewis and Wolfe’s backing vocals beefing up the horn-filled coda. Additionally, Rateliff and company have announced a pair of The Future album release shows at New York City’s Beacon...
David Bowie’s Toy-Era Track “Karma Man” Receives First-Ever Commercial Release: Stream
On November 26th, David Bowie’s fabled 2001 album, Toy, will received its first-ever commercial release as part of an upcoming archival box set called Brilliant Adventure (1992 – 2001). Then on January 7th, it’ll received a standalone release as a multi-disc set titled, TOY:BOX. In anticipation, the Toy track “Karma Man” has been released alongside an alternate version of “Silly Boy Blue.” Listen to both recordings below. Toy was recorded in the aftermath of Bowie’s 2000 performance at Glastonbury, as the Thin White Duke sought to reimagine some of his earliest recordings with a live backing band, and then release it in a surprise manner. But after EMI/Virgin put the kibosh on those plans, Bowie lost interest in the project, moved to Columbia Records, and recorded the album Heathen. ...
Tori Amos Unveils New Song “Spies”: Stream
Tori Amos has entered the high-stakes world of children’s make-believe with her new song “Spies.” The track opens with mysterious clicks and scratching noises, setting the stage for some thrilling spy craft. “Knowing this may help you make, make it through the night on lullabies,” Amos begins, addressing her daughter Tash. “Knowing this may help you to open up your eyes/ Spies!” As bass and drums thump along to this war of the imagination, Amos claims that “the hippopotamus must stay anonymous for now,” and wonders about a secretive “aardvark on the underground.” Stream the track below. “Spies” appears on Amos’ upcoming 16th studio album, Ocean to Ocean, which drops October 29th via Decca Records. Pre-orders are ongoing. Previously, she shared the lead si...
Speedy Ortiz Announces New Compilation The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever
Sadie Dupuis has spent the last decade writing and recording playful indie rock as Speedy Ortiz. Now, the musician is commemorating her 10th year under the moniker with a 2xLP compilation called The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever, featuring some of the band’s earliest work. The expansive reissue is due out November 12th via Carpark, and as a preview, Dupuis has also shared the new self-directed video for “Cutco.” The Death of Speedy Ortiz & Cop Kicker…Forever will include the contents of 2011’s Cop Kicker EP and The Death of Speedy Ortiz LP, all now remastered by Dupuis, who’s since become a go-to producer in her own right. You’ll also get to enjoy a handful of previously unreleased tracks, reflective liner notes written by Dupuis, and a collection of photos f...
Sunflower Bean Share New Single “Baby Don’t Cry,” Announce US Tour Dates
Following their 2018 breakthrough album Twentytwo in Blue, Sunflower Bean are gearing up for a comeback. Today, the New York City trio — and former Artist of the Month — have returned with “Baby Don’t Cry.” Additionally, Sunflower Bean have unveiled a handful of tour dates beginning in December and going into 2022. “Baby Don’t Cry” aims to uplift, though Sunflower Bean deliver their sentiments with the knowledge that it can be hard to fight back tears: “TV makes me so mad/ NPR is always telling me something bad,” vocalist Julia Cumming sings over a sauntering instrumental that melds the band’s grungy roots with a ’60s girl group flair. “So many things in our lives are disposable,” the band writes in a statement. “Content and news is consumed and discarded leaving us unfulfilled. ‘Baby Don’...
Morrissey Who? Johnny Marr Says “Isaac Brock Is the Greatest Lyricist I’ve Ever Worked With”
Johnny Marr has named “the greatest lyricist I’ve ever worked with,” and wouldn’t you know it, Morrissey’s name didn’t come up. In a new interview with Stereogum, the former The Smiths guitarist sang the praises of Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock, saying, “I’ve seen him write an amazing song, and then make it better, and then make it better again.” Marr joined Modest Mouse from 2006 to 2008, touring with the Portland rockers and contributing to the 2007 studio album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. He said he was already a fan when “I got a message from management, the record company, that Isaac Brock wanted to give me a call. So Isaac called me up and, being the devil he is, said, ‘Why don’t you come and join my band?’ I was like, ‘Uh, thanks, who is this?’” Marr said h...
Jeff Tweedy Shares “C’mon America” and “UR-60 Unsent” for Sub Pop Singles Club: Stream
Jeff Tweedy has shared a pair of solo tracks for Sub Pop Singles Club. “C’mon America” and “UR-60 Unsent” make up the latest 7-inch released from the subscription-only series. “C’mon America,” the A-side, is described in a press release as from an “unreleased group of songs with mostly sci-fi lyrics,” while “UR-60 Unsent,” the B-side, is billed as “a pitiful tale of an unsent lovesick mixtape, taken from a separate batch of unreleased songs with mostly pitiful lyrics.” On the twangy and sarcastic “C’mon America,” Tweedy asks, “what you gonna do now that the world is turned against you”? In contrast, “UR-60 Unsent” is a melancholy ballad full of heartsick lyrics about rejection. Stream both tracks below. Advertisement Related Video Also included in today’s drop is TV Priest’s “All Thing,” t...
Modern English Announce After the Snow 40th Anniversary North American Tour
Modern English are back to melt with you. After being postponed a full year, the British New Wave act are finally embarking on their 40th anniversary tour in 2022, during which they’ll be performing their classic 1982 album After the Snow in full — yes, that includes “I Melt With You” — across North America. The band’s extensive 36-date trek kicks off in West Palm Beach, Florida on March 12th, running through September. “When we finally play the whole of the After the Snow album for the first time on tour, emotions will run high,” frontman Robbie Grey said in a statement. “Expect a lot of pent up energy and excitement. It’s been a long time coming and will be worth the wait.” If you can’t make it to the tour, fear not: Modern English have also just released After the Snow: Live From I...
Julian Casablancas: “I Always Wanted to Be in the Arctic Monkeys”
In the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino song “The Star Treatment,” Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner famously sings, “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes.” Well, it seems The Strokes’ own Julian Casablancas might be willing to switch places with Turner. “Lolll – I always wanted to be in the Arctic Monkeys,” The Strokes frontman captioned an Instagram post on Sunday in which he effortlessly recreated the cover art for his contemporaries’ 2006 album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. (In the grayscale photo, Casablancas smokes a cigarette while glancing thoughtfully off-camera, mimicking the iconic shot of The Violet May’s Chris McClure from the original LP. Of course, he’s also replaced “Arctic Monkeys” on the sticker in the top left-hand corner with “The Strokes.”) McCl...
Built to Spill Announce 2021-2022 West Coast Tour Dates
Built to Spill are ready to hit the road. Today, the indie rock band headed by Doug Martsch announced their first slate of tour dates for 2022 — with a little bit of 2021 as well. The veteran alt rockers will actually kick off the West Coast jaunt ahead of the turn of the year with four shows in Washington and Oregon. Following that quartet of December dates, the tour picks back up on January 26th and 27th with two back-to-back performances at The Crocodile in Seattle. From there, the trio will make stops up and down the Pacific Coast — often with dual dates in multiple cities — including Portland, Sacramento, Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Openers along the way include Team Dresch, Prism Bitch, Dinosaur Jr., Oh, Rose, and Itchy Kitty. Advertisement Related Video Tic...
