Indie Rock
Austin City Limits Reveals Season 48 Lineup, Watch Japanese Breakfast Perform “Posing for Cars”: Exclusive
PBS’ long-running live music series Austin City Limits is set to return with the first half of Season 48 this fall. In addition to announcing the show’s lineup of performers, ACL has today teased the new season with an exclusive performance from Japanese Breakfast. The first of seven fresh Austin City Limits installments will debut on October 1st at 8:00 p.m. CT/9:00 p.m. ET with an episode headlined by Brandi Carlile. New hour-long episodes will then drop weekly, with guests including Japanese Breakfast and Arlo Parks (October 8th), Sylvan Esso and Lucius (October 15th), Allison Russell and The Weather Station (October 22nd), Parker McCollum and Robert Earl Keen (October 29th), and Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (November 5th). Season 48 part one will close with Cuban funk sensations...
The Big Pink Announce New Album The Love That’s Ours, Share “Rage”: Stream
After returning with a pair of singles earlier this year, The Big Pink have announced their new album, The Love That’s Ours. Due out on September 30th via Project Melody Music, it will mark the indie rock band’s first new album in a decade. The Love That’s Ours was produced by Tony Hoffer — whose credits include Beck, Air, and Phoenix — and features The Big Pink’s current lineup of frontman Robbie Furze, drummer Akiko Matsuura, and the new addition of bass guitarist Charlie Barker. The band collaborated with the likes of Jamie T, The Kills’ Jamie Hince, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner, Ryn Weaver, Mary Charteris, Ed Harcourt, and more on the record. “Getting to this point has been one of the craziest journeys in my life. I truly thought this day would never come,” said Furze in a stateme...
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Cancel Tour Dates Due to Stu Mackenzie’s “Personal Health Crisis”
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have canceled the remainder of their UK and European tour dates in light of a “personal health crisis” that’s inflicted their lead singer, Stu Mackenzie. In a statement posted to Instagram on August 5th, Mackenzie revealed that he suffers from Crohn’s Disease and explained that a recent flare up has required him to return home to Australia for “urgent treatment.” “For the past decade or so I’ve dealt with Crohn’s Disease the best I can,” Mackenzie said. “It’s a miracle we haven’t cancelled any shows in the past. But right now, my health is in really bad shape and I need to get home for some urgent treatment.” Mackenzie continued: “I’ve always kept my struggles with Crohn’s private. I guess I didn’t want to be defined by it. And maybe I’m not defined by it...
Stella Donnelly Asks “How Was Your Day?” on New Single: Stream
Maybe the only thing more terrifying than staying single forever is winding up in a relationship that’s grown stale. Stella Donnelly navigates the woes of a spark that’s burned out on today’s new single “How Was Your Day?,” another sample of her forthcoming album Flood. Inspired by watching numerous romantic relationships succumb to ennui throughout the pandemic, “How Was Your Day?” is quintessential Donnelly, blithely switching between her perky singing voice and deadpan spoken word. “Level-headedness has made way for a disastrous love,” she rants over an upbeat jangle. “I know it, you know it.” You can almost imagine her pacing around a living room mid-argument to her partner’s chagrin. “This is my attempt at building a song out of a very specific dynamic between two monogamously in...
Whitmer Thomas Announces New Album The Older I Get the Funnier I Was, 2022 Tour Dates
Whitmer Thomas has unveiled his new album, The Older I Get the Funnier I Was, as the follow-up to his March EP Can’t Believe You’re Happy Here. It was produced by Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and arrives October 21st. The comedian-musician will embark on a newly-announced Fall 2022 North American tour directly after (grab your tickets here). The Older I Get features contributions from Duterte, Al Menne of Great Grandpa, Christian Lee Hutson, and Phoebe Bridgers’ guitarist Harrison Whitford. It was partially inspired by the reaction to Thomas’ acclaimed 2020 HBO special The Golden One — particularly the surprisingly muted response from residents of Alabama where most of his coming-of-age material was set. In a statement, he shared, “In the years I’d been performing that show, I’d been romantici...
Cheekface Surprise Release New Album Too Much to Ask: Stream
Los Angeles rock trio Cheekface have surprise released a new album called Too Much to Ask. Check it out below. Singer-guitarist Greg Katz, bassist Amanda Tannen, and drummer Mark “Echo” Edwards wanted to capture the contradictions in being human. “I think the last year or so has drawn a big circle around a lot of things we all already knew, but maybe didn’t know we knew,” Katz said in a statement. “The shock of isolation and the shock of togetherness, the call to activism and the pull of resignation, wanting the best for your friends but expecting the worst of yourself. The sneaking feeling that your life is mostly funny but a little sad a lot of the time – except for the times when it’s mostly sad but still kinda funny.” Too Much to Ask spans 11 tracks and features the previously rel...
Frankie Cosmos Announce New Album Inner World Peace, Share “One Year Stand”: Stream
Frankie Cosmos have graced us with news of their new album, Inner World Peace, arriving on October 21st via Sub Pop Records. The announcement comes along with the set’s first single, “One Year Stand.” The album’s development followed a “pandemic hiatus” that lasted nearly 500 days for the quartet. In the interim, bandleader Greta Kline wrote 100 songs, which upon reuniting, the group retooled and infused with their own influences that ranged from “70s folk and pop” to “ambient” and “psych.” Inner World Peace was co-produced by Frankie Cosmos with Nate Mendelsohn and Katie Von Schleicher, who also handled mixing. Check out the tracklist and album artwork, featuring illustrations from the band’s keyboardist Lauren Martin, below. “To me, the album is about perception,” Kline shared in a ...
Arcade Fire Kick Off Tour with Heart and Soul at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival: Review
Arcade Fire pick and choose their moments very carefully. It’s fitting that the Montreal band decided to release their first album in five years, the ambitious and heartfelt WE, in a pandemic-affected universe, urging us to relish in the fact that we are still, in fact, alive. It’s even more fitting that Arcade Fire began their extensive WE tour in Montreal, the band’s birthplace, at Osheaga Festival, which is celebrating its first year back since 2019. However, Arcade Fire’s appearance at Osheaga on Friday night (July 29th) was a stroke of good and bad luck: originally scheduled to headline were Foo Fighters, who cancelled all their tour dates after the untimely death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. But nabbing Arcade Fire as a replacement headliner is an excellent booking, and their pres...
Must-Hear Indie Artist of the Month: Lava La Rue
The Project Lava La Rue’s new EP, High Fidelity, is out now via Marathon. The Origin Growing up, Lava La Rue was always playing in bands. “When I was 13, I wanted to be in an all-girl version of The Clash. Very West London, ska-punk inspired. The intersection of Caribbean culture and British punk.” But as they grew older, the costliness of rehearsal space drew the young creative to freestyling “because you just need a microphone.” At college in London, La Rue met the group of artists who would soon change their life. “I think people assume we met at some really established music school but it wasn’t like that at all, it was a bit rundown. The music equipment was falling apart,” La Rue explains, but the lack of proper equipment didn’t stop the group of friends, who would soon call themselve...
Lollapalooza 2022 Day Two Recap and Photos: Dua Lipa, Wet Leg, MUNA & More
Lollapalooza 2022 day two went down on Friday, July 29th, and we’ve got the photos to prove it. The Chicago festival brought a ton of top tier talent to Grant Park, from headliner Dua Lipa to rising stars like Genesis Owusu and The Regrettes. The day also brought strong sets from indie pop favorites like King Princess and MUNA, hip-hop both classic (Don Toliver) and alternative (Genesis Owusu), and even former Artists of the Month like Wet Leg. Advertisement It was another glorious day fill with live music, and you can check out our complete photo gallery from Lollapalooza day two below. Revisit our day one recap, and stay tuned for our full coverage of the remainder of the festival. <img data-lazy-fallback="1" data-attachment-id="1229690" data-orig-file="https:...
SASAMI Gives Tender Performance of “Call Me Home” on Colbert: Watch
SASAMI stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s series Late Show Me Music on Friday, July 29th to play “Call Me Home,” a standout cut from her excellent sophomore album, Squeeze. During the performance, our February Artist of the Month emotionally ran through the ’90s throwback with arms outstretched while channeling the acoustic-driven sound of artists like Sheryl Crow. When SASAMI sings “I want you to know you’re not alone,” there’s conviction in her voice that lets you know she means every single word. Since dropping Squeeze, one of the best albums of 2022, SASAMI has gone on tour with HAIM and teamed up with Ty Segall and Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis for a new version of “Tried to Understand.” Advertisement Revisit her breakdown of the process behind Squeeze here and c...
Maggie Rogers Unleashes Sophomore Album Surrender: Stream
Maggie Rogers has released her sophomore album, Surrender, via Debay Sounds/Capitol Records. Stream it via Apple Music or Spotify below. The studio effort arrives three-and-a-half years after Rogers’ breakout solo album Heard It in a Past Life, and features the lead single “That’s Where I Am” as well as follow-ups “Want Want” and “Horses.” Interestingly, the singer recorded the entire project while simultaneously earning her master’s degree in religion and public life from Harvard Divinity School, for which Surrender served as part of her thesis. “I wanted to build a framework for myself, for how to keep art sacred,” Rogers explained in an interview with The New York Times. “I feel super religious, if music is a religion. When I’m in the crowd of fans or onstage, that’s when I felt the mos...
