Indie Rock
Panda Bear and Sonic Boom Announce Collaborative Album Reset, Share “Go On”: Stream
Panda Bear, founding member of Animal Collective, and Sonic Boom, founding member of Spaceman 3, have announced the new collaborative album, Reset. It’s out August 12th, and as a preview, the experimental pop auteurs have shared lead single “Go On.” According to a statement, Bear and Boom (real names Noah Lennox and Peter Kember) met over MySpace in the mid-aughts, after the former thanked Spaceman 3 in the liner notes of his solo album, Person Pitch. They’ve been collaborating since Panda Bear’s 2011 album Tomboy, and six years ago Kember moved to Portugal, in part to be closer to Lennox. Work on Reset began around the same time as the first wave of pandemic lockdowns, with Sonic Boom pulling loops out of his vinyl collection while Panda Bear added singi...
Going There with Pom Pom Squad: Mia Berrin’s Galaxy Brain and the Stigma of Mental Health
Listen via: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Stitcher | Google | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Mia Berrin — leader of former Artists of the Month Pom Pom Squad — joins the Going There podcast to discuss the bias that “mental health” means always feeling and acting happy, calm, and confident. Advertisement The world would have us believe that being “normal” involves continuous positive and optimistic thinking, and being accepted or popular socially. If we don’t behave this way, our mental health and well-being can be questioned. This bias can create a stigma whereby people are unduly judged or criticized. Berrin explains that she took on these societal standards by evoking the image of a cheerleader in h...
Briston Maroney Announces Paradise Festival, Shares Single “Paradise”: Stream
Briston Maroney wants to take you to paradise: The singer-songwriter has curated a two-night festival set to go down this November at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, where he’ll give headlining performances preceded by Indigo De Souza, The Greeting Committee, Sunflower Bean, and more. To mark the occasion, Maroney has shared a new single also called “Paradise” today. Maroney — who’s based in Nashville — partnered with local charities for his Paradise festival, which takes place November 3rd and 4th. He’ll headline both nights, while fans can also catch MICHELLE, Annie DiRusso, and Cece Coakley. “Paradise,” the song, is a fitting sample of the type of fun fans can expect at the fest. Written by Maroney with production from Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver, Dijon), the rousing pop-rock track envis...
Ezra Furman Unveils Rousing New Single “Lilac and Black”: Stream
Ezra Furman has released the rousing new single “Lilac and Black” from her upcoming sixth album, All of Us Flames. Stream it below. “Lilac and Black” is Furman’s empowering call to arms for the trans community, reflecting on the toll of their embattled existence while rallying for a unified front against cis bigots. “I try to keep count, try to guess the amount/ Who’ll make it through the coming year,” she sings solemnly, before launching defiantly into lyrics like, “The streets of this city’s what we’re asking for/ And we’ll take ’em if they’re not given.” Furman’s uncompromising delivery allows her to triumph over her own personal trials, and she channels that determination into bringing others together behind the same defenses. In a statement, she shared, “I’ve started to think of us tr...
The Mountain Goats Share New Song “Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome”: Stream
The Mountain Goats have release their rollicking new single “Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome.” The song is taken from the group’s upcoming twentieth album Bleed Out, which is due to drop on August 19th. Listen below. “Wage Wars…” is filled to the brim with high-octane life advice, which the Durham, North Carolina indie rockers distill over churning guitars and crashing cymbals as frontman John Darnielle sneers, “Floor the pedal at the green light/ Watch the traffic all drift right/ Barrel forward unimpeded, switch lanes as needed/ Be flexible, be unreplaceable/ In a world of heavy footprints, be untraceable” before jumping into the shout-along chorus. “When I write an album that revolves around a theme, it usually takes two or three songs before I notice what’s going on,” Darnielle confess...
The Mountain Goats Share New Song “Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome”: Stream
The Mountain Goats have release their rollicking new single “Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome.” The song is taken from the group’s upcoming twentieth album Bleed Out, which is due to drop on August 19th. Listen below. “Wage Wars…” is filled to the brim with high-octane life advice, which the Durham, North Carolina indie rockers distill over churning guitars and crashing cymbals as frontman John Darnielle sneers, “Floor the pedal at the green light/ Watch the traffic all drift right/ Barrel forward unimpeded, switch lanes as needed/ Be flexible, be unreplaceable/ In a world of heavy footprints, be untraceable” before jumping into the shout-along chorus. “When I write an album that revolves around a theme, it usually takes two or three songs before I notice what’s going on,” Darnielle confess...
Sufjan Stevens in 10 Songs
This article originally ran in 2015; we’re dusting it off in celebration of Sufjan Stevens’ birthday on July 1st. Ever felt overwhelmed by an artist’s extensive back catalog? Been meaning to check out a band, but you just don’t know where to begin? In 10 Songs is here to help, offering a crash course and entry point into the daunting discographies of iconic artists of all genres. This is your first step toward fandom. Take it. It’s been nearly 30 years since Sufjan Stevens first appeared on the music scene as a solo artist, but it’s still difficult to think of him as a real person. The man films videos of himself playing banjo on a farm with a curled baseball cap on his head. He dances awkwardly in neon duct tape and strands of lights. He faces audiences with a set of feathered wings strap...
Yard Act Recruit Fan Sir Elton John for New Version of “100% Endurance”: Stream
Sir Elton John is just one of many who have hopped on the Yard Act bandwagon. The Rocket Man himself features on a new version of the UK band’s single from May, “100% Endurance.” John sang praises for Yard Act while speaking to NME back in October, specifically complimenting frontman James Smith’s distinctive speak-singing: “I can’t do it but I love it and I wonder how they do it.” Yard Act thanked John in return a couple months later by covering “Tiny Dancer,” essentially confirming what would become a real-life friendship. In a press release, Smith explains how a series of phone calls led him to giving John a spur-of-the-moment invitation to the studio with Yard Act: “Within our camp we have a saying: ‘Mad shit happens when you do art,’” Smith adds. “You make stuff becaus...
Momma Break Down New Album Household Name Track by Track: Exclusive
Momma, Consequence’s July Artist of the Month, return today (July 1st) with the release of their third studio LP, Household Name. Spearheaded by longtime friends Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, Household Name is the Brooklyn act’s fuzziest, catchiest album yet. Initially bonding over a mutual obsession with Alex G, Friedman and Weingarten began writing music together while attending high school in California. Even as they graduated and subsequently attended colleges multiple states apart, the two continued creating under the name Momma. Now rounded out with Aron Kobayashi Ritch, Momma continue to ascend with Household Name. Inspired by the absurdities of the music industry, different relationships, and the archetype of the ‘90s rockstar, Household Name finds Momma embracing the influ...
Spielbergs Preview 2022 Mad Cool Festival Performance: “We’re Going To Try and Make as Much Noise as Possible”
Norwegian rock trio Spielbergs were set to have a massive 2020. After their 2019 debut LP This is Not the End received some rave reviews, the band was scheduled to hit the road in Europe over the summer, complete with an appearance at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival. Of course, everyone’s 2020 plans were diverted and postponed, but luckily, Spielbergs maintained their spot on Mad Cool’s 2022 lineup, which features Metallica, Florence + The Machine, The Killers, Jack White, Glass Animals, Muse, Alt-J, The War On Drugs, Carly Rae Jepsen, CHVRCHES, Nathy Peluso, and many, many more. Even better is the fact that Spielbergs have new music in tow — and they’re some of the most powerful songs the trio has ever released. The anthemic “When They Come For Me,” which we recently named as an honorable ment...
Artist of the Month Momma Are a Household Name for the Coolest of Households
Artist of the Month is an accolade given to an up-and-coming artist or group who is poised for the big time. For July 2022, we’re celebrating Momma as they take a swing at fame with their new album Household Name. “I wanna be your next big thing.” So opens Household Name, the latest album from ‘90s revivalists and DIY champs Momma (out Friday, July 1st). And though they seem intimidatingly cool — like success in the music industry would be, like, totally whatever, man — the sentiment is far from ironic. Even if they don’t always take themselves too seriously, Momma is taking the namesake of their record very seriously. They’re going to be household names, or die trying. Inspired by endless label meetings headed nowhere, thousand-dollar-suit execs saying nothing, and a type of rock stardom ...
Foals’ Yannis Philippakis on Making a Dance Record with a Deeper Meaning
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis tells us about the band’s latest album, Life Is Yours, on this episode of Kyle Meredith With… Advertisement Related Video Philippakis talks about the experimental mood the band found themselves in that led to a more synth-driven record. He also discusses working with multiple producers, making a dance record with deeper meaning, looking back at the sometimes destructive behavior of his youth, and the need to connect with one’s past. The lead singer also touches on “Wake Me Up” and the ways that lyrics can take on new meanings, taking inspiration from Caribou and Und...
