Indie Rock
Best Coast Recruit The Linda Lindas for New Single “Leading”: Stream
Best Coast are gearing up for the deluxe edition of their latest studio album, Always Tomorrow. In anticipation of its release on January 7th, the band has shared one of the bonus tracks, “Leading,” featuring backing vocals from the teenaged riot grrrl group The Linda Lindas. “Leading” is a dose of bratty, guitar-driven power pop, which vocalist Bethany Cosentino describes in a statement as a song about “trying to find hope during the apocalypse.” The Linda Lindas — who, if you’ll recall, nabbed a coveted signing to Epitaph Records earlier this year thanks to their viral LA Public Library performance — flesh out the track with soaring harmonies. Corresponding with its punky sonics, the lyrics of “Leading” find Cosentino grappling with reality: “I’m a believer in a healthy dose of pes...
Yves Tumor Announces 2022 International Tour
Yves Tumor is hitting the road in support of their surprise EP The Asymptotical World with a 2022 world tour. The 47-date jaunt comes on the heels of the groundbreaking artist’s successful 2021 trek and will span the US, Canada, UK, and Europe. After traversing across Europe and the UK from late February to mid-March, Tumor will cross the pond for a run of North American dates through early April. In June, they will return to Europe for a festival run before wrapping up the tour with a handful of dates back in North America. Watch the tour trailer below. Tickets go on sale Thursday, December 16th at 10 a.m. local time, with a pre-sale kicking off on Wednesday, December 15th at 10 a.m. local time (pre-sale code: BELLS). See the full schedule below, and snag your tickets through&nb...
Kim Gordon and J Mascis Share “Abstract Blues” and “Slow Boy” for Sub Pop Singles Club: Stream
Kim Gordon and J Mascis are a dream team from ’90s indie rock heaven. The Sonic Youth powerhouse and Dinosaur Jr. frontman are officially sharing their collaborations “Abstract Blues” and “Slow Boy” today as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club, the seminal indie label’s subscription-only 7-inch singles series. Considering they’re both icons from a similar scene, Gordon and Mascis’ friendship goes way back. This marks the first time they’ve officially put out music together, though these songs were recorded a while ago. The duo originally shared “Slow Boy” way back in 2015 as part of Converse’s CONS EP series, and they recorded “Abstract Blues” last year for the SMooCH benefit livestream for the Seattle Children’s Hospital (Fred Armisen joined in on bass, too). With the songs’ new home at...
St. Vincent Shares “Pay Your Way in Pain (IDLES Remix)”: Stream
St. Vincent is back with a fresh take on “Pay Your Way in Pain.” Today, Annie Clark has shared a remix of the Daddy’s Home single, created by UK post-punk band IDLES. St. Vincent released Daddy’s Home, her sixth album, in May, and shared “Pay Your Way in Pain” as its first single. With glitchy synths and the artist’s typical slinky rhythm, the song introduced the record’s retro aesthetic with a certain charismatic darkness. In a statement for the remix, IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen said this juxtaposition is what he latched onto. “What I really enjoy about the Daddy’s Home album is using this camp energy in a really violent way,” he said. “This embracing of the nostalgic even the kitsch but using it to make progressive futuristic music. It reminded me a lot of the energy of early house ...
Wet Leg Make US TV Debut by Performing “Chaise Longue” on Seth Meyers: Watch
After releasing just four songs, Wet Leg have earned a considerable amount of buzz from websites just like this one, and last night the British indie rockers stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers for a performance of “Chaise Longue.” The track appears on the band’s upcoming self-titled debut album, due out April 8th, 2022 via Domino. Wet Leg founders Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers clearly enjoyed making their US TV debut, exchanging sly glances while getting away with singing tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “I went to school and I got the big D” on air. Further showing off their wry humor, “Chaise Longue” also alludes to a scene from Mean Girls (“Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?”). Watch Wet Leg’s performance below. Fueled by a chugging guitar riff, it’...
Lower Dens Break Up
Baltimore synthpop band Lower Dens are breaking up. “It’s time for me and Nate [Nelson] to say goodbye to Lower Dens,” lead singer J Hunter wrote in a lengthy post. “We’re proud of what we’ve done, and very lucky to have had so many people supporting us. Spiritually and physically, we, like, can not participate in the music industry any longer. We’re also old, enjoy being with our families, and have other goals in mind.” Lower Dens formed in 2010 and put out four albums together: Twin-Hand Movement (2010), Nootropics (2012), Escape From Evil (2015), and The Competition (2019). In the post, Hunter wrote, “I learned this year that I’m Autistic/have ADHD. I have a name for it now, but it’s always been a part of my identity. When I talked about nerdy conceptual sh...
Girlpool Share New Single “Faultline”: Stream
Girlpool return today with a dreamy new single called “Faultline.” The Los Angeles indie duo’s latest arrives with a music video directed by the band alongside Julian Klincewicz. “The Faultline represents everything you do as a means of escape that pushes you further into the very thing you’re escaping,” Girlpool’s Harmony Tividad explains in a statement. The track seems directed at a neglectful partner, as Tividad’s poetic lyrics conjure some poignant imagery: “Every week keeps slipping by/ In this imitation paradise/ The angels make me sorry when I err/ From the way they want me everywhere,” she sings. “Will I die at this faultline?” The music video for “Faultline” is similarly idyllic, casting Tividad as the star in what could be her own coming-of-age drama. She rides a bike through sub...
Squirrel Flower Announces New Planet EP, Shares “ruby at dawn” and “unravel”: Stream
Squirrel Flower (born Ella Williams) released the album Planet (i) back in June, but it looks like she’s still got astronomy on the mind. Today the artist announced her Planet EP, out January 28th on Polyvinyl. To preview the release, she has shared two new singles: the original track “ruby at dawn” and a cover of Björk’s song “unravel.” Clocking in at seven tracks, Planet compiles Squirrel Flower’s self-recorded Planet (i) demos, leftover songs from the album’s studio sessions, and her Björk cover. In a statement, Williams explained that she saw releasing these odds and ends as a way for fans to better understand her artistic process. “I’ve always felt that the pieces and process and secrets behind a finished record are the most important parts,” Williams said. “Most of these so...
Beach House Unveil Once Twice Melody Chapter 2: Stream
Last month Beach House returned with their first new music in four years, and now, they’re back with more. The dream pop duo just released Once Twice Melody: Chapter 2, the second installment of their upcoming double album, Once Twice Melody. Take a listen below. Broken up into four chapters, Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally announced Once Twice Melody by sharing its first four songs. Once Twice Melody: Chapter 2 offers a look at the next four, and sees the pair try on a couple different hats: Frenetic keys pulsate in “Runaway,” while a gentle acoustic guitar line pokes out of “ESP;” “New Romance” keeps things light, and “Over and Over” extends into seven minutes. Each song comes with a fittingly psychedelic lyric video, which you can vibe out to below. Once Twice Melody was produced ...
HAIM Revamp Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song”: Watch
We’re not here to pick favorites, but very few holiday songs have stood the test of time as well as Adam Sandler’s unforgettable classic “The Chanukah Song,” in which the canonically Jewish actor rattles off a few of his celebrity friends who also celebrate the Festival of Lights. But considering that song is 27 years old now, it’s time to update the name-drops: Cue canonically Jewish indie rock band HAIM, who revamped the Sandman’s tune as part of their annual “Haimukkah” festivities. Sandler debuted “The Chanukah Song” on this day in 1994 for an appearance on Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update. HAIM’s version respectfully swaps out Sandler’s pals in favor of the sister trio’s friends in music and beyond. “Maya Rudolph lights the menorah /So does Japanese Breakfast, and the Dessners do ...
Alice Phoebe Lou Drops Surprise Album Child’s Play: Stream
Alice Phoebe Lou just released Glow in March, but now she’s back with another new album. Today the South African artist surprise released Child’s Play, which you can listen to below. Lou reunited with Glow producer David Parry for Child’s Play, a 10-track record recorded in 10 days at Parry’s Dobro Genius studio in Vancouver. Working again with longtime collaborators Ziv Yamin (drums, keyboards) and Dekel Adin (bass), Lou described the process of making her second album in a year as both grueling and enjoyable. “The process was simple and intuitive,” Lou said in a statement, “using an 8-track tape machine and allowing the very new songs to grow into themselves. We worked tirelessly on a limited schedule to bring these personal songs to life, so used to each ot...
Phoebe Bridgers Performs “Savior Complex” in Austin City Limits Clip: Exclusive
Phoebe Bridgers has seemingly been everywhere in indie rock circles since her monster 2020 album Punisher. This weekend, she’ll cross another achievement off her list: performing on Austin City Limits. The singer-songwriter taped a set for the legendary PBS program in October in between performances at the festival of the same name, and today, Consequence has an exclusive first look at the show. Watch Bridgers perform “Savior Complex” below. Though she ditched her famous skeleton onesie (her backing band kept the uniform, however), Bridgers’ live rendition of the Punisher ballad otherwise stayed true to the original, down to the quiet cry of violin and smoky trumpet solo. Her resigned tale of a doomed relationship fills the theater with her trademark bittersweetness, especially with i...
