Indie Rock
Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett Finally Release Score for Spike Jonze’s Her: Stream
Eight years after Spike Jonze’s Oscar-nominated movie Her hit theaters, Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett have finally released the accompanying original film score in its entirety. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. A realistic sci-fi love story starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, Her is undoubtedly one of the best films of the past decade, and a huge part of that is due to its original score. Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett used all sorts of gentle piano and stripped-down instrumentation to capture the sounds of falling in love, getting lost in technology, and feeling the vast difference between loneliness and belonging. It’s a gorgeous collection of songs and one that’s long overdue to be available as a standalone art form. For whatever reason, the score was nev...
10 Years Ago, The Strokes Triumphed Through Adversity to Create Angles
Throughout the 2000s, New York quintet The Strokes were considered the kings of post-punk revival. Drawing from artists like The Doors, Jane’s Addiction, Pearl Jam, Bob Marley, and most notably, The Velvet Underground, their charming indie/garage rock raucousness was virtually everywhere for several years. Of course, it all started when they inspired their own set of peers and protégées — including LCD Soundsystem, The Killers, and Kings of Leon — while skyrocketing into critical and commercial favor with 2001’s debut LP, Is This It, which topped our list of “The Top 100 Albums of the Decade” in November 2009. Although 2003’s Room on Fire and 2005’s First Impressions of Earth weren’t as widely celebrated by the press — due mainly to a perceived lack of newness and a penchant for safe...
Sorry Unveil Two New Songs “Cigarette Packet” and “Separate”: Stream
Last year, the British indie-rock band Sorry released their well-received debut album 925. Now, the genre-blending group have returned with two new loosies titled “Cigarette Packet” and “Separate”. As the Domino Records-signed band demonstrated on the myriad singles they released prior to 925, Sorry can’t be pinned to one sound or temperament. Their music is an eclectic mix of indie-rock, experimental pop, trip-hop, and even jazz, and all of those elements are often being housed under the roof of a single song. On these new singles, which were co-produced by James Dring (Gorillaz, Nilüfer Yanya), who also worked the boards on 925, the band continue to evolve in all directions. “Cigarette Packet” is a sleek and brisk synth-pop tune with a blinking synth line, a crisp drum machine, and ...
Future Islands Cover Tina Turner’s Hit “We Don’t Need Another Hero”: Stream
Future Islands have shared a new cover of Tina Turner’s classic 1985 hit “We Don’t Need Another Hero”. Stream it below. The track was recorded as part of Future Island’s new live session on SiriusXMU. While the majority of the set saw the band stripping down material from their new album As Long as You Are for an intimate radio performance, it was the cover song that stole the show — in part because their ’80s-inspired sound was born from classics like this Golden Globes-nominated single from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. As is to be expected, Future Islands glam up the Turner classic with a lot of bouncy ’80s synthpop. Leader singer Samuel T. Herring takes a smoother approach to his vocals, giving each word proper enunciation and gusto without ever overdoing it. Meanwhile, there’s some spar...
Spoon Share Tom Petty Covers “Breakdown” and “A Face in the Crowd”: Stream
Spoon’s Britt Daniel (photo by Heather Kaplan) and Tom Petty (photo by Philip Cosores) Spoon have shared covers of the late Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” and “A Face in the Crowd”. Stream both songs below. The Texas indie rockers recorded both tracks live at the Catacomb in Austin, with “Breakdown” originally being broadcast as part of Tom Petty’s 70th Birthday Bash, a virtual tribute concert that took place last fall. Back in 2017, Spoon lead singer Britt Daniel explained to Stereogum why “A Face In The Crowd” is his favorite Tom Petty song. “Divine Fits (Daniel’s other band) played ‘You Got Lucky’ at just about every gig we had. What an insane single. It’s got an intense lyric and the most powerful, creepy guitar riff and somehow Dan was able to tap into that attitude every time. It was ...
The Horrors Release New EP Lout: Stream
After four long years with no new music, The Horrors have just released their highly anticipated new EP, Lout. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. Lout is the first record The Horrors have put out since their 2017 studio album V. On the new EP, the indie punk rockers embrace a darker, industrial metal sound with ominous hooks (“Lout”), gritty bass (“Org”), and some unrelenting drumming (“Whiplash”). It’s a welcome sound that they sport well, and allegedly it came pretty naturally to the band. “There’s something about it which feels like a return to a heavier sound but really it’s a million miles away from anything we’ve done,” said keyboardist Tom Furse in a statement. “Keeping the sound aggressive and the beats heavy was a central tenet, everything seemed to fall around that.” “I...
IDLES Cover Sharon Van Etten’s “Peace Signs”: Stream
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of her 2010 album Epic, Sharon Van Etten is reissuing it as a double LP featuring a front-to-back covers album. Dubbed Epic Ten, our first sample of the reimagined tracks came from Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s Big Red Machine’s take on “A Crime”. Today, the second single has arrived, as SVE has shared IDLES’ cover of “Peace Signs”. The British outfit keeps things as close to the original as their post-punk sensibilities will allow them, with all the familiar progressions still in place. In IDLES’ hands, however, they’re riddled with anxieties and the searing tension of shredding guitars. Certainly the screaming repetition of “Peace signs” hits different coming from Joe Talbot’s growl rather than Sharon Van Etten’s voice. Take a listen to the cov...
Phoebe Bridgers Stands By SNL Guitar Smash: “It’s Hilarious to Me People Care So Much”
In February, Phoebe Bridgers gave a “controversial” performance on Saturday Night Live in which she smashed her guitar, drawing both praise and melodramatic criticism. The Grammy-nominated indie rocker was asked about the viral moment in a new Variety interview, during which she stood by the bucket list moment and described why she considered it kind of “punk rock.” “I stand by it!” Bridgers said, in response to the backlash. “The fact that it made people so mad is kind of what’s punk rock about it. No thought whatsoever went into what it represented or meant: I’d never done it before, so might as well do it [on SNL], where it’s gonna be immortalized. She continued by referencing a viral video in which hundreds of Gibson Firebird X guitars are crushed by heavy construction equipment. ...
Courtney Barnett Launches Expansive Live Archive
With concerts currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Courtney Barnett is one of many artists forced to wait to perform live again until it’s safe to do so. Instead of letting that get her down, though, Barnett has just done the next best thing: start an online archive of her touring and performing history. Best of all, it’s completely free to view. Inspired by the legendary digital archives of Neil Young and The Grateful Dead, Barnett decided to organize her past live performances as a way to give back to her fans during the pandemic and immortalize her progress as a live artist. Since playing her first-ever set at The Lark Distillery’s open mic night back in 2007, the Tell Me How You Really Feel singer has gone on to play nearly 800 shows, including solo concerts, gi...
St. Vincent Reveals She Initially Planned on Making Tool-Inspired Album
St. Vincent (photo by David Brendan Hall) and Tool (photo by Kevin RC Wilson) St. Vincent mastermind Annie Clark recently detailed her new album, Daddy’s Home, describing it as inspired by “music made in New York from 1971-76.” As it turns out, the project almost had an entirely different sound. During an appearance on RADIO.COM’s New Arrivals with Bryce Segall, Clark revealed she initially planned on making a “heavy record” inspired by Tool. “The crazy thing about music is, you can plan and plan and think you’re gonna go one way, and then you start writing and the music just takes you wherever the music takes you,” she explained. “That was certainly the experience with this. I was dead set in my mind that after MASSEDUCTION, I was just gonna make this like, heavy record. Like just heavy t...
Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett Reunite for First Performance in Six Years: Watch
We’ve officially lived a full decade without the existence of Rilo Kiley. Since the band split, singer Jenny Lewis and lead guitarist Blake Sennett have only reunited once, when the latter joined the former on stage at Coachella in 2015 for “Portions for Foxes”. Nearly six years later, it’s finally happened again, as the pair reunited over the weekend to take part in Linda Perry’s Rock-N-Relief livestream event. Lewis and Sennett delivered what could be their first-ever performance of “Let Me Back In”, a single from the 2013 compilation LP RKives. With a masked Sennett playing his acoustic guitar behind her, and a sweet little floof of a puppy on her lap, Lewis sang to camera, checking an off-camera lyrics sheet every so often. Memorized or not, it was a darling pre-recorded rendition, and...
Julien Baker Performs “Hardline”, “Faith Healer”, and “Heatwave” on CBS This Morning: Watch
Over the weekend, Julien Baker appeared on CBS This Morning to promote her latest album, Little Oblivions, with a three-song set featuring the singles “Hardline”, “Faith Healer”, and “Heatwave”. Backed by a full band, the Tennessee native delivered a typically powerful and stirring performance filmed in Nashville. The Saturday Sessions set follows recent late-night appearances on Seth Meyers and Colbert. During an appearance on Consequence of Sound and Sound Mind Live‘s Going There with Dr. Mike, Baker discussed how music has helped her understand, experience, and express her emotions while coping with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The revealing episode is currently available to stream on all major podcast platforms. Check out all three of Baker’s CBS This Morning perf...
