Indie Rock
Gorillaz Share Video for “The Valley of the Pagans” Featuring Beck: Watch
Last month, Gorillaz unveiled the audio portion of the first season of their audiovisual project, Song Machine. But some visuals are still coming down the pipeline, and that includes the newly-released music video for “The Valley of the Pagans” featuring Beck. Gorillaz love to combine live-action and animated footage, but “The Valley of the Pagans” is more animated than most. It shows 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel cruising around a CGI Los Angeles while driving a low-rider called a Pagan. The song blasts out of the speakers, and when it comes time for Beck to chime in, he appears on something called a Fruit phone. Honestly, it looks like it was recorded over FaceTime in about the time it takes to listen to the song, but the device (plot and cellular) works; th...
Arcade Fire Debut New Song “Generation A” on Colbert’s Election Night Special: Watch
Arcade Fire on Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 Arcade Fire debuted a brand new song called “Generation A” as part of their appearance on Stephen Colbert’s election night special on Showtime. In introducing the performance, Colbert described the song as “inspired by the current climate of the country with a hopeful message to the youths.” Musically, “Generation A” hears Arcade Fire continue to embrace the wilder synth sounds heard on their previous two records, albeit with a driving thud of bass that gives the song a punk oomph. “They say wait until you’re ready,” sings frontman Win Butler. “Wait until your number’s called/ They say wait, all we need is love/ But darling, California’s burning, New ...
Local Natives on Obsessing Over At the Drive-In
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Radio Public | Stitcher This Must Be the Gig is joined by Local Natives. As two of the founding members of the Southern California band, Taylor Rice and Ryan Hahn first came together when they were just high schoolers. Not long later, Local Natives’ debut record Gorilla Manor solidified their radiant credentials. Over a decade later, the five-piece have now released four studio albums and spread their sunshine and wonder at festivals and sold-out shows around the world. Most recently, the band put out the four-track Sour Lemon EP, collaborated with Sharon Van Etten, and put together an incredible live-streamed concert for eager fans. In this week’s episode, host Lior Phillips sp...
Smut Announce Power Fantasy EP, Share “Fan Age”: Stream
Rising rockers Smut have announced the new Power Fantasy EP. In anticipation of the November 20th release date, the band has shared the new single “Fan Age”. Smut is a quartet made up of Bell Cenower, Andrew Min, Sam Ruschman, and vocalist Tay Roebuck. They got their start in Cincinnati but are now based out of Chicago, and they first gained buzz with the 2017 shoegaze EP End of Sam-Soon. The new three-track Power Fantasy finds Smut branching out into a slightly poppier sound, taking influences from hip-hop and trip-hop along the way. According to a statement, the title track deals with the euphoria and disappointment of trying to change the world by yourself, while “Perfect Dark” is inspired by the beloved Nintendo 64 first-person shooter. As for the lead single, “Fan ...
Superchunk Share Halloween Single “There’s a Ghost”, Cover Sisters of Mercy: Stream
Superchunk have returned with “There’s a Ghost”, their first new music in two years. As an extra Halloween treat, the single is paired with a cover of The Sisters of Mercy’s “Alice”. The band’s first original song since 2018’s “Our Work Is Done” and that same year’s What a Time to Be Alive, “There’s a Ghost” is a bopping punk track built on mirrored acoustic and crunchy electric guitar riffs. It taps into the paranoia of 2020 perfectly, as frontman Mac McCaughan wrestles with being trapped inside alone for far too long. “Now its the end of the season and the last of our supplies/So check your fingernails/ Burning through the calendars and E strings/ Oh yeah, we’re breaking all the scales,” he sings. “I didn’t write a song for probably the first six months of the lockdown,” said McCaughan i...
Perfume Genius Performs “Jason”, “Nothing at All” from Joshua Tree on Kimmel: Watch
Half a year may feel like a lifetime ago, but in that time, Perfume Genius’ Set My Heart on Fire Immediately has remained easily one of the best efforts of 2020. On Thursday night, Mike Hadreas’ project reminded us of this with a performance of “Jason” and “Nothing at All” on Kimmel. Hadreas and his band set up remotely at Joshua Tree for the performance, caked in dirt like they’d actually dragged their gear all the way from Los Angeles. But though the appearance was soiled, the magic hour “Jason” performance was as delicate and gorgeous as you’d expect from Perfume Genius. The band also played “Nothing at All” for an online exclusive, with the more dynamic song allowing Handreas to let himself go in energetic fashion. Watch both clips below. Editors’ Picks Perfume Genius recently an...
Nathaniel Rateliff Covers Leonard Cohen’s “There Is a War” with Kevin Morby and Sam Cohen: Stream
Kevin Morby (photo by David Brendan Hall), Nathaniel Rateliff (Ben Kaye), Sam Cohen (Kenneth Bachor) Nathaniel Rateliff, Kevin Morby, and Sam Cohen have teamed up for a new cover of Leonard Cohen’s “There Is a War”. The timely track was produced by Sam Cohen (no relation), and will benefit Rateliff’s The Marigold Project. The song first appeared on 1974’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony, at a time when President Nixon’s message of “Law and Order” was getting drowned out by the Watergate scandal. Well, Trump has been beating that “Law and Order” drum, but he’s one-upped Nixon by providing so many competing scandals that none can dominate the headlines for very long. Meanwhile, the deep-seated conflicts that Cohen wrote about show no signs of abating. The new cover has the three cont...
Gianna Lauren Shares the Origins of New Single “Closed Chapter”: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, we give artists the opportunity to explain the influences of their latest single. Today, Gianna Lauren tells us about the internet algorithms that haunt “Closed Chapter”. Next month, folk songwriter Gianna Lauren will release a new EP called Vanity Metrics. Recorded over the course of two weeks, the project explores feelings of love, loss, and sorrow. These deep reflections are tied to the effort’s title, which “refers to useless music industry data,” and the way in which worth is now often dictated by hollow online algorithms. The heart of the EP is probably best conveyed on today’s single, “Closed Chapter”. The new track grapples with the vicious cycle of internet metrics: “algorithms fucking up mainstream beauty standards, acknowledging...
Crowded House Release First New Single in 10 Years, Music Video Starring Mac DeMarco: Stream
Crowded House have released their first new music in a decade. It’s a single called “Whatever You Want” and it comes with a music video starring a very hallucinatory Mac DeMarco. The Australian rockers have been pretty quiet over the past decade, but perhaps that’s about to change with the release of “Whatever You Want”. It follows their 2010 album Intriguer, but it doesn’t sound out of shape. In fact, the single sounds as lively and composed as something Crowded House would have released in the early 2000s, not to mention lead singer Neil Finn sounds his best. In the music video, directed by Nina Ljeti, DeMarco wakes up from a drunken stupor on a couch, trophy in hand, and shakes off some troubling flashbacks. As he goes about getting ready for the day, he begins hallucinating conversatio...
Johanna Samuels Reveals New Single “High Tide for One”: Stream
Rising songwriter Johanna Samuels has joined the roster of Mama Bird Recording Co., a label known for like-minded folk acts such as Damien Jurado, Vetiver, and Haley Heynderickx. To coincide with the signing announcement, the Los Angeles native is sharing a new single dubbed “High Tide for One”. While 2019 offerings like “Rush of Wheels” and “Supposed to Say” were more of the moody folk variety à la boygenius or Sharon Van Etten, today’s track finds Samuels experimenting with more left-field styles. There’s hints of whimsy in her curling guitars, and following Samuels’ lilting melodies is like taking a leisurely drive across rolling hills. The lyrical focus of “High Tide for One” isn’t as lighthearted, though. According to Samuels, the song was penned in response to watching Dr. Blasey For...
Kevin Morby Unveils New Song “US Mail”: Stream
Kevin Morby has unveiled a tribute to mothers, daughters, and postal workers with the new song “US Mail”. In keeping with this theme, he’s also shared a P.O. Box where you can write him a letter. This loosie was originally intended for Morby’s October release Sundowner, which is perhaps the best album of his career. But after the studio went into lockdown, Morby decided to record the song remotely with producer Brad Cook. The lyrics take the form of an exchange of post cards between a mother in rehab and her lonely daughter. “Mama won’t you write me a letter?” he sings. “Stick it in the US Mail/ And mama I do hope you feel better/ For you, I will not fail.” In a statement, which he fittingly styled in the form of a letter, Morby explained his fascination with the postal service and ho...
Andrew Bird Shares COVID-19-Inspired Holiday Song “Christmas in April”: Stream
Hark! is the forthcoming holiday album from Andrew Bird, due out next week. An expansion of his 2019 EP of the same name, the project features covers of John Prine and John Cale, as well as original numbers like today’s newly unveiled “Christmas in April”. As you may have guessed by its title, this seasonal offering was inspired by and written during quarantine. On it, the indie troubadour wonders what the holidays will look like amidst the coronavirus pandemic. “When will we know if we can meet under the mistletoe?” Birds asks with a sobering melancholy in his voice, echoing our very same anxieties and fears as the global health crisis stretches into fall and winter. (Remember when we thought it would only last through spring?) Editors’ Picks In a statement, Bird further explained h...
