When New York duo The Demos released ‘Lovely‘ back in the mists of 2011, it was obvious that they recognised a hook and knew their way around a reasonable alt-rock/power pop arrangement. Sadly, the lo-fi nature of that recording, essentially demos passed off as a finished product, didn’t really show them at their best. There were at least a handful of tracks scattered among the dozen that wanted – even needed – a much better send off than they were afforded.
Tag Archives: indie
KAMIKAZE GIRLS – Sad EP
Aiming to “stamp out gender stereotypes in music for good”, UK lo-fi duo Kamikaze Girls not only identify with the feminist anger of the 90s riot-grrrl movement, but also do so whilst being fifty percent male. Their music, an angry melting pot of riffs and social commentary, is unrelentingly vibrant.
HEYROCCO – Waiting On Cool EP
In 2015, Heyrocco released their ‘Teenage Movie Soundtrack’ full-length. Its ten songs packed a whole bunch of retro sounds into under forty minutes, often playing like a love letter to the 90s with clear influences from Pavement, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. and Smashing Pumpkins scattered throughout. Good as it was, there wasn’t especially much, stylistically speaking, that you’d think might attract the ears of retro-pop superstar and producer Brendan Benson, but for part of their follow up release, Heyrocco were booked into his Nashville studios and naturally Benson found himself in the producer’s chair.
Watch the new video from Tokyo Tea Room
Starting out as a bedroom project, Kent’s Tokyo Tea Room later grew into a fully fledged band. Their music draws a huge influence from various 90s alternative and shoegaze sounds, while vocally they take in elements of dream pop and twee underground acts.
Their debut cassette, ‘Key Philosophy’ was released via Sexx Tapes in June 2016. Check out the video for ‘Sleep’ below.
MANON MEURT – Manon Meurt EP
Originally self-released, this debut EP from Manon Meurt finally gained a bigger distribution after being picked up for vinyl release via Label Obscura, a Canadian based label in 2016. It’s great that these Czech dream poppers are given the opportunity to branch out and reach new ears, since in terms of style, things don’t often come much finer. Their six track wax takes in so many great dream pop and shoegazy moods over the course of approximately half and hour; their pensive and droning sounds appear wholly nostalgic and (mostly) quite brilliant.