Welcome to the first installment of WMTYSLTBPAAWWYNABT. Er, on second thought we'll just call it Woody's Indie Rock Blog. WIRB is so much easier to type. Yeah. Anyway, I figured this is probably the easiest way to get the word out on some bands I think people of The Circle would enjoy. Those of you already into Indie may feel like your intelligence is being insulted by some of the suggestions ("Brah, Cage the Elephant is SO old hat."), but bear with me, I'll be pulling some weird shit out of the bag as well.
Since this is the first of many to come, I figured for those not heavily into the Indie genre, I'd throw out a few of what I personally feel are bands that represent the Indie genre well as a whole. While they aren't necessarily the best of the best, they do lay down the foundations of Indie music. For example, you'd be hard pressed to find a modern Indie band that doesn't cite Neutral Milk Hotel as a influence on their work:
Neutral Milk Hotel
Cage The Elephant
Devendra Banhart
Guided By Voices
Iron & Wine
The Flaming Lips
The following list of songs is a compilation of my favorite discoveries from the bowels of the Indie internet-underworld (Interworld? Undernet? I like undernet!). Give them a spin and let me know what you liked most!
Song: Dance the Way I Feel
Artist: Ou Est Le Swimming Pool
Highlights: The perfect fusion of house rhythms and indie vocals.
Song: Concaves
Artist: Glorytellers
Highlights: The American counterpart to The Kooks. And a fondness for the harmonica.
Song: The Echoes of Time
Artist: The Smiles and Frowns
Highlights: Proves that less can indeed be more. Simple lyrics and minimalistic guitar manage to tell a complex story. Damn this duo for making it look so effortless.
Song: Baby Boomer
Artist: Monsters of Folk
Highlights: More like Masters of Folk. Takes Indie-Folk to the edge and beyond. Pure excellence.
Song: The '59 Sound
Artist: The Gaslight Anthem
Highlights: Your shampoo bottle will be hearing this chorus for weeks as you sing it in the shower. I hope mine likes my imitation of a gravelly man-voice. I sure don't.
Song: Are You Sure
Artist: Tutankamon
Highlights: The guitar riff is the ultimate earworm. I hope you like competition.
Song (Two recommendations this time): Anna, Simple Stones
Artist: Jupiter One
Highlights: Simple Stones is simply 80s funk gone Indie. It's brilliant.
Song: Waste Time
Artist: The Fire Theft
Highlights: A very chill song, makes the best impression though if it is immediately followed by Heaven by the same band - its more upbeat counterpart.
Song: The Indie Queens Are Waiting
Artist: Dan Mangan
Highlights: The guitar and piano are so soft the singers might as well deliver this one a capella - this might sound like a backhanded compliment, but it isn't. An emotional performance driven almost solely by voice alone isn't something one stumbles on often, and should be given special note when it is.
Song: You're In Love With The Sun
Artist: The Very Most
Highlights: Update The Beatles by 40 years and give them a surf rock twist. And there you have it.
Song: Come Out, Come Out
Artist: I Was Totally Destroying It
Highlights: Your steering wheel-drum kit will be slamming out this beat for weeks. I sure hope that if you're a foot tapper you don't drive a manual.
Song: New Theory
Artist: Washed Out
Highlights: A sort of low-fi ballad with heavy techno undertones. An interesting combination, but it really works.
Song: Tear Down the Opera House
Artist: The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Highlights: Oh, whoop-di-do. Another punk-rock influenced song about taking down the establishment. Ohhh, so clever. Wait for the Chuck Berry-style guitar solo. And then proceed to shit bricks.
I'll end with The Bravery's new album, Stir The Blood. Not quite as good as their previous The Sun and The Moon, but definitely worth checking out. And with that, I'll leave you to your own assessments of my choices, and to discoveries of your own.
Listen well!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Indie Music Guru
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