Browsing Tag indie
The Hold Steady – Family Farm
The Hold Steady’s most classic tracks are driving rock songs with piano breaks. Just like the best work of artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger. The band’s new single Family Farm has all of the characteristics of such a classic. It’s a stomping rocker of the rousing kind, with horns as an added bonus. Up-tempo, dynamic, and with a chorus full of shout-along potential. No doubt, this will be fun to play (and hear) live.
Family Farm is the first single off The Hold Steady’s next album Open Door Policy, out on 19 February 2021. It was written and almost entirely recorded before the pandemic started. Yet the songs explore power, wealth, mental health, technology, capitalism, consumerism, and survival; issues which have compounded in 2020.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Slowride – I Feel Like You
Don’t mistake brand-new band Slowride for good old shoegaze outfit Slowdive. They’re both from Great-Brittain, but all comparisons stop there.
Slowride is the latest project from long-time collaborators and lifelong friends Ali Epstone (vocals) and Phil Jones (guitars/synths). Both love ‘90s indie and punk rock, which explains why Slowride produce indie-rock anthems with layers of synth.
The band only formed early in 2020, and I Feel Like You is their first single. A great debut, although I can’t help hearing Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers’ Egyptian Reggae in it. For this track, the duo has teamed up with drummer Tomas Oliver Moore, and producers Rob Slater (Ellie Goulding, Alex Clare) and Isaac Carpenter (Awolnation, Irontom).
Slowride say about I Feel Like You: “It’s about feeling powerless to being controlled. In the context of a relationship, an addiction or the censorship of free speech… It’s about awareness of one’s situation and learning to take the power back.” But they add the title can also be projected onto the current situation. “No matter what we’re all individually going through, there’s certainly a collective connection between humanity right now.”
All in all, it combines social commentary with fresh hooks and beats, that they almost can’t contain near the end.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Cry Club – One Step
Usually, I don’t like to pigeon-hole, but it can be so clarifying sometimes. Especially when describing music. This time, I’ll leave it to the band to explain what they’re up to. Depending on the publication, I’ve seen Cry Club call themselves a ‘queer bubblegum punk duo’ or an ‘angry gay guitar pop duo’. Get the picture? For further reference, I’d like to add they sound a bit like MisterWives, a band I like a lot!
Cry Club are Heather Riley and Jono Tooke. They’re from the Australian town of Wollongong, but currently live in Melbourne. After meeting as students – acting for Riley, music for Tooke – they eventually formed Cry Club. Originally as a Siouxsie & The Banshees/The Cure cover band, they soon started releasing original songs. Their debut album God I’m Such A Mess collects six of the eight singles the duo released so far, alongside six new tracks. All of them produced by Gab Strum (a.k.a. Japanese Wallpaper), who worked with everyone from Charli XCX to Death Cab For Cutie, as well as many fellow-Aussie acts.
One Step is Cry Club’s new single. If you like another description, let me give you ‘no-holds-barred high throttle noise pop’. Riley recalls this being the first song the two wrote from scratch together (not building off an instrumental Jono had already written). Tooke explains: “It’s about what it’s like to see a friend go through some hard shit and wanting them to get help, but them resisting making that first step to getting better.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Päter – Earth In Revolt
2020 saw the impressive rise of young Canadian artist Päter. She introduced herself successfully with the single Dam, Damn, which she followed up with her debut EP SOLE. She just released a video for the EP’s first single Sleep, which is already succeeded by a brand-new track. Earth In Revolt is Päter’s new single. The singer-songwriter describes the song as ‘experimental alternative rock sounds packed into a rousing climate change anthem’.
In an interview with the Off The Record blog, she shares how the track came about. “I started writing it while I was in the car with my mom accompanying her to an errand, having not left the house in over a month. I was looking around at the empty highway at 5pm on a Tuesday and feeling that, even though it doesn’t seem directly related, this pandemic is a result of the way we’ve treated the Earth, the way we consume and rip through resources. I’ve had that feeling right from the start. Kind of consumerist guilt, the inevitability of ‘karma coming around’. I could go on about it for ages. Then the marching chant of ‘you’re gonna see the Earth in Revolt, you’re gonna see the Earth in Revolt’ came up. I recorded a voice memo of it in the car and my mom was very excited by the whole thing.”
As an adult, I think it’s encouraging that young people have visions like this and feel the urge to take action. Hopefully they will be given (or take) the opportunity to solve the problems older generations caused. Before it’s too late…
Recommended as well:
Päter – Sleep
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Ocean Grove – Dream
It may be almost Christmas time, but I’d like to talk to you about Easter eggs. Musical ones, that is. Hidden tracks on albums. Artists do it all the time, but The Beatles (who else?) invented the concept in 1969. And like so many of their revolutionary contributions to music, it was an accident, as this nice article points out.
Curiously, hidden tracks are often very good songs, so why hiding them? Personally, I think Whoops Now by Janet Jackson is a perfect example. Originally stashed away at the end of her album Janet, it eventually became a hit when put out as a single.
The same now applies for Dream by Australian rock band Ocean Grove. When they released their sophomore album Flip Phone Fantasy in the early days of the pandemic, physical copies ended with the secret track Dream. A great rock song, full of hooks and melody, far too good to conceal. Luckily, the band have become aware of that as well, and released it as a single.
Ocean Grove’s frontman Dale Tanner describes Dream as ‘a positive mental attitude anthem’. Bassist Twiggy Hunter adds: “Dream was written to empower the listener and instil a sense of don’t-give-a-fuck-ery with a bold, glistening undertone of optimism and hope. We hope listeners can use this song as a form of lifeblood to not give up hope through the times ahead and go on to prosper and thrive in their own individualism.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
NewDad – I Don’t Recognise You
When the days get shorter and colder, music tends to become more melancholic. This is a wonderful example, both musically and lyrically. I Don’t Recognise You by NewDad is a dreamy pop-rock song that’ll go down well with shoegaze lovers. Its slow bassline and new wave-like guitar melody suck you in immediately. Fans of The Cure will love this.
NewDad explains: “The song is about watching someone you love lose their way. Sometimes, you can’t recognise them as the same person they were before.”
The track may be a bit dark, but the future looks bright for this young Irish four-piece. They’re already confirmed for The Great Escape 2021. Fingers crossed the event will go on as planned.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Wildcard (week 49):
The Lottery Winners – An Open Letter To Creatives
Now this is a lovely gesture! And a necessary one, for creatives are among the people who are hit hardest by the global COVID-19 measurements. Not only are they prevented from performing and exploiting their arts, but the public is prevented from enjoying those arts as well. Nobody wins…
That’s why The Lottery Winners wrote an open letter. Initially, it was meant to be a ‘note to self’, but eventually they decided to put it out as a motivational message to all musicians, artists, writers and creatives. Main statement: remain, don’t retrain.
Just like Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann, it contains some wonderful, powerful and encouraging thoughts. For instance: ‘Get enough sleep. Sometimes you need a nap. Don’t feel guilty if you’re feeling exhausted. Some of the best ideas in the world happened in dreams. So dream’. Or: ‘You don’t have to work for free. Your time is valuable. You are valuable. You can’t pay your bills with exposure. Don’t undervalue your art’.
In all the supportive lyrics, there’s room for some British humour too: ‘Stop comparing yourself to your heroes. There will only ever be one Bowie, one Tarantino, one Hirst, one Hendrix, one Hitchcock, one Mercury, one Wilde, one Winehouse, one Wonder, two Gallaghers, one Joplin, one Simone, and there will only ever be one you’.
But all in all, it’s a serious note, calling for creatives to be good to themselves, put value in their art, set realistic expectations, use their precious time and, above all, don’t give up when the going gets tough. And these are tough times, as we all know, with loss of income due to the pandemic, and lacking government support for skilled creatives.
On the other hand, The Lottery Winners notice: ‘Imagine a world without songs, without films, without books, without ever feeling the hairs on your neck stand up, without ever seeing goosebumps on your arm. That’s a world without people, like you. So no matter what you do: remain, don’t retrain’.
This week, An Open Letter To Creatives is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. I hope this wonderful and heart-felt song will inspire and motivate creatives to continue their great, fulfilling, healing and even life-saving art. Without you, there would be no Carte Blanche Music. Thank you!
Recommended as well:
The Lottery Winners – Little Things
The Lottery Winners – That’s Not Entertainment
In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Werner’s Weekly (week 49)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Monowhales – BL/FF (Fake Friends) (Wildcard this week)
- Joel Culpepper – WAR (Wildcard last week)
- A Is For Arrows – Every Now And Then
- Lola Scott – The Eviction Song
- Rinse feat. Hatchie – Back Into Your Arms
- Tanaya Harper – Emma
- The Cribs – Siren Sing-Along
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Miley Cyrus, Tori Amos, Yungblud, and more.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Bugs – Old Youth Feeling
One way to describe the last two years: Bugs broke out of Brisbane. From the east of Australia, they spread their wings all over the continent. Rightfully so, for there is much to like in their songs. I couldn’t help thinking about the happiness bands like Fountains Of Wayne brought me in the ‘90s/’00s with their power-pop…
The Underground Stage described their songs as ‘grinalong singalongs’, which says it all. Their infectious, energetic songs often come with contemplating lyrics. Bugs’ new single is no exception. The title already gives it away: Old Youth Feeling. It’s a powerful, guitar-driven and hook-laden song on the one hand. On the other hand however, it deals with nostalgia, and how as life progresses, many seek comfort in old habits and memories.
Vocalist and guitarist Connor Brooker explains: “Seeing an old family photo, driving past your childhood school, finding a box of toys and outdated pop culture artefacts. Our memories are so intrinsically tied to who we are, it’s not often you have those moments but when you do they are quite profound.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
Raave Tapes – Habitual
On their new single, Australian duo Raave Tapes push their experimental pop sound one step further. Habitual contains both massive pop hooks and bursts of glitched-out noise and crushing, distorted bass. They blow the dust off industrial, so to speak.
While recording the song, Lindsey O’Connell and Joab Eastley used Lady Gaga, Nelly Furtado, Charli XCX and Nine Inch Nails as references. Eastley recalls: “Throughout the recording process, we found moments where we asked ourselves ‘Can we get away with this? Are we allowed to do it?’ Then we remembered that the points are made-up and nothing actually matters. We stood by our game-plan of unapologetically committing to guilty pleasures. Live it up baby.”
Lyrically, the track holds some pleasant surprises as well. How about the line ‘I put the ‘bitch’ in ‘habitual’, you put the ‘dick’ in ‘predictable’? Classic, I’d say.
With its beautiful verses and crunchy choruses, Habitual is instantly addictive.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
