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Neogaf Rock/Indie/Alt Music Thread (RockGAF?)
- Thread starter amnesiac
- Start date
Serpentine
Banned
Yeah same here, on both parts
with AOTY crud looming, decided to play a record from my to-large to-listen list. Instantly chose Courting Strong by Martha. bandcamp link there to stream it in full, just ~34 minutes. They're a UK sweet/energetic pop/punk band fronted by a brother/sister duo that's been making waves in the DIY scene, out of Pity Me, Durham (lol that is a real place). Caught my eye with the video for album track "Present, Tense". It's playful, catchy, doesn't take itself too seriously (but also isn't just a joke). In other words, it strikes that elusive balance that so much pop punk fails at completely. Songs are mischievously structured, guitars are bright and exacting even when it sounds like they're quoting 90s indie bands note for note, and in the tradition of Americans being easily enamored with the accents of our old rulers I can't get enough of the vocals here. The brother and sister usually switch off lead vox between songs, though one of the best songs has them doing a sort of duet: "Sleeping Beauty" has them singing about how adults laugh at the girl for preferring rugby to a playhouse and the boy wanting to take a break from football to watch Sleeping Beauty. That's the other reason I'm falling in love so fast: like my favorite pop/punk band of last year, All Dogs, and unlike so many bands in this genre, their songs only get better the further you dig in. Great lyrics, with smart messages or overarching themes. Courting Strong ends up being about nostalgia--again not rare for the genre but Martha does in well in making it about learning to look back on the past without banal regret and sadness. Sleeping Beauty uses that to be really innocent about childhood. this other favorite from the record, "1997, Passing in the Hallway" is about a time and place but is just a simple and twee captured moment.
If you like Joyce Manor there's a very strong chance you could like this. Also if you like Fortuna Pop!/Slumberland/Salinas artists you'll like this--I'm thinking Joanna Gruesome, Swearin', Gold-Bears, Allo Darlin', Literature, Radiator Hospital. check it out if this sounds interesting.
If you like Joyce Manor there's a very strong chance you could like this. Also if you like Fortuna Pop!/Slumberland/Salinas artists you'll like this--I'm thinking Joanna Gruesome, Swearin', Gold-Bears, Allo Darlin', Literature, Radiator Hospital. check it out if this sounds interesting.
Serpentine
Banned
ah yea, that Martha album is good stuff. Found them through this npr interview. Not gonna lie, the accents stood out to me right away too. in a good way, though.
I like All Dogs too. Shame the only venue they played when they were here for the only time was 21+
I like All Dogs too. Shame the only venue they played when they were here for the only time was 21+
Hey this is good stuff, on track 5 now. Thanks!
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
I had a pretty good time with the Joanna Gruesome album, might have to give this Martha a shot.
Been rockin' out at work with the new Sam Coffey this past week:
http://samcoffeyandtheironlungs.bandcamp.com/
Been rockin' out at work with the new Sam Coffey this past week:
http://samcoffeyandtheironlungs.bandcamp.com/
This is a fantastic article relevant to plenty of discussion in here lately:
Some Alternatives: Brands, Bands, Sell-Outs and Meltdowns Pt. 1
Link to part 2 is at the end. Great piece by Ryan Walsh, who's in a band called Hallelujah The Hills who I only know of from improv comedy stuff. It's all based around the idea of "selling out" and what that means in 2014, if it means anything, and is heavily tied to recent events in the music/commerce like the sour patch thing, Pomplamoose (or whateverthefuckitis) posting their silly tour budget, music having monetary value, chris ott yelling at people, the fairness of Spotify and more. Long but well worth a read, particularly because it's not didactic. doesn't really put its weight behind any one opinion as much as it ties together and sums up a bunch of disparate ideas that have been floating around in music culture for a few years, then links them back to the past and provides some great arguments for why this is something worth discussing this much.
sucks about All Dogs, I thought they were the kind of band that tried their best to do all ages shows. too bad.
Some Alternatives: Brands, Bands, Sell-Outs and Meltdowns Pt. 1
Link to part 2 is at the end. Great piece by Ryan Walsh, who's in a band called Hallelujah The Hills who I only know of from improv comedy stuff. It's all based around the idea of "selling out" and what that means in 2014, if it means anything, and is heavily tied to recent events in the music/commerce like the sour patch thing, Pomplamoose (or whateverthefuckitis) posting their silly tour budget, music having monetary value, chris ott yelling at people, the fairness of Spotify and more. Long but well worth a read, particularly because it's not didactic. doesn't really put its weight behind any one opinion as much as it ties together and sums up a bunch of disparate ideas that have been floating around in music culture for a few years, then links them back to the past and provides some great arguments for why this is something worth discussing this much.
This is a good read so far, thanks for the link
sucks about All Dogs, I thought they were the kind of band that tried their best to do all ages shows. too bad.
Liking the first track, will check out.I had a pretty good time with the Joanna Gruesome album, might have to give this Martha a shot.
Been rockin' out at work with the new Sam Coffey this past week:
http://samcoffeyandtheironlungs.bandcamp.com/
squidhands
Member
Damn, I am loving this. Getting some good Clash vibes!I had a pretty good time with the Joanna Gruesome album, might have to give this Martha a shot.
Been rockin' out at work with the new Sam Coffey this past week:
http://samcoffeyandtheironlungs.bandcamp.com/
Saw Angel Olsen (solo) tonight. It was after a movie and was a rather short set. She was nervous for sure, partly cause it was such a weird thing. Probably also cause it was at a small movie theater in LA, and even I was sure there would be that pretentious crowd. They were cool though.
Still her songs were great and her voice beautiful. About 45 minutes actually, not too short. Afterwards she stuck around (long time) in the patio section and talked with people about anything. I talked with her a bit, got a picture, and got my record signed. She's awesome. Really humble and funny; sounds like she's done touring for a while (after coachella which I'm sure she'll be at).
Still her songs were great and her voice beautiful. About 45 minutes actually, not too short. Afterwards she stuck around (long time) in the patio section and talked with people about anything. I talked with her a bit, got a picture, and got my record signed. She's awesome. Really humble and funny; sounds like she's done touring for a while (after coachella which I'm sure she'll be at).
desertsession
Member
Am I allowed to show my own band?
FUCK YEA.
chris121580
Member
Not sure if there has been much talk around here about the Strand of Oaks album but it's so damn good! Woke up to the Light is one of the best songs of the year. I was afraid the album was just your typical singer/songwriter album but I was way off. All the songs sound very full and layered
I wanted to post this somewhere. Kill for Love is one of my favorite albums of the last 5 years. Not a huge fan of the cover though.
Yeah :lol an apple in fog. Cool?I wanted to post this somewhere. Kill for Love is one of my favorite albums of the last 5 years. Not a huge fan of the cover though.
Still, I'm so excited. Even the recent random stuff Johnny Jewel has been posting to his soundcloud recently has been fantastic. Can't wait!
The entire label had been totally silent for months, even their site went off the grid (though they have cool new blog http://italiansdoitbetter.com/) so this makes me happy.
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
Yeah, Johnny needs a producer who will reign his shit in a little. Everything he's been involved with over the last few years is bloated to the point that it damages the end product.
I'd say Kill for Love is very very good despite being overlong, but the density ends up working for it. I like it better than Night Drive. haven't listened to the Miller-without-Jewel Chromatics records though, imagine they sound pretty different.
Symmetry records, on the other hand, are certifiably too fucking long. I never checked out The Messenger because Themes' two hours did not provide enough enjoyment for that run time.
edit: huh, I only ever knew about the 90whatever track version of Messenger. the 12 track version looks manageable. maybe sometime. Oh and I really like the album cover for Dear Tommy.
What'd you think of Cleo? I was curious, did she choose that to screen before her set? It's a great movie
And yeah cinefamily crowds are generally cool in my experience. Music performance there has gotta be weird but hey.
Symmetry records, on the other hand, are certifiably too fucking long. I never checked out The Messenger because Themes' two hours did not provide enough enjoyment for that run time.
edit: huh, I only ever knew about the 90whatever track version of Messenger. the 12 track version looks manageable. maybe sometime. Oh and I really like the album cover for Dear Tommy.
What'd you think of Cleo? I was curious, did she choose that to screen before her set? It's a great movie
And yeah cinefamily crowds are generally cool in my experience. Music performance there has gotta be weird but hey.
Would have been much better as an EP.
I know there's a best of topic... but I wanna just lay out my favs in here to get it in writing and think about it more....
-Against Me!'s "Transgender Dysphoria Blues"
-Hard Girls' "A Thousand Surfaces"
-Parquet Courts' "Sunbathing Animal"
-Parkay Quarts' "Content Nausea"
-Mac Demarco's "Salad Days" (umm I just briefly browsed the Record of the Year topic and don't remember seeing this mentioned at all! Probably my #1....)
-Joyce Manor's "Never Hungover Again"
-Diners' "Always Room"
-Frankie Cosmos' "Zentropy"
-Cloud Nothings' "Here and Nowhere Else"
-Cayetana's "Nervous Like Me"
-Against Me!'s "Transgender Dysphoria Blues"
-Hard Girls' "A Thousand Surfaces"
-Parquet Courts' "Sunbathing Animal"
-Parkay Quarts' "Content Nausea"
-Mac Demarco's "Salad Days" (umm I just briefly browsed the Record of the Year topic and don't remember seeing this mentioned at all! Probably my #1....)
-Joyce Manor's "Never Hungover Again"
-Diners' "Always Room"
-Frankie Cosmos' "Zentropy"
-Cloud Nothings' "Here and Nowhere Else"
-Cayetana's "Nervous Like Me"
Yeah, surprised to not see Salad Days in there (though maybe I missed it somewhere). Definitely will be on my list.
More than one person has that in their list.
Ah well there you go.
I blame my iPhone 5 running like shit recently. That topic has like a million album covers so the page jumps all over the place when loading on mobile.
I don't think I've seen Warpaint in any lists yet. If I remember right it was fairly popular early on in the year, was it just forgettable for most?
I admit over the last couple of months I nearly forgot about it, but going through the 2014 albums I listened to this year I still really enjoy listening to it.
It probably helps that I spent a lot of time listening to it at the beginning of the year while walking my dog(who was put down a few months ago).
I haven't seen much, if any, Perfect Pussy listed in the AOTY thread either.
I admit over the last couple of months I nearly forgot about it, but going through the 2014 albums I listened to this year I still really enjoy listening to it.
It probably helps that I spent a lot of time listening to it at the beginning of the year while walking my dog(who was put down a few months ago).
I haven't seen much, if any, Perfect Pussy listed in the AOTY thread either.
Aw man, sorry to hear about your dog. Those kind of things can really create an emotional bond with music. I personally thought the album was okay, but not for my list. Saw them live twice during the summer which was also pretty good but again not so much list material. They're just there and it's nice, but that's it for me I guess.
Never got into Perfect Pussy despite liking garage type music in general. Let me try to make a longlist of albums I'm considering for my final 20. I think the oldest one being Damien Jurado, which leaked in late 2013 iirc. And a quick tip for those having trouble remembering all the records, make a smart playlist in iTunes (if you use that) and sort them by year. But I'm still listening to it. Anyways, here goes in alphabetical order:
1. Alvvays - Alvvays (thanks again Farid, I actually got into it at the Rough Trade store listening to it without knowing anything except your hype
)
2. The Antlers - Familiars
3. Aphex Twin - Syro
4. Ariel Pink - Pom Pom
5. Avi Buffalo - At Best Cuckold
6. Beck - Morning Phase
7. Big Ups - Eighteen Hours of Static
8. Cheatahs - Cheatahs
9. Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
10. Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun
11. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
12. The Doppelgangaz - Peace Kehd
13. Eagulls - Eagulls
14. Future Islands - Singles
15. Hallo Venray - Show
16. The Horrors - Luminous
17. Iceage - Plowing Into the Field of Love
18. Interpol - El Pintor
19. Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
20. Moss - We Both Know the Rest is Noise
21. The Notwist - Close to the Glass
22. Ought - More Than Any Other Day
23. Parkay Quarts - Content Nausea
24. Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
25. Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Light
26. Real Estate - Atlas
27. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
28. Spoon - They Want My Soul
29. Thurston Moore - The Best Day
30. Todd Terje - It's Album Time
31. together PANGEA - Badillac
32. TV On the Radio - Seeds
33. Ty Segall - Manipulator
34. Typhoon - Lobi Da Basi
35. Wand - Ganglion Reef
36. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
Even with this list I'm already ignoring some albums I've also enjoyed. I bolded two Dutch albums in there from bands who sing in English and are not known outside the country. But they're more than worthy of checking out.
By the way, I see some pretty cool lists pass by from people who never post in this thread. We need to advertise this thread
Never got into Perfect Pussy despite liking garage type music in general. Let me try to make a longlist of albums I'm considering for my final 20. I think the oldest one being Damien Jurado, which leaked in late 2013 iirc. And a quick tip for those having trouble remembering all the records, make a smart playlist in iTunes (if you use that) and sort them by year. But I'm still listening to it. Anyways, here goes in alphabetical order:
1. Alvvays - Alvvays (thanks again Farid, I actually got into it at the Rough Trade store listening to it without knowing anything except your hype
)2. The Antlers - Familiars
3. Aphex Twin - Syro
4. Ariel Pink - Pom Pom
5. Avi Buffalo - At Best Cuckold
6. Beck - Morning Phase
7. Big Ups - Eighteen Hours of Static
8. Cheatahs - Cheatahs
9. Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
10. Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun
11. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
12. The Doppelgangaz - Peace Kehd
13. Eagulls - Eagulls
14. Future Islands - Singles
15. Hallo Venray - Show
16. The Horrors - Luminous
17. Iceage - Plowing Into the Field of Love
18. Interpol - El Pintor
19. Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
20. Moss - We Both Know the Rest is Noise
21. The Notwist - Close to the Glass
22. Ought - More Than Any Other Day
23. Parkay Quarts - Content Nausea
24. Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
25. Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Light
26. Real Estate - Atlas
27. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
28. Spoon - They Want My Soul
29. Thurston Moore - The Best Day
30. Todd Terje - It's Album Time
31. together PANGEA - Badillac
32. TV On the Radio - Seeds
33. Ty Segall - Manipulator
34. Typhoon - Lobi Da Basi
35. Wand - Ganglion Reef
36. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
Even with this list I'm already ignoring some albums I've also enjoyed. I bolded two Dutch albums in there from bands who sing in English and are not known outside the country. But they're more than worthy of checking out.
By the way, I see some pretty cool lists pass by from people who never post in this thread. We need to advertise this thread
I'm waiting on lists still. need to catch up on a little more and check in on some stuff I adored but haven't played in a couple months.
I remember it, again just a case of not liking it much. and I LOVED The Fool. Loved it an unhealthy amount. Probably top 3 for 2010. But this year's s/t didn't work for me much at all, no matter how hard I tried.
(sorry about yr dog )
I remember it, again just a case of not liking it much. and I LOVED The Fool. Loved it an unhealthy amount. Probably top 3 for 2010. But this year's s/t didn't work for me much at all, no matter how hard I tried.
(sorry about yr dog
)I was gonna write my thoughts on Cleo in the movie thread when I get to a comp, but I've been busy. I loved it though. It was before and she had chosen it (I believe). She talked about it a bit after and played her songs. Definitely seemed like she was nervous given the situation and winged it as far as song selection. She mentioned she never played for a crowd that had been sedated like we were lol. It worked really well though, I had a great time.
Yeah. I've only tried looking at that thread on my phone and it's a no go definitely.
equippedwithtowel
Member
I better see Ought high up the final list Linus. We've got to stick together.
you too Lam
I might have Typical System over it
mixomatosys
Member
not sure if this is frowned upon in this thread, but i'd like to share my band's brand new album. we're called currents and we're a three-piece out of boston that play a sort of indie/mathy/rock style. i figured it would fit in with this thread..
we've spent the last year writing/recording for this. we finally released it yesterday and the album is available for free to both download and stream on our bandcamp page. it's called Mondegreen.
https://currentsma.bandcamp.com/
here's the album cover.
we've spent the last year writing/recording for this. we finally released it yesterday and the album is available for free to both download and stream on our bandcamp page. it's called Mondegreen.
https://currentsma.bandcamp.com/
here's the album cover.
Nice stuff. Really like the instrumentals, but I'm not too hot on the vocals. But then again I dislike 90% of vocals, so my opinion might not be the best =P
It will. So will.
And I'll make a live list too, just so I can promote Ought some more.
2 parts velvet underground, 2 parts talking heads, 1 part violent femmes and 1 part parquet courts. blend, top with your choice of constellation records post-rock band. sit back and listen to 7 minute songs centered around funky locked grooves
I was actually gonna say earlier that I've come to think Total Control > MTAOD too, so i'm with you. It's not as good as that would actually sound lol. just the bands that popped into my head. Neither total control nor MTAOD will be in my top 5 though, I don't think. maybe top 10.
Anybody listened to Tonstartssbandht? I remember dirty beaches talked em up a bunch and soon after it felt like I was seeing them everywhere, gonna finally try them out with Overseas.
Anybody listened to Tonstartssbandht? I remember dirty beaches talked em up a bunch and soon after it felt like I was seeing them everywhere, gonna finally try them out with Overseas.
equippedwithtowel
Member
Total Control's album was great. It's definitely making my list as well.
Just at the opposite end from Ought
Why did I discover The Hotelier's 'Home, Like Noplace Is There' so damn late? This is straight up in my alley. I've seen the cover pass by on other boards multiple times this year, but never got round to giving it a listen. Now I saw it in multiple top list albums of 2014 so I had to try it out. Awesome awesome album.
Dendron is one of my favorite tracks this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m732_djEIlA
Dendron is one of my favorite tracks this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m732_djEIlA
Stairouais
Member
If you guys like Mac Demarco, you should listen to Peter Sagal solo project Homeshake. (MDM guitarist before being replaced by Andy from Tonstartssbandht)
Even smoother than the smoothest MDM jams.
Even smoother than the smoothest MDM jams.
Damn, I love this. Thank you! Definitely a bit of a Mac vibe at times, but a lot of this is even more laid back. Great stuff.If you guys like Mac Demarco, you should listen to Peter Sagal solo project Homeshake. (MDM guitarist before being replaced by Andy from Tonstartssbandht)
Even smoother than the smoothest MDM jams.
edit: wait I remember seeing this guy playing with Mac. Why was he replaced?? He was good.
chris121580
Member
I really wanted to like it but I just can't get past the vocals. Kind of in the same realm for me as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
He wasn't replaced, it's because of his solo adventure that he left Mac's band. But the new guitarist Andy is pretty tight too. His introduction video was awesome.
Oh okay, lmao cool.