With about a month to go with winter, this week’s picks both look back at older releases and ahead at what we might be all listening to in the spring.
1. Silversun Pickups, Empty Nest
Physical Thrills (New Machine Recordings)
Recommended If You Like: Indie rock mixed with grunge and shoegaze
LA’s Silversun Pickups (named after a liquor store in the Silver Lake part of the city and a going concern since 2000) is still working their 2022 Butch Vig-produced album. Hey, bands love it when an album cycle can be extended this long. The third single is features bass player Nikki Monniger on lead vocals channeling her inner Kate Bush.
2. Weyes Blood, God Turn Me Into a Flower
And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Sub Pop)
RIYL: Sonic experiments
Natlai Merin has been making her version of experimental indie rock for twenty years now, releasing five albums along the way. This is the second in a trilogy of albums (part one, Titanic Rising, came out in 2019) and has received raves from everyone from The NME to the Wall Street Journal. Lovely stuff for a winter’s evening, really.
3. St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Sea Star
Angels in Science Fiction (ATO Records)
RIYL: Bluesy indie
If you like your indie with a big dollop of soul and blues, Alabama’s St. Paul & The Broken Bones might be what you need. There are tinges of Michael Kiwanuka, Rag’N’Bone Man, Gary Clark Jr., and Nathaniel Rateliff in what they do. A full album is due on April 21.
4. Gabrielle Shonk, People Pleaser
Across the Room (Arts & Crafts)
RIYL: Putting on your own oxygen mask first
It’s been five years since Quebec City-raised Gabrielle released her major label debut album. This new single starts off as a gentle, folky ballad before transforming into a fuzzed up lo-fi grunge-adjacent thing. Pay attention to the lyrics, especially if you’re the kind of person who is feels pressure to do things for other people before you do important things for yourself.
5. Narrow Head, Gearhead
Moments of Clarity (Run for Cover Records)
RIYL: Deftones, for sure.
If you’re looking for some crunch this week, you won’t do much better than Dallas-based Narrow Head, a band that’s combining poppiness and heaviness into the same package. It’s rare that you find a band who can write songs with big riffs and a singalong melody. Play this for anyone who insists that rock is dead.
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