Shoegaze, dark industrial rock, DIY folk-pop and a little electronic detour.
Thursday’s Radar is moving all over the place in the best way possible.
There’s a huge wash of shoegaze out of Atlanta, something darker and heavier from LA, a scrappy punk love song, a little Americana for the rocking chair, and one very moody electronic album to close things out.
Here’s what caught our ears this week.
Whisper Dish – ‘Ordinary Life’
‘Ordinary Life’ is charming as hell, full of fuzzy indie-rock warmth and the homespun character that makes Whisper Dish so easy to get around. What began as Tim McNaughton’s DIY recording project continues to grow without losing that handmade feel.
Vernal Joy – ‘Somewhere Else’
A gem of a folk-pop track with a lovely DIY backbone. Sagi Malka writes, produces and records the project himself, and ‘Somewhere Else’ has that personal, slightly cinematic quality you only really get when one person is steering the whole thing.
Mirror Move – ‘Lavender Town’
A drop of shoegaze for your Thursday, with the reverb dialled all the way up. ‘Lavender Town’ is the first taste of Mirror Move’s forthcoming four-track EP, completed by Andrew Ross in memory of his late bandmate Allen McCleese.
Glass Alters – ‘My Eyes Darken’
There’s a bit of a Nick Cave pull to this one, but Glass Alters drag it somewhere heavier and more industrial. Distortion, noise and a seriously dark atmosphere make ‘My Eyes Darken’ an easy yes.
Moped Mafia – ‘Built For Speed’
‘Built For Speed’ comes ripping in with plenty of independent punk-rock energy and a fun throwback streak. Underneath all that speed, though, it’s basically a dope little love song.
SOVEREN – HALYCON
A smooth drop of R&B, electronic production, easy beats and seriously nice vocals from Gold Coast artist SOVEREN. HALYCON is a total mood and, as he puts it himself, “Music is better heard than explained” — sage advice, so best to just hit play.
Dear Buffalo – ‘Souls Journey’
Reflective, warm and beautifully unhurried, ‘Souls Journey’ pulls from Americana, gospel, blues and country. The sort of song that could happily soundtrack an afternoon spent doing absolutely nothing on an old rocking chair.
Chuck New Indie Music: Happy’s Mixtape a follow. Updated every week with emerging indie, rock and alt artists picked by Happy Mag.
