Indie
Noah’s Barks pages relating to the indie music genre. Combine with other tags for subgenres, e.g. “indie+rock,” “indie+pop,” or “indie+electronic.”
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Sonic Youth – “Goo”
Perhaps the apex of Sonic Youth’s output, "Goo" has the band reach equilibrium with listless noise, pop hooks, and their iconic, idiosyncratic style. (read more)
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Tegan and Sara (Retrospective)
I reminisce about one of the music acts most responsible for breaking me out of my high school "classic rock" phase. (read more)
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Cloud Nothings – “Life Without Sound”
‘Life Without Sound’ is too flaccid. Even looking through the murk, there’s no killer track like "Stay Useless" or "I’m Not a Part of Me." Bummer. (read more)
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PJ Harvey – “The Hope Six Demolition Project”
Oh man, The Hope Six Demolition Project might be PJ Harvey’s worst album. Maybe excuse the “might,” possibly, (probably). It might as well be definite considering her prior record of consistently always delivering something of interest with her eclectic tastes and many ways of posturing herself. To begin with, the lyrics here are particularly bad.… (read more)
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Sleater-Kinney – “No Cities to Love” (2015)
The induction of post-punk rhythms into Sleater-Kinney’s sound makes ‘No Cities to Love’ a very hoppin’ affair, and something being more dance-y is always better. (read more)
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The Jesus and Mary Chain Retrospective
(Original publication date unknown) We all know Psychocandy, the landmark album to introduce writing songs with noise. Yeah, The Velvet Underground were one of the first to use noise feedback in their songs, but they used it in a more abrasive manner, writing songs around the noise, where The Jesus and Mary Chain (JaMC) chose to work… (read more)
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Fever to Tell” (2003)
Rebellious girl rock is such a great concept with me, so why do I have the damndest time finding any I truly can’t resist? On Fever to Tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound like X-Ray Spex with less balls. Fortunately, they use that extra space to get their groove on with some repetitive dance rhythms; but there’s never… (read more)
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TV on the Radio – “Nine Types of Light” (2011)
I love Dear Science for taking post-punk the closest to the dance floor it’s ever been, as well as just being a great update of R&B-inspired rock, but that’s not enough for me to call myself a TV on the Radio fan. Return to Cookie Mountain didn’t impress me much, so I tested my loyalty by going on to… (read more)
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Guided by Voices – “Tonics & Twisted Chasers”
Tonics & Twisted Chasers is an oft-forgotten Guided by Voices album, but it isn’t due to its quality. The album was originally a fan club-exclusive release and although it’s been reissued since, finding a copy is still difficult. It’s natural to assume that this is a collection of bland, “throwaway” songs for hardcore fans, but… (read more)
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Moscow Olympics – “Cut the World” (2008)
Cut the World is modern, jangly, dreamy, twee pop reminiscent of similar-sounding ’80s indie pop bands, particularly The Wake. Seriously! If you like this, listen to Something That No One Else Could Bring, it’s practically the same thing (but better). Though derivative, Cut the World does that scene justice. Every song is good, and what it lacks… (read more)