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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Johnny Marr – “The Messenger” (2013)
Other than this first sentence, I’d like everyone to note how I never bring up The Smiths anywhere in this little review of The Messenger. Well, people will be pleased to hear the whole album is done in Johnny Marr’s distinctive playing style. This sounds like an album that could have been released in the… (read more)
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Prolapse – “Pointless Walks to Dismal Places” (1994)
Pointless Walks to Dismal Places is an interesting blend of ’80s C86 indie rock and post-punk with dashes of ’90s post-hardcore and noise rock. Throw in some other early ’90s indie signifiers like shoegaze and the sometimes twee-esque vocals of Linda Steelyard, and you have a true smorgasbord of underground rock at the time. Mick… (read more)
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Broadcast – “The Book Lovers EP”
Pretty wonderful, even if the songs on ‘The Book Lovers EP’ are fairly interchangeable. Broadcast would develop more of their own style over time. (read more)
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The Cardigans – “First Band on the Moon”
The Cardigans have an impeccable style inspired by ’50s lounge pop, but the incredible singles from ‘First Band on the Moon’ land every other song on the dark side of the moon. (read more)
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Red House Painters – “Down Colorful Hill”
Down Colorful Hill was the first slowcore album I ever heard, I’m pretty sure, and Red House Painters remain the best slowcore band. Kozelek’s evocative lyricism aside, Red House Painters were one of the only major slowcore bands to not view depression as synonymous with laziness, or at least they didn’t view their music that… (read more)
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Grizzly Bear – “Shields”
No Grizzly Bear album is well-rounded, but Shields comes closest. For the first time, its sonic peaks are worth traversing an album for, especially since they’re tactfully spread out. (read more)
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Broadcast – “Pendulum”
I’d call the ‘Pendulum’ EP inessential, but that’d be a lie, because with the short career of Broadcast, nothing is truly inessential. (read more)
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Stereolab – “Margerine Eclipse” (2004)
Margerine Eclipse is one of Stereolab’s best albums and possibly my second-favorite right behind Sound-Dust. Stereolab play off their strengths by making an album full of great retro, space-age pop songs, avoiding lengthy repetition. The end result is a relaxing journey that’s just about perfectly paced, if only a little bit long when it comes… (read more)
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Interpol – “Turn On the Bright Lights”
I just want to chime in and say Turn On the Bright Lights sounds almost nothing like Joy Division, other than possibly Paul Banks’s freak-out vocal delivery at some parts, and a comparison that simple can find a parallel with other vocalists even before the time of Ian Curtis throughout the earliest new wave movement. Joy Division’s guitars… (read more)
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The xx – “Coexist” (2012)
Come on, did The xx run out of album covers already? Anyway, Coexist isn’t much of a departure from their first album—I don’t know how you could have expected it to be. Likewise, it’s just as inoffensive, overly self-conscious indie-pandering with token “chill” minimalist beats and lyrics about Sad Things that express genuine emotion just… (read more)