Always busy and rarely settling down, Black Honey have taken an incremental approach to build their portfolio and, thus, their popularity. Instead of releasing full-length albums, they’ve given music fans bite-size morsels in the form of numerous singles and a handful of singles (and it’s approach replicated by other bands like YONAKA). Consequently, the Brighton-based quartet have enough material to […]

Lingering Pt. II by Sleep Party People Fifteen months ago, Brian Batz – the multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and songwriter behind Sleep Party People – took us through the rabbit hole and into a world of unearthly psychedelic dream-pop with Lingering. The album, which was one of the year’s most outstanding records, was an extraordinary experience into the cosmos and a journey […]

Twisted Crystal by Guerilla Toss Since their formation in 2010, Guerilla Toss have always been unconventional and never boring. Their forays into dance-punk even defied categorization since the quintet would unveil a surprising guitar riff or punch a wicked dance beat like an unexpected Mike Tyson uppercut. If their previous five albums didn’t push the experimental boundaries enough for some, […]

Over three records, Slothrust have created a sound that is undeniably powerful. From front woman Leah Wellbaum’s witty, relatable lyrics that dabble in the surreal to her killer guitar licks to the most solid rhythm section in music – drummer Will Gorin and bassist Kyle Bann – Slothrust are an absolute force of nature. Since their 2016 record, Everyone Else, […]

Emma Ruth Rundle‘s last album, Marked for Death, was a sonic and emotional catharsis that continues to tremble walls and souls. It is Rundle’s masterpiece and one of the great records of not just 2016 but this decade. Trying to follow up a generational LP is a challenging endeavor that many before have fallen short, but Rundle, with the assistance […]

Hyper Super Mega by The Holydrug Couple A decade since their formation, The Holydrug Couple continue to push psychedelic-pop to the extremes. Ives Sepúlveda Minho and Manuel Parra’s first two albums, Awe and Noctuary, were laid-back, summertime efforts. Meanwhile, Soundtrack for Pantanal was cosmic in its scope, and it displayed the Santiago-based duo’s ability to make the hazy dazzling. For their […]

Last year, avant-pop outfit Ava Luna made our list of Most Anticipated Albums of 2018. With their back catalog of diverse tracks across multiple LPs, the Brooklyn-based quintet were poised to create something great and boundary pushing. Their latest record, Moon 2, exceeds expectations, and it is one of the year’s most unique and captivating records. Moon 2 starts out with […]

 Thirty-six years ago, Jason Pierce co-launched Spacemen 3, introducing the world to his and Peter Kember’s cosmic vision of neo-psychedelia and psych-rock. Since that time, he’s been known as J. Spaceman, which he took to a different orbit in 1990 with Spiritualized. Seven largely imaginative albums followed, ranging from the space rock of Lazer Guided Melodies to the more […]

Kingdoms In Colour by Maribou State For the better part of their seven years together, Chris Davids and Liam Ivory have taken their Maribou State project to nearly every corner of the globe. From playing lavish events in Ibiza to DJ’ing in intimate clubs in India and New Zealand, they have gradually established a reputation as one of electronic music’s […]

Marlon Rabenreither is a throwback to the days when songwriting was entrenched as a celebrated art form. The music he crafts under the moniker Gold Star is in a word – timeless. His first two albums, Dark Days and Big Blue, captured the energy and spirit of the late ’60s and ’70s when rock ‘n roll and folk-rock were at […]

A year ago, Juanita Stein released her debut solo album, America, which showcased a vastly different side from her days fronting the underappreciated indie-rock band Howling Bells. Instead of catchy and booming numbers, the record was complex and mystical, as Stein combined an ethereal vocal deliver with hard-hitting and occasionally unnerving stories. In addition, she brought an expected cinema and […]

Indigo by Wild Nothing Through his first three full-length albums and two EPs, Jack Tatum, through his project Wild Nothing, made effortless, lo-fi dream-pop. The records were made for intimate moments in the bedroom, whether with a friend, your partner, or alone. The Virginia Tech alumnus, however, goes hi-fi and widescreen on Indigo. If his debut Gemini and follow-up LPs, […]

When thinking about the music that comes from Russia, most English-speaking music fans will cite Pussy Riot, Pinkshinyultrablast, and Tchaikovsky. The list is pretty limited due to the lack of exposure Russian artists and bands receive abroad. Someone, however, has to be the first, and the group could be Hospital. Formed in 2011, Hospital is an indie-pop rock band that […]

Tank Town by Many Voices Speak When Matilda Mård released “Video Child” nearly two years ago under the moniker Many Voices Speak, the song marked the triumphant return of a woman and singer-songwriter who at one point lost her confidence and almost quit music entirely. After years of toiling in Stockholm’s music scene and with little success, Mård moved to Borlänge […]

When Kalmia Traver (vocals/saxophone) and Alex Toth (vocals/trumpet) founded Rubblebucket eleven years ago, they completely re-wrote the music playbook. They did everything from mixing funk, jazz, and pop to putting the marching band on the concert stage. During their time together, they forged life-long relationships with band mates Adam Dotson (trombone/backing vocals/flute/keyboards) and Ian Hersey (guitar/backing vocals) and between themselves. […]

Nobody’s Watching by Steady Holiday There are songwriters, and then there are imaginative storytellers like Dre Babinski, who is the mastermind behind Steady Holiday. She simultaneously shocked and awed on her 2016 debut album, Under the Influence, and its follow-up, 2017’s Terror EP. Despite one of the most tender voices in the business, her combination of spine-tingling atmospheres and vivid lyricism […]

Slow Air by Still Corners Through three albums spanning more than a decade, producer Greg Hughes and vocalist Tessa Murray have turned their project Still Corners into a mini-cult. Lush soundscapes, dreamy tones, and heavenly vocals have characterized every full-length, extended player, and single. They, in other words, are masters of making listeners feel like they’re traveling alone on an […]

After releasing their debut single “Ignorance“, YONAKA immediately entrenched themselves as one of the UK’s most exciting new rock bands. Like Wolf Alice, INHEAVEN, and Black Honey before them, the quartet of Theresa Jarvis (vocals), George Edwards (guitar), Alex Crosby (bass/keys), and Robert Mason (drums) were reviving the lost of art of edgy, seismic indie alternative-rock. Following the release of their […]

Whether it is sitting behind the piano, ratcheting a distorted electric guitar, or scratching a synthesizer, Mitski Miyawaki – or simply Mitski – has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to make personal vulnerability sound bold and, thus, something to not fear. Instead, as she showed on Puberty 2, she wore it like a badge of honor, revealing to the world she […]

 For the past three years, The Beths gradually established themselves as one of new bastions of New Zealand guitar-pop, standing alongside rising artists likes Fazerdaze and Kane Strang. Like their fellow Kiwis, it was only a matter of time before a top-flight indie label signed them, which occurred when Carpark Records got Elizabeth Stokes (guitar/vocals), Jonathan Pearce (guitar/vocals), Benjamin […]