Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.
Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week, we got new music from Anxious, Youth Lagoon, Hurray For The Riff Raff, and more.
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Youth Lagoon — Rarely Do I Dream
Trevor Powers revived Youth Lagoon for one of the most disarmingly gorgeous records of 2023, Heaven Is A Junkyard. Just two years later, he’s already back with another disarmingly gorgeous record, Rarely Do I Dream. Whereas most Youth Lagoon albums orbit around Powers’ spectral piano chords, Rarely Do I Dream grounds itself in heavier textures, from the chugging guitars of opener “Neighborhood Scene” to the sawtooth lead in “Speed Freak.” Still, there’s beauty littered throughout, such as the interspersed audio of home video snippets, tying into Youth Lagoon’s legacy as a project fixated on the desolate corners of America and the stories waiting to be told within them.
Set Dressing — “Class Valedictorian”
One of the best albums of 2023 was Mandy, Indiana’s industrial opus I’ve Seen A Way. With its foreboding atmospherics and churning electronic drums, the French-English group cemented themselves as new noise-rock royalty. With Set Dressing, a side project from the band’s Scott Fair, the cacophony of Mandy, Indiana is traded in for tonal ambiance on debut single “Class Valedictorian.” Ethereal synths rise and fall like leaves caught in a gentle wind. It may be a side project, but Set Dressing’s first single hints at so much more.
Anxious — Bambi
2022’s Little Green House was one of the best emo albums of its year, and it placed Anxious at the vanguard of the most promising pop-rock bands to emerge in recent years. Call it a level up; call it an expansion of their sound; call it their growing up. Their second album, Bambi, could understandably be the recipient of any of those titles. More than anything, though, the Connecticut five-piece leans into the hooks harder than ever. Equally drawing from Bleed American, Where You Want To Be, and Blink-182’s untitled record, Bambi boasts nothing but bangers.
Porridge Radio — The Machine Starts To Sing
Every Bad occupies a unique space in the indie-rock fabric of 2020: Porridge Radio broke through to an audience forced to stay at home. While they’ve continued putting out immaculate records, the Brighton post-punk group have ultimately chosen to call it quits. Before officially breaking up, however, they’ve given us one more EP. The Machine Starts To Sing, composed of four outtakes from last year’s Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me, plays like something of an elegy. Although it feels appropriately mournful in tone, slow-paced and melancholic, Porridge Radio refuses to go out like a dud. The Machine Starts To Sing is the epitaph of a band that’ll be painfully missed.
Wishy — “Fly”
The indie-rock landscape is oversaturated with buzzy, fuzzily melodic groups mining ’90s groups like My Bloody Valentine and The Sundays. Many fall short, failing to evince a shred of originality. Then again, many of those bands aren’t Wishy. The Indiana dream-pop outfit, led by songwriting duo Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites, proved their mettle with last year’s Triple Seven, their full-length debut. While on their victory lap, Wishy transports us to Planet Popstar, their forthcoming EP and pink puffball Kirby’s home planet. Lead single “Fly,” fittingly, shows them soaring. Hazy vocal harmonies, loping hand percussion, and feather-light acoustic guitars tie everything together. Even when they’re gliding above it all, Wishy sounds completely at ease.
Big Girl — “DIY God”
The nouveau pop stars are all theater kids. Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Olivia Rodrigo employ histrionics to elevate the sense of drama within their music. But what if punk rock also got a little theatrical? Kaitlin Pelkey, the songwriter/bandleader of Big Girl, is known for her live antics, which includes energetic backup dancers and Karen O-style beer showers. After all, she’s a DIY god, as the band’s new single proclaims. Featuring production from indie legend Justin Pizzoferrato and guitarist Crispin Swank, “DIY God” showcases an exciting new artist with pop-minded melodies, a punk ethos, and, of course, a theatrical flair.
Pictoria Vark — “Make Me A Sword”
Victoria Park, otherwise known as Pictoria Vark, began writing her second album in a similar fashion to how she approached her first: on the bass guitar. Although both Nothing Sticks and its predecessor, The Parts I Dread, begin with the same foundation, the end results are wildly different. Her debut began and ended in tracking all the parts on a laptop, but the forthcoming Nothing Sticks gets the proper studio treatment. It lives up to its bigger-better-sequel billing, her songs now expanded to suit a more extensive scope. “Make Me A Sword,” which accompanies the album announcement, starts with a sauntering bass line that slowly morphs into a fuller sound: power chords, wide-open hi-hats, wiry guitar melodies. On “Make Me A Sword,” Park’s clever songwriting takes center stage, not as one of the few cast members, but as the star of the show.
Hurray For The Riff Raff — “Pyramid Scheme”
There are many characters with a cameo in “Pyramid Scheme,” a new, one-off single from Hurray For The Riff Raff. Billy The Kid, Calamity Jane, Darby Crash, and Frida Kahlo all make appearances, but the song, of course, belongs to no one other than Alynda Segarra, the person behind the project. Fresh off the release of their excellent eighth album, The Past Is Still Alive, Segarra imbues their latest tune with that record’s iconoclastic identity, vagabond spirit, and Americana timbre.
Perfume Genius — “No Front Teeth”
For Perfume Genius’ latest single, Mike Hadreas assembles an Avengers-style cast of indie musicians. There’s producer Blake Mills, guitarist Meg Duffy (AKA Hand Habits), and guest vocalist Aldous Harding. Hadreas’ and Harding’s voices make for a pairing so perfect it’s hard to imagine how this collaboration hasn’t happened until now. Shortly after Harding’s gossamer voice enters the fold, the guitars break out into a frenzy, followed by a thwacking drum beat with rim shots and all. Glory, the next Perfume Genius album, is shaping up to be glorious indeed.
Rico Nasty — “Teethsucker (Yea3x)”
Rage rap is all the rage right now. From Playboi Carti to Ken Carson, high-octane trap beats and rumbling 808s dominate the zeitgeist. Although Rico Nasty has been a fixture of the subgenre, she has also incorporated elements of digicore, bubblegum, and alt-rock to leaven the heaviness in her music. The forthcoming Lethal, her third album, is her most moshpit-friendly work yet, but that punkish ethos coexists alongside earnest reflections on motherhood, public perception, and self-consciousness. “Teethsucker (Yea3x),” its lead single, is an early-album summation of Lethal: adrenalized flows partly rapped and partly screamed; downtuned, distorted guitars; seismic, Earth-shattering drums. She may be wrestling with the idea of Rico Nasty the character, but the rapper is not a monolith. “Teethsucker (Yea3x)” marks her reinvention.
