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 Pom Pom Squad, MJ Lenderman, and more.
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MJ Lenderman – “She’s Leaving You”
Sports, booze, and boats are the lingua franca of MJ Lenderman, the Asheville songwriter whose country-fried, fuzzed-out tunes have helped shape indie rock in its contemporary form. As the lead guitarist of Wednesday, Lenderman adds a twang of alt-country to the band’s swirling shoegaze. After breaking through with his third solo album, 2022’s Boat Songs, he signed with Anti-, collaborated with Waxahatchee and Kevin Abstract, reissued his debut, and got back to work on his fourth, Manning Fireworks. Like Lenderman’s best songs, the single that comes with the announcement, “She’s Leaving You,” abounds with twangy, alt-country guitars, Lenderman’s reedy, emotive delivery, and even backing vocals from his romantic partner and Wednesday bandmate, Karly Hartzman. It’s a typical MJ Lenderman song, but typical Lenderman is always extraordinary.
Sinai Vessel – “Laughing”
There’s no denying that it sucks to live under capitalism, and Caleb Cordes is well aware of that. The former Nashville resident, who records stirring indie rock under the name Sinai Vessel, explores how accelerant capitalism has affected Music City, whose enormous population of nepo-babies leaves Cordes disheartened. On “Laughing,” the now Asheville-based musician marvels at how financial success is hard to find, save for those born right into it.
Meernaa – “Make It Rain”
On Carly Bond’s second album as Meernaa, So Far So Good, the Oakland-bred, Los Angeles-based session musician laced her songs of yearning with gentle, fingerpicked guitars and washes of synths. Her new one-off single, “Make It Rain,” takes a slightly twangier approach. Pairing her husky vocals with swooning pedal steel and a steady drum pattern, Bond’s first self-described “dream song” sounds perfectly dreamlike.
King Isis – “Dissonance”
Earlier this year, King Isis released their grunge-influenced EP Shed, and now she’s back with a new single, “Dissonance.” Here, the Dirty Hit signee leans further into their ‘90s alt-rock influences, albeit with punchy drums and pristine pop vocals. Like her previous work, “Dissonance” is a blend of King Isis’ various stylings, but it never sounds dissonant itself; they fuse all their reference points with skillful harmony.
Mabe Fratti – Sentir Que No Sabes
Mabe Fratti, the Mexico City-based avant garde cellist, often adorns her work with experimental flourishes, as exemplified on records like 2022’s Se Ve Desde Aquí and last year’s collaboration with Héctor Tosta, Vidrio. For her latest, Sentir Que No Sabes, each song anchors itself within the framework of pop-minded conventions. Even then, Fratti’s work remains as exploratory and otherworldly as ever, such as the Björk-meets-Kate-Bush vocalizations on closing track “Angel Nuevo” and the shrill fretwork that opens “Elastica II.”
Porches – “Itch”
Aaron Maine is practically the spokesperson for brevity. As Porches, his pristine synth-pop is invariably concise, his records moving from one idea to the next with a startling swiftness. “Itch,” the latest preview of the forthcoming Shirt, is another such exercise in succinctness. “You fucked me in the mask, I’m cured,” Maine sings in the opening stanza, grabbing your attention immediately with a strong rhythmic backbeat and discordant guitar strums.
Allegra Krieger – “Never Arriving”
Allegra Krieger is secretly among the most prolific indie musicians of the decade thus far. After 2020’s The Joys Of Forgetting, last year’s I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plane, and a smattering of EPs in between, the NYC folk songwriter has miraculously found time to make yet another album. Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine takes Krieger’s intimate songs to a new dimension with full-band arrangements, enlarging her sound without sacrificing the introspection that her work heavily draws from. Such is the case with lead single “Never Arriving,” whose wily guitar lines fit wonderfully within Krieger’s ever-expanding, yet no less personal, sonic universe.
GIFT – “Later”
The NYC psych-rock quintet GIFT have been on a streak of singular singles ahead of their second album, Illuminator: “Wish Me Away,” “Going In Circles,” and, now, “Later.” Hinging on a locked-in rhythm section in the verses, courtesy of bassist Kallan Campbell and drummer Gabe Camarano, “Later” is another showcase for GIFT’s entrancing psychedelic shoegaze. They’ve got a real gift for it.
Kim Gordon – “ECRP”
Back in March, Kim Gordon released her stellar second solo album, The Collective, a record steeped in gritty textures, dirty synth bass, and Justin Raisen’s clattering trap-inspired beats. The Sonic Youth co-founder has returned with a new one-off single, “ECRP,” drawing largely from the same noisy qualities of The Collective. To no one’s surprise, it’s another banger.
Pom Pom Squad – “Downhill”
Mia Berrin has been relatively quiet since her 2021 debut album as Pom Pom Squad, Death Of A Cheerleader. Now, Berrin is back with (seemingly) a one-off single. “Downhill” marks a stark new direction for Pom Pom Squad, replacing the grungy, ‘90s-indebted alt-rock and power-pop for a four-on-the-floor dance beat and synth-heavy arrangements. Still, Berrin’s distorted guitars are present, but this time they’re complemented by a glittering new production style.
