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 a (kind of) new album from punk legends Descendents, the return of Darkside, and new tracks from Porches and Illuminati Hotties. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.
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Descendents – 9th & Walnut
The new album from legendary punk outfit Descendents isn’t actually new. In fact, it’s actually older than any Descendents release ever, with songs written during the band’s first-ever practices in the late 1970’s. It took more than 40 years for the songs to get the attention they deserve, and 9th & Walnut finally presents fans with what the band considers to be their lost album. “It sounds cheesy,” drummer Stevenson admitted to me in a recent interview. “I’m always suspicious when movies have a prequel. I feel like they made it up. I feel like it wasn’t really supposed to be that way. I hope people don’t think that about us, like Star Wars one through three.” But as with most things Descendents, 9th & Walnut brings with it a sense of unabashed earnestness that enables this exercise in preservation to fit in perfectly with the rest of the band’s lengthy catalogue. All told, the album delivers a feat that most other bands would struggle to accomplish, let alone a band that’s been playing together nearly 40 years.
Darkside – Spiral
Almost a decade after they first came together, Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington are back for more music under the Darkside moniker. Spiral certainly delivers on the anticipation, making for a welcome new entry in the Darkside catalogue, but one that doesn’t stray too far from what fans came to know and love from 2013’s Psychic.
Jhariah – A Beginner’s Guide To Faking Your Own Death EP
It only takes a few minutes of A Bigger’s Guide To Faking Your Own Death, the new EP from Bronx-based singer-songwriter Jhariah, for you to realize that the project is going to be quite unlike anything you’ve heard before. Boasting theatrical production and massive arrangements featuring strings, horns, keys, and more, the EP is a masterclass in musical excess that finds each track building a world unto itself before quickly tearing it down and moving onto the next one.
Big Red Machine – “Phoenix” (ft. Fleet Foxes & Anaïs Mitchell)
With the new album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? due next month, Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon have already started to showcase some of the exceptional special guests they gathered for the project. The latest sampling comes in the form of “Phoenix,” which features appearances from Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell. The soaring new track track is “what I always imagined Big Red Machine would sound like,” Dessner revealed in a statement.
Porches – “Okay”
Porches — aka New York singer-songwriter Aaron Maine — is nothing if not prolific. Barely a year after the release of his last album Ricky Music, Maine is back with a brand new effort, his fifth full-length studio album entitled All Day Gentle Hold !. The new LP is previewed by “Okay,” which is “an upbeat tune with an opening guitar line that frankly reminds me a whole lot of Akron/Family’s ‘Running, Returning,'” writes Rachel Brodsky for Uproxx.
Illuminati Hotties – “Uvvp” (ft. Buck Meek)
With a brand new Illuminati Hotties album due out this fall, Sarah Tudzin has been steadily releasing new music to build anticipation. “Uvvp” is the latest offering from Let Me Do One More, which Rachel Brodsky calls for Uproxx “a warm weather-appropriate, beachy single”, featuring an impressive guest spot from Big Thief guitarist (and gifted solo artist!) Buck Meek.
The Linda Lindas – “Oh!”
You might remember The Linda Lindas from their viral performance of “Racist, Sexist Boy” at the LA Public Library earlier this year. Now, the quartet is back with “Oh!,” a brand new track that’s what Rachel Brodsky calls for Uproxx “a no-holds-barred banger, all tight distorted guitars and chantable lyrics reminiscent of Bikini Kill.”
Avery Springer – “Bored Man With A Knife”
Retirement Party leader Avery Springer has been releasing a string of solo music over the last year, featuring mostly sparse arrangements to allow her impressive lyrical flow to take center stage. On “Bored Man With A Knife,” however, Springer teamed up with producer Ryan Hemsworth (Quarter-Life Crisis) to experiment with some electronics and vocal modulation. The resulting track starts the Chicago singer-songwriter on a completely new road, but one with quite a bit of runway and room for exciting growth.
Indigo De Souza – “Hold U”
After recently re-issuing her 2018 debut with Saddle Creek, Indigo De Souza is now preparing to release a brand new album in partnership with the storied indie label. “Hold U” is the second sampling of the forthcoming LP, Any Shape You Take, which Caitlin White calls for Uproxx “a song about holding space for loved ones to express themselves.”
Calicoco – “Heal Me”
Calicoco’s new song “Heal Me” is built upon a building cacophony of off-kilter riffs that immediately give the sense of discomfort, before Giana Caliolo shrieks “give me a labotomy!” The single is the first preview of Calicoco’s forthcoming sophomore album Underneath, which is due in September.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
