Indie Rock
Switchfoot Cover Frank Ocean, Vampire Weekend, Harry Styles, and More on New EP
In addition to writing new music, artists have been spending plenty of their quarantine time covering songs they hold dear. We’ve seen James Blake take on Joni Mitchell, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo put his spin on Nirvana, and Incubus’ Brandon Boyd take a crack at Beach House. Switchfoot, the alt-rock outfit best known for that one 2004 Christian chart-topper, are also following suit with a new covers EP, though it features some very unexpected selections. Simply titled Covers, the upcoming effort sees Switchfoot branching out beyond their religious rock to reimagine originals by Frank Ocean (“Swim Good”), Vampire Weekend (“Harmony Hall”), and Harry Styles (“Lights Up”). There are also renditions of “Lucky Man” by The Verve and “Sick Boy” by The Chainsmokers. In a statement about the EP’s v...
beabadoobee and Jay Som Join No Rome on New Single “Hurry Home”: Stream
Two years ago, No Rome scored a hit with “Narcissist”, a single featuring The 1975. The London-based songwriter and producer is now releasing another guest-heavy track in “Hurry Home”, which boasts assists from fellow Filipino artists beabadoobee and Jay Som. On the new collaboration, the three young talents take turns airing out their frustrations over a relationship that’s barely hanging on by a thread. “You’ve been running around my mind for a couple of weeks/ Guess that’s why it’s hard for me to fall asleep,” beabadoobee opens, while Jay Som’s later verse sees her finding “it hard to know that/ I can’t replace you yet.” An aching No Rome handles the chorus, determinedly singing, “I want to see you but it’s gonna hurt/ We got some problems but we’ll make it work.” Musically, “Hurry Home...
Crowdfunding Campaign Launched to Save Boston Venue Great Scott
Last month, Boston music venue Great Scott announced it was closing due to disagreements with the landlord. Because it’s a local institution, the public reaction was huge, with people working on multiple petitions and fundraising efforts to benefit the staff. Now, a community investment campaign has been launched by Great Scott’s booking agent, Carl Lavin, to save the beloved venue. Earlier this week, Lavin announced he’s partnering with Mainvest — an investment crowdfunding platform focused on helping local businesses — to raise money to re-open Great Scott for good, reports Vanyaland. Frank Strenk, the venue’s longtime owner, came to an agreement with Lavin to transfer the venue’s intellectual property, its liquor license, and the ability to negotiate a lease with Oak Hill Properties — t...
Ben Gibbard Shares New Single “Proxima B”, Covers Minor Threats” Filler”: Stream
Ben Gibbard may be having one of the busiest lockdowns in music. In addition to covering everyone from Radiohead to Phoebe Bridgers to The Beatles during his weekly livestreams, the Death Cab for Cutie frontman has released the charity single “Life in Quarantine”, performed the song on Colbert, and taken part in a number of charity concerts. Today, he’s back with another new track, “Proxima B”. The mid-tempo strummer was originally debuted live when Gibbard performed at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum’s virtual concert Space Songs: Through the Distance. He later played it during his from-home livestream. While both those renditions were acoustic, the studio version of “Proxima B” features complete instrumentation, contemplative synth sounds blowing gently beneath opt...
Japandroids Announce First-Ever Live Album Massey Fucking Hall
Canadian rockers Japandroids will usher in the summer season with their first-ever live album. Titled Massey Fucking Hall, it’s due out June 19th digitally and on vinyl October 2nd. The forthcoming album is named after Massey Hall, the renowned Toronto venue where it was recorded. There are 12 songs altogether, culled from the duo’s three different albums. Included are “No Known Drink or Drug” and “Arc of Bar”, off the most recent Japandroids LP, 2017’s Near to the Wild Heart of Life. There’s also “Younger Us” and “The House That Heaven Built”, a favorite off 2012’s Celebration Rock and one of the best songs of the last decade. Additionally, the band’s now-classic 2009 debut, Post-Nothing, is well-represented with singles like “Heart Sweats” and “Young Hearts Spark Fire”. “We never thought...
Yo La Tengo Unearth High Quality Version of Their “Tom Courtenay” Video: Watch
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Electr-O-Pura, the seminal seventh album from indie favorites Yo La Tengo. To honor the occasion, the band will reissue the record on double-LP for the first time this September, offering “the highest quality of audio the album has had on vinyl to date.” They’ve also unearthed a high quality version of their “Tom Courtenay” music video. Released in 1995, it’s believed the clip aired sparingly, “at least once on MTV’s 120 Minutes,” per a statement. It’s since been ripped and shared many times over online, though existing only as a low resolution visual. That is… until now: The video has been “exhumed” from label Matador’s “sub-basement storage facilities”, and for the very first time, is making its high quality premiere on YouTube. This means YLT...
Grace Sings Sludge Shares New Song “Friend to All”: Stream
Grace Sings Sludge, the solo project from Grace Cooper of The Sandwitches, has shared the new song “Friend to All”. It’s the latest single off her forthcoming album Christ Mocked and the End of a Relationship, which just received the new release date of July 17th. Christ Mocked… is her fifth album under the Grace Sings Sludge banner, but the first recorded at a proper studio. If “Friend to All” is any indication, she’s definitely benefiting from crisper production. The new single is a lovely journey into gothic folk. Over gentle, minor-key guitars, Cooper spins an anxious tale of a downtrodden woman who’s “been friends to all,” in her own way. Cooper’s singing is expansive and expressive; she loves to whittle down a vowel until it’s little more than a hum, and then flip her voice upwa...
Mark Duplass’ Band Volcano, I’m Still Excited!! Announce Deluxe Reissue of Carbon Copy EP
Back at the turn of the century, director Mark Duplass was busy playing gigs across the US in his popular indie rock band Volcano, I’m Still Excited!! Polyvinyl still considers them to be one of their “most beloved signings,” and as such they’ve decided to celebrate the band by reissuing their debut EP, Carbon Copy, on vinyl for the first time ever. Featuring singer-keyboardist Duplass, guitarist Byron Westbrook, and drummer John Thomas Robinette III, Volcano, I’m Still Excited!! released Carbon Copy on a small run of CDs back in 2002. Since then, the long out-of-print disc has been tough to track down, especially compared to the availability of the band’s sole full-length, 2004’s self-titled LP. That’s because the group only signed with Polyvinyl after meeting the team in Illinois wh...
Waxahatchee to Play Entire Catalog During Weekly Livestreams
Live music may not return until next year, but for the safety and longevity of music it’s probably for the best. On the bright side, it’s also the reason why everyone will get the chance to see Waxahatchee play her entire five-album discography next month. Today, Katie Crutchfield has announced a new livestream series where she will perform a different record in full each Monday in June. Crutchfield, the singer-songwriter behind the Waxahatchee moniker, plans to dig through her catalog in chronological order over the course of the next month. Starting on June 1st, she will play her debut solo album, American Weekend. Following that on June 8th, she will revisit her breakthrough sophomore record Cerulean Salt from 2013. June 15th will see her play 2015’s critically lauded Ivy Tripp, with a ...
Bright Eyes Share New Song “One and Done” Featuring Flea on Bass: Stream
A release date for Bright Eyes’ new comeback album still hasn’t been set, but that has stopped Conor Oberst and co. from teasing their fans with new music. Following “Persona Non Grata” and “Forced Convalescence”, the reunited outfit is now sharing “One and Done”, and single that once again features cameos from members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queens of the Stone Age. Similar to last month’s “Forced Convalescence”, today’s offering sees RHCP’s Flea on bass and additional percussion courtesy of QOTSA drummer Jon Theodore. Also like the preceding single, Oberst can be heard ruminating on the current state of the world — specifically the bleakness of its collapse and final days. “This whole town looks empty but we knew it wouldn’t last/ Behind b...
10 Matty Healy Lyrics Every 1975 Fan Knows by Heart
The lights go out, but suddenly everyone starts screaming. From the fog, a neon rectangle — or black and white depending on the era — lowers down and illuminates the stage. Screaming is still happening, of course, until you hear the infamous lines: “go down, soft sound.” Over the past seven years, for the hundreds, maybe thousands of shows they’ve played, The 1975 begins each set in the same exhilarating manner. But for longtime fans, the theatrics are no longer just a spectacle: they’re a routine. This is The 1975 live show experience. Whether it be their 2013 teenage angst-ridden debut, their ‘80s pop sophomore LP, or the more recent culture critique within their third album, The 1975’s live shows are essentially exhibitions, or better yet, manifestations of the general motifs and themes...
HAIM Perform “Don’t Wanna” from Quarantine on Corden: Watch
HAIM Zoomed into The Late Late Show on Thursday night to have a chat with James Corden and perform their new single, “Don’t Wanna”. After awkwardly fawning over the siblings while staring at both his computer and his cellphone, Corden asked the trio who was the worst at handling isolation. Este admitted it was probably her, as she’s gone a little crazy “during Quar.” (And we all shudder together at the “hip” abbreviation.) Apparently, she’s turned a pair of exercise balls into Cast Away-like friends named Ilana and Dunkiel, complete with wigs. Once the brief interview was over, HAIM sat crosslegged on their respective floors or beds to deliever their-first ever performance of “Don’t Wanna”. Much like they did when they played “I Know Alone” on Colbert last month, they e...
