Weekly Shoegaze / Dreampop / Psychedelic / Indie Tips – JANUARY 2025 – #03-25
This week Shoredive Records Transmissions Episode 105 on Eardrum Buzz Radio / Slack City Episode 105 in association with Shore Dive Records and WhiteLight/WhiteHeat with tracks by 9-volt velvet, almareasm, Aiming, Blankenberge, The Colourflies, The Shallows, Velvet Sunset, bloomeffectband, Object Image, Hey Calamity, laundromatchicks etc…
Tune in:
♦ First Saturday of the month at noon, 4pm and 8pm PST on EDBZ.
♦ Every other Sunday or Monday at 8pm UK time on Slack City.
♦ Every Wednesday at 9pm UK time on Smile Radio.
PICKS OF THE WEEK:
- Athens, Greece new wave /synth-pop solo project of Stefanos Manousis, founding member of the Shoegaze-Dream pop band Sugar for The Pill, aka Yellow Red “My Little Words” single [Make Me Happy]
The solo project by Stefanos Manousis, founding member of the beloved shoegaze-dream pop band Sugar for The Pill harnesses retro yesteryear 80s Atmospheric New Wave /Synth-Pop vibes with a fresh twist. The single, about a cursed woman who compromises with evil and ends up drifting into the abyss, bounces on steady beats, oscillating bass lines, topped by hovering emotive synths, wistful insistent glittering keys and poignant twinkling guitar melodies, to enshroud in a nebulous yet scintillating dreamlike glaze, sad and angsty dreamy vocals, wafting fearfully toward intimacy and self-discovery.
- Brooklyn, NY dreamgaze /indie rock /shoegaze band PANIK FLOWER “Alkaline” first single off the sophomore EP
New York‘s dreamgaze five-piece concocts an intricate, shapeshifting guitar-driven song that ebbs and flows amongst fuzzy waves of distortion, gauzy reflective, bittersweet interludes, and urgent buzzing surging riffs, rippled with wailing and piercing leads, to echo emotional-ridden female vocals, shifting from sad and dreamy to unrestrained passion.
- Cologne, Germany indie pop band founded in 2019 by Andreas Fischer and Tobias Emmerich, Die Zärtlichkeit – “Vienna” first single off the upcoming second album “Popsongs”
After the acclaimed 2023 debut album, the Cologne four-piece announces a second album that promises to be filled with endearing “Popsongs”, which the band has long proven to be highly-accomplished crafters of. Less jangle than we are used to with a refined piano/strings Orchestral pop allure and a slightly edgier and more raw guitar work, the first excerpt, “Vienna,” uses the moon’s phases, to describe life’s constant journey, through difficult introspection, from darkness into light, wandering through bright, buzzy guitar riffs, underlaid by a brisk carpet of clapping syncopated rhythms and sinuously warm humming basslines, to ring wistfully over vibrant heartfelt vocals, swaying from melancholy to hope and finally into ecstasy.
- Hilversum, Netherlands-based goth /alt rock /dream pop Anglo–American duo Drew Campbell & Lisa Ann Swain, aka Sleeps Under Beams “Quill & Blood” single [Subscotia Music]
- Adirondack Mountain, New York goth /indie rock multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter (of the band Mindlikewater), Joseph Beaty “Raining Through” single
- New York-based indie folk rock duo of Québécoise Zoë Kiefl and Chilean Tomas Cabezon, Jean Privé “My Head Small Town” from “L’Étranger” EP [Day End Records]
- Montreal, Québec lo-fi /indie rock /slowcore band Goldenstar “Suture” from the debut s/t EP
- Los Angeles, CA slowcore /new wave /dream pop duo RUBY HAUNT “Sunfish” 2nd (charity) single from the upcoming LP
- Brooklyn, NY lo-fi /slacker rock /indie pop /folk duo Rubblebucket “Anyone Else But You” LA Fire charity single
- Venice, Italy lo-fi /bedroom pop /shoegaze /dream pop duo GO HAWAII “Tangled To The Sun” from the EP “Mangy”
- Los Angeles-based surf /dreampop / indie pop solo project Famous Friend “Carmen San Diego” single
- South Korea-based dreamy surf-tinged jangle /bedroom pop from Scottish musician David Skimming, Lunar Isles “Beacon” single
- Newport, UK new wave /indie pop solo project of Rob Morgan, aka Armstrong “Apathy Took Me” (2025 Recording)
- Brisbane/Perth/Lucerne/London/LA and Hong Kong , international dreamy /folk /indie pop band The Kind Hills “You Only Call Me When You’re Drunk” from “A Simple Life” (EP) CD [Subjangle]
- French indie pop /dream pop solo venture led by novelist Franck Ruzé (vocalist of the Montpellier/Paris shoegaze band 40 Days Without Water), Object Image “Two and Two” from the 3″CD EP “Every Time That You Were Shy” [Too Good To Be True]
- Gothenburg, Sweden C86 /indie pop duo founded in 2011, ALPACA SPORTS “Tell Me” from the album “Another Day” [Elefant Records]
- Dublin-based, Irish lo-fi jangle /indie pop band led by Mark Chester, aka Ginnels “Lands Faraway” from the upcoming album “The Picturesque” the first after 8 years [Tenorio Cotobade]
- Brighton And Hove, UK C86 /jangle indie pop trio formed in 2002, Assistant “Jil Is Fading (Tom O’Leary Mix)” (alternative version from the latest album “Certain Memories”)
- Paris based indie pop trio made of Michael Hiscock (from Sarah Records‘ Field Mice and Shinkansen Records‘ Trembling Blue Stars), Émilie Guillaumot and Jeremie Orsel, aka The Gentle Spring “Looking Back at the World” title track of the debut album “Looking Back at the World” [Too Good To Be True / Skep Wax Records]
- UK post-punk /acoustic folk /indie pop-rock musician, singer-songwriter since punk’s 1977 heyday (The Chefs, Skat, and Helen & the Horns), Helen McCookerybook “Three Cheers For Toytown” from the album, “Showtunes from the Shadows” [Tiny Global Productions]
- Chicago-based dream-pop /indie rock band led by brothers Jake and Paul Stolz, Discus “Alignment, Misattributions” from the upcoming sophomore LP “To Relate To” [SUN-ROM]
- Los Angeles-based jingle-jangle pop rock solo project of singer-songwriter-producer (one-half of Those Pretty Wrongs, with Jody Stephens of Big Star), Luther Russell “The Midnight Flame” from the 7th album “Happiness For Beginners” [Curation Records]
- London, UK indie rock /jangle /guitar pop 4-piece formed by Lan McArdle (Joanna Gruesome, Lanny) and Owen Williams (The Tubs), aka Ex-Vöid “Nightmare” from the second LP “In Love Again” [Tapete Records]
- Jakarta, Indonesia twee /indie /noise pop four-piece band Crayon Cats “October Girlfriend” from upcoming second EP “Songs About You #2”
- Berlin-based lo-fi indie pop trio fronted by Swedish singer and keyboardist Linnea Mårtensson (formerly of duo Featherweights), Matching Outfits “No Whiskey” single [Bar/None / Dream of Fields Records]
- New York-via-Chicago noise-pop / indie rock trio Horsegirl “Julie” off the upcoming second album, “Phonetics On and On” [Matador Records]
- Sydney, Australia psych / indie guitar outfit Shrapnel “Bugged Anatomy” from the upcoming album “Sedan Crater” [Tenth Court Records]
- Egia, Basque Country post-rock /indie rock band ARGAZKI BAT BEHELAINOAN – “Berandu da” from upcoming LP “Geldi Gu Eta Dena Huts”
- Lisbon-based indie rock /new wave /electronic pop project Electric Man “New Wave” single (The Parkinsons cover)
- Chicago born LA based garage rock /psych /power-pop /rock’n’roll musician Tom Henry “Bella” off the debut LP “Songs to Sing and Dance To” (with the contribution and production by Kai Slater of Sharp Pins) [Royal Oakie Records]
- Brisbane, Australia shoegaze /indie rock band Dopamine “Hurts Like Heaven” single
- Montreal, Quebec cosmic psych-pop group led by Rishi Dhir, Elephant Stone “Be Concerned” from the LP “Back Into The Garage: The Back Into The Dream Demo” [Little Cloud Records]
- Russian psychedelic indie rock band led by the enigmatic multi-instrumentalist, producer, illustrator and frontman Pavel Grachev, aka Shakuhachi on the Minipops “Zanzibar” from the first album “Telepathic Waves from Sahara” [Nice Guys]
- Bielefeld, German prog /r&b /indie rock foursome Paradise Problem “Willow Tree” single
- Hamden, CT based by way of Christchurch, NZ indie rock /guitar pop band, Drive!Sucker “Passenger” from the third LP “Harbour Ghosts”
- Montreal-based C86 /shoegaze /jangle /indie pop four-piece Prism Shores “Unravel” from the second album “Out From Underneath” [Meritorio Records]
- Los Angeles shoegaze /indie rock band, Soft Blue Shimmer “Perfect Thing” 2nd single from “They Will Leave Us With Nothing” LP [Other People Records]
- Eugene, Oregon ethereal wave /dark wave /post-punk /shoegaze band Lesser Angels “Gossamer” single upcoming EP “Heaven Sent”
- London-based shoegaze /dream-pop band of Miki Berenyi on vocals/guitar (Lush), Kevin ‘Moose’ McKillop on guitar (Moose) and Oliver Cherer (Gilroy Mere, Aircooled), Miki Berenyi Trio “8th Deadly Sin” from upcoming first LP “Tripla” [Bella Union]
- Japanese dream pop /shoegaze unit Cosmicdust “Into a dream” from the album “Melancholy”
- Miami, FL indie rock /dream pop /shoegaze band AIRHOCKEY “Little Friday” single
- South Australia-based Indie Rock /Dream Pop /Shoegaze one-man band project of songwriter, guitarist, and producer Dave Thomas, aka Hey Calamity “Caress” from the album “Incognito” Vinyl 12″/CD [Shore Dive Records]
- Italian dream pop /shoegaze /indie rock band from Milan, Edless ”First Try” single
- Manila, Philippines indie rock /dream pop /post-rock /shoegaze band LARA “Flight Patterns” from the LP “Disambiguate”
- Baltimore, MD emo /indie rock /shoegaze duo Sorry Marshal “Dreary Skies” single
- Cairo, Egypt emo /indie rock /shoegaze collaboration FHMY/AQL “I Keep on Not Dying” single [Memphis Records]
- Venice, Italy dream pop /shoegaze duo Glazyhaze “Forgive Me” single
- English indie rock /shoegaze band formed in Oxford in 1989, Swervedriver “Volume Control” from “The World’s Fair” EP
- Athens, Greece 4-piece slowcore /grunge /heavy shoegaze band Messier 13 “313” 1st single from the forthcoming debut LP “Stay For A While” [Inner Ear]
- Ontario, Canada alt-rock /grunge /shoegaze band Deer Fang “Left Unseen” single
- California lo-fi /bedroom pop /dweebpop /shoegaze singer-songwriter (Formerly known as FTFWTO), JustMakeMeCry “Pale Eyes” new single
- Serbia noise rock /shoegaze band OMIDARI “or nothing” single
- Fort Collins, CO alternative /emo /slacker /indie rock /shoegaze band led by Larson Ross, Flesh Tape “Petey” single
- US shoegaze /indie rock musical project by Neil Burkdoll (Whimsical, LoveBlind, Dirty Dead, Fatalist) and Craig Douglas (Neonach, Omega Vague, Sonum Unum), Bright Like Stars “About It” (Vinyl Star cover)
- Dunedin, NZ post-rock /gothic metal /post-metal /cosmic doom duo REMINA “Algol (feat. Mick Moss of Antimatter)” single
- Finland‘s dark alt-metal /doom gaze one-woman-band, shedfromthebody “Nail” from the 4th studio LP “Whisper and Wane”
- Dublin-based alternative /indie rock /shoegaze musician, singer and songwriter Cruel Sister “XOXO” single
- St Helens, UK lo-fi garage /wave /noise pop /psych-folk DIY band formed in 1997 featuring former Persian Claws vocalist Dee Claws, The Bordellos with Dee Claw – “Plasticine Man” from the split album “Half Man Half Kitten” with Neon Kittens [Cruel Nature Records]
- Leeds/London, UK-based DIY fuzzy indie rock /noise-pop /post-punk band The Manhattan Love Suicides “Things You’ve Never Done” from the 2xCD reissue (plus bonus tracks) of the 2006 debut album “The Manhattan Love Suicides” [Next Phase : Normal Records]
- Austin, TX/Glasgow, UK drone /post-metal /psychedelic /space-gaze duo SKLOSS “Imagine 100 Dads” from upcoming debut LP “The Pattern Speaks” [Fuzz Club Records]
- Helsinki-based dark wave /indie rock /dream pop band Cats of Transnistria “Horrors” single [Soliti Records]
- Australian experimental /indie rock /dream pop duo Helen Franzmann (McKisko) and Mick Turner (Dirty Three, Tren Brothers), Mess Esque “Take Me To Your Infinite Garden” from upcoming LP “Jay Marie, Comfort Me” [Drag City Records]
- Münster, Germany trip-hop /electronic /indie pop songwriter since the early ’90s, Thorsten Mennebröcker, aka Dörte “Streifenfrei” from the album “Elastische realität” [Bureau Platiruma!!!]
- Dartmouth, Nova Scotia electronic pop duo of Kristina Parlee and Ron Bates, aka Smaller Hearts “February” off the archival collection “Early Tracks 2010-2015“
- Hamburg based, German Indie Rock /Dream Pop duo Roller Derby “Last Night” single
- New Orleans cosmic country /folk rock /rock’n’roll band Silver Synthetic “Yr Gonna Be Happy” off upcoming second LP “Rosalie” [Curation Records]
- New York indie folk /indie rock singer-songwriter Samia “Bovine Excision” from upcoming third LP “Bloodless” [Grand Jury Music]
- Philadelphia ambient /fingerstyle indie /folk singer-songwriter Kristin Daelyn “Patience Comes to the Bones” from the second full-length album “Beyond the Break” [Orindal Records]

David Lynch on the set of Twin Peaks, 1990