Weekly Shoegaze / Dreampop / Psychedelic / Indie Tips – JUNE / JULY 2024 – #26-24
PICKS OF THE WEEK:
- German indie /dream pop band from Hamburg, Roller Derby “Silver Jet” single
Superb expressive guitar-driven dream pop single from the Hamburg duo, beautifully framed by deeply emotional atmospheric vocals, carving heartfelt soaring harmonies through an immersive backdrop of a mesmerizing and sparkling intricate Marr-esque guitar work, warm throbbing bass lines, and steady drum beats, swaying with misty reverbs into a brief swirling interlude, to release pain and fear, cloaked in stirring lush string orchestrations, whilst insistently “waiting for more to come.”
- Leeds, UK / Riga, Latvia based noise-gaze/shoegaze outfit Last Victorian Death Squad – “Cool” off “Cool/Dreams” EP CD via Shore Dive Records
Since 2017 fine craftsmen in providing blissful catchy power pop harmonies set in sweeping rackety cascades of shoegaze feedback and distortion, LVDS once again doesn’t disappoint with a new double single adorned with a high energy ‘ghostly’ Oasis cover of “The Hindu Times”, plus an evocative acoustic closing. The lead track “Cool” laces immersive swirling textures grip with the fuzzed-out crunchy abrasive riffs from heavy effect-laden guitars and chugging bass lines, sizzling and washing over intense restless vocals achingly longing to be accepted by another.
- Thailand indie rock /dream pop /shoegaze duo Sleep In The Class “Feel Me Now” from the debut “When She Dreams” EP
Teetering between Indie Rock, Shoegaze and Jangly Dream-Pop, distortion and melody, the duo manage despite their young age to harness with a good personality, the sonic suggestions of early 90s forebears with a seamless enveloping alternation between moderately energetic urgency and oneiric atmospheric contemplation, through an intricately weaved, slightly psychedelic, reflecting and shaky tapestry of captivating sparkling and reverb-soaked guitar-driven soundscapes. One of the most endearing episodes is an ethereal and smooth DIIV-tinged guitar-pop of the introspective and romantic type, “Feel Me Now” dreamily longs for another through nostalgic heartfelt vocals wobbling above and below a relentless flow of light stirring drum beats, obsessive shimmery strummed guitar riffs and twinkling bittersweet melodies. Definitely a band to keep an eye on.
- French experimental pop-poetry duo of Brussels-based musician Claire Vailler & former Holden guitarist Mocke, aka Midget! “Qui Parle Ombre” from the upcoming 4th album “MIDGET! Qui parle ombre” via Objet Disque
- North Essex, UK based IDM /dub /downtempo /techno /bass /experimental electronic musician and one-time member of The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu (aka The Nearly, Mixomatosis), Lee Ashcroft “Control Z (with Jack Burley)” from the cassette album “Persons Underground” [Cruel Nature Records]
- Southern California-based psych /indie folk project of singer-songwriter Johnny Rafter, The Fruit Trees “The Collar” single via Flower Sounds
- Melbourne, Australia ambient country /dream folk multidisciplinary artist duo Marita Dyson & Stuart Flanagan, The Orbweavers “In The Evening” from the 4th LP “New Moon / Silver Moon”
- Sheffield, UK shoegaze /dream-pop solo project Rinse You “Frosted and Fractured” debut single
- Queens, NY surf rock /chillwave /dream pop project of Amber Renee, dayaway “Rogue wave” single via Turn to Wind
- New York-based drone /shoegaze /kraut /psychedelic /space age pop band led by composer Joe Stevens, aka Peel Dream Magazine “Lie In The Gutter” first excerpt from the 4th album “Rose Main Reading Room” via Topshelf Records
- Belgrade, Serbia instrumental /krautrock /space /synth /psychedelic rock /synth trio Roza “Osoba C” from the album “800.006”
- Glasgow-based ethereal electronics /art pop singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist (FKA Good Dog), Susan Bear “Get By” from third album “Algorithmic Mood Music” via Lost Map Records
- Fresno, CA-based dream pop /shoegaze /dreamgaze duo Thanh Nguyen and Steven Salazar, aka Paradise Blossom “Love Bomb”
- Brooklyn, NY Dream Pop /Grunge Rock artist Sara Devoe “Cindy (feat. Charms)” single on Spirit Goth Records
- Spain-based indie pop /dream pop singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Javier Gonzalez, aka Sun Haze “Love Letter” single on 7 Tapes
- Barcelona-based indie / post-punk /shoegaze /dream pop duo SLOW CONNECTION “Sometimes” from “The Dog” album
- Vancouver, BC synth-pop /dream-pop /indie pop band led by singer-songwriter Adam Doucette, Rosemary Ginger “Living in Your Arms” from the debut S/T album
- Moscow new wave /synth-pop band Hospital “Silver Star” single
- Portland, OR lo-fi /indie rock duo Found Space “Closer” title track of “Closer” EP via Spirit Goth Records
- Dundee, Scotland folk rock artist Theo Bleak “Don’t Borrow Grief From Later (feat. James Graham of The Twilight Sad)” single
- Kansas City, MO bedroom pop /shoegaze /dream pop solo project seventeen years “Crescent” single
- Oslo, Norway lo-fi slowcore /jangle /fuzz /noise-pop group The Age of Colored Lizards “Disappear” from “The Road” EP via Sotron Records
- Leicester, UK shoegazing /dreamy /indie pop band Dayflower “Colour (demo)” from “Sunny 19” EP
- UK jangle /indie pop producer-singer-songwriter Paul ‘Trip’ Ryan, aka SUPER 8 “You Look Right Through Me” from the album “Retro Metro” CD via Think Like A Key Music
- Canadian twee indie pop /jangle /C 86 solo project of half of the Haircuts, Teresa Daniele, aka Junebug “Town And Country” from the CD collection “With The Distance of Time” (recorded between 2004 and 2014) via Subjangle
- Teramo, Italy DIY indie pop husband-wife duo, a minor place “IT’S YOU + ME” from the new LP “SONGS ARE LYING”
- London-based, early ’90s founded, C86 /punk /psych /indie pop band led by David Feck, COMET GAIN “Only Happy When I’m Sad” from “Only Happy When I’m Sad / Dreams Of A Working Girl” 7″ vinyl single via Spinout Nuggets
- Melbourne/Naarm-based fuzzy /shoegaze /indie pop three-piece featuring Steph Crase (Skid City, Fair Maiden, Batrider), Joel Carey (Peak Twins) and Perry Mahoney (The Shifters), aka Summer Flake “Nothing Lasts Forever” from the new cassette EP “Nothing Lasts Forever” via Rice Is Nice Records
- Columbus, Ohio lo-fi /post-punk /jangle /power pop /indie-rock band Smug Brothers “Javelina Nowhere” from the cassette EP “Another Bar Behind The Night” via Just Because Records and Anyway Records
- Windsor, Canada jangle /power pop / indie rock trio Heavenly Sweetheart “Forgot Something” from the second single “Forgot Something B/W Gotta Go”
- Washington, D.C. garage pop /rock and roll /indie rock trio Cal Rifkin “Big Star” single
- Montreal, Quebec-based psych /folk /garage /indie rock quartet Feeling Figures “Swimming” from the upcoming sophomore album “Everything Around You” a co-release by K Records and Perennialdeath
- Brighton, UK free jazz /analog electronic /psychedelic rock duo Verity Susman (Electrelane) and Matthew Simms (Wire, It Hugs Back), aka Memorials “Boudicaaa” from Ltd. double-A side 7″ single “Tramps! / Boudicaaa” soundtrack to the documentary film “Tramps!”
- Seattle, WA 60s /Merseybeat /jangle /power pop band led by multi-instrumentalist and composer James Hall, aka Shake Some Action! “Doesn’t Matter” from the debut “Trip to Yesterday” EP
- Montreal-based 4-piece power pop /indie rock /rock n’ roll band Laughing “Pebble” from the debut album “Because It’s True” via Meritorio Records and Celluloid Lunch
- Brighton, UK psych /indie pop /C86 quartet 14 Iced Bears “Balloon Song (Peel session version)” from “PRE 044: 14 ICED BEARS – John Peel session 26.11.86″ EP 10” via Precious Recordings of London
- Queens, NY post-punk /dream-pop /indie rock solo project Sea Shapes “Dream Karma” single
- UK lo-fi indie bedroom pop /indie rock /new wave /post-punk project of Mikey Wilson, LOWMOON “1997″ from the debut album “Monochrome” via Safe Suburban Home Records
- Pays Basque, Spain punk /jangle pop band Tatxers “Etsaiak agurtzen” single from the upcoming album via humo internacional
- Bogor, Indonesia new wave /power pop /indie punk duo The Jansen “Hanya Ada Kegelapan yang Menunggumu Di Sana” from the album “Durja Bersahaja”
- Eugene, Oregon alt rock /dream-pop /shoegaze band Moonbear “Faith” single
- Hiroshima, Japanese alt /noise pop /shoegaze solo project Kinoue64 “Aoi from “neu neu neu” EP
- Concepción, Chile space /indie rock /dream pop /shoegaze band led by Álvaro L.B., aka Autista “Bridge” from the LP “Dream Pop” album
- Est. Tacoma, WA emo /grunge /dreampop /shoegaze trio Modern Daze “Far Away” single
- San Francisco‘s ambient /electronic indie rock /post-rock /shoegaze band, ECHODRONE “Mindfulness” from the double rock/ambient album “The Curvature of Sound”
- New York ambient /post-rock /shoegaze solo project Voices from Deep Below “Sea of Shame” first release in 7 years
- Detroit, MI indie rock /psychedelic rock band Double Winter “Our Glass” from the upcoming album “Hourglass”
- Memphis, Tennessee shoegaze /dream-pop project Velvet Air “MIKI” single
- Gold Coast, Australia dreampop /shoegaze project DREAM POP “SPIRAL OF MY DREAMS” single
- Austin, TX psych /shoegaze /dream-pop quartet She Sir “You Could Be Tiger” single
- Chișinău, Moldova shoegaze /dream pop act Cotton Voltage “Enough” single
- Seattle, WA alternative rock /post-punk /shoegaze group, bloococoon “Blossom Like a Rose” single off upcoming debut LP via Little Cloud Records
- Indianapolis-based, Ambient /Dream-Pop /Shoegaze trio, Fern Murphy “Why Never Here” single
- Belgian progressive /psychedelic /dreampop /shoegaze /indie rock quartet fronted by Elena Lacroix, Eosine “Progeria” first single from the second EP “Liminal” via Mayway Records
- LA-based electronic /folk /indie rock /shoegaze collective Dutch Interior “Ecig” single via Fat Possum Records
- Portland, OR indie rock /shoegaze band Computer Room “Sun” from “Sun / Dull Moment” debut single
- London-based alternative rock /noise pop /indie rock /shoegaze band Loy Ray “Close Your Eyes from the first “Demo 2024” EP
- Seattle, WA DIY alternative rock /indie /shoegaze band Divaria “Jinx” single
- Los Angeles, CA noise pop /shoegaze band LUSTER “Like I Do” single on Funeral Party Records
- Exeter, UK shoegaze/ dreampop outfit Soot Sprite “I Went Swimming” from the upcoming 7″ single “I Went Swimming / Home Among Your Bones” via Specialist Subject Records
- Madison, Wisconsin grunge /noise rock /shoegaze /indie rock band Interlay “Medic” first single from the upcoming EP “Hunting Jacket” via pleasure tapes
- Pittsburgh, PA grunge /shoegaze project Strayline. “Pale Fade feat. Jovan Macias” (Demo)
- Pittsburgh, PA alternative rock /grunge /heavy shoegaze band Threaded “Denton” from the EP “The Place You Know”
- Birmingham, UK cinematic /noise /shoegaze / slow rock band OUTLANDER “Lye Waste” from the LP “Acts of Harm” via Church Road Records
- Los Angeles-based shoegaze/slowcore /indie rock trio MILLY “At Odds” from the LP “Your Own Becoming” via Dangerbird Records
- Tijuana, Mexico trip-hop /shoegaze /psychedelic rock /avant dream pop duo Estrella del Sol and Sebastian Neyra, aka MINT FIELD “Una flor sin interior” from “Aprender A Ser: Extended” mini-LP on Felte
- L.A.-based shoegaze /psychedelic rock band Tombstones In Their Eyes “I’m Not Like That” single via Kitten Robot Records
- Pembroke, Ontario alt /indie rock brainchild of multi-instrumentalist-producer Jordon Zadorozny, aka Blinker The Star “Black Spring” single
- New York 5-piece electronic /indie /shoegaze /psychedelic rock band GIFT “Later” third single from the upcoming LP “Illuminator” via Captured Tracks
- L.A.-based ambient /electronic /shoegaze /kraut /psychedelic /dance pop band DUMMY “Nullspace” from the upcoming second LP “Free Energy” via Trouble in Mind
- Newcastle, Australia punk /garage /psychedelic trio Fungas “Skaff” single
- Peruvian experimental dance /psych-pop band Thank You Lord For Satan “Wake Up, Cariño” single via Buh Records
- Dayton, Ohio veteran indie rock band formed in 1983 led by songwriter and vocalist Robert Pollard, Guided By Voices “Timing Voice” from “Strut of Kings”
- Seattle, WA indie rock /power pop trio The Drolls “Burned Out from “The Drolls / Gentlemen Rogues” split 7″ single via Snappy Little Numbers Quality Audio Recordings
- Belgian lo-fi /punk /rock’n’roll /garage rock outfit MITRAILLE “Good Mornin’ Champ” from the upcoming second LP “MITRAIILLE” via Ronny Rex
- Berlin-based, Belgian indie rock band from Leuven led by Wim Janssens (Joy Wellboy), Ellroy – “Under A Raw Sky” 2nd single from the album “Lost Tapes Pt. III” (a selection of unreleased tracks and demos 1997–2023) via Siamese Twin Records
- Seattle-based experimental indie Chinese pop /rock duo Chinese American Bear “Heartbreaker (伤心情歌)” from the second LP “Wah!!!” via Moshi Moshi
- Japanese home-recording alt /shoegaze /indie rock singer-songwriter Tategami Soyosoyo “I Become a Ghorst” from the EP “Flower Hurricane”
- Ontario, Canada indie rock /dream pop artist Flower Face “Skeleton Key” single on Nettwerk
- Southampton, UK indie pop-rock duo Wynona “Girl In The Computer” single
- Vancouver, BC ambient /cinematic /chamber pop music group led by Glenn D’Cruze, North Atlantic Explorers “Conversation Piece” (David Bowie cover, 1969)