Indie punk.
IDLES – TANGK
Crawlers – The Mess We Seem To Make
I am generally not a fan of UK alternative rock and indie, but the DIY nature of this record I just find charming.
topographies – Interior Spring
Goth aesthetics, shoegazing dream pop.
Unto Others – Mana
Last year my number one music was Unto Others – Strength, and now I’m listening to their first album, wanted to make an entry for this, too. I consider their second record the better one, but they are pretty close, this first one is also amazing. I’m still trying to crack why I am so much obsessed with this band’s music. They share some DNA with an old Hungarian goth rock band, F.O.System, which is also one of my all-time favorite bands, so that may play a part.
Hoaxed – Hoaxed
The vocals sound like witch house but in rock, it’s eerie and soft but also smooth and comforting. Otherwise it’s overall dark rock with an amazing atmosphere. It’s hard to put my finger on it, like I’m trying to slap a genre label on it, but it’s really not about the genre but the mood.
I also wanted to put the follow-up record here instead of this EP, but this just kills so hard, and it is not replicated on the full-length unfortunately. Fuck unfortunately though, thanks for these four tracks.
Unto Others – Strength
Definitely one of my new personal hypes for this year. It is an epitome of a goth rock album that is right in the middle lane of my alley, pretty much occupying the whole street. It’s a perfect, epic record that gives me goosebumps. It’s also interesting how some heavy metal flavor is sprinkled in here and there.
I just checked my Last.fm stats and this album is already on the top of my artist and album lists for 2023. Wow, I knew I listened to this a lot, but I wasn’t aware this much. And with every listen it just grows stronger.
Dog Fashion Disco – Cult Classic
Has every bit of Dog Fashion Disco in it I want in a Dog Fashion Disco record. Fits the discography like priest in a nursery.
Deap Vally – Marriage
Such cool girl power rock from the indie-garage axis, but mostly just hot rock and roll.
Moin – Moot!
It’s some alternative post-rock, sometimes I feel it’s shoegazer style but then often it’s much more upbeat and lively than that. The percussion grooves are killers. It’s rare that I hear a drummer and start looking up other projects by them just based on the beats played—this is one of those cases. But all other aspects are amazing too, like bits and pieces of melodies, and some well-placed spoken word segments or samples. It’s a record that I have a hard time putting into words: I feel like I don’t have the right dictionary to describe what I hear, but I love it so much. It’s really surprising and absolutely amazing.
Freeways – True Bearings
Tastes of straight up rock music from heavy metal through psychedelic to hard rock. A band with two records that sounds like an old classic that could be around for decades. Logo and cover arts also support this feeling.