Tag Archives: indie rock

[Show Review] Deerhunter at The Observatory North Park, San Diego, CA

Posted by Jordan Coburn - May 2, 2016

Deerhunter is one of our favorite experimental rock bands around right now. We’ve been following them for years, and to finally get to see them in concert was an occasion. On Friday night the Atlanta-born musicians took to the stage in San Diego, CA and delivered what we consider to be a performance solidifying their place as neo-rock superstars. Their music live seems to be the only way we want to listen to them from now on.

Lead singer Bradford Cox had a stage presence that was anticipated, but proved surprising in one respect. While we expected his presence to be profound, we weren’t expecting it to get so dance-y. It was much to our pleasant surprise that waves of dancing erupted in the crowd more often than not, namely the movement session that accompanied the latter part of “Living My Life”—a single from their latest album Fading Frontier that was accompanied by a saxophone in this live rendition. And who could forget the seductive stripping of Cox’s suspenders that followed not long after.

Towards the middle of the show the band dedicated a performance to the memory of Cox’s stepmother, set to the song “Take Care.” The song is already an enchanting piece on its own, but the band altered and extended the breakdown, taking the song to new depths that it hadn’t possessed previously. The percussions in particular led a crescendo that left the crowd in complete silence, only to erupt moments later in a reverent roar.

Following an encore, the band did a few of their older classics like “Desire Lines,” in which guitarist, vocalist and Lotus Plaza-creator Lockett Pundt sang it in its entirety. The passion and talent of the duo together was truly a sight to see. Following this came a few songs from the album that first got us started on Deerhunter, Microcastle and hearing the songs “Cover Me Slowly” and “Nothing Ever Happened” live were moments that we had hoped for but did not expect given the older date of that record.

The set wound up being, overall, everything that we could have asked for, and more. It’s sent us into a week long phase of listening to their discography, and has us being very appreciate of being able to catch them live. Hopefully, it won’t be the last time

[Indie/Rock] Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Can’t Keep Checking My Phone

Posted by Weston Pagano - April 26, 2015

Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Can't Keep Checking My Phone

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If you’re reading this on a mobile device we apologize for the irony.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra have revealed ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’ to be their second single ahead of their third LP Multi-Love which is due out May 26th, and it’s a hand-clapping psych-soul groove.

In a newsletter sent to fans, frontman and multi-instrumentalist Ruban Nielson explains it’s about “missing somebody and that point where you refuse to accept online ‘connectivity’ as a substitute for being with someone IRL.”

Opening with a bit of meandering horns and classical guitar, ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’ bounces around lyrical topics that include eating crickets, the aurora borealis, and wondering if the universe is really a hologram, all before putting the phone down and regrettably picking it up once again.

“Do you fall in love with the idea of someone? Or the chemicals they give off in person? Either way, I’ve got to get off my phone,” Nielson concludes.

TOUR DATES:
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[Indie Rock] Prelow- I’ve Been Drinking

Posted by Jake Balbes - January 30, 2015

Prelow
I've Been Drinking

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Prelow is building off an impressive run of single releases – ‘Mistakes Like This’ has racked up over 1.2 million plays, plus ‘Simple Song‘ & ‘For The Team‘ have combined for nearly 500k spins. All three records are featured on their EP, Why Does Everything Happen So Much, which was recently made available on iTunes. ‘I’ve Been Drinking’ is track four of five on the slender debut from the young NY duo. This record draws out memories and solicits an apology. The production is reminiscent of a good time in your life and is very steady. Jesse & Matt played a set at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn on Wednesday to celebrate the release of the EP. Hopefully a tour will rollout shortly.

TMN Sits Down With Matty From The 1975 [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]

Posted by Clayton Warwick - November 5, 2013

The 1975
Sex

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There are few bands that we’ve seen in our blogging careers hit a trajectory that The 1975 has. In just a very brief year and a half, this Manchester based quartet has gone from bedroom recordings to major label pushes. We recently sat down with front man Matty at the Marquis in Denver, Colorado. See what he had to say about early punk influences, Thai food and John Hughes films.

TMN: Welcome to Colorado! This is your first time here, correct?

Matty: This is my first time here in Colorado.

TMN: How’s the tour going so far? Are the states treating you well?

Matty: Really good. America is kinda of like, it’s amazing for us. Do you want me to expand on that?

TMN: Sure. Go ahead.

Matty: It’s an amazing place to go out on tour as a band. Geographically, it’s awe inspiring.

TMN: Have you found that crowds over here differ from those in Europe? How has the reception been so far?

Matty: We haven’t had a bad show! There’s been some great surprises like, fucking…well, not even surprises because last time we were there…Milwaukee. So much fun up there. So much fun in so many places. Philadelphia, man. Philadelphia is like playing Manchester for us. It really is. It was a better show in Philadelphia than it was for our homecoming show in Manchester. So, it’s amazing really, how it translates.

They don’t differ that much. They don’t really differ. I think that if you’re playing good music in South Hampton or New York City, people are going to react the same. I think people are slightly more open minded, people are very supportive of the idea of creativity being monetized. American people have a very good mentality, and it creates a really comfortable environment to be an artist. People like that. They think you’re fucking cool if you’re in a band, especially if you’re in a British band. So, it makes our accent, and our demeanor hold a lot of currency, in middle America.

TMN: You guys have had a rather accelerated path to where you are today, taking the blogosphere by storm. Has there been one moment in particular that’s made you stand back and say, “holy shit, I can’t believe that just happened.”

There’s been so many moments where I’ve tried to. It’s really hard to explain what this year has been like for us because it’s not been in drips in drabs; it’s not been two week and tour then go home and see your Mum. It’s been fucking non-stop since the second it started. We went on tour in January, properly, and haven’t been home since. I went home for two days, in the midst of moving out of the house I used to live in for twelve years. Then fucked off for another six months. So, you’re never really provided with an environment to be retrospective or have true hindsight because you’re always in the moment.

Maybe I could find ten minutes in between coming off stage and talking to you, but I don’t. But then when you leave I go eat, then I gotta do a show…you know? It’s really difficult to take yourself to the place to be like “Fuck, what happened?.”

I’m scared about slowing down, man. I’m scared about stopping because I’ve been in a different city, every single day for a year.

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[TMN EXCLUSIVE] The 1975 – Chocolate (Song Art + Quote)

Posted by Clayton Warwick - August 31, 2013

The 1975
Chocolate

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There are only a few bands that have come along and captivated the blogosphere with each and every release. Yes, UK indie rockers The 1975 have graced your ears on this blog again and again, which is why it’s easy to understand why these quickly rising phenoms are taking the US by storm. America’s collective affinity lies in their catchy hooks, infectious lyrics, and admirable pop structure

With their self-titled debut album hitting record stores in only a few days, The 1975 have given us a sneak peak at the artwork for one of our favorite tracks of the summer, “Chocolate”. Channeling stories of small town trouble into roof-raising guitar pop, The 1975’s deeply personal narratives unfold like a scene in a movie. Cutting through the weed haze, “Chocolate” has become the song that defines the young Manchester band – a rhythmically brilliant call-to-arms that becomes impossible to get out your head after just one listen.

Speaking to us about the song, front-man Matty explains:

Chocolate tells the story of our relationships with the governing authorities of our small town. Smoking weed, smoking anything I suppose, boredom and what ensues when both parties challenge one another. It’s a love letter to boredom, limited opportunities of expressing yourself and embracing and understanding the make up of where you’re from. Musically and structurally it is the blueprint of our output, but I’d need an entire book to discuss that in detail

Pre-order The 1975’s debut here, and if you’re still on the fence about whether or not you should pick it up (which you shouldn’t be), click here and listen to it in full before you purchase.

Alternative/Rock

[Video] The 1975 – Sex (NSFW)

Posted by Matthew Bloss - July 30, 2013

The 1975
Sex

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Northwest England’s The 1975 has been a group for whom almost our entire staff here at TMN has developed somewhat of a musical crush on over the course of their past few releases. So… it’s pretty standard for this writer to languish in the wave of middle school euphoric giddiness with every awaiting e-mail from the indie-rock quartet. Today, their official music video for “Sex”, a track in which we featured about a month ago hit the airwaves, and we just had to let our Ninjas get their proverbial hands on it as well. Lead vocalist Matthew Healy summed up the experience quite well in stating : “The main idea behind the new video for “Sex” was centered around us wanting to incorporate a narrative that acted out the lyrical content of the song. The makeup of our music is centered around the juxtaposition of very honest often self deprecating personal stories set against uplifting major chord progressions. It is this dualism and notion of ‘sound tracking’ our own lives which makes us cite John Hughes as such an important influence.”

The 1975’s music video for “Sex” was shot in Los Angeles by director Adam Powell and plays on back and forth shots between the band’s visual aesthetic of muted black and whites set against a series of cinematic band shots which set the video’s narrative perfectly into motion. Check it out below, and if you haven’t already, you can pick up The 1975’s latest EP IV is out now on Dirty Hit Records. “Sex” will be featured on The 1975’s self titled debut album which is out Sept. 2 on Dirty Hit in the UK and Sept. 3 on Interscope/Vagrant in the US. Pre-order here.

[Indie Rock] The 1975 – Milk

Posted by Clayton Warwick - June 5, 2013

The 1975
Milk

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It seems like every other week we have a tasty musical treat from Manchester indie rockers The 1975. It also seems like every other week we’re clamoring to get a post up as fast as humanly possilbe. Both are true statements have been entirely true as of late, and if you take a minute to listen, it’s not hard to understand why.

Today we have the band’s newest release, “Milk”. which appears on a split 7″ with The Neighbourhood’s “No Grey” that the bands will be selling on the road during their US dates together. We especially enjoyed this tune because it effectively straddled the border of the two sounds the band excels at. On one hand, they’ve developed an amazing knack for creating catchy poppy songs like “Chocolate” and “Sex”. On the other hand, they also have the amazing ability of creating dreamy, down tempo tracks like “Falling for You.”

“Milk” has lyrics that are easy to sing along to, rhythmic drumming and addicting repetitious guitars, but maintain that shoegazey melodic sound that we’ve all come to love.

Alternative/Rock