Discoverer 157: new indie findings

Last round of our happily recovered discoverer series before our holiday break! Guitar driven pop in all sorts of moods: sunny & expansive, but also gloomy & reflective. Three proposals to make your summer soundtrack exciting. Check them out!

Zebra Hunt. We begin in Seattle, Washington, with this quartet formed in 2012, initially as the trio composed of drummer Mitch Leffler, bassist Erik Bennett and singer/guitarist Robert Mercer, quickly delivering their debut EP, ‘Beaches’, out via Manic Pop in 2013. The single ‘Only Way Out’/ 'Get Along' followed that same year, being the first partnership with the always reliable Spanish label Tenorio Cotobade. Tours supporting superb bands as Twerps, Allo Darlin’ or Eternal Summers came before the group released first LP, 'City Sighs' in 2015. In that subsequent tour Zebra Hunt added Aaron Sheedy to the line-up as guitarist and keyboard player, entering the studio a year later with this new formation. The result is 'In Phrases', out since this May, a stunning and hyper-addictive sophomore album, in where jangle-pop meets the immediacy of garage pop, and where you can hear the echoes of our much beloved Antipodean psych-pop, as well as their closer Paisley Underground moods. Melodies, guitars, energy and good deeds. One straight for the 'Best of year lists' folks...

Stutter Steps. Quick jump to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to meet Ben Harrison and his musical project. In the Fall of 2012 Harrison, who works as as the curator for performing arts at The Andy Warhol Museum, decided he wanted to pen his own record after some DIY recordings in the past (he was part of the short-lived indie-pop trio Tourister during early 00's). Inspired by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, with whom he collaborated in the multi-media adventure the '13 Most Beautiful Project', he assembled a group of local musician friends the following year, locked in an isolated cabin in the woods. along with stellar guests like Wareham or Jeff Baron of Ladybug Transistor. The result, a self-titled album out via Blue Arrow, was a hidden gem of 2015 and happily, now has a follow-up in 'Floored', an EP of six delicious jangle-pop tunes, with inviting warm guitars, flowing vocal harmonies and genuine knack for melodies in the vein of Luna, The Feelies or the quietest moments of my dear The Bats. Not stutter at all, this are giant pop steps...

Agent Blå. And we cross continents to end in Gothenburg, Sweden, in order to meet this extremely young quintet (all teenagers!) formed around 2015 after a Joy Division competition mic night (do not tell me that Sweden is different... for all the good reasons). The terrific debut 7″ 'Strand' appeared that December in their country, and since this June we can enjoy their self-titled debut album via Luxuy (they are in a roll lately) and Kanine Records (always reliable). And what a blast of an LP this is! Unstoppable post-punk with hints of goth-rock and dream-pop, fuelled by urgency and intensity, and propelled by the fierce vocals of Emilie Alatalo. It's been a while since a debut record on the dark side of indiepop got me that excited. Surrender to the agent blue...

Discoverer 92: new indie findings

A guitar-driven Sunday today on our music proposals, hope you enjoy!

Burnt Palms. Back to Calfornia. From Seaside comes this trio, formed by Christina Riley and Clara Enkel with the help of Brian Dela Cruz, which in September of 2012 put out an extremely addictive self-titled record (distributed by Very Gun Records as a 12" or by our friends We Were Never Being Boring digitally) despite its short length (not even 20 minutes). While they announce the arrival of their sophomore album, they have just released a split tape with German punk band Gurr. A ridiculously lively collection of tunes, where pop meets punk, garage intensity coexists with shiny vocals, and grunge riffs share space with instant killer melodies. Addictive, addictive, addictive...
Ginnels. Let's move to our beloved Dublin to meet Mark Chester's (Grand Pocket Orchestra & No Monster Club guitarist/bassist) solo project, who is helped on stage by friends Paddy Hanna, Bobby Aherne, Roy Duffy and Ruan Van Vliet. In 2011 arrived their first releases with S/T LP "Ginnels" and the mini-album "Mountbatten Class" via Long Lost Records. A year later Chester recorded "Crowns", a 20-song double album, released on double cassette by Popical Island. The bold statement gave Chester a much deserved attention, fuelled in 2013 when Spanish label Tenorio Cotobade compiled "Plumes", 14 tunes from his previous 3 records plus several online exclusives on vinyl. Now Chester is back with "A Country Life", out since March. Defined as a more focused, less lo-fi, "pure-pop" LP, this is engaging music that combines jangle-pop irresistible melodies with the joyful chaos of Pavement or Elephant 6 bands. Pop jams & brightly loose indiepop.

Expert Alterations. And we end in Baltimore, Maryland, to introduce you to this exciting band formed in 2013, kind enough to approach me to show me their music (member Paul Krolian happens to be Baltimore Popfest's curator, so we love the guy already). They have a phenomenal S/T debut cassette out since February, five tunes where indiepop wonders are delivered with an immediacy & conviction you might think this is a forgotten band from the Flying Nun era. I even hear echoes of early R.E.M. so imagine how excited I am! The band is going on tour supporting The Flatmates and split releases with Wildhoney and Literature are in the works, so... this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.