Month: September 2021

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got new tracks from The War On Drugs and My Morning Jacket, an excellent ’90s-inspired EP from Soul Blind, and the announcement of a new Snail Mail album. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

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Mini Trees – Always In Motion

On her debut full-length album under the name Mini Trees, Lexi Vega delivers a collection of impressive indie-rock tracks that revels in the liminal space between knowing and not knowing, and finding beauty in that ignorance. Always In Motion sets the bar high for Mini Trees, a band to watch as they hit the road alongside Julien Baker this year.

Soul Blind – Third Chain EP

The opening notes of Soul Blind’s new EP Third Chain make me want to put on a backwards flat-brim hat and a t-shirt that’s three sizes too big, because the ’90s never died. Channeling the epic riffs of Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins and the snarling vocals of Oasis, the Hudson Valley, the three songs that make up Third Chain are proof that the New York trio are ready to make their mark on the alternative rock scene.

Alexa Rose – Headwaters

Alexa Rose’s sophomore album Headwaters was written entirely during the pandemic, and the final product reflects the liminality of the lockdown period, when time was technically passing, but all the days were melding into one. That being said, Rose is able to distill the confusion of the period into beautiful folk songs that are easy to digest and appreciate — and maybe help you come to terms with what we’ve just gone through (and continue to go through).

The War On Drugs – “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”

With their new album I Don’t Live Here Anymore due in just a few weeks, The War On Drugs have shared the title track. The song features backing vocals from Lucius singers Holly Laessig and Jess Wolf, and is described by Rachel Brodsky for Uproxx as “a glittering, full-bodied track that drives forward with echoing drums and gorgeous synth-lines.” Count us among the excited for the full record.

My Morning Jacket – “Love Love Love”

My Morning Jacket’s self-titled album is coming soon, just almost exactly a year after they dropped The Waterfall II. The second preview of My Morning Jacket comes in the form of “Love Love Love,” which Rachel Brodsky calls for Uproxx “an upbeat, lushly harmonized song,” and Jim James describes as a song seeking for “positivity and pure love, finding truth within yourself and in the world around you.”

Snail Mail – “Valentine”

Three years after solidifying herself as an artist to watch with 2018’s Lush, Lindsey Jordan is back with new Snail Mail music. Her sophomore album Valentine is due later this fall, prefaced by its title track, which Derrick Rossignol described for Uproxx as “a song that starts out guided by mellow, atmospheric guitars before bursting into a kinetic chorus.”

Makthaverskan – “This Time”

Four years ago, Swedish outfit Makthaverskan grabbed our attention with their impressive LP III. Now the band is back with new music, starting with the atmospheric offering “This Time,” which previews their forthcoming fourth album För Allting. The band took a different writing approach for their new album, resulting in a wider scope of opportunity for different inspiration and sonic elements to make their way into the songs.

Hand Habits – “Graves”

Meg Duffy is one of the best songwriters out there right now, and “Graves,” the latest offering from Hand Habits’ forthcoming effort Fun House, is a perfect example why. With a gentle acoustic guitar and layered alto vocal, Duffy explains that the track is “a conversation with grief and remembrance… A questioning of my own memory and its proximity to understanding closure.”

Hatchie – “This Enchanted”

Hatchie’s debut album Keepsake was far and away one of the best albums of 2019, and the Australian songwriter has leveraged its success into a new label deal with Secretly Canadian. Now with a new label home, Harriette Pilbeam is starting to roll out some new music. In a statement, Pilbeam describes the new track “This Enchanted” as “”encapsulat[ing] everything I wanted to do moving forward from my first album… something dancey but shoegaze.”

Michelle – “Syncopate”

We’ve been hotly anticipating the proper debut album from New York outfit Michelle since the standalone singles “Sunrise” and “Unbound” last year. Now, the six-piece has officially announced After Dinner We Talk Dreams, accompanied by what Carolyn Droke calls for Uproxx a “dreamy, love-struck single” called “Syncopate.”

Dijon – “Many Times”

After dropping an impressive EP in 2020, Dijon is prepping his debut full-length album set for release later this year. Although the album doesn’t have a title or release date, Dijon has shared “Many Times,” a new track that illustrates what Aaron Williams describes for Uproxx as “a cycle of pain and confusion caused by a loved one who doesn’t understand the impact their chaotic actions are having.”

Snarls – “Fixed Gear”

Snarls’ stellar LP Burst was one of the best of 2020, and the band hasn’t let the pandemic slow them down. Now, the Ohio band is gearing up to release a brand new EP produced by Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie, Tegan & Sara) that takes their songwriting to new heights. “Fixed Gear” showcases the band’s knack for beautiful hooks and intricate layered vocal harmonies.

Bears In Tree – “Great Heights”

The first single from Bears In Trees’ new album was written “on a mattress on a hardwood floor at 4am after my friend’s birthday,” guitarist Nicholas Peters explains. The catchy folk-punk track “Great Heights” previews And Everybody Else Smiled Back, the forthcoming debut album from the South London group.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Back in 2011, indie-folk duo She & Him released their holiday-themed album, A Very She & Him Christmas, which featured covers of such classics as “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” and more. Now, the duo — Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward — has announced plans to release a deluxe edition of the album in November, in honor of its 10th anniversary. The limited-edition deluxe reissue, according to a press release, will “look to the 1980s for inspiration” with two new covers: Madonna‘s “Holiday” and Wham!’s “Last Christmas.”

Rounding out the news is a handful of She & Him tour dates. The twosome will kick off their brief trek on December 2 in Santa Barbara, California, and wrap up 10 days later in San Antonio, Texas. Tickets go on sale on September 24.

Check out She & Him covering “Holiday” above and check out their tour dates below.

12/02 — Santa Barbara, CA @ Arlington Theater
12/03 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
12/04 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
12/07 — Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
12/08 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
12/09 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
12/11 — Dallas, TX @ McFarlin Memorial Auditorium
12/12 — San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater

The deluxe reissue of A Very She & Him Christmas is out 11/12 via Merge. Pre-order it here.

Outspoken Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) really should take a Twitter vacation because she can’t stop striking out. This week, she got buried in an avalanche of scorn after a particularly hysterical tweet about the U.S.-Mexico border situation. Without even taking a breather, she’s back, following last week’s disastrous toilet joke and declaration that it’s all God’s fault that she’s a sitting member of Congress. That follows her recent praise of the Taliban and botching of a John Adams quote because maybe she was thinking of beer? Who knows.

First, it’s worth noting that Boebert did not graduate high school and has spoken about passing the GED exam. There’s no shade here against anyone who has taken the GED, but it appears that Boebert memorized what she needed to know and promptly forgot it. She’s very much a Sarah Palin-lite-styled politician, often making incendiary statements that almost feel like parody. Boebert’s latest statement runs in line with how she threw a mask at a House staffer and raged against Nancy Pelosi’s “totalitarian” Covid mandates. The execution of the latest tweet, too, drew raised eyebrows.

“There are three branches in our government,” Boebert declared. “The CDC is not one of them.”

Well, a lot of people soon stepped up to point out that the CDC is a part of the executive branch. They also challenged Boebert to name all three branches, including legislative and judicial, but that hasn’t happened yet.

She simply can’t help but own herself on a daily basis. Until next time!

Full-time rapper and part-time goofball Tyler The Creator is notorious prankster. He even said his 2019 race for No. 1 with DJ Khaled was “fun” because it was like “watching a man die inside.” But Tyler doesn’t just save his disses for fellow musicians, he also likes to mess around with his fans. That’s why the rapper had a very NSFW message for one fan who started filming him driving on the highway.

The Grammy Award-winner was recently driving through traffic in his vintage 1992 BMW M3 when he was spotted by a fan. Tyler noticed he was being filmed and decided to flip the bird at the camera. When the fan rolled down their window, Tyler pulled out another NSFW gesture for laughs. The whole interaction went down while Tyler was alone in his car, and kept taking his eyes off the road to mess with the fan before speeding off.

Shortly ahead of the short interaction with a fan, Tyler shut down a rumor circulating about his hit 2015 Cherry Bomb album. After dropping his Call Me If You Get Lost LP earlier this year, some fans on the internet began speculating that the rapper wasn’t fond of his 2015 release. A line in the Call Me If You Get Lost track “Massa” called Cherry Bomb “shifty” and the rapper previously referred to 2015 as his “ugly phase.” But Tyler was quick to shut down the rumor, clarifying that even though he was going through an “ugly phase” at the time, it had nothing to do with the music.

Even though Lil Uzi Vert spends about half of his performance with Meek Mill on The Tonight Show lying on his back on the floor, this somehow creates more energy when the duo trades their “Blue Notes 2” verses rather than draining it away. Perhaps it’s because of the way Uzi uses his position to build anticipation for his verses, lying in wait (literally) like a big cat ready to spring on its prey before he pops up to spit his aggressive bars.

Whatever it is, it’s something perhaps only Lil Uzi Vert — someone whose weirdness the audience is well versed in by now — could pull off. Meek, meanwhile, is only proverbially laid-back, giving a relaxed, confident performance that nevertheless does not lack intensity. The effect is like a yin-and-yang universal balance that also sort of reflects the height difference between the two Philly MCs. One is a compact bundle of sizzling energy, a five-foot stick of dynamite with a two-inch fuse, while the other is placid with hidden depth like an iceberg with legs.

The dynamic duo appeared on The Tonight Show to help promote Meek’s upcoming album Expensive Pain — which, like his onetime rival Drake, drew mixed reactions for its artsy cover. Perhaps the music, led by singles like “Blue Notes 2” and “Sharing Locations,” will get more fans on his side.

Watch Meek Mill and Lil Uzi Vert perform “Blue Notes 2” above.

Expensive Pain is out 10/1 via Maybach Music/Atlantic. Pre-order it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia isn’t getting any better as the Sixers get set to open training camp next week. The three-time All-Star has made clear that he wants to be traded, and for weeks there’s been reporting that he will not show up to training camp.

As many have pointed out, that leaves him open to fines from the team as they can withhold his salary until he shows up, but according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Simmons is perfectly willing to accept that trade off so long as it ensures he “never plays another game” for Philly.

This seems, mostly, to be a more emphatic version of the report given by Marc Stein on Monday, which was that Simmons was still planning on holding out while the Sixers hoped to figure out how to get him into camp. Philadelphia still hasn’t found a trade offer they like for the star and would prefer to let this go into the season so Simmons could, possibly, recoup some value and remind everyone why he’s so good, because as of this moment, the lasting image of Ben Simmons on a basketball court is this.

It would certainly help his trade value if people were reminded that he isn’t terrified of scoring the basketball and, instead, simply had a weird series where he got into his own head a bit. However, Simmons seems to have no interest in returning to the Sixers to play for Doc Rivers or with Joel Embiid again, and it puts all parties involved in a precarious situation. The Sixers can certainly let this drag on until they get a trade offer they want, but if Simmons isn’t playing, it’s hard to see the offers getting significantly better while he stays home. On top of that, just having an All-Star sitting out for a significant period with no replacement is certainly not the formula for a team hopeful for another top 3 seed in the East. Simmons, meanwhile, doesn’t do anything to change the perception of many about him (on or off the court) and, at this point if there were any collaboration happening between Philly and Klutch to get Simmons to a preferred destination, that likely is no longer a concern of the Sixers.

All in all, it is quite the mess in Philly and it doesn’t seem to be getting cleaned up any time soon.

From the film’s marketing, you may be surprised to learn that Michael Gandolfini’s young Tony Soprano doesn’t show up in The Many Saints Of Newark until about halfway through the movie. (Also, it should be noted: Gandolfini is electric. When he does finally show up, the film hits a whole new higher gear.) Look, it’s completely understandable why Tony Soprano would be the marketing’s focus. People are interested in this character and seeing more of Tony, for the first time in 14 years, sounds pretty exciting. But I do worry people might be disappointed when they realize Tony is not the main character, based only on “that’s what they were led to believe.” Let it be known to anyone reading this: The Many Saints of Newark is not a Tony Soprano origin story. Though, it’s not completely disingenuous to label it that way because there are many events that happen in this movie that no doubt influence the future Tony. But, here, mostly, Tony is an observer. My point is I’d hate for anyone to dismiss this movie for that reason alone. Because there’s a lot going on in The Many Saints of Newark – a movie I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I saw it a few weeks ago.

I assume, if you’re reading this, you are a fan of a television show that was created by David Chase called The Sopranos, which ran on HBO from 1999 until 2007. Now, remember how some episodes would end and your initial reaction would be, “Wait, that’s it?.” Like, no one got “whacked” that week, so, initially, it didn’t seem like an important episode. Then, as time passed, that episode became one you think about often? Here’s an example: all the Kevin Finnerty episodes from the final season. At the time, I felt impatient with them. it’s the last season, why is this show using so much time exploring what Tony is dreaming while he’s in a coma? Well, now, I think about those episodes a lot. Maybe, now, more than any other arc on the show. But it took me some time to get there. There are no coma dreams in The Many Saints of Newark, but this is how I felt when it initially ended and how I keep coming back to it, now, a few weeks after I saw it.

(The “too long: didn’t read” summary of that previous paragraph is, “Even though there’s a lot of anticipation, don’t be too quick to rush to judgment on this one.”)

The actual main character in The Many Saints of Newark is Dickie Moltisanti (played by Alessandro Nivola). As you can probably tell from that last name, yes, this is Christopher’s father, who is mentioned a few times during the series run, but we don’t know that much about him. The first half of The Many Saints of Newark takes place in 1967 and focuses on Dickie’s relationship with his terrible father, Hollywood Dick (Ray Liotta), and his relationship with Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jr.), who is on Dickie’s mob payroll as a sort of enforcer and collector within the Black community. Later, set against the backdrop of the Newark riots, Harold decides this isn’t the life for him anymore and, with the help of some money from Dickie, decides to leave town.

The film jumps five years into the future. Dickie is struggling between being a new father (yeah, he has a son named Christopher) and, well, doing a lot of terrible things. And, yes, that might sound a lot like the premise of what we saw Tony go through during the series, but that was nuanced over the course of 86 episodes. Here, Dickie’s arc needs to be wrapped up in about two hours – spanning over five years. Just the nature of this being a movie that covers so much time doesn’t allow us to really get to know Dickie the way we knew Tony. And there’s really no way around that. There are basically two seasons worth – what, in the series, would have been basically 26 episodes – of events that happen during this one movie. So the difference is, during the series we saw Tony do some genuinely nice things. In this film, we more just hear about how Dickie does nice things.

But it’s here during this back-half of the film that things really start moving. And a big reason for that is the relationship between Dickie and Tony. Michael Gandolfini is truly remarkable as Tony. He’s perfected so many of his father’s mannerisms that it’s impossible not to be transfixed. And Michael Gandolfini plays Tony as, basically, just a big kid, having some fun, who is enamored with his uncle Dickie. And Dickie loves Tony, to the point he starts to realize his influence on him is ultimately a bad thing. Meanwhile, Harold has moved back to Newark and wants a piece of the action for himself without the oversight of Dickie and his crew – which sets off an all-out war between Dickie and Harold. (If you’re wondering, hey, this sounds like enough plot for a full series, you would be correct. There’s a lot happening in The Many Saints of Newark.)

I do wonder how this will play to people who have never seen the series. Or if those people just won’t even try to dig in here. But for fans of the series, while watching, it really does turn into the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme, only this happens about 20 times. Almost every character is in this movie. But other than Tony, and Tony’s mother, Livia (Vera Farmiga, who is really going for it here), most of these characters we knew from the show serve peripheral purposes. (Even Jon Bernthal’s Johnny Boy Soprano isn’t in the movie quite as much as you might think. Though, every time Cory Stoll’s Uncle Junior and John Magaro’s Silvio are on screen I found myself delighted.)

Going back to the opening of this where I warned about rushing to judgment – part of that comes from the fact that so few of the plot points introduced during this movie get resolved. A lot of things are just not wrapped up. (Yes, this is a movie that, frankly, “just ends” and that doesn’t happen much anymore.) There are probably a couple of reasons for this. There are talks of continuing this story into a series, which seems pretty likely at this point. It’s now all set up and most everyone involved seems excited about the prospect of doing that. But, also, The Sopranos was a show that never wrapped anything up into a tidy bow. (People are still asking what happened to the two Russians from the “Pine Barrens” episode.) And that’s why I keep thinking about this movie. I like that everything doesn’t get wrapped up at the end. I like wondering what happened with certain plot threads. But like some of the best episodes of the series, I needed a little bit of time to realize that.

‘The Many Saints of Newark’ opens October 1 in theaters and streams via HBO Max. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

After releasing three albums over the course of a year, Australian breakout rapper The Kid Laroi has now collaborated with today’s top stars like Miley Cyrus, Machine Gun Kelly, and even Ed Sheeran. Most recently, his “Stay” track with Justin Bieber has been dominating the Hot 100 chart, hovering at No. 1 for five weeks totals. Due to his recent success, its no surprise that fans hopped on the opportunity to snag tickets to his recently announced North American tour.

Just four minutes after tickets went live, his End Of The World tour was completely sold out, according to HotNewHipHop. The rapper’s North American leg of his tour kicks off in January 2022 in Arizona and comes to a close in Atlanta in March. Some of the dates had pre-sale tickets go live last week, but they officially went on sale Friday and were all gone in a matter of minutes.

Laroi’s official tour announcement arrived just after he opened the 2021 VMAs with Bieber. Reflecting on the ceremony, Laroi thanked his fans for their continued support. “Just opened the VMA’s,” he wrote on Twitter. “What the f*ck is life. I love you family. Thank you for everything. NONE of this sh*t would be possible without you. I’m forever in debt to you all. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to do what I love and support the people I love most around me. There’s no way I will ever be able to repay you.”

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Yesterday, The Wrens’ Kevin Whelan announced via The New York Times that he had started a new Wrens-ish (but not The Wrens) project called Aeon Station. The new project also comprises Wrens members Greg Whelan and Jerry MacDonald (but not Charles Bissell) and essentially consists of five remixed songs from the long-awaited The Meadowlands follow-up and five brand-new tracks. Together, the 10 tracks are being released under the album title Observatory on December 10 via Sub Pop.

Now, Whelan has shared the project’s first song, “Queens.” The five-minute single starts off slowly but locks into place with crashing percussion and hard-driving guitar. From a sonic perspective, it’s quite the “we’re back” proclamation.

“This song was inspired by one of my all-time favorite songs, ‘The Winner Takes it All’ by ABBA,” Whelan shared in a press release. “It’s about betting on the real you. Like a game of high-stakes poker, you push all your chips to the center of the table and aren’t afraid to go ‘all in.’ It starts with a solo vocal, framing the story to come, the drums then propel the song forward, with a force working its way to a climax of a repeating line: You said it was all in.’”

Listen to “Queens” above. Observatory drops on 12/10 via Sub Pop. Pre-order it here.

After trying out acting and swapping hip-hop for punk-rock, Machine Gun Kelly is adding another job to his growing resume: Comic book writer. MGK has written a new graphic novel titled after his album Hotel Diablo, which is set for release through Z2 Comics on September 28. His collaborators on the project include artists Amilcar Pinna, Martin Morazzo, Nelson Blake II, Rachel Smartt, Roberta Ingranata, and Victor Ibañez, as well as writers Eliot Rahal and Ryan Candy, with editor Chris Robinson. You can preorder here. It comes in softcover, hardcover, and deluxe editions (a super deluxe edition is sold out) which features an exclusive vinyl reissue of the album for which the comic is named.

An excerpt from the comic, which is an anthology detailing the afterlives of guests at the titular hotel, was published in Rolling Stone today, revealing one of the ghoulish tales within. It follows a new front desk clerk named Lidia Lopez, who discovers something very unusual in one of the guest’s rooms, sparking what looks like a memory but casting doubt on her entire existence.

Z2, which specializes in collaborating with musicians, is also putting out Vince Staples’ Limbo Beach and has previously worked with Czarface, Gorillaz, Flatbush Zombies, and Rico Nasty from the hip-hop world, as well as rock legends like Anthrax, Blondie, Joan Jett, and Sublime.

Hotel Diablo is due 9/28. You can preorder it here.