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 music from DIIV, Hovvdy, Microwave, and more.
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Teens In Trouble – What’s Mine
Combining the fuzzy hooks of Pup and the animated angst of Jeff Rosenstock, Lizzie Killian’s work as Teens In Trouble is disarmingly immediate. What’s Mine, the full-length debut from Teens In Trouble, is a sub-30-minute breakthrough of kinetic tempos, bristly yet bubbly guitar riffs, and Killian’s incisive songwriting. Meeting the middle point between pop-punk and indie rock, What’s Mine cements the California native as an exciting new voice.
Been Stellar – “All In One”
You’d think that with such a cheeky name like Been Stellar (what actor does that sound like?), they’d be a fifth-wave emo band. But that’s not the case. Instead, the NYC quintet makes abrasive, fiery post-punk that has landed them opening gigs for Shame and Fontaines D.C. As evidenced by their latest single, “All In One,” from their forthcoming debut LP, Scream From New York, NY, the indie rockers don’t shy away from even their rowdiest inclinations. The song is punctuated by rapid-fire drum fills and a finale that kicks everything into overdrive. Post-punk has lately been inundated to the point of oversaturation, but Been Stellar proves that this subgenre hasn’t lost its luster quite yet. It can still be stellar.
Microwave – “Huperzine Dreamz”
Much like André 3000’s instrumental, flute-driven self-discoveries on last year’s New Blue Sun, the Atlanta trio Microwave’s latest record is fueled by an ayahuasca experiment. Frontman Nathan Hardy and drummer Timothy “Tito” Pittard traveled to Peru, participated in an ayahuasca ritual, and reported their enlightened findings to bassist Tyler Hill. Thus, their fourth album, Let’s Start Degeneracy (what acronym does that make?), was born. Although they’ve been putting out records since their 2014 debut LP, Stovall, Let’s Start Degeneracy, out April 26, is a noteworthy level-up. On its latest single, “Huperzine Dreamz,” a moody tune that Hardy describes as “a nod to the wide variety of nu-tropic supplements” he and Tito experimented with, Microwave elevates their punchy strain of emo to psychedelic new heights.
Ekko Astral – “Devorah”
Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin says she makes tender punk. Midwife’s Madeline Johnston says she makes heaven metal. Ekko Astral’s Jael Holzman says she makes mascara mosh pit. Just as the former two artists demonstrate, self-coined genre descriptors can be pretty accurate, encapsulating their nuanced music within a pithy phrase. Holzman, the frontwoman of the D.C. punk five-piece Ekko Astral, has achieved a similar feat with mascara mosh pit. Pink Balloons, the forthcoming debut album from Ekko Astral, combines gritty DIY signifiers with the glitzy ambiance of a theater dressing room. It’s the sonic equivalent of ferociously smearing lipstick all over a gilded Victorian mirror. Its new single, “Devorah,” is no different. Opening with uneasy, distorted guitar drones and Holzman’s phantasmic vocals, the fog soon lifts to reveal a muscular, pugnacious punk track that declares “solidarity with all the missing murdered people.” It’s the perfect distillation of Ekko Astral’s strengths, uncompromising in its empathy and aggression alike.
DIIV – “Everyone Out”
Dream-pop-meets-shoegaze four-piece DIIV are on the cusp of sharing their next LP, Frog In Boiling Water. Following up “Brown Paper Bag” and “Soul-net” is the foreboding, tactile “Everyone Out,” a track built on distant harmonics and soft acoustic guitar that, after nearly five minutes, fades like cloudy mist. As mentioned in the single’s press release, DIIV archly says “Everyone Out” “may or may not be a character study” that centers on the bridge from “youthful naivety to bitter disillusionment.” Given the song’s dystopian sonic backdrop, I’m willing to bet that it may, in fact, be that.
Hovvdy – “Make Ya Proud”
The self-titled double album from Hovvdy is officially less than a month away. But the Texas alt-country duo has shared one more single before its imminent release. “Make Ya Proud,” as member Charlie Martin explains in press materials, is one of the few songs on the album that he penned for his paternal grandfather, Pete, who passed away last summer. The song’s gentle, lulling sway feels like as much of a lamentation of his death as it does a celebration of his life.
Bodysync / Dazy – “Back Of My Mind”
On paper, James Goodson seems like a strange voice to hear on an effervescent electronic track. As Dazy, the indie-rock songwriter draws from Green Day and Oasis and adds a hardcore edge. “Pressure Cooker,” Dazy’s 2022 single with Militarie Gun, is a great example of his typical style, heavy on big riffs and bigger hooks. Whereas Bodysync’s Ryan Hemsworth previously worked with Dazy to produce 2023’s “Forced Perspective,” both members of Bodysync, Hemsworth and Giraffage, linked up with Dazy for “Back Of My Mind.” It’s a summery, groovy tune fit for the poolside. Who would have thought that Bodysync and Dazy would combine powers to make the best chillwave song since the 2010s?
Treanne – “Sharing My Body”
Born in London and raised in Jamaica and, eventually, Kansas City, Treanne’s music evokes the halcyon days of youth and the growing difficulties of early adulthood. 20/20, her debut EP out in May via Young, is a world-weary meditation on that transitional phase. Alongside the announcement comes “Sharing My Body,” littered with plaintive piano and grounded by Treanne’s lush, hypnotizing vocals.
Mdou Moctar – “Imouhar”
The Tamasheq language is seldom spoken anymore. The North African tongue is one of three main varieties of Tuareg, but, as Tuareg guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter Mdou Moctar explains, it has been nearly supplanted by French. “We feel like in a hundred years no one will speak good Tamasheq,” he explains in a press release. As one of the few left in his community who can write it, that places a significant weight on Moctar. “Imouhar,” the latest single from the band’s upcoming record Funeral For Justice, is an urgent missive to fellow Tuareg people to preserve the Tamasheq language. Over the course of five minutes, it slowly builds up to a searing shredder of a guitar solo, conveying the exigencies of what’s at stake.
Local Natives – “April”
Last year, SoCal alt-rockers Local Natives released Time Will Wait For No One. They’re following it up with what they’ve billed as its companion piece, But I’ll Wait For You, finishing the first half of that sentence. “April,” its lead single, is grounded by frontmen Kelcey Ayer’s and Taylor Rice’s mesmerizing, silky vocal timbres, just like most Local Natives songs are. This time, however, they’ve adorned their music with squelchy, Currents-esque octave synths that function as the main hook. Light, panning congas and tasteful wah-guitar litter the mix, creating a musical stir fry that all comes together in the end despite its varied textures.