Breaking Semiwestern news! The band Semiwestern releasing full length

The band Semiwestern is about to release a full length LP!  Listen to single "Velvet Sea" here

Attention music lovers, the best possible news: The band Semiwestern is releasing a debut LP this year, with singles to come this spring!

Who is this band Semiwestern you speak of?

In November 2022, like a delicate shot across the bow, California’s redoubtable Spirit Goth Records released “Velvet Sea.” I naturally believed this was new music. It was, in fact, a remix of a song recorded by Semiwestern’s members ten years earlier as The Vliets.

Before we go any further, listen to the updated “Velvet Sea” to understand how I swooned over this atmospheric, Luna-inflected recording. It was my #1 or #2 favorite song of the entire year. Since, then, I have listened to “Velvet Sea” approximately one billion times.

I’ll be honest, there’s not a ton of information on the world wide interwebs about either The Vliets or Semiwestern. But here’s what I can tell you.

Semiwestern, formerly The Vliets, reappear a decade later

A brief history of the world. The band Semiwestern emerged from Austin’s The Vliets (pronounced VLEETS), who were active about ten years ago. The Vliets, lead by singer Ty Bohrnstedt, released The Vliets EP in 2011 and God’s Drug EP in 2012. God’s Drug included the original “Velvet Sea.”

These early EP’s by The Vliets are more traditionally alternative. Here is “Pale Solar Stream” from 2012’s God’s Drug EP. You can hear just an echo of what Ty would mix in 2022.

In 2018, The Vliets released the Semiwestern EP, seemingly leading to the band’s current moniker. You can buy all three EP’s from The Vliets/Semiwestern Bandcamp page.

The band Semiwestern plans full release

The band Semiwestern released their transcendent remix of "Velvet Sea" on Spirit Goth Records in November.  Listen to it here!

I was so smitten by the band Semiwestern’s remix of “Velvet Sea” that I inquired with both Spirit Goth and Semiwestern about a new album. Was I a wee bit stalker-y? Possibly, but not completely psycho.

Ty says “a full length album (is) coming. It’s finished but we have to shoot a few music videos and tie up a few loose ends before we set release dates. My best guess is we’ll start putting the singles out around April or so.”

That means we could be six weeks out from new Semiwestern material and I couldn’t be more excited. Will it be consistent with The Vliets indie-centric back catalogue? Or more of the California dream pop like “Velvet Sea?” We will find out!

One more platform for the single, here is the video for the updated “Velvet Sea.”

Stop and listen to these 15 alternative songs new to January 2023

Listen to these indie songs new in 2023

I made a deliberate decision to jump start 2023 by listening to the first great alternative songs new to January.

That’s what you’re going to hear below. While the first couple weeks of the year always seem to be catchup mode on Best Of lists for the year before, you will 100% fall in love with the new music already dropping in 2023.

Let’s have a listen!

Alternative songs new for your January playlist

Each of these songs shot out of the cannon in the first four weeks of the new year.

I haven’t finished listening to all the indie songs new to January, but these are the ones that caught my immediate attention. Each tune comes with a link to buy the song or album and support the artist. Make that a new year’s resolution in 2023! Support independent musicians by paying them for their art!

1. “Dark Moon” – GRMLN (Dark Moon)

You can hear GRMLN's new dream pop song, "Dark Moon" here.  One of the best alternative songs new to January 2023!

We were just four days into the new year when Yoodoo Park of Kyoto, Japan, released Dark Moon and its tasty title track. Park’s GRMLN has been at this for a decade and doesn’t find these dream pop guitar lines by accident. I didn’t hear an entire album of these hooks on Dark Moon but the title track is one of the promising alternative songs new to January 2023.

Listen to more of Dark Moon and buy a copy from GRMLN at Bandcamp.

HEY! – Check out my very favorite songs of the Year 2022

2. “Mile Marker 29” – The Bad Ends (The Power and the Glory)

REM's Bill Berry returns with a new album with band, The Bad Ends

You know who you don’t hear a lot about in the year 2023? REM drummer Billy Berry.

Bill’s been taking it easy – the royalty checks probably still clear. After a health scare in the 90’s, Berry has been hay farming outside Athens the last 25 years. A chance meeting with Mike Mantione lead to new band The Bad Ends and Berry’s return to music. Have a listen to “Mile Marker 29.”

Order your copy of The Power and the Glory from Bandcamp.

3. “Falling Apart” – The Rills (After Taste EP)

The Rills upcoming EP includes several alternative songs new to January. For Franz Ferdinand fans!

The Rills have a super dancy Franz Ferdinand thing happening.

It was especially clear on “Landslide,” which The Rills released last fall. Two weeks ago, they dropped “Falling Apart.” The Rills’ second EP, depending on where you get your info, will be available in February.

Get your copy of the After Taste EP here.

4. fine. – “New Skin/Good Life” (Love, Death, Dreams and the Sleep Between)

Check out Boston's indie pop band called "fine." Clearly one of the best alternative songs new to January

What I really dig about Boston’s fine. is this grade school choir sound they’ve perfected.

Bubblegum pop songs by Alice Kat and Liam James Marsh will wake you from your winter doldrums and get you dancing again. Although I’m including fine. in my January list of tunes…Love, Death, Dreams came out three days before Christmas, so sue me. Hit play and fall in love!

Buy Love, Death, Dreams and the Sleep Between from Subjangle.

5. “Ethel” – The Murder Capital (Gigi’s Recovery)

The Murder Capital include a tribute to LCD Soundsystem in "Ethel"

The Murder Capital don’t care if search to find the melodies in Gigi’s Recovery. But the Dubliners are also so good at what they do, they can’t keep the hooks from bursting through the dissonance.

You’ll hear TMC winking at James Murphy’s masterpiece “All My Friends” in their drooping cacophony, “Ethel.” It’s a slow build, so don’t give up on this one.

They come to Kilby Court in April!

Get ready for The Murder Capital’s SLC show and buy Gigi’s Recovery.

6. “Past Tense” – The Spooky Boys (single)

Portland's The Spooky Boys aren't spooky, they rock!

Let me tell you what I know about The Spooky Boys, which is close to nothing. They’re billed as “Portland’s premier indie/surf rock group featuring jangly dripping wet guitars, relentless driving rhythm, and insatiable catchy melodies.” Admittedly I didn’t know “jangly wet guitars” was a thing, nor that The Spooky Boys were Portland’s exemplar.

I DO KNOW superior power pop when I hear it. So check out one of the best indie songs new to 2023, “Past Tense.”

Buy “Past Tense” at the Spooky Boys’ website.

7. “White Shirt” – Priestgate (One Shade Darker EP)

If you like The Cure and the pop appeal of The Alarm, you're going to love Priestgate

If Priestgate look miserable, their single “White Shirt” is a delirious balance of pop sugar and darker 80’s Cure vibes. I’m looking forward to hearing Priestgate’s second EP due on March 3. I have to say I love the rhythm and vocal desperation of “White Shirt.”

Pre-order One Shade Darker at Bandcamp.

8. “Huge New Her” – Fucked Up (One Day)

F'd Up, the hardcore band who redefined the genre, have a new album

I get it, a band with a name and sound like Toronto’s FU is not going to appeal to everyone reading this post, and that’s a shame.

The arrangements and (honestly) melodies underneath Damian Abraham’s vocals are second to none. It is remarkable hardcore guitar rock. Hang with it for two minutes and think about what songs like “Huge New Her” would sound like with actual singing.

My FU collection goes back, if not to their origin, to their remarkable David Comes to Life. Abraham sang a bit more on David than on One Day. So, for context, a bonus track: “The Other Shoe” from 2011’s landmark David Comes to Life.

Here’s how to get Fucked Up (heh).

This year’s One Day is at Merge Records while 2014’s Glass Boys is at Matador Records. You can sample and buy dozens of other FU releases, including David Comes to Life, from Bandcamp.

Okay, do you trust me now to hear my favorite albums of 2022? They’re right here!

9. “Cuchillos” – LISASINSON (Un Año De Cambios)

Spanish language indie songs new in January inclucde LISASINSON's "Chuchillos"

On no planet was I going to suggest a batch of my favorite alternative songs new to January without some of the best Spanish-language indie pop (*makes note to subscribe to Rosetta Stone). “Cuchillos” is the fourth single from LISASINSON’s pending full length. I’ve already started following Elefant Records to make sure I don’t miss the album by the Valencia, Spain art students.

Buy “Cuchillos” or the upcoming album Un Año De Cambios from Elefant Records.

10. “Skeleton Boy” – Strange Neighbors (Party of None EP)

Strange Neighbor's "Skeleton Boy" is an alternative party song waiting to happen

Let’s stick with the power pop sound. I bet Strange Neighbors are a fun show. Just look at them, having fun with a camera like good self-entertaining kids. The Party of None EP came out two weeks ago, and I recommend you download and inject one of the indie songs new to January that will get your party started.

Strange Neighbors’ Party of None awaits at Bandcamp.

11. “Palm Trees” – Fran (Leaving)

Chicago's Fran released the lovely album Leaving in January.  Listen to "Palm Trees" here

This month Chicago singer-songwriter Maria Jacobson released her second album, Leaving. It’s sweeping acoustic folk with song titles like “Winter” and “God.” Those feel like difficult motifs to live up to. Much of this rests on Fran’s voice and lyrics, like Weyes Blood striped bare of the chamber orchestra.

Buy Leaving from Fran’s website.

If you like Fran (above) and alt country generally, check out my favorite albums last year!

12. “Still Life” – R. Ring (War Poems, We Rested)

Kelley Deal is back with a nbew album in January with R. Ring

Kelley Deal, Kim’s twin and most famous sister, delivers on R. Ring with partner Mike Montgomery.

Deal is involved in a ton of stuff in addition to R. Ring, including Breeders reboots and Protomartyr. I love Kelley’s comeback story, the Breeders’ icy cool baked into R. Ring and her indie rock confidence. Check out the payoff halfway through War Poems’ lead, “Still Life.”

Get War Poems, We Rested from Bandcamp. Buy some of Kelley’s scarves at her website.

13. “Hungry Mouth” – appleseeds! (single)

If you haven't heard "Hungry Mouth" then you haven't heard one of the best alternative songs new to January 2023!

I confess, another 2022 song but – come onnnn! — Denmark’s appleseeds! dropped this song on December 31. You were probably already asleep, so it’s officially one of the alternative songs new to January in my book. Too Good to be True Records indicates appleseeds! will release æblefrø on February 3.

Check out “Hungry Mouth” and get set for what promises to be an album of jangle pop perfection!.

“Hungry Mouth” is one of the top indie songs new to January and the album æblefrø will be full of them!.

14. “Joiner” – Blondshell (Blondshell)

Blondshell releases here S/T debut in April. Have a listen to "Sepsis." It is one of the top alternative songs new to January

Sabrina Teitelbaum is LA’s Blondshell, who writes about her toxic relationships with a candor that couldn’t care less. Dark indie rock echoing influences like PJ Harvey and Courtney Love. Some of it is sexualized, some of it is just dysfunctional emotion like “Sepsis.”

Blondshell comes out April 7. Pre-order your copy from Teitelbaum’s website.

15. “Anglepoise” – The Happy Somethings (A Gathering of Sorts)

The best 90 seconds of alternative rock I've heard so far this year...The Happy Somethings "Anglepoise."

Let’s finish this list with 90 seconds of fist-pumping guitar rock. England’s The Happy Somethings roll the rhythm from Bow Wow Wow’s “I Love Candy” under bubblegum guitar fuzz and twee Bangles vocals.

You’ll be singing “Anglepoise” all day, and you’re welcome.

Anglepoise was released January 1 and is still one of the catchiest alternative songs new to January and the New Year!

The 20 best alternative albums of 2022. This is the music you’ve been looking for!

Shopping for vinyl records best alternative albums of 2022

20 Best
Alternative Albums
of 2022

2022 was a wild and rewarding year of music! Alternative country was at the vanguard of experimental sound, female singer-songwriters dominated across genres and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were relevant again! Most notably, pandemic-delayed music continued to flood into record stores and onto music websites. In fact, selecting the best alternative albums of 2022 was only complicated by the awesome scope of releases. Kids, there is SO. MUCH. MUSIC.

Picking the best alternative albums of 2022

So…a few rules of the road.

First, my basic measure of a great album. It isn’t influence or buzz or length. It’s a release that I can honestly say — YES — I’ll come back and listen to this record over and over in years to come. Second, I love albums that are full and cohesive musical statements. Those are weighted heavily on my list over simple collections of songs. Finally, I try my very best not to posture as cooler than thou. Some of these bands you will know; some you may not have heard about; they all belong on my list because I genuinely love them. Nothing is here for show. In fact, some of it may be damning.

I like what I like.

I’ve tried to provide two songs for every album that you can stream straight from this page. Read, listen and disagree. And by all means, tell me what I missed!

Best alternative albums of 2022: Counting down from 20 to 11

It was harder choosing the order in the second half of this list than those at the top.

Only one of my top 10 (foreshadowing) wasn’t part of my mental list of “best alternative albums 2022” for several months. However, it was a little harder to sequence from 11 to 20 for some reason. Any of these records could easily be another person’s favorite of the year, and all deserve your time.

20. Weyes Blood – And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow

Best albums of 2022:  Weyes Blood - And in the Darkness, Hearts Glow

I didn’t hear Weyes Blood’s 2021 Titanic Rising to compare to this year’s And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. The first 5 or 6 tracks are magical, though I think Hearts Aglow lags a bit near the end. If she resisted the comparison at first, it really is hard not to hear Karen Carpenter in Natalie Mering’s vocals. Not a little Jeff Lynne happening here too!

19. Mañana El Espacio – Casi Nada Es Para Siempre

Best albums of 2022:  Mañana El Espacio - Casi Nada Es Para Siempre

What more can I say? Loved this indie pop band from Venezuela.

Band leader and song writer Ricardo Vergara now writes from Medellín, Columbia, known as the City of Eternal Spring. You’ll feel that kind of renewal in these songs that range from garage rock to a bit of psychedelic jangle. Pedals and indie hand claps included at no extra charge.

Check it!

Did you hear all the Spanish-language jangle pop released in 2022? You’ll fall in love with these songs!

18. Orlando Weeks – Hop Up

Orlando Weeks' Hop Up was a top alternative album of 2022

I deliberately place Hop Up here, not least of all because Orlando Weeks deserves it. Also because Weeks’ sincere family delight is anathema to jaded music critics, who cannot tolerate simple, unironic joy. The album pulses with late-Roxy Music vibes and a little XTC.

“Hey You Hop Up” – Orlando Weeks (Hop Up)
“Big Skies, Silly Faces” – Orlando Weeks (Hop Up)

17. The Boys With the Perpetual Nervousness – The Third Wave of…

Top albums of 2022:  The Boys With the Perpetual Nervousness - The Third Wave of...

TBWTPN collaborate across Europe on sunny indie pop songs, Gonzalo Marcos in Spain and Andrew Taylor in Scotland. However most of the hooks have the lightest touch of sweet jangle somewhere between The Byrds and Teenage Fanclub. The Boys With the Perpetual Nervousness present musical elation of the highest order!

Mary Lou Lord guests on the sweet duet, “Isolation.”

16. Spiritualized – Everything Was Beautiful

2022 favorite albums: Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful

There’s a Spiritualized formula AMIRIGHT? Like Guy Garvey basically has a formula for Elbow? The answer is yes, and I’m here for every second of it.

Tell me if there has been a greater payoff than the Brian Wilson swell at 2:25 on Spiritualized’s “Always Together With You?” Like, ever in the history of music? Possibly exaggeration, but it’s my damn list. I feel like I could have dropped Spiritualized in my Top 10 without an ounce of regret.

Listen to J Spaceman only if you want to experience total exhilaration.

15. Panda Bear and Sonic Boom – Reset

2022 Best Albums: Panda Bear and Sonic Boom - Reset

It seems appropriate, if unintentional, putting Spacemen 3 alum side-by-side.

More Panda Bear than a Spacemen throwback, Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) and Peter Kember (Sonic Boom and Spacemen 3 founder) are nevertheless kindred spirits. Lennox may never return to the sublime heights reached on Person Pitch. Still, Reset lives in a nearby gentrified zip code.

Hey you! Looking back is good..but 2023 has already produced some great songs. CHECK THEM OUT here!

14. Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia

Fontaines D.C. topped my list of best alternative albums of 2022

Skinty Fia could have been a Top 5 album but for a couple of stinkers (“Bloomsday,” I’m looking at you). Irish brogue, pedals, driving backbeats combined with the rich ferocity of Catherine Wheel. A sure hit on any list of best alternative albums of 2022.

13. Naima Bock – Giant Palm

Best of 2022: Naima Bock - Giant Palm

Naima Bock’s patient arrangements frequently echo soft 70’s (“Instrumental” could be a lost TV score). Bock is formerly of Goat Girl and I love her airy, rounded voice.

Weyes Blood sounds like her emotive and high-maintenance younger sister. Aldous Harding is Bock’s spirit animal.

12. The Silent Boys – Sand to Pearls, Coal to Diamonds

Best alternative albums of 2022:  The Silent Boys - Sand to Pearls, Coal to Diamonds

Jangle pop veterans from Richmond. We’re getting dangerously close to my Top 10, and just about every one of these songs is pop perfection. Somewhere, God bless Pat Fish’s departed soul, The Jazz Butcher is listening with a smile.

11. Arlo Mckinley – This Mess We’re In

2022 best alt country: Arlo Mckinley - This Mess We're In

Until July 15, 2022 I had never heard Arlo Mckinley’s name. His show in Salt Lake this year was my favorite by not a little. What do we have to do to get Arlo a date on Mountain Stage?!

Serious Lynyrd Skynyrd energy in the best, most unironic way.

Arlo was my favorite show in 2022 by a country mile, pun intended. Check out his set and pics from SLC!

Best alternative albums of 2022: Number 10 to #1 (Casey Kasem voice)

I personally don’t think you can go wrong with any of these Top 10 releases. Each is choice from beginning to end, and a highlight from the best alternative albums 2022 offered to music lovers.

For the most part, the top 7 or 8 albums were swirling in my head as Best Album for much of the year. It wasn’t until late November or so that I changed my #1, which I thought for sure would hold all year. For whatever reason, I over-indexed on alt country in my Top 10, for which I make no apologies so stop interrogating me like a common criminal.

10. Aurora – The Gods We Can Touch

Best albums of 2022: Aurora - The Gods We Can Touch

I have zero concern for damaging what little street cred I have by including in my Top 10 albums Norway’s Aurora, for whom I am clearly not the target demo. Get over yourself and listen to what Aurora has done!

Much of The Gods We Can Touch is ethereal and intimate, and then by turns challenging and defiant. And the gothic overtones give way to a couple of unapologetic synth pop bangers. Aurora channels the chamber pop and early confidence of Kate Bush.

And I want to say this.

In the year 2023, when a 26-year-old woman is the President and Chief freaking Executive Officer of her personal brand, positively influencing tens of thousands of younger women — we need to honor that.

“Everything Matters” – Aurora (The Gods We Can Touch)
“A Place Called the Moon” – Aurora (The Gods We Can Touch)

9. Alvvays – Blue Rev

Alvvays' Blue Rev was a top album of 2022

Alvvays’ Blue Rev might have more pop hooks per song than anything else I heard this year.

After their October show in Salt Lake, I remarked they felt like a band making a new leap of confidence. You can’t say enough about the cool stage presence of Molly Rankin and Alec O’Hanley and the perfect, desultory voice Rankin gives to songs like “Many Mirrors” and “Lottery Noises.”

So did you get to see Alvvays in 2023? I did — and they were amaze. Read about their SLC set here!

8. The Highwater Marks – Proclaimer of Things

2022 best alternative: The Highwater Marks - Proclaimer of Things

Gleeful jangle that ranges from power pop to fuzzy garage – even a tasty bit of cow punk.

Nearly every song on Proclaimer of Things is a windows open-wide singalong. Hilarie Sidney of Elephant 6 collective and Apples in Stereo and husband Per Ole Bratset share songwriting and vocals. This may explain why shimmering chords alternate with sludgier guitars.

Among the best alternative albums of 2022, this record was absolutely bursting with singles.

“Jenny” – The Highwater Marks (Proclaimer of Things)
“The Devotee to the Chemist” – The Highwater Marks (Proclaimer of Things)

7. Sharon Van Etten – We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong

Top albums 2022: Sharon Van Etten - We've Been Going About This All Wrong

We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is an album of mini-epics, which I am a sucker for. Sharon Van Etten begins each song with the calmest of strums and finishes in tremendous crashing things with giant, earned emotion. She sings with such beautiful, deep tones.

This has been on repeat for me all year.

6. Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up Here

Best alt country 2022: Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up Here

Black Country, New Road are doing something new under the sun. At one moment, they pervert Van Morrison on “Concorde.” In another they descend into free form jazz cacophony on “Snow Globes.”

Without their heat-seeking sensibilities of melody, BCNR would just be a discordant band only music critics love. But they deliver the hooks in another brilliant experiment. Just one example, the 14 second full stop inside “Mark’s Theme” that only improves the resolve.

A triumphant sophomore album.

DUDE I SWEAR these are 22 songs you need to listen to! Click here and start streaming!

5. Aldous Harding – Warm Chris

The best alternative albums of 2022 included Aldous Harding's Warm Chris

So many memorable, infectious songs on Warm Chris, each stamped with Aldous Harding’s eccentricity. Harding isn’t just a blithe oddball, she may also music’s most elliptical lyricist. Also can someone PLEASE help me with “Coming Round the Mountain?” I swear that keyboard samples a movie score that I just can’t place.

4. Beach House – Once Twice Melody

Best alternative: Once Twice Melody by Beach House

I ended the year where I began, Once Twice Melody by Beach House near the very top of my favorite albums list. Chapters I and II came out in late 2021…while III and IV completed the release by February of 2022.

Of any record I listened to this year, no question, Once Twice Melody touches the stars most often.

Spiritualized played a September show in The Caverns, the renown venue in Grundy County, Tennessee. Can you even imagine hearing Beach House playing songs there like “Sunset?” I seriously might die.

3. Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

Best alternative: Big Thief's album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You

It is difficult to understate the scope of what Big Thief has done on Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You. Because when we say, “what Big Thief has done,” we really mean “what Adrianne Lenker has done.” No matter how democratic Big Thief may be, Lenker is the center of their universe.

That Big Thief originally produced NEARLY 50 SONGS whittled down (with no little pain) to 20 songs, defies creative description. This is a mature brand, as we say in marketing. At the same time, Big Thief are still becoming something fearless and new.

Dragon New Warm Mountain toggles seamlessly between casual hootenanny, psych folk and esoteric indie hooks. Although not streamed here, the holiest moment may be the simple harmony between Lenker and bandmate/ex-husband Buck Meek on “12000 Lines.”

Whoa STOP RIGHT THERE! Check out the alternative country you missed in 2022!

2. Angel Olsen – Big Time

Best of 2022: Big Time by Angel Olsen

For reasons I can’t exactly articulate, I was deeply affected by Big Time. I was visiting my childhood home in West Virginia as I streamed Angel Olsen’s cathartic album. In that way, it will be inextricably tied to my return home, the way great music attaches itself to a place and moment in time.

“Go Home” has been voted Most Likely to Make You Cry in an Unguarded Moment. In it, Olsen sings:

I wanna go home,
Go back to small things.
I don’t belong here.
Nobody knows me.

I am the ghost now,
Walking those old scenes.
How can I go on?

Forget the old dream.
I got a new thing
.

An album of aching beauty. Olsen’s voice is unrivaled, shouting down the mountains and, in turns, an intensely vulnerable, quaking vibrato.

1. Jockstrap – I Love You Jennifer B

The best alternative albums of 2022 topped by Jockstrap - Jennifer B I Love You

What has become of me, that I herald a band called Jockstrap? Me, perpetual critic of stupid band names.

Jockstrap (I can’t believe I continue typing that word) are Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye, London art school students. Ellery is also violinist for Black Country, New Road. Her wild vocal range drives the arrangements of Jennifer B I Love You.

Let’s not forget that, at the end of the day, rock and roll should be fun. Or it should evoke equally deep emotions of despair, anxiety or elation. If you haven’t heard of Jockstrap, allow me to introduce you to Jennifer B. Sprawling decade-defining albums are one thing. It’s another to adroitly stitch 1,000 musical ideas inside a taut 40 minute statement, some which continue to reveal themselves on listens 6, 7…12.

Is it synth pop? Post-pop? Is that even a word? Does it matter?

EVERYTHING WORKS on Jennifer B.

“Concrete Over Water” – Jockstrap (I Love You Jennifer B)

Best alternative albums of 2022: Super cool albums not in my Top 20

Records that were really good but not quite in my top tier, wherein I try to impress you with my broad musical taste. I bought and listened to each of these. They are good stuff!

Top alternative albums of 2022, more albums Part 1:

  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Cool It Down)
    Karen O has never sounded better, now singing about motherhood!
  • Big Joanie (Back Home)
    Darkwave, riot girrrl mashup gave me all the feels
  • Porridge Radio (Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky)
    Waterslide sat just outside my Top 20 all year
  • Dehd (Blue Skies)
    Chicago 3-piece knocked it out of the park. Recommended track: “Bad Love”
  • The 1975 (Being Funny in a Foreign Language)
    I thought this was a great pop record honestly
  • Kiwi Jr. (Chopper)
    Slacker rock closer in quality to their Pavement-y debut Football Money
  • Wet Leg (Wet Leg)
    Frankly I discounted this record based on their listless Salt Lake City show

Best alternative albums of 2022, more albums Part 2:

  • Belle and Sebastian (A Bit of Previous)
    Nothing I didn’t like about B&S’s return to form
  • Infinity Knives and Brian Ennals (King Cobra)
    My Top 20 list doesn’t include rap — I’m not deep enough in the scene
  • Young Guv (Guv III)
    Ben Cook’s positively delicious guitar pop. Every track, but try: “Lo lo lonely”
  • Rush to Relax (Misli)
    Look, this jangle pop is sung in Macedonian. It is worth the effort!
  • Just Mustard (Heart Under)
    How they notch Katie Ball’s vocals inside this dark, gazey noise is a marvel
  • Father John Misty (Chloë and the Next 20th Century)
    Maybe this is shtick, but it is still lovely

Here are the songs you missed on the too-little-loved EP format. I bet you find something you really dig!

2022 best alternative EP’s

Before I post some favorite songs from 2022 or rank my top albums, let’s spend some time with the little-appreciated category of EP’s.…

Keep reading

Fave alternative albums of 2022, more albums Part 3:

  • Torres Satélite (Mundos y Estrellas)
    I swooned over some of these songs. Check out: “Carl Sagan”
  • Ian Noe (River Fools & Mountain Saints)
    More from my year as an alt county evangelist
  • The Linda Lindas (The Linda Lindas)
    If Green Day were 15-year-old girls
  • Best Bets (On An Unhistoric Night)
    I’ve said a lot about Best Bets. Buy this record!
  • Wild Pink (ILYSM)
    At times Lambchop-y, I thought John Ross sounded best on the more structured songs
  • Beth Orton (Weather Alive)
    Confused Beth Orton and The Beths for most of this year. Weather Alive is a grower!
  • Castlebeat (Half Life)
    Late add from Spirit Goth Records. Josh Hwang produces these arch Joy Division melodies in his garage

Best alternative albums of 2022, more albums Part 4:

  • Crows (Beware Believers)
    A near Top 20 for me, play only at ear-damaging volume levels
  • Northern Portrait (Swiss Army)
    Danish indie pop throwback that I just loved. Listen to: “Long Live Tonight”
  • Artsick (Fingers Crossed)
    If you buy just one lo-fi garage band album this year, buy Fingers Crossed
  • The Smile (A Light for Attracting Attention)
    Another late add, you have five or six terrific songs here!
  • Eades (Delusion Spree)
    Cheap Trick fans unite! I feel like I should have re-evaluated Eades for my Top 20
  • Cuco (Fantasy Gateway)
    Bedroom pop of the highest order. Cuco plays the 2023 Kilby Court block party

Best alternative albums of 2022: Not feeling these

Disappointing alternative albums of 2022


I started the year on kind of a tear, buying a few releases without sampling. We all do this, right? Like I’ll buy on faith about anything Elbow or Sloan put out. It’s a trust relationship. Became a little too trusting this year and bought some CD’s (yes I mostly still buy physical media) that didn’t live up to reputation. And then a couple of stinkers just generally.

  • Cate Le Bon (Pompeii)
    Hey I like weird, I like eccentric. At the end of the day you have to produce songs people actually like
  • Kendrick Lamar (Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers)
    Boy, this has really divided opinion. Mark me down for a giant No. Also, half as long next time please
  • Animal Collective (Time Skiffs)
    It’s not NOT good. But it’s a far cry from the Merriweather days
  • Mitski (Laurel Hell)
    What the hell with Laurel Hell. I was expecting more
  • A Place to Bury Strangers (See Through You)
    You know what I wasn’t thinking last year? “I’d like to hear Oliver Ackerman sing a ballad”
  • Spoon (Lucifer on the Sofa)
    I think I’m mostly alone on this one. I thought Lucifer was pedestrian
  • Oliver Sim (Hideous Bastard)
    The shame here is I think the XX founder had some good musical ideas. It never punched through
  • Sloan (Steady)
    Initially slated my favorite Canadians’ album as an honorable mention. Now it’s feeling routine

Ride on tour: Dates announced! Plus listen here to new shoegaze acts who could open!

Ride on tour with The Charlatans! Check tour dates here + new shoegaze bands that could open.  This image from London, 2019

UPDATE Monday 9:15 AM: Dates for Ride on tour here!

Here is the announcement for dates for Ride on tour with The Charlatans tour dates. These are US and Canada big city performances starting in six weeks:

  • January 30 New York City
  • January 31 Brooklyn
  • February 2 Boston
  • February 3 Montreal
  • February 4 Toronto
  • February 5 Detroit
  • February 7 Chicago
  • February 8 Madison
  • February 9 Minneapolis
  • February 11 Denver
  • February 13 Vancouver
  • February 14 Seattle
  • February 15 Portland
  • February 17 San Francisco
  • February 18 Los Angeles

Here is the post to Ride’s Facebook page from an hour or so ago.

Dates for Ride on tour announced on Facebook!  Charlatans tour dates are the same, they are co-headlining

With Ride on tour in 2023, it’s all fair game so let’s get right to it.

And KEEP READING — we’ll explore some new, gazey bands on the scene who could join the tour.

Bands opening Ride tour dates right now

Dates for Ride on tour with The Charlatans next year!  Moaning Lisa is supporting Ride right now in Australia

Melbourne’s Moaning Lisa are scheduled to open for Ride’s Australia dates. Moaning Lisa is pretty straightforward indie rock. Here is the opener on last year’s debut album, Something Like This But Not Like This. I haven’t spent much time with ML.

Here is the first single from Something Like This, “Something.”

Buy from Moaning Lisa at Bandcamp.

Similarly, in Perth, Ride tour dates are getting support from local 5-piece The Deenys. The Deenys are living the dream, already opening for The Charlatans this year. They’re obscure enough that if you don’t narrow your search correctly it literally brings up a list of Denny’s restaurants in Perth.

If you want The Deenys, and not Denny’s, this is what they sound like.

Shoegazers WE WANT opening for Ride tour dates!

First, a quick reality check.

The shoegaze genre isn’t exactly producing dozens of breakout acts right now. We have some terrific, gothy bands this year like Just Mustard. But they’re not going to show up in Salt Lake City (please God please) or San Francisco supporting Ride and The Charlatans tour dates.

Here are a few up-and-comers and, by the way, WHO AM I MISSING? Would love to know.

Healees

Healees are a standout new shoegaze band from Paris, France that could support Ride with The Charlatans tour dates

Okay, can we get more serious for a moment? Hidden Bay Records’ Healees have been on my Best Of list all year.

I can still remember wandering around a grocery store this spring listening to their self-titled EP in June and wondering, how am the only person swooning over this gazey band?! Healees, based in Paris, are probably synched most closely with the Ride’s 1990 sound from Nowhere on the aching cut “The Garden.”

Also, have a listen to the blistering “Jaguarundi” from the same EP. What exactly is a Jaguarundi, anyway? You won’t care after listening to Healees‘ shimmering, 4 minute jam that would be an incredible introduction, just before Andy Bell and Mark Gardener take the stage.

Buy Healees super strong debut at Bandcamp.

Downward

Tulsa, Oklahoma's Downward could crush it as an opening act for Ride in 2023

Downward is admittedly a band I only discovered for the first time tonight. Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Downward is currently touring in support of their February Brass Tacks EP. Sometimes 90’s indie, at other times right in a gazey bullseye…”Ugly Bug” is about as perfect an opener for Ride as I can imagine — or maybe Catherine Wheel?!

Listen to the variety of sounds on Downward’s Brass Tacks EP.

LAUNDER

LAUNDER is a super dream pop act out of Los Angeles.  Could be a great warm-up for Ride on tour in 2023?

In my experience, a lot of bands described as shoegaze are in actuality loud dream pop. Google “shoegaze” all you want, mostly you’re getting metal or dream pop.

LAUNDER falls in this gap. This year’s Happening is super but it’s not gazey at all, whatever you read. The working name of LA’s John Cudlip, LAUNDER is in the same shoegaze zipcode on “Intake,” but it’s pretty atypical of the rest of the dream pop album.

This is a really nice album, an agitated dream pop record. Check it out!

Mo Dotti

Mo Dotti from Los Angeles could be a great opener for Ride on tour with The Charlatans tour dates

Hat tip to The Noise Made by People, who flagged LA’s Mo Dotti for me. Their March EP Guided Imagery falls somewhere between dream and gaze, and I have no dispute with where they land! I love to imagine a really crunchy, aggressive version of “Come on Music” before Ride hits the stage.

And here is “Loser Smile,” the opening track on Guided Imagery, with some My Bloody Valentine energy.

Ride on tour to promote re-release of Nowhere and Going Blank Again

Ride's first two albums and four EP's reissued by Wichita Recordings

It’s already been a year for Ride.

On November 4, Wichita Recordings re-issued 1990’s legendary Nowhere and 1992’s Going Blank Again, along with a collection of their first four EP’s. I only have the Today Forever EP, so I’ll be buying 4 EP’s at the band’s website. Next week, Ride begins an Australia and New Zealand tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of Nowhere:

  • Nov 29 Adelaide, Australia
  • Nov 30      Melbourne, Australia
  • Dec 1        Sydney, Australia
  • Dec 2        Woolloongabba, Australia
  • Dec 4        Fremantle, Australia
  • Dec 6        Auckland, New Zealand
  • Dec 16      Athens, Greece
  • Dec 18      Paris, France (Les Inrocks festival)
Ride tour dates and Charlatans tour dates announced today!

One way or the other, let’s get Ride to Salt Lake for the #goingblankagain30 tour — and a ten-minute version of “OX4” please!

Alvvays in Salt Lake City: Show Review

Alvvays in Salt Lake City on Tuesday October 18

Alvvays in Salt Lake City played a bang-up show Tuesday. Toronto’s rising stars played songs from their 2014 self-titled debut and more heavily from 2017’s Anti-Socialites and their acclaimed Blue Rev, released less than two weeks ago. The supremely assured performance is everything fans both old and new at SLC’s The Depot could have wanted.

Alvvays’ Rankin and O’Hanley enthrall

First, Molly Rankin looked every bit a college graduate student in black pants, a short-sleeve top and the the piercing, blue eyes of Siberian Husky. She confidently belted out 70 minutes of Alvvays’ best arrangements Tuesday. Rankin alternated the spotlight at times with guitarist Alec O’Hanley, who orchestrated the shoegaze overtones on “Pharmacist” and a couple of RAWK GOD breakouts, notably the showstopper bridge on “Many Mirrors.” The hour plus set was tight and confident, the sound of a band come into its own.

What is Alvvays, exactly?!

Its funny reading around to see how Alvvays is described, with very little agreement. Fuzzy guitars, yes. A bit of surf, sure. Dream pop, I gueessss. But Alvvays is also one of those bands that gets crunchier live, which is exactly what I love. At the same time, Rankin on stage still digs into the pathos and emotion of “Easy On Your Own,” “Party Police” and “Belinda Says.”

Second, a note about how Alvvays defies convention. At times Tuesday they dabbled in a bit of psychedelia, demonstrated their new range in electronics on “Very Online Guy” and showed off the sheer bubblegum delight of “Adult Diversions.” Here is that 2014 studio version:

Alvvays execute like consummate rock pros

Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Critically, Alvvays possess the intangible and truly priceless gift of woah-woah lyrics, exquisitely on display Tuesday on songs like “Undertow” from Anti-Socialites. At times, Alvvays wrapped their live songs in a punky, perfectly curt dead stop. At other times, they indulged in an atmospheric, languid jam that still held the crowd’s rapt attention as on the delightful extended end to “Tom Verlaine.”

Alvvays in Salt Lake City a true pop joy

Finally, the standouts on Tuesday included not just current singles, “Earthquake” and “Easy On Your Own,” but perhaps inevitably their signature “Archie, Marry Me” from Alvvays’ debut. It carried no less punch, no less pleading, no less an exquisite picture of young love.

During the summer, take me sailing out on the Atlantic.
I won’t set my sights on other seas, there is no need to panic.
So honey take me by the hand and we can sign some papers.
Forget the invitations, floral arrangements and bread makers
.

Hey, hey, marry me, Archie
Hey, hey, marry me, Archie

Buy your copy of Blue Rev and some Alvvays merch from Polyvinyl. Photos of Tuesday’s show follow + tour dates as Alvvays in Salt Lake City moves further west.

Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Molly Rankin and Alec O'Hanley of Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Molly Rankin and Alec O'Hanley of Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Avayys' Kerri MacLellan, Sheridan Riley and Abbey Blackwell

Molly Rankin and Alec O'Hanley of Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Alvvays played Salt Lake City on October 18

Always in Salt Lake City

Molly Rankin and Alec O'Hanley of Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Molly Rankin of Alvvays in Salt Lake City

Alvvays tour dates:

  • 10/19 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory $
  • 10/20 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom $
  • 10/21 – Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre $
  • 10/22 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre $
  • 10/24 – Arcata, CA @ Arcata Theatre Lounge $
  • 10/26 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore $
  • 10/27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore $
  • 10/28 – Pomona, CA – Glass House $ [Just Added)
  • 10/29 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern $
  • 10/30 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park $ [SOLD OUT]
  • 11/02 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater $
  • 11/04 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall – Downstairs $
  • 11/05 – Dallas, TX @ The Studio at The Factory $
  • 11/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse $
  • 11/08 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works $
  • 11/09 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel $
  • 11/11 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club $ [SOLD OUT]
  • 11/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall $
  • 11/15 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall $
  • 11/16 – New York, NY @ Kings Theater $
  • 11/18 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner $