Alt-J Return With Paternal Earnestness on ‘The Dream’
Alt-J may have tempered their eccentricities on The Dream but there’s still plenty of death and genre-bending to satisfy veteran votaries.
Hayden Merrick
Hayden Merrick is a Brighton-based writer. He runs a monthly column on rising indie artists for PopMatters and contributes essays and reviews to Bandcamp Daily, FLOOD Magazine, Pitchfork, Clash Magazine, Loud & Quiet, and others. His desert island album is Left & Leaving by the Weakerthans.
Pinegrove Affirm Their Worth on the Verdant ’11:11′
Pinegrove’s 11:11 is the extolled group’s most sober collection of songs—a literate latticing of personal sorrow and environmental collapse.
The Soundtrack to Hüsker Dü’s Implosion: ‘Warehouse: Songs and Stories’ Turns 35
It’s been 35 years since college rock harbingers Hüsker Dü culminated in a storm of malaise. Warehouse: Songs and Stories was their parting gift.
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The 15 Best Indie Pop Albums of 2021
In 2021, indie pop had the job of scoring the world’s reopening, marrying joy and uncertainty. From Wolf Alice to Illuminati Hotties, these albums got the gold.
Dummy’s ‘Mandatory Enjoyment’ Is the Best Krautpop Album of the Year
Dummy’s full-length debut Mandatory Enjoyment percolates with a mesmerizing, inescapable warmth—the best of its Krautpop niche this year.
Belle and Sebastian’s Studious ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ Turns 25
Belle and Sebastian’s 1996 showpiece If You’re Feeling Sinister balanced poignance and exuberance with its character-driven stories and became an indie-pop classic.
Pip Blom’s ‘Welcome Break’ Is Cautious But Still As Exuberant As Their Debut
Dutch four-piece Pip Blom can still light up a room with jangly guitars and amiable vocal hooks, even if Welcome Break suffers from sophomore album syndrome.
Snail Mail’s Songwriting Reaches Dizzying Heights on ‘Valentine’
Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan laughs, cries, and fights her way through Valentine, one of the best albums of the year. Snail Mail is about to get a lot bigger.
Sam Evian’s ‘Time to Melt’ Floats Above 2020’s Ugliness at a Safe, Groovy Distance
On Time to Melt, Sam Evian swaddles the malaise of 2020 in a blur of groove-indie experimentation, cementing himself as one of indie’s foremost songwriters.
Middle England Woes and Glistening Guitars Collide on Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’
Sam Fender gives a stirring tour through the poverty and politics of middle England on his polished new album, Seventeen Going Under.
Boy Scouts Amble Through Warming West Coast Folk-Pop on ‘Wayfinder’
The latest album from Taylor Vick’s Boy Scouts project, Wayfinder hikes through familiar terrain, but her floaty folk-pop arrangements still resonate.
Sarah Tudzin Unleashes Energy, Tenderness, and Wit on Illuminati Hotties’ ‘Let Me Do One More’
The Illuminati Hotties album we’ve been waiting for is anchored in glibly gregarious power-pop, but it’s the more earnest moments that reward repeat listening.