So far, 2019 has seen a dizzying amount of good to great albums in the indie rock sphere. But the year is far from over and the last quarter looks to have some notable albums that I’m very excited for. Here’s a short list:
DIIV
One of my favorite modern guitar bands is back after a brief hiatus (and another rehab stint from lead singer and Kurt Cobain disciple Zachary Cole Smith), DIIV (pronounced Dive) is capable of amazing things with seemingly simple tools. They are firmly in the indie rock category, but their layers of guitar feel almost post-rock and the whispered vocals could be considered dream pop. In the first single of the new album, called Deceiver and out October 4th, “Skin Game” ZCS sings in his very personal style about he “used to fly, but then they took away the sky” and “i can see you’ve had some struggles lately, hey man i have too.” Sound-wise, it’s not dissimilar to anything off their last record, the epic “Is the Is Are”, but it has a renewed energy to it, a bouncy rhythm it’s almost impossible to get out of your head once it burrows in. Really curious to see what else they have to say.
Caroline Palochek
I’ve already sung the praises of the former lead singer of the Chairlift here, but this looks to be a highlight of the upcoming season. The first single, “Door” was one of my favorite songs of the summer, but I find myself returning more to her more upbeat “Ocean Of Tears” song. It has such a great vibe. Her debut solo (under her own name), Pang, doesn’t have a specific release date but should be out before the end of the year.
Tame Impala
It seems like a long time ago we got the first new music since Tame Impala’s massive sea change opus, Currents. Early in 2019, Kevin Parker (above) aka Tame Impala released “Patience,” an meditative song that starts with the line, “Has it really been that long?” It builds on the left turn slant from Currents away from prog rock to electronic, but adds new instrumentation (bongos!) and an almost dance ready groove. Not quite as complex or deep as some of the Currents tracks (first single from that album was the genre-shattering “Let It Happen”) but showed a kind of easy sun-kissed new reality for the band.
A couple of weeks later, he released “Borderline,” the more upbeat of the two new singles. This one is definitely already a staple in a thousand DJ sets throughout the country. It’s a smart and infectious little song.
But since those two tracks dropped, Tame Impala has not released any new music despite an extensive tour. I think the full album is still scheduled for this year, but it’s been pretty quiet for awhile now. Here’s hoping the album isn’t far away.
I’m also looking forward to new music from Montreal rockers, Wolf Parade, before the year is out, but no advance tracks as of early September.
Some notable recent releases worth mentioning: The new album by Whitney is excellent. Breezy rock with a lot of emotion. Lead song and single, “Giving Up” is magic. Perennial indie rockers Death Cab for Cutie just released a new EP, “The Blue EP,” lead single “Kids in ’99” has a fairly typical late career DCFC-vibe, as in it’s good, but seems to be missing something from their prime days.
Elad Haber 