indie underrated

Scenic Brooke West lands gorgeously nostalgic in measured doses on their new EP Transparancy.  A testament to the bright lofi sound print that’s characterized their sound effectively, it begs to be turned up in immersive sonic desire.  While the single So Long tags an influence of The Byrds, the slow groove of Sun Don’t Shine breaks 2000’s indie bread with disaffected moody brilliance. So far they grab us as a solid replacement for the void left from the dismantling of indie cult heroes Dr Dog.  We like where this is going.  Scenic Brooke West is indie gold.  

You know that frazzled slightly chaotic person who often states “I’m fine” despite looking like they’re on the brink of a meltdown.  We may have found their mantra in Happy Dayz, the new single from Seasonal Falls.  A gorgeous review of societies perplexing ironies sung elegantly by a voice who knows the folly of their words but embraces the corporate cure nonetheless.  Stylistically presenting in the style of Sufjan Stevens, it offers refreshing contrast considering the subject matter.  Happy Dayz are here again. 

SZA truly rewrote the expectations of how far Alternative R&B could go.  Underground artist Haven embraces that legacy and offers her own signature voice to the cause.  Contemporary R&B is hopefully a thing of the past, with songs like Brainfreeze and Fixer bringing new intellect with its own trademark bright mix in correlation to SZA’s own mixing style.  Like classic R&B, Haven still offers you the chance to lose yourself on the merit of her vocal swings alone.  What she adds are unfamiliar melodic realms, compositional surprise, and some refreshing abstract with subtle Frank Ocean style indie pop magnetism.  We love it.  

Monster Planet shows their real star power in the video for their new single Lover Girl.  The video matches the songs clever construction, as realms of Best Coast style punk intersect with modes of 90s and classic 80s alternative.  It’s all bred from the influence of the 50s and how it influenced early punk compositions.  Just like the song, the video exists in two realms.  The one being the concerning impulsive behavior of the songs protagonist and the second being the bizarre result of that folly.  The songs killer, but we wouldn’t recommend trying this at home, you might not like the outcome.