the Smile : "Wall of Eyes"

 Johnny and Thom are back for their sophomore release with their side project that at first seemed like a one-off release. These songs were written while on tour. It opens with the title track which is a strummed guitar being buried by the ambiance and Yorke's trademark coo. What seemed to work so well on the first album is not being repeated here and instead, we are getting a glut of atmosphere that mired down many of the latter-day Radiohead songs. Things wander more in the second song. I can only think Thom York must be getting high as hell to repeatedly go to this sort of thing as his songwriting default. 

They pull out of this on "Read the Room", which seems a decent compromise, as it has enough groove to stick to your ears, while a fair share of surreal trappings for it to float in on. The vocals feel more purposeful with this backbone from him to sing over. The bass line provides even more meat here. They wander into more proggy goodness with "Under Your Pillow".  It does sound more like the lost Radiohead outtakes. Some of the blame here lies in Yorke's distinct voice. To his credit, it is impressive his falsetto is still this fluid. There is more struggle on this album with the song vs sound situation. They are great musicians so they can capture this sound without a great deal of studio wizardry and just jamming along with their instruments. However, this feels more like jamming than songwriting. The last two minutes of "Under Your Pillow" drowning in ambient noise. 

"Friend of a Friend" adheres more closely to the conventions of songwriting, as it sounds like it could be jazz-rock from the late 70s. They reuse the use of delay on his voice which Yorke has experimented with before, as his lyrics are a stream of consciousness. "I Quit" tries to remember where it was going as it wanders through the clouds. "Bending Hectic' has more substance to it, though it is just a jammed-out version of familiar ground. The final two minutes find them actually rocking out, which was an unexpected turn of events. The opening piano chords to the last song are enough to let me know the previous song, got all the rock out of their system. Yorke's ethereal falsetto slides in to do what he is expected to do at this point. 

This album might be a meandering exercise in indulgence for Yorke and Greenwood, but it is still better than what most indie rock bands are doing. However, I will round it down to an 8.5, as it feels like a great deal of themes are being recycled here.If you are a Radiohead fan you will find this hits the spot without delivering. 

pst94

the Top 10 Indie Rock Albums of 2022

The indie rock list is normally bands who do not rock hard enough to be rock records or fell askew from other lists, so they are falling here. Indie rock has been a thing since the days of bands like Television, in the 90s they got commercialized and scooped up by major labels, so it lost its charm. This does not mean bands that they are not on mainstream labels but bands that fall outside of pop and rock.; Much like in years past sort through the genre lists before making the overall top ten of the year list. The fact these artists made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyways here are the top 10 indie rock albums of 2022.

10-Alvvways-"Blue Rev" 

With a sound that is from a woozy corner of the 90s, this band from Canada manages to fuse quaint pop ditties with a swirl of ambiance. There are melodies that emerge which at times can be happier than what I normally listen to. However, when tempered to the more surreal drug drip of effects for the disenfranchised lyrics to ponder over things work out for the best

Abysmal Hymns: Alvvays : "Blue Rev"

9- the Black Angels - "the Wilderness of Mirrors" 

The 6th album by the Texas band carries the kind of hypnotic throb you want from them. It has a dark drone to it that creates a haunting pulse as layers of sound swirl around it.  The reverb drowned vocals occupying a similar space. The bass bring more of a thump to drive the grooves as the vocals have a clearer narrative when singer Alex Maas awakes from his stoned lethargy. There is more of a 60s pysch-pop feel at times, but it is always compelling. 

Abysmal Hymns: the Black Angels : "Wilderness of Mirrors"

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8-Rome - ""Hegemonikon-A Journey to the End of Light" 

Crossing over from the folk or post-punk list, the new album is a departure from the flirtations with Death in June. Instead, we got an atmospheric affair weighed heavily by synths, The vocals being buried under said synths. The strum of guitar remerges to a more familiar sound at times. The production on this album is less organic than previous ones. There is a more upbeat almost pop feel to the song writing which is still stellar enough to earn its place here. 

Abysmal Hymns: Rome : "Hegemonikon-A Journey to the End of Light" "

7-Death Bells -"Between Here and Everywhere" 

It makes sense that the band's move to Los Angeles finds their sound becoming more streamlined and palatable to the masses. The punk in the post-punk side of the equation is dialed back putting them in the same sonic zip code as the more mainstream post-punk revivalists of the early 2000s like Interpol and the Rapture. Here the more accessible leanings work in the bands favor as they have stepped up their songwriting game, resulting in some of their most memorable songs yet, the sounds provide a counterpoint against one another as the upbeat vibe of the song proves a backdrop for dead pan vocals and glum lyrics

Abysmal Hymns: Death Bells: "Between Here and Everywhere"

6- Black Country New Road- "Ants From Up There" 

The previous album was one of the best post-punk albums of the year. Where their last album rode ad the line between the early days of post-punk and a jammy weirdness, this album leans in a more prog direction with the dead pan vocals the only thing that holds traces of the starker postpunk tension. It is hard to fault them for this when the end result is a great deal of fun almost like Gogol Bordello without their obnoxious singer. Things break into an easier going more languid mood that opens room for the  vocals to take on a more wavering croon that is delicate in a manner not unlike Bright Eyes, who also serves as a fair sonic point of reference. They grew in an interesting new direction that paid off. 

Abysmal Hymns: Black Country , New Road : "Ants From Up There "

 

5- Interpol-"the Other Side of Make Believe" 

I can get over the fact Interpol is no longer as dark as they once were. Gone is the stark tension of post-punk. Now we have rather breezy indie rock that does what Arcade Fire did in a less orchestrated and more organic fashion. The Beatles are more of an influence than Joy Division with songs like "Fables". Despite this gradual stylistic shift that has brough them to this place over the years, they are still great songwriters. They are masters at capturing mood and while different still retains who they are and works as it is easy on the ears. I find myself just leaving it on to play

Abysmal Hymns: Interpol : "the Other Side of Make Believe"

4 Fontaines DC-"Skinty Fia" 

This Irish band now perhaps lives in a sonic zip code closer to Radiohead than any type of shoegaze or post-punk revivalists. They slip away from the more hypnotizing drones to slinky grooves. This allows for the vocals to be moodier but with an underlying attitude. Their singer chooses some interesting placement with his phrasing. This can be felt in the with the lyrics bobbing in and out of the guitars staccato jangle. "Sometimes flirting with their punk rock youth with lyrics invoking dive bars past midnight

Abysmal Hymns: Fontaines D.C. : " Skinty Fia"

3-the Smile - A light for Attracting Attention" 

A band with Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood is going to sound like Radiohead. The main difference is drummer Tome Skinner who played with the jazz band Sons of Kemet. He helps them lock into a much different groove than what you might expect from Radiohead. I think the rowdy punk tension of "You Will Never Work in Television Again" made some members of the press fooled into thinking this would be return to the scrappier younger days of Radiohead. Why should it be? After all this is not Radiohead? I am sure many of these songs were intended to Radiohead, but I can imagine the pressure which comes with writing for a new Radiohead album was one thing they wanted to get away from when writing this.

Abysmal Hymns: the Smile : "A Light for Attracting Attention"

 

2-Murder By Death - 'Spell/Bound"

This album is sonically not as stark when it opens when a warmer sounding country song. Lyrically things darken at times. When I talk about dark with these guys, everything is being measured against "Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them". Yes, I know that was their second album and it is a masterpiece. They are not trying to replicate it nor would I want them to, but it does show where they are at peak songwriting and the kinds of things, they are capable of. They reach similar heights but from another angle here. 

Abysmal Hymns: Murder By Death : "Spell/Bound"

1- Midlake- "For the Sake of Bethel Woods" 

This album both surprised and grew on me. They are moody and melodic in all the ways I like for this kind of music to be. Their drummer is really on it. There is a folk thing, but they are also very melancholy and thoughtful. Things get more soulful and lean toward being more  proggy than folk, as the instrumentation flirts with math rock while the vocals s are off doing their own thing. Ath the end of the day it's the songs and all the feeling they put into them that earned the top spot. 

Abysmal Hymns: Midlake : " For the Sake of Bethel Woods"

the Smile : "A Light for Attracting Attention"

Obviously, a band with Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood is going to sound like Radiohead. The main difference is drummer Tome Skinner who played with the jazz band Sons of Kemet. He can be felt the most on the second song 'the Opposite" which finds them locking into a much different groove than what you might expect from Radiohead. I think the rowdy punk tension of "You Will Never Work in Television Again" made some members of the press fooled into thinking this would be return to the scrappier younger days of Radiohead. Why should it be? After all this is not Radiohead? 

I am sure many of these songs were intended to Radiohead, but I can imagine the pressure which comes with writing for a new Radiohead album was one thing they wanted to get away from when writing this.  Yorke's voice still has it, as he goes up into his falsetto for "Pana-vision".  The palm muted groove of "the Smoke" works like disco Fugazi. Thing drift off in the ambiance of "Speech Bubbles" until the guitar comes in to bring it together. It is pleasing to the ears but falls short of the level of songwriting heard on the first five songs. They get back into guitar groove with "Thin Thing" that weaves around a surreal exploration. They slide back into dream land on "Open the Floodgates". The first song that really invokes earlier Radiohead is not their rock side but the more strummed Brit pop folk balladry of "Free in the Knowledge" . This is not the only song that finds them in more familiar sonic zip codes as "a Hairdryer" could have come from "OK Computer". 

There are also equal doss if synth laden ambiance, creating ghostly introspection, that are moodier than they are dark. Johnny Greenwood has been scoring films and that can be heard as an influence on this album as well. Chances are if you are listening to this album in the first place you are a Radiohead fan so the moments where they cannot escape their legacy, while serve as moments to celebrate. Sometimes they rock this out a little bit as shown on "We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings".  The last song also does this but to a more dream induced result. I will round this up to a 10 as even the more atmospherically focused moments are still doing what these guys set out to do and how my ears receive them is dependent on my mood .  

The Smile | Skating On the Surface [Subtitulado] from AllredX on Vimeo.