the Top 10 Indie Rock Albums of the Decade

The decade began before this blog was started , I can not just rely on sorting through previous reviews. I am just embedding video clips to support the reasoning for these albums to be listed as such, since I already did a best of the year list for each sub-genre. I broke up what was the punk / harcore list and made them two seperate lists. What was the deciding factor here was what album had the  best songs that are  worth listening to again and again.  Maybe these are not the hippest albums of the decade when it comes to this genre, but what matters more is the fact these are the albums I listened to the most when it came to this sort of thing. ; Any ways here are the Top 10 Indie Rock  albums of the decade.




10- Whirr- "Sway" 2014 









9-No Joy - "More Faithful" 2015












8-Slothrust - "the Pact " 2018 












7-Ride - the Weather Diaries" 2017













6-Pianos Become Teeth -"Wait For Love" 2018 













5-Nothing - Guilty of Everything- "2014" 












4- the Drums -'s/t"  2010














3- the Twilight Sad- "Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants Leave" - 2014 













2 - The National - "Trouble Will Find Me"- 2013













1- Morrissey - "World Peace is None of Your Business"- 2014




 

Top 10 Indie Rock Albums of 2019

It's that time of year again, to sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, then use them, to compile the top 10 albums of the year. Later in the month I am making the top 10 lists for the decade, though to be blunt this is the decade's weakest year for music; this list might have more new artists on it than most, with 3 veterans who are responsible for the genre making decent showings. I do not have to explain to you what indie rock is, though I will say things like shoe gaze and emo fell under the umbrella, most of this was not dark or tense enough to be post punk.

 I am; giving a brief explanation as to why these albums stand over their peers in lower positions on the list. The very fact these bands 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. Sure you can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. However I listen to five new albums a day so yes I heard your favorite album and was not impressed. No, I do not care what you think about it.;I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list. There are 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 2019

10-Yarrow-"Mild Circus"



This band keeps the spotlight on the angular nature to their brand of punky garage grunge. In some ways they are like a darker more chaotic version of Mudhoney. What sells me on this album is how it captures familiar sounds makes them unique and then reminds me a of a slew of bands I used to listen to in high school in the 90s.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/06/yarrow-mild-circus.html

9--Whirr-"Feels Like You"

They are back with all the sounds that made their last album work and taking them another step further in an even more atmospheric direction. It is the soaring sense of adventure and experimentation of these refinement process that gave them the edge to the 9th spot.



https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/12/whirr-feels-like-you.html

8-Heavens Club - "Here there and Nowhere" 

 The fact this band has members of Deafheaven should not be a surprise as they have been heading in this direction. This is for the most part a weird post -rock / shoe gaze style of jazzy indie rock . It shifts from the 80s to 90s with vocals that are soft and androgynous in their breathy quality. The fact they go out on a limb to do something different earns them the 8th spot.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/09/heavens-club-here-there-and-nowhere.html

7-Sebadoh- "Act Surprised "

Before you ok boomer these indie rock icons in their search for relevance, you should consider how true to their sound they remain even as they branch out. There more honesty in this than most younger bands can summon giving them 7th place.


https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/12/sebadoh-act-surprised.html

6-Crooked Ghost -"Colors Bleed"

 This album makes it fun to lose yourself in the murky jangle of it's guitars and the overdubs going in every direction, but the sonic nature of this chaos some how works and his vocals top it all off well. There is a very organic, just plugged into the amp with little effects jangle to the title track, There is something sad and dark to the sound here even before the melancholy vocals come in. Of course I am going to like this guys voice as it's a trembling baritone that is emotive and flirts with his falsetto. This combination earns them the 6th spot.


https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/07/crooked-ghost-colors-bleed.html

 5- HarborLights -"Isolation Ritual"

 The vocals are a key part of their sound which is not something you heard said a great deal when it comes to post- rocky shoe gaze kind of stuff. I could spent more time with the record, but as soon as i put it on I get a renewed appreciation for it. I could have been higher if I had really indulged in it , but it is what it is . They are the heaviest band on this list .

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/09/harborlights-isolation-ritual.html


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 4- Tennis System- "Lovesick" 

hoe gaze works off a nostalgia half the time and drugs the other. For the new bands trying to pick up the torch , it is easy to hide behind effects, but song writing is another story These guys twist the formula to make this an exception to the rule. The drums take on a more punk pace and the vocals follow them to break from drifting off into the distance. This breaking the formula earns then the 4th place as it makes the songs stronger.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/06/tennis-system-love-sick.html

3-the  Pixies -"beneath the Eyrie" 

I started listening to the Pixies on 1991.This  is almost that line up except for Kim Deal who is not in the deal and was replaced by Paz from A Perfect Circle. The second song sounds more like the band than the opener. Black's gains a little a little bit of grit , though has mellowed with age. The production comes close to replicating their original sound. They throw lots of curve balls and are not slaves to their old sound, it is not "Doolittle" but most of the these bands owe a great deal to them.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/09/pixies-beneath-eyrie.html

 2-Lavina- Sallowed" 


 This album channels the time when emo was not hair cuts on Myspace. Yes it is very Mineral, but Mineral is not Minernal any more and I need this album to take me back to that place. The amount of emotion poured into these songs is what elevates it above their peers. The incredible guitar tones help their argument as well.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/06/lavina-sallowed.html

 1- Morrissey - "California Son" 

 Only in 2019 can a gay man cover Dionne Warwick with a Latino band and get called a racist. You can't cancel Morrissey . He doesn't give up and then shoves the fact the is still the best in your face. His voice sounds great and he made these songs his own. He is the god father of indie rock and , no one is capable of taking this crown.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/05/morrissey-california-son.html

Whirr : "Feels Like You"

I was so surprised to see this band had another album out. This time they are on different drugs , more mellowed and fully in the shoe gaze side of the pool. There is a little more of a 9os indie rock feel with the rock guitars to "Wavelength". The only issue I might have with this album is the increased focus on atmosphere might make the songs drift out into nowhere and become intangible so there is nothing but air pulling you to them. The drums are going to bear much of the pressure to hold things together if this is the case. The vocals are your typical shoegaze breathy whisper. The guitars going into "Younger than You" help hold things together . After a few listens the vocals begin to come together. There is more of a woozy glaze not unlike that My Bloody Valentine is known for on " Rose Cold" . The song is a little more dynamic than the others. I guess the vocals being more present in the mix would make this perfect. 

There are some beautiful guitar tones on this album. The vocals float around them sometimes locking in and feeling more song centered midway into the album. "How Time Stretches"  is  a  good example of this. They stay the course a little bit longer in a more rock direction until the the lethargy begins to drag the  songs some, but it is expected for the genre. There are some moments where the slow ambiance makes the song drift under the radar like " Vividly". Which is not bad, it just is not something that will keep my attention.  By the time I get to "Play the Slow Ones" I think I have been listening to this album for too long. Due to having to go back and replay songs that breeze past me. So I am having to step away from the album and come back to finish this album in the next paragraph

I stepped away for a month. "Play the Slow Ones" finds them diggin in and rocking out a little more . The distortion was needed as without these kind of balls everything was going to float away. It does bury the vocals, but gotta break some eggs. .Though when on shuffle mode it can esilly blend into "Time Stretches" if I am no paying attention. some cool guitar creeps into the end of the last song, but it is such a delicate breeze of sound the song almost isn't there. I will round this down to an 8.5, it's good but so hazy and gazey the songs slip by you.

 

Camera Shy : "S/T"

If you seem him onstage you might think Bassist Nick Basset is on drugs, but there is no way he can be if he keeps this busy, not only does he play in Whirr, Nothing and the goth side project Death of Lovers , but he now has this indie rock band Camera Shy. It's not shoe-gaze , but there is a dreamy element to it, but it's focus it poppy indie rock. This album came out back in January, so I am surprised it did not garner enough buzz to be brought to my attention earlier. Acoustic guitars are more common than not. The female vocals are sometimes more hushed and breathy like a shoe band might use on songs like "Colors Radiate". Nick has a pretty dope Morrissey tattoo, so it's not mistake that the guitar strum has some Smiths to it. You see how much this project relies on Basset as it feels like his influence takes a back eat on "Glowing", which is just acoustic guitar and none of his bass playing to give it any depth. The Smiths' like guitar returns on the more upbeat"New Something" that finds her vocal melody taking a gleefully poppy turn, but think 90s alt like the Cranberries rather than Taylor Swift."Under Water Day" is a slower more acoustic based song , but it works better than the previous tab at a similar sounds, it's not as happy so maybe thats why I like it and her vocals border on Cocteau Twins like intervals, she is not trying to be Elizabeth Fraiser an stays in a youthful mid range. There is a slight 50s slant to the guitar on "Take Your Time" another upbeat more pop inflected song, with sappy lyrics.

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They close the album with the very delicate " Seemingly Ill". The song is so fragile it seems a wind might blow it away. Dream pop might be an apt genre to say many portions of the album lean toward. You could say that of all his projects this one is the most mainstream, but even then this is much more thoughtful than anything gracing the radio. It fits well on the landscape of indie rock and I think they were very successful in creating what this album seeks to accomplish, breezy pop songs heavy on the atmosphere.I'll round it up to an eight and see how it grows on me, it was happier than expected and given his past work I went into it expecting something more down trodden in some form or fashion, it's not shoe-gaze so don't go in expecting that, but if you like girl fronted indie rock that is introspective yet poppy this should be up your alley.

Whirr : "Sway"

Right from the first note the San Francisco band is putting more rock into their brand of dreamy...what ever sub-genre you want to tag them with...shoe-gaze being the most likely. This is not just a tribute to Slow Dive, this album feels just as influenced by Sonic Youth. Sure even the opener"Press" has that scraping shimmer like My Bloody Valentine employs , but they are letting themselves become pigeon holed by there influences.

These guys are hot on the heels of Nothing, who conjure together a some what similar blend of 90's influenced indie rock. These guys are dreamier than Nothing, the bass often harder and more fuzzed out and they lack the under coating of grunge Nothing carries. Drums and melody help propel songs like "Mumble". The key to making this sort of thing work is being grounded enough to not let the songs drift out from under you and put the listener to sleep. These guys rock enough to not let that become a problem.

Once the third song 'Dry" comes around they are hitting it harder almost like True Widow does, even relaxing into the verses. This gives them just the right balance of dynamics so their songs don't start sounding the same, though with five more songs to go the jury is still out. They do use different shades of dream when it comes to their guitar tone, some more distorted than others. The sweeping elegance of "Clear" shoe-cases their more crystalline guitar sound.The indulgence of this does cause the song to float away and is much less anchored than "Heavy' that follows. Despite it's name this one is moodier , but wouldn't say actually heavy.  

The breathy tension of the title track hovers in an almost drone like fashion. The vocals are distant creating a darker effect than how they have been presented thus far. Dynamically droning it remains rather one dimensional. Though even the lull grows on you. The dynamic shift occurs on "Lines' somewhat more upbeat, the bass line propelling the songs sense of movement. The album fades into the great gray yonder . Almost sounding like a soundtrack to one of the balloons I let go of as a kid and wondered where it went.

I'll give this album a 9.5 it's growing on me , sometimes the slow and dreamy sits better with me than others. This albums shows a lot of growth from this band, if you like shoe gaze or indie rock of any flavor it's worth checking out.

Death of Lovers: "Buried Under a World of Roses" EP

This band features members of the shoe gaze act Whirr. This is a side project the started while on tour with Nothing, and it is pretty accurate stab at post-punk/ goth. They tackle their songs with more wild abandon than any type of romantic pageantry that would would be more fitting of the goth side of things. So the Cure influences tend to reflect back more on when the band was closer to their punk roots and the dark tension recalls Joy Division more than it does Sisters of Mercy.

The opener "Cold Heaven" is aptly titled ,  the music captures and cold cavernous landscape. Going into the chorus the synth sounds create that darker "Pornography" era sound and at times Bauhaus could be heard haunting the belfry here and there in the creepier moments . The chanted refrain of " who played this joke on us" is very effective and the song pays off with a very sonically heavy climax.

What the synths in "Shaken" lack the vocals make up for. This is preformed more like Depeche Mode but feels like shoegaze, which makes for a rather unique collision.  Dynamically.... this song drifts. In its defense its more of an ambient mood builder like the Cocteau Twins.

They strike a perfect balance of their shoe gaze influences with the more cold wave / goth sounds they are going for here. The bass carries the bulk of the song, but the vocals melody is put to good use and fits over the floating shimmer of the dusk the song conjures. The vocals are lighter and not the typical baritone moan you expect from this kind of bat cave worship.

"The Blue of Noon" sounds like one of Fields of the Nephilims' mellower moments or even Love and Rockets. The guitar sounds great on this song as well as the entire album, the bass is fluid and holds things down leaving the synths as the only weak spot through out, but the songs marry such interesting sounds that this largely goes unnoticed. The final moments of the album finds it slipping away into a drone in the night. I'll give this EP a 9.5, and look forward to hearing what they can pull off on a full length.