Here are our top picks from new releases in the past week, selected by indie-rock-god (not actually, but fangirl none the less), Taylor Yates. This Tunesday we’re back in the indie-rock sector, casually dipping out toes into something a little different. Enjoy the likes of Jenny Broke The Window, Tiger Choir, Marcus Marr & Cher Faker, The Kooks & Loon Lake.
‘Skinny Dip’ – Jenny Broke The Window.
As Jenny Broke The Window are one of my long-time favourite bands, I was super excited to see that they’d brought out a new track (and even more excited when they asked if I wanted to premiere it). ‘Skinny Dip’ is surfy, chilled out and boppy all at the same time. The lyrics to this one are a bit cheeky, but in a subtle way (you’ll have to listen to see what I mean), and the even subtler synths really sold this one to me. Check it out if you dig feel-good music, but not in the typical sense.
‘Interstate’ – Tiger Choir.
When I first heard this track, it was from across the room and I immediately asked the person playing it what it was. It had me at the shy guitars and the 80s style male vocals. Not what I usually go for, but this one’s pretty unique. It blends your run-of-the-mill Triple J style indie-rock with 80s influenced rock and comes out with something totally awesome.
‘The Trouble With Us’ – Marcus Marr & Chet Faker.
First Chet Faker shaved his beard, now this? Just kidding. This track is actually pretty good, even though it’s again, completely different to what we’re used to from Chet Faker. If you like funky-pop music, you’ll dig this one for sure. It’s got his signature vocals, just the style is changed up a bit, and then there’s the other side of the track – Marcus Marr’s vocals. If you didn’t think this track was poppy, just you wait. It’s not a bad thing though, and ‘The Trouble With Us’ is actually quite catchy.
‘Creatures Of Habit’ – The Kooks.
When I first heard this one, I was mortified. What happened to The Kooks? Where did their signature Brit-indie-rock sound go? Has Mark Foster (from Foster The People, who produced this track and some of the tracks on their previous album, Listen), gone too far? But after spinning it a couple of times, this one grew on me. Sure, it’s totally different from what The Kooks usually do, but it kinda ties in with the name of the track – ‘Creatures Of Habit’. Every band needs to shake things up once in a while, and The Kooks have gone to the extreme of that – but if you let go of all your inhibitions, this is actually quite a good track.
‘Just Now’ – Loon Lake.
I heard this song a while back, but when I saw that it was included on Loon Lake’s final album release, Low Res, I couldn’t help but include this absolute awesome piece of indie-rock goodness. From the racey guitars to the “please quit fucking me over” lyrical vibe, everything about this track begs to be put on rotation. My favourite thing about this track though, is the lyrics – “I don’t want to talk it over, I just want to hold you closer” jumps to “It’s my heart, and your head, you need to take some care…” – they really describe quite accurately what a lot of people go through when they fight with a loved one. That, and the surf-rock vibes. It’s such a shame to see these guys go!
