Alternative Album Chart: The best new indie and alternative albums this week
As last week saw things hot up on the new music front, another eclectic mix of artists have stepped forward with their latest albums. There is so much to explore that this week is the most extensive Alternative Album Chart we’ve ever had. From Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood yielding with their latest effort by The Smile to favourites such as Ty Segall and Katy Kirby returning, there is much quality to be found in this present seven-day cycle, and a little something for everyone.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
Wall of Eyes – The Smile – 4.5
Sadness Sets Me Free – Gruff Rhys – 4
Sadness Sets Me Free is a triumph. It has a cohesive sound all the way but, at the same time, doesn’t fall victim to repeating itself. The music is inspired, the tone is tranquil, and Gruff’s voice has never sounded better as he dips from low to high without issue. For such a downbeat title, this record gives you a lot to smile about. It shines sun firmly into winter, conjuring the balm of beers on the grass that lay ahead. [Words: Dale Maplethorpe]
You Don’t Have To Be Yourself Right Now EP – 86TVs – 4
Since bursting out of the gates last summer with their debut single, ‘Worn Out Buildings’, 86TVs have been building towards releasing their first project. While an album is still on the horizon, their debut EP, You Don’t Have To Be Yourself Right Now, provides a three-dimensional insight into their glistening future.
All four songs on the release will be familiar to anybody fortunate enough to catch 86TVs live in 2023. The White brothers, formerly of The Maccabees, have successfully translated the energy from their riotous gigs onto the EP.
Previous singles, ‘Worn Out Buildings’ and ‘Higher Love’, are joined on the release by the hypnotic new duo of tracks, ‘Spinning World’ and ‘Dreaming’. The former is a swirling 1990s throwback, but both numbers find the group demonstrating their USP, harmonisation. 86TVs flood everything they make with chemistry that could only be created by those bonded by blood.
While You Don’t Have To Be Yourself Right Now only boasts four tracks, two of which have been available for many months, they combine to create a poignant, cohesive body of work that makes the proposition of their forthcoming album even more tantalising. [Words: Joe Taysom]
Blue Raspberry – Katy Kirby – 3.5
The journey to self-discovery isn’t always filled with thistles. Cool Dry Place was Katy Kirby’s awakening, a delicate exploration of indie musings with originality and authenticity. Blue Raspberry, on the other hand, is her rose; a blistering colour of boldness piercing through the veils of her very identity.
Poetic imagery weaves seamlessly throughout the entire album, showcasing Kirby’s lyrical prowess as she adeptly navigates the intricacies of romantic entanglements in a universally relatable way. In traversing the uncharted terrain of her first queer relationship, Kirby unfolds an earnest narrative of reflection and enlightenment. This journey is punctuated by the profound realisation that love, in all its manifestations, is as palpable as you could imagine, encapsulating the complexity of it all.
Three Bells – Ty Segall – 3.5
Ty Segall is a modern-day psych-garage god, consistently popping out albums under his name and various side projects that only dedicated fans can seem to keep up with. While some of his records are invariably better than others, Segall’s ability to consistently release interesting records while always maintaining his distinctive sound has gained him a dedicated following.
On Three Bells, Segall weaves between these quieter moments with his signature garage-rock abrasion that older fans will greatly appreciate. The result is a mixture of tracks that often build up to an explosion of gritty instrumentation, which is instantly introduced with the opener, ‘The Bell’. However, there are various tracks that sound as if they are going to amount to something larger, impressive, and unforgettable… but they teeter off into safe, solid territory.
Still, there are many moments of genuine excellence on Three Bells that remind us of why Segall is regarded so highly – and will undoubtedly be remembered as an alternative rock hero in years to come. From the ominous tones of ‘Void’ to the surreal, nightmare-inducing experience of ‘Eggman’, the album is often brilliantly unsettling. Blending controlled chaos with moments of stability, Segall utilises his instruments effortlessly, although you can’t help but feel like the album is a few songs too long. [Words: Aimee Ferrier]
Dark Rainbow – Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes – 2.5
Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes have returned with their fifth album, Dark Rainbow. The title is an apt synopsis of the convergence of lightness and dark that the frontman and Dean Richardson elicit across its 11 tracks. Their latest body of work sees the band try to push themselves and perhaps points to pastures new in light of the fresh twists they introduce.
Despite Carter shining at points, with his dynamic vocal breadth greatly compelling in the highlights, there are several other aspects that let Dark Rainbow down. Instead of following the more innovative routes that they tease in songs, a preference for bombastic, and dare I say it, cheesy rock – a line they’ve always closely toed – nullifies this smattering of artistic flourishes.
Spiel – Office Dog – 2.5
Office Dog knew exactly what they wanted to do on Spiel. They wanted to play with light and dark, creating atmospheric windows of highs and lows. Either as a testament to their commitment to that or their failure to achieve it, they accomplish light and dark in every sense. There are flashes of brilliance interspersed between indie-rock fluff, which leaves you wanting more from this incredibly frustrating debut.
Car journeys between cities were the backdrop for lyric writing, which is significant because the themes explored in the lyrics seem to command the tone of each track. The band peg the album as “essentially, a record about change and time”, and so entrenched are the ideas about how that should be conveyed. You get the sense the overall theme was thought up first, and the sound moulded to fit around it.
The result is a lacklustre effort with glimmers of real bite that too often get lost in the endless rehashing of metaphors. The most consistent element is Innes’ drumming, which provides much-needed cohesion. The pace can change suddenly, and while they never veer too far from indie-rock’s subdued sensibilities, when they amp things up, it’s genuinely joyous. Slightly too slow-moving at times and entirely too preoccupied with imagery – it’s a victim of style over substance.
Equally, this album feels very poetic. It’s done with clear intention and highlights the post-punk promise of Office Dog, which will no doubt fully materialise with some well-placed restraint. [Words: Poppy Burton]
What An Enormous Room – Torres – 2.5
On What An Enormous Room, Torres refuses to be background noise. It’s an album that will not be relegated to easy listening; press play and go about your day. It won’t allow it. As the sounds and energy change up with each track, regularly switching up to totally different sonic landscapes with no clear emotional through-path, it’s not an album willing to be a soundtrack to something else. It demands to be the full show.
To some degree, it makes the record an exciting and meaty release. As she rolls between sounds, plummeting from more classic indie rock elements into glitchy spoken word moments or soaring into angelic ballads, the listener feels strapped into an emotional rollercoaster, too. The tale and tone of the lyricism, despite being largely buried and sometimes muffled, is translated into the sonics. As the artist sits on the record as a producer as well, everything feels guided solely by her hand and vision.
But in some places and in the wrong moments, the intricacies of What An Enormous Room are overwhelming. Everything on the album is so considered, so produced, and so heavily done up that if you zone out too much, it becomes a wall to break through.
All in all, What An Enormous Room demands attention and feeling, whether you give it freely or have it dragged out of you. [Words: Lucy Harbron]
People Who Aren’t There Anymore – Future Islands – 2
As it approaches ten years since Future Islands broke into the collective consciousness with their now-legendary performance of ‘Seasons’ on David Letterman’s late-night show, the band are back with their seventh full-length effort, People Who Aren’t There Anymore. It’s a record filled with loss, mourning and genuine grief. However, looking beyond the melodrama, it’s hard to see anything other than the group’s demise.
As with any outfit that has managed to maintain a successful career for an entire decade, especially one with such a nuanced and niche output as the Baltimore band, there is certainly an audience out there for this record. Its synth-pop sentiment, highly emotional lyrics and dedication to taking themselves incredibly seriously are still there. But, with the passing of time, a flabby dullness has started to gather.
The insistence on hiking up the earnestness of every lyric feels misplaced and unwanted. It might just be that the lyrics and the music within the album feel wildly misaligned. If one were to meet the other more convincingly, then the tragedy about which Herring sings might be given the desired platform. As it is, however, this confusion leads the audience down the wrong path. [Words: Jack Whatley]
New Last Name – Courting – 1
Self-identifying post-punk outfit Courting have returned with their second full-length album, New Last Name. Although the record acts as the natural progression of their earlier sound, if you were to close your eyes and listen to it, you could be listening to a hundred different bands. And unfortunately, what the album lacks in originality, it fails to make up for in musical talent.
Across the entirety of the nine-track album, the band failed to land on a single original thought. As the tracklisting progresses, the sound becomes more and more reminiscent of a kind of indie parody that firmly belongs in the past. To make matters worse, the vocal performance of Sean Murphy-O’Neill – who, despite his pseudo-American accent – is from Liverpool, borders on being reminiscent of emo or pop punk at points, creating a bizarre mishmash of ‘things that might appeal’.
In spite of the fact they often refer to themselves as being a part of the post-punk scene, a term which is becoming ever more diffuse on a daily basis, Courting seem to share much more in common with the 2010s, an era not yet old enough to revitalise. Indie rock, as a term, has fallen out of fashion as of late – perhaps due to the oversaturation of the scene or its connotations with a sense of soft-boy toxic masculinity – but make no mistake, the bands are still around; they have just repackaged themselves in an effort to stay marketable. [Words: Ben Forrest]
