Alternative Album Chart: the best new indie and alternative albums this week
Irish indie outfit Villagers deliver their fifth album this week, That Golden Time. A collection of ten gloriously introspective tracks that fuse the group’s musical background with a deeply dreamy nature, it’s the sound of falling backwards into the pillow, heading straight for a cerebral neverland. Perfect for the most wistful aspects of summer and evoking profound nostalgia for past ones, it’s a record that will resonate with many listeners, regardless of their tastes.
Elsewhere, Leeds post-punk tastemakers Ultimate Thunder have shown why post-punk isn’t going anywhere, regardless of the zeitgeist apparently moving on. Putting a bizarro spin on the formula with their new offering, A Spider Will Come To Eat Your Flesh, this strangely titled body of work distils why the band has been a cult act since they first burst onto the local scene just over a decade ago. With no end of funky rhythms to keep us entertained, those who prefer to wear their trousers above their navels will be grooving to this one.
After six long years away, Boulder, Colorado native Tom Krell, better known as How to Dress Well, has re-emerged with his sixth album, I Am Toward You. Yet another piece of atmospheric ambient extracted from deep within his person, it’s one for those who love heady soundscapes, but this time has a distinctly spiritual edge. Falkirk favourites Arab Strap also arrive with I’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore, nearly 28 years after their revered debut The Weekend Never Starts Round Here first hit the shelves. Another compelling collection of numbers from Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton makes for a fascinating listen.
As the final notable release of this week, indie-punk pioneers Les Savy Fav return with their first album, Oui, LSF, in 14 years. Picking up where they left off with 2010’s Root for Ruin, it will certainly be a welcome return for their ardent followers, bringing forth that unique unrelenting energy they are adored for.
Find this week’s Alternative Album Chart below.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
That Golden Time – Villagers – 4
Funny enough, rarely does it ever feel like an album has one over on you. Most of the time, the cynical corners of your mind scrutinise for flaws so that you can set it aside as nothing more than another failed attempt at masking pretence. Villagers’ latest offering, That Golden Time, is different. Not only does its mastermind, Conor O’Brien, carry within his gorgeous vocalisation a well-considered invite into his vulnerable world, but his more sinister lamentation arrives blanketed in a hopeful outer layer.
That Golden Time is a secret whispered in your ear, a glimpse at flying too close to the flame, and the palpability of internalising self-reflection wrapped in one. The delicacy of the piano work might lead you to feel secure and safe in its warm embrace. Still, the broader alternative and jazz sensibilities offer solemnity where it counts, realistic in their presentation of textual realities.
The cynicism reflected in the album artwork beautifully compliments the album’s vulnerable undertones while providing a natural connection to the curtain call. Criticising realism, currency, modern greed, and more, ‘Money On The Mind’ is honest and raw, neatly pulling together all of the things that make That Golden Time a worthy listen. [Words: Kelly Scanlon]
A Spider Will Come To Eat Your Flesh – Ultimate Thunder – 3.5
The world has a lot to thank Leeds for. Over the years, the city has gifted society with everything from the first commercial steam locomotive to the nectar that is Tetley’s Mild. In more recent years, however, it has been noted for its rich and vibrant music scene, storied by a variety of celebrated post-punk outfits. Of all the bands that populate the gig room at Brudenell Social Club, there are few quite as compelling as Ultimate Thunder.
After operating on a local level since 2013, the band released a self-titled debut album in 2022. The Leeds-based collective wasted no time in establishing their unique sound, which draws upon influences of post-punk, noise rock and experimental music. For the most part, their latest record, endearingly entitled A Spider Will Come To Eat Your Flesh, continues that musical manifesto. On the new record, the Matthew Watson-fronted outfit embraces funky basslines, no-wave style weirdness and uncompromising stream-of-consciousness vocal delivery. [Words: Ben Forrest]
I Am Toward You – How to Dress Well – 3.5
Brian Eno once said, “Music is about finding a shared space that we can all inhabit together.” Often thinking of his music in terms of an ecosystem or a world, his pioneering ambient music is a full landscape with soaring sky, ground land and moving creators. As How To Dress Well builds a world on I Am Toward You, he appears as a successful student of that philosophy.
Who knows whether Tom Krell likes or follows Brian Eno? But on his fifth album, and the first after an extended hiatus, he creates an ambient and atmospheric world that often feels more like a living, breathing thing than any captured and frozen recording. On the opener, ‘New Confusion’, each new movement in the music, changing between sounds and tempos, feels like a new detail being added. Like in Genesis One, when God set about creating everything, one by one, Krell does the same, adding new textures and expanding the world. By the time it reaches ‘Crypt Sustain’, the roaring guitar coming in and out feels like the heaving breath of a beast, adding far more life to a type of music that could easily have become overblown or overproduced.
Krell forever feels marred by his earlier releases. His first albums, especially 2016’s Care, 2014’s What Is This Love? and 2012’s Total Loss are absolute treasure troves of interesting production-based genre-merging alternative music. They’re lyrically moving and musically dynamic but leave plenty of space for quietness. Even though I Am Toward You claims to be more transcendental and born out of a period of extended silence and meditation, it doesn’t leave that space for listeners. In some places, it lacks a bit of breathing room as the world he builds is so vast, intricate and busy with textures and colours. For fans of those earlier albums and Krell’s more lyrically-led music, this isn’t the return to the original form they’re looking for.
But when the spiritual air of the words is matched with the living energy of the music, there’s a sense of real glory about the record that’s fascinatingly beautiful. It’s at once so huge, yet so microscopic, looking at small details and the tightest introspection, yet handling it on this vast, godly level. The play between intimacy and atmosphere lends to a listen that’s ambient but genuinely interesting enough to keep your attention. [Words: Lucy Harbron]
I’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore – Arab Strap – 3.5
Nearly 28 years after releasing their debut record, The Weekend Never Starts Round Here, Arab Strap share their eighth studio album. The release is titled I’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore, which the duo stylised with a thumbs-up emoji after “it” and “anymore” on the cover artwork. The name is characteristically satirical; upon hearing the album, it would appear the opposite is true.
In press materials, vocalist Aidan Moffat noted a difference between the “old” Arab Strap and the “new”. He claimed that “phase one” had “focused on the ugliness and messiness of romance as a youngster,” but that’s not what he “sings about anymore. It feels like two different bands.” Indeed, the Scottish project has evolved over the years, but this new release retains that all-important sonic identity for the most part.
Instrumentally, Malcolm Middleton guides the listener through alluring scapes, sometimes opting for gentle acoustic arpeggios, at others raising the tempo with danceable synths. At 12 tracks long, the album perhaps could have had some fat trimmed away, but on the whole, a variety of styles, including a rock-out opener, keeps the record entertaining on a start-to-finish run-through. [Words: Jordan Potter]
Oui, LSF – Les Savy Fav – 3.5
There are no prizes for having exceptional opening tracks, but if there were, Les Savy Fav would take one home. The moment’ Guzzle Blood’ plays, it feels as though you are strapped in for a different kind of rock album. The way a police siren is looped and then accompanied by guitar, drums and vocals gives an undeniable punk sound but is achieved in an exciting and innovative way. Les Savy Fav shows they’re not playing around from the word go; however, while the rest of the album is a lot of fun, it doesn’t live up to the standard set by the opener.
Oui, LSF is an excellent album; there is no getting away from it. It’s packed full of energy, the instrumentation is excellent, and if people want an upbeat punk album, then they don’t have to look any further than it. The issue comes with the length of the album and the fact that there isn’t over-diversification throughout to justify it. What feels like a welcome sound at the beginning grows tired and played out towards the end as songs merge into one and the sound becomes repetitive.
That’s not to say the whole album follows that route. As mentioned, ‘Guzzle Blood’ uses the sound of sirens to separate itself, while ‘Racing Bees’ and ‘Don’t Mind Me’ are much more serene and tranquil in their delivery. Additionally, ‘Nihilists’ invokes feelings of country music, steering away slightly from the punk feel of the rest of the album. [Words: Dale Maplethorpe]
Poetry – Dehd – 3
Chicago’s Dehd have been cult favourites since they first burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut in 2016. Blending punk, garage, indie and dream pop, they’ve found increasing acclaim with their formula as time has worn on. On their fifth album, Poetry, they continue to push themselves into new areas, and it arrives at the perfect time as the sun returns and the skies turn a promising blue once again.
Fully sincere from start to finish, in many ways, Poetry is the sound of late summer nights and the existential questions they often produce. However, my main criticism is that it is far too long for a body of work that stays mainly in the same lane, 14 tracks in total, with the sentiment often feeling overdone. This unfastens the potency of its highlights and makes it harder to separate the most stylistically similar tracks, watering down the effect they might have had.
Way to Be – Youbet – 3
It was a chance encounter with Patti Smith at a train station that encouraged Nick Llobet to keep working on music during a time when they were close to giving up. Inspired by the punk poet icon, Llobet formed Youbet, a genre-defying project that incorporates garage-rock guitars, indie rock melodies and bubbling synths.
After a successful debut album, Compare & Despair, Youbet is back with Way To Be, a promising yet oftentimes forgettable record, which moves between impressive instrumental constructions and repetitive, tiring melodies.
Each track is carefully composed, as best demonstrated on ‘Do’ and ‘Vacancy’, which weave heavy guitars with complex layers of instrumentation, leaving these two pieces as some of the album’s greatest moments. ‘Vacancy’ is the longest cut, coming in at almost five minutes, which blends a dark, fuzzy guitar riff with a contrasting set of instruments which are considerably more serene.
This contrast between harshness and melody is pretty representative of the album, which feels like an experiment in blending dark and light. Oftentimes, Llobet’s voice sounds childlike and innocent while simultaneously delivering lines about life’s complexities.
While their musical ability is perfectly evident in the skilled guitar parts, the album doesn’t feel instantly captivating. Llobet’s distinctive voice can often become grating, especially when the melodies require their voice to twist and turn more than usual. There are a few undeniably fantastic songs, such as ‘Peel’, but they are sandwiched between some rather unforgettable moments, petering along with a medium tempo, like ‘Lost’. [Words: Aimee Ferrier]
Postindustrial Hometown Blues – Big Special – 2.5
There has never been a better opportunity for punk music in the United Kingdom than right now. After all, there is so much to rebel against, so much to be angry about. Yet, for whatever reason, there are so few groups who manage to effectively capture the zeitgeist of modern working-class alienation and a generation of disenfranchised youth. Black Country duo Big Special were advertised as the answer to this gap in the musical market, with profound lyrics and a ruthlessly angry attitude, but unfortunately, their debut record, Postindustrial Hometown Blues, falls flat.
If you were to look at the promotional material that preceded this release, you would assume Big Special were creating a confrontational, uncompromising sound that tackles important issues of political alienation and mental health struggle in ways that have never been seen before. Upon listening to the album, though, you find that they are offering very little that has not already been done time and time again. From the Mike Skinner-esque vocal delivery and subpar slam poetry to the pseudo-punk distortion which evokes the early period of Idles, there is not much that sets Big Special apart from the rest.
On top of this lack of originality, the 15-track album also becomes incredibly dragging towards the latter half of the tracklisting. Given that the majority of pieces on the record sound very similar, it is far too easy to become fatigued with Postindustrial Hometown Blues within the space of only a few songs. This is particularly disappointing because, within the tracklist, all of the stand-out entries are bizarrely placed right at the end of the album. Songs like ‘Trees’ are some of the best examples of how good Big Special could be, but it is difficult to get that far into the album without losing interest around the fourth or fifth song. [Words: Ben Forrest]
