Alternative Album Chart: the best new indie and alternative albums this week
Just when we thought that Perth’s Pond couldn’t get any better, they have outdone themselves with their tenth record, Stung! While the extensive record might take a moment to fully resonate, when realisation dawns, you quickly realise a true masterpiece is enveloping you. An ode to life in all its oscillating glory and a resounding demonstration of their nature of musical brothers in arms, you could listen to it ten times and still find something new and exciting.
While the record is eclectic in the realms it ventures into and toys with, it is cohesive and affecting, with frontman Nick Allbrook as expressive and passionate as he’s ever been, another reality tacitly thought impossible given he and the band’s past triumphs. From Spiritualized-like numbers that make us feel like floating in space to bombastic rock grooves, Stung! is a total sonic odyssey and a masterwork of the album format. They’re a wildly accomplished outfit. I still believe a moment will come when they hit the global big-time like friends Tame Impala.
Pond are not the only band that has delivered fully refined albums this time around the block. Liverpool and Wirral rockers The Mysterines have firmly kicked second-album syndrome in the face with their sophomore effort, Afraid of Tomorrow. With vocalist Lia Metcalfe as assertive as ever in vocals, lyrics and general presence, and with the rest of the band also on heat, it makes for a captivating experience. These are another group that have immense crossover potential and eclectic style that could see them headline similar-sized shows to those of Arctic Monkeys, who they supported in 2023.
Elsewhere, Emilíana Torrini returns after a decade away with Miss Flower. She does not disappoint after so long away, supplying another deeply artistic offering that seamlessly picks up where she left off. A unique offering clearly evidencing her creative nouse, it could well be the year’s sleeper hit. Following her, London’s O. release their debut WeirdOs via tastemakers Speedy Wunderground, and Deerhunter drummer Moses Archuleta arrives with another excellent Moon Diagrams offering.
Find this week’s Alternative Album Chart below.
The best new indie and alternative albums this week:
Stung! – Pond – 4
16 years and ten albums is a domain many bands fail to reach. Yet, on their tenth effort, Stung!, Perth’s most eminent supergroup, Pond, affirm why they are one of the most accomplished and widely overlooked bands currently operating. The band offer plenty to explore on an extensive record, drawing upon life in all its glory and the collective power of making music. They do this with arguably more pertinence than ever.
Given the album’s length and contents, it does take a second for the penny to drop, but when it does, you’re fully absorbed. While the first listen might be more of a welcoming handshake introducing you to this space, it all starts to make sense when you return for the second and third. Nick Allbrook’s performances and lyrics are potent throughout, no matter what stylistic or emotional backdrop. He is supported by a band whose musical aptitude and invention are of supreme grade. They manage to be eclectic and engaging throughout, all the while triumphing in working under a specific and concise remit.
The only word of warning is to give it time. The tales that Allbrook spins, from the candid to the surreal, will start to wash over you as he and the band attempt to make sense of a world on the brink from the sanctuary that their musical and personal camaraderie offers. From rock epics to dance grooves and a hint of vaporwave, there’s a lot in store, with the group unfailingly bringing the zeal that has made them such a force for so long.
Afraid of Tomorrow – The Mysterines – 4
It doesn’t feel like there is another rock act in the UK that can do it all in the way The Mysterines can. On their standout2022 debut Reeling, they showcased their potential with a series of huge, anthemic rock tracks. Now two years on, having matured over a series of tours, including a stadium run with Arctic Monkeys, Afraid Of Tomorrows proves their power.
So much of that power lies on the shoulders of Lia Metcalfe, the band’s lead singer, who has one of, if not the most, incredible voice in modern rock right now. Across the album, she moves between intimate whispers and seductive, near-spoken-word moments into all-out growls and belts so powerful they blow her competition out of the water. On singles like ‘Stray’ or ‘Sink Ya Teeth’, she more than displays that she can, and should be, a new leader with vocals that deserve to become as iconic and representative of rock as the likes of Joan Jett or Karen O.
It’s an album perfectly done and expertly coloured with bold, heavy highs and necessary moments of introspective quiet. Even the record’s simplest, most balladic track, ‘So Long’, stands out as a clear highlight. Or on ‘Hawkmoon’, a song that begins as a kind of field-recorded interlude quickly bursts open into their most cinematic and soaring piece to date. Still, with plenty of plain and simple rock hits, the album proves that the band won’t ever be boxed in. Even though they could more than get by and thrive on delivering anthems only, The Mysterines’ sophomore attempt does that and so, so much more. [Words: Lucy Harbron]
Miss Flower – Emilíana Torrini – 4
Emilíana Torrini has enjoyed an incredibly successful career, but her name is one you might not instantly recognise. Yet, with her stunning new album, Miss Flower, her first in 10 years, Torrini will surely expand her fanbase. It’s a seductive and captivating record, intimate and silky, taking inspiration from the mysterious titular figure, the mother of one of Torrini’s friends.
The Grammy-nominated artist used Geraldine Flower’s collection of letters as a starting point for the album. She was an enigmatic woman who, according to Torrini, lived with “a fearless loyalty to her truth.” She turned down many men who proposed to her, reluctant to tie herself down to anyone. With references to “espionage”, “heartbreak”, and “great lust” found within the mountain of correspondences, Torrini used these themes within her lyrics, creating an album that feels highly personal and special.
Torrini has crafted an album that totally inhabits its own world. It is wholly cohesive and never falls into stagnation thanks to the musician’s ability to switch up tempos or her vocal style, for example. Miss Flower is perfect for the summer months, although you’ll hardly want to turn it off after the sunny days are replaced with wind and rain; it’ll simply transport you back to the season, where a sense of romanticism and mystery is ever present. [Words: Aimee Ferrier]
WeirdOs – O. – 4
The saxophone has always been an incredibly versatile instrument, capable of both pop romanticism, à la ‘Careless Whisper’, and the spaced-out world of spiritual jazz, à la Pharaoh Sanders. The latest group to espouse the versatility and joy of the humble saxophone is O., the South London duo orchestrating a jazz metal revolution using only baritone sax, drums, and a dance music sensibility. Their debut album, WeirdOs, is a genre-defying, raucous experiment which sounds surprisingly colossal despite the lack of personnel within the band’s line-up.
WeirdOs is an incredibly impressive debut record, with the duo – made up of Joe Henwood on sax and Tash Keary on drums – establishing an incredibly polished, yet spontaneous sound, the likes of which you might expect from a band with years of experience in the game. This is not the first time that jazz, metal and electronica have been blended together, parts of the record hark back to the strange psychedelia of groups like The Evil Usses, for instance, but it is certainly the first time such a feat has been achieved to such a high standard.
Of course, the album has a lot to thank to Dan Carey and Speedy Wunderground, who succeeded in bringing a degree of legitimacy and polished professionalism to the album without ever losing its sense of spontaneity and improvisation. The production on this record is near flawless, and although many of the songs follow similar themes and moods, WeirdOs rarely feels repetitive or stale. In fact, the ordering of the tracklisting means that, as a listener, you are continuously on your toes, waiting for Keary and Henwood to throw the next curveball in your direction. [Words: Ben Forrest]
Cemetery Classics – Moon Diagrams – 3.5
Cemetery Classics, the latest offering from Moon Diagrams, the solo project of Moses Archuleta, the co-founding drummer of Deerhunter, is an inspired labour of love. Music on the album, which follows the project’s 2017 debut, Lifetime of Love, took its first breath in Tokyo in 2019 following a Deerhunter tour. Archuleta worked with his drum machines, a keyboard, an eight-track and his laptop and began to channel the sounds of the Japanese metropolis.
Cemetery Classics is a curious mixture of coherence and clarity, darkness and light, soft and heavy. As one will find in a city of Tokyo’s proportions, there are moments of industrial unease, rhythmic passion and serene reflection. Moments of nightlife energy are dispersed throughout the album by discerning moments of ambient respite. The influences are vast, but Archuleta importantly imbues the 12 tracks with a running identity of detachment and noir haze.
In Cemetery Classics, Archuleta has delivered on an ambitious vision. He has celebrated influences in several intriguing corners of the musical map. In places, the ethereal quality that characterises the album and binds the songs to one another can mask the songs’ clarity. This quality was undoubtedly part of the vision, but for me, Archuleta could have dialled it back in places to allow the power of vocals and certain instrumental features to break through. [Words: Jordan Potter]
Compassion – Rui Gabriel – 3
The creative process takes many forms, and trying to pin it down to one specific method is both an act of madness and a waste of time. That being said, the majority of people who have ideas for songs take that idea and then build on it. With Rui Gabriel’s new indie album, Compassion, though there is no denying it sounds pleasent and represents the work of a talented mind, but it also feels like ideas are less built upon and more extended.
In this sense, it has been granted the term “musical playdough”. Imagine a small blue ball of playdough (the initial idea), five seconds long but filled with promise. A pleasing chord sequence, for instance. For many of the tracks on this LP, the idea feels stretched out to the point that it extends to the length of a song, but it also loses structure and identity in the process.
That being said, this isn’t a bad album. Some of the songs feel like they need a bit more thought, but behind each one is good instrumentation, lyricism, and melody. Not to mention, some of the more upbeat numbers are excellent. ‘Summertime Tiger’ and ‘Change Your Mind’ sound like rock music from the mid-’60s infused with indie pop, completely infectious in their catchiness. It’s an album well worth a listen, but it could have been done with a bit more added to it. [Words: Dale Maplethorpe]
