The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Jan Delay

 

 

 

 

Listening to German music conjures images of field grey divisions marching but not looking like that! This comes with a jaunty step and an arse wiggle because this song is funky.

Jan Delay’s Liebe (March'14) is old school. A gigantic riff ‘three balls big’, gob smacking guitar break, the organ and back up singers combine to make a smokey whiskey drinking song. Or the soundtrack to a joy division.

 

 

 

Jan Delay is a German rapper who obviously enjoys mixing genres up.
 

Jan Delay has been making music for over twenty years and this is off his fifth solo album Hammer and Michel(2014).
 

Other Jan Delay barnstormers include St Pauli, Klar and a funny as fuck remake of the way old Cameo song Word Up.

Still imagining yourself marching behind the Panzers? No problems Field Marshal  here is Brings with their carnival pop punk Nur Nicht Aus Liebe Weinen a cover from 1939, no really, you couldn’t make this shit up.

 

 



  

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Jamie T

 

 

 

Jamie T, the gobby little shite from Wimbledon is back with a rip snorter Zombie. More a traditional rocker than his previous work, while not eschewing elements of ska and hip-hop, the sound is a welcome evolutionary step in the growth of Jamie T. You will love it.


 

 

 

 

Zombie is one of three singles released from Jamie T’s third album Carry On The Grudge(Sept’14). Jamie’s been bashing out tunes for over a decade and other good un’s include Hocus Pocus and If You Got The Money.

Jamie T often attracts comparisons to Billy Bragg and Saint (Joe) Strummer. He once lied and said that he knew Joe’s daughter to a pub owner and mentioned he might be able to get the big man down the pisser, in order to secure a gig. The bull-shitter actually is mates with Damon Alburn of Blur.

Jamie T is contemporaries of Lilly Allen, her father was best friends with St Strummer and her catalogue includes a Straight To Hell cover with Mick Jones.

But there’ll be none of that malarkey here, what we got for you is a little bit of what's going down in London, LDN (2006).

 

 





 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - J Roddy Walston & The Business

 

 

 
J Roddy & The Business are shit your pants good southern rock. One of the ‘rare as rocking horse shit’ times a piano is actually the life and soul of a good rock'n'roll band.

Same Days (2013) just choogles along like bud, beer and the boys on a summer afternoon.


 

J Roddy & The Business are from Tennessee and have been banging lids since 2002. Same Days comes from J Roddy’s sixth 2013 album Essential Tremors which includes the solid gold goodies Hard Times and Take It As It Comes.

 J Roddy big ups Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones as influences.

 

There is no finer southern rock than Creedence Clearwater Revival said Jesus (1.1 Book of Rock Gospels). So with no further ado here is the The  Foo Fighters and John Fogerty doing Fortunate Son off the five out of five-star rated John Fogerty album Wrote A Song For Everyone (2013).

  

 



 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Weezer

 

 

 The Weezer track Back To The Shack (July'14) is a welcome return to form from the group that established themselves as cult greats with songs like Buddy Holly and El Scorcho. Back To The Shack is a pogo inducing roll that works up to a moshing rock out. Classic Weezer.

 

Straight out of L.A. Weezer are genuine rock legends and have been doing it large for over 20 years. Their main early influences were KISS, Nirvana and The Pixies while remaining best friends forever with Green Day.

Back To The Shack is off their ninth album Everything Will Be Alright In The End (Oct'14) and has already spawned two arse-kicking singles, this, and Cleopatra.

 

There's no doubt slippery seconds is coming from a Weezer cover today. Legends get two shots. Weezer have no shortage of great covers out there including, The Foo Fighter's Big Me, The Clash's Should I Say Or Should I Go and Coldplay's Viva La Vida to name but a few.

But I'm going with Foster The People's Pumped Up Kicks because they took an already great song and made it better and that's the hallmark of genius. Enjoy.



 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Bear Hands

 
With a chorus made of heroin, sugar and MSG here is Bear Hand's Agora.

 

 

 

 

 
These buggers Bear Hands have been around since 2006 and hail from the New York City. Agora comes off their second album and includes the modest hit Giants.

 

 

 

Bear Hand’s singer went to school with two of the members of MGMT and you know what that means, fuck yes, here’s MGMT's best song ever, the synth pop masterpiece Kids (2008).

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Spoon

Oh yeah! Yeah ya do! Spoon comes along with a turn it up laid back rocker Rent I Pay (June'14). Like the Rolling Stone's Honky Tonk Women or The Kinks You Really Got Me this songs rolls hard. Porn star, money shot, hard.

For all the arse shakers this will propel you onto the dancefloor.

 

 

 

 

Fighting out of Austin, Texas, indie rock band Spoon have been around for more than twenty years and this is off their eighth album They Want My Soul (2014).

 

They give a shout out in joy to The Ramones, The Bee Gees and The Pixies for inspiration.

 

Ready to go again? Give Inside Out or They Want My Soul a roll in the sack.

 

 

 

 

 

Another song with a killer guitar riff. That Petrol Emotion  were an indie rock band from Northern Ireland described by Rolling Stone magazine as like The Clash mixed with Creedence Clearwater Revival. Big Decision (1987) was an almost hit. Choosing whether to buy six beers or half a dozen is my guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - The Kooks

Don’t over think this one, just enjoy The Kooks Down (April '14). No, it’s not better than Naïve but is a little bit funky, a little bit gospel and a little bit rock’n’roll. Suspend disbelief and the cringe reflex and just get …down down diggy de down down.diggy de down down.

 

 

The Kooks are from Brighton, England and have been getting jiggy with it for ten years, yes really, a decade.

Self-described genre-hoppers, this month The Kooks released their fourth album Listen which includes the bangers It Was London, Forgive and Forget and Around Town.



The Kooks and The Kaiser Chiefs go together like S&M and whips so with no further ado here is The Kaiser Cheif’s best barn burner I Predict A Riot (2004).

 

 

  

 

 

 



The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - The Struts

Hands off your cocks and grab your socks for some god honest rock and roll. The Struts Could Have Been Me (2013) has it all. Equal parts Queen, the The Rolling Stones and Fun. wrapped up in one song with a singalong chorus. You get the feeling these guys could do anything they put their mind to. Like a cover of Lorde's Royals.

 

 



 

The Struts are a four piece from Derbyshire, England who have been around for five years and released their debut album Everybody Wants (July'14). Other crackers include Kiss This and Put Your Money On Me.

 

 

 

The Freddie Mercury thing the Struts singer has going on reminds me of My Chemical Romance so here they are doing Teenagers live in Mexico because any fucking excuse will do, this is a tall strutting rock song of the highest order.

 





 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - The Preatures

 

The Preatures Better Than It Ever Could Be (Feb'14) is worth it just for the shimmering magic opening guitar jangle riff. Oh no, really it is. It's instant euphoria. Take twenty seconds out of your day and find yourself on an instant high.

And just when you're proper happy with that enjoy the rest of a very classy song.

 

 

 

The Preatures are a five piece indie guitar pop band from Sydney, Australia, who have been around for about five years. They released their first album Blue Planet Eyes in September of 2014.

Divine inspiration comes from various sources but includes Fleetwood Mac, The Divinyls, Prince and David Bowie.

Other pearls of Preatures excellence include Is This How You Feel?  and Manic Baby.

The bass in one of those tunes reminds me of the iconic Manchester alternative rock band The Stone Roses.

So here is their best tune ever She Bangs The Drums(1989).

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Calling All Cars

Calling All Cars Standing In The Ocean (Jan'14) is a lovely little pop rock song.  It's good for the jogging playlist. A "let's leg it, it's the Bill" type tune. Almost dance rock, but not, with alternating menacing and angelic vocals hovering over a heartbeat fast and all pistons cranking beat. It might just get your blood racing and your arse shaking.

"You're the one who told me to take chances,

You're the one who lead me to believe"

 

Calling All Cars are from Melbourne, Australia, and have been playing music together since 2005. Standing In The Ocean (Jan, 2024) is the second single off Calling All Car’s third album Raise The People (July, 2024).

Calling All Cars were named after a Sopranos episode and have opened shows for the gods of rock, AC/DC, Green Day, and the The Foo Fighters.

While QOTSA, The Foo Fighters and Silverchair are obvious influences the band have said their latest direction has been driven by more diverse sounds from old blues to hip-hop.

Other belters from Calling All Cars include Raise Me To The People and Throw Me To The Wolves.  

 

 

Standing In The Ocean has some similarities to TV On The Radio’s Wolf Like Me. TV On The Radio are an indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York. They are somewhat similar to Wolf Parade or my favorite The Walkmen. Some of their influences are Talking Heads and The Cure. Wolf Like Me was the lead single from their second album Return To Cookie Mountain (2006). It is their most popular song.

"We could jet in a stolen car,

But I bet we wouldn't get too far"

 

Random Best Indie Song - White Wives

 

White Wives Sky Started Crying (2011). A song that walks a perfect line between hard charging to the finish line pop punk and lyrical rock melody. Strong, emotive lyrical delivery with a dash of anger and sneer. Just a hint of the Celtic in them too.

White Wives are a punk band from Pittsburgh playing together since 2010. Proof that injustice walks the earth is that they aren't headlining major festivals internationally. 

Sky Started Crying comes from their first album Happeners (2011) an album Pop Matters described as "quite the rousing album" and "exploring beyond punks roots."

White Wives have been compared to The Clash, Bruce Springsteen and Titus Andronicus.

Other great White Wives tracks  are Indian Summer, Indian Summer, Another City, Another Weekend and Cardinal Bird.

"You were a lover and a fighter for the things that were right"

 

And here’s a Green Day covers set White Wives did because it is pretty good.

 

 

 

Includes:

1. Pulling Teeth.
2. Basket Case (2.19)
3. She (5.08)
4. Sassafras Roots (7.22)
5. When I Come Around (9.55)
6. Coming Clean (12.43)
7. Emenius Sleepus (14.09)
8. In The End (15.48)
9. Fuck Off And Die (18.00)

The Best Indie Songs of 2014 - Bishop Allen

Bishop Allen's Start Again (June'14) is an instant classic of indie pop rock in the vein of the Eels Mr E's Beautiful Blues. 

Start Again has somewhat melancholy lyrics juxtaposed with amazingly upbeat music. All summer sun, blue sky and a woman left behind. Ironically it makes you happy to be alive. Not that you aren't already but.

“If you wanna burn it down If you wanna start again,
If you wanna turn around then go ahead”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bishop Allen are from New York and have been together since 2003. Start Again is the lead single from their fourth album Lights Out (August, 2014).

Bishop Allen have been compared to Vampire Weekend, Modest Mouse, fun., and even Fountains of Wayne.

Bishop Allen have been influenced by hardcore punk bands like Black Flag and the Misfits but also mellow post-punk band like The B 52's and Devo.

Consequence of Sound described Start Again as "a peppy and hopeful number."

"I could tell it was too late to take it back,

Play the song on the credits,

Let if fade to black"

 

 

Eel’s are an indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. They have been making music since 1991 and have been compared to Beck and Nada Surf. Mr E’s Beautiful Blues (Feb, 2000) was the lead single from their third album Daisies of the Galaxy (Feb,2000) an album Pop Matters described as "never boring" and NME declared "in almost every respect a masterpiece."

"You're god damn right it's a beautiful day"