The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Benjamin Booker

Benjamin Booker's Wicked Waters (Mar’15) is a winner in the name game for both the singer and the song. And the video features cops shooting at the singer before he walks into a bar and picks up a guitar from the band playing and joins in. Choice. Hailing from New Orleans and blending modern rock with a liberal dosing of blues, his self-titled debut album Benjamin Booker (Aug’14) minded Clash magazine of The White Stripes, The Strokes and Kings of Leon. London In Stereo called Wicked Waters, "rambunctuous and seething."

 

Benjamin Booker is a blues/garage/punk rock musician and his heroes are Los Angeles cowboy punk band The Gun Club and his main influences T. Rex and Blind Willie Johnson. Benjamin Booker's music is best described as, "...a well mixed cocktail of punk, folk and New Orlean's blues". Wicked Waters carries a tale from despair to revelation like the sheriff's galloping horse in a black and white western. I don’t know if the blues can be jiggy but Wicked Waters sure as shit is. Jiggy as fuck. With organs like a Doors wigout, ‘can I get an amen’ gospel vocals from the preachers favorite hell-fire sermon and a garage band rock out at the end, the Manchester Evening News called Benjamin Booker, "...powerful and soulful...a voice in a million" and Wicked Waters, “...bouncy and infectious.” It is. As infectious as a frat boys communal wank mitt. Wicked Waters is one of the best indie songs of 2015.
 

“Well my heart is feeling empty
Well my legs are feeling weak
Well my heads sore from yesterday
Well I stumble when I speak.”

 

Shit you need to know:

His music has been compared to Jack White, The Black Keys, The Strokes, Led Zeppellin and Chuck Berry.

Spin magazine thought the long player Benjamin Booker was "...a contender for rock record of the year."

Clash magazine called Benjamin Booker, “...an electrifying introduction to the future of the blues” and Wicked Waters “riotous,” while DIY magazine said Wicked Waters is "ferocious" and "blistering. "

Benjamin Booker is label mates with Alabama Shakes and has toured with Alabama Shakes and his album was produced by Andrija Tokic who did the same for Alabama Shakes.  

Benjamin Booker was on fluffer duties for Jack White's 2014 national tour.

Other cracking Benjamin Booker tracks are Have You Seen My Son? and Violent Shiver - (all minute and a half of it!)

 

 

Slippery seconds should, must and will, go to Alabama rock band Alabama Shakes today and their massive 2012 hit Hold On.

“Bless my heart, bless my soul,
Didn't think I'd make it to 22 years old”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Blur

Blur were big in 1997 with Song 2 and some people know their earlier 1995 number one hit Country House too. Check out their reunion gig live in London's Hyde Park for a tit-ripping version of that precious jewel. Country House was a storming victory in a sometimes bitter war that Oasis and Blur fought for King Of Britpop, and Oasis ultimately won. Noel Gallagher said at the time he hoped both Blur’s Damon Alburn and Alex Jame’s would “ ...catch AIDS and die.” Spurred on by the media both bands released singles on the same day and Oasis’s Roll With It (live in Manchester ‘96 version here) sold 60 000 less copies and sat at number two on the UK charts. For many people Blur were of biblical proportions in the canon of English music lore and one of The Only Bands That Matter, much like 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s The Clash. 2015 saw Blur release their first album in 12 years The Magic Whip (Apr’15) an album London’s Daily Telegraph called “...a triumphant come back” and "...everything fans could have hoped for.”  Clash magazine dubbed it "...an imperial return." It went straight to number one in the UK.

 

On The Magic Whip is this campfire sing-along in the tradition of the gospel standard Stand By Me, The Beatles Carry That Weight, Big Bang's We Like To Party or more relevantly, Ages and Ages divine, spiritually uplifting gem, Diversionary. 15 years after Song 2 was important; and check out this andrenelin injecting Glastonbury 2009 live version to appreciate it’s majesty; Ong Ong (Jun’15) shows that Alex James still has some of the greatest song writing licks the world has ever seen. While Ong Ong is no life changer, and you won’t be rushing out to carve ‘for real’ on your arm after hearing this one, it is a nostalgic reminder of one of the best rock bands ever. Called "joyous" by Rolling Stone and "simple and chant-centric" by DIY magazine, Ong Ong, and the The Magic Whip, were inspired by a five day stay in Hong Kong and has an appropriately nautical feel. Ong Ong has sixties melodies and irrepressibly pops in the verses while bringing a laidback singalong bounce to the choruses. It's a shoe in for one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“I wanna be with you
On the slow boat to Lan Tau,

through misty seas..
I wanna be with you.”

 

Shit you need to know:
 

Ong Ong is the second single off Blur's eighth album. The song was called by Uncut a “...singalong...with a Faces stomp and a beery chorus.”

The new album was inspired by Hong Kong specifically and cities generally. "There's nothing pastoral about it", Albarn said, "it's very urban".

The band from London started in 1988 influenced laterly by bands like The Beatles and The Kinks.

The bands initial influences were the likes of The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr and The Stone Roses.

Singer Damon Alburn was in Gorrillaz (best British group and album 2006) and are most remembered for the alternative hip-hop tune Feel Good Inc. (2005). 

Damon Alburn joined bass player Paul Simonon of The Clash in the band The Good The Bad and The Ugly  (2005 - 2006) and had both Paul and Clash guitarist Mick Jones record on, and tour in support of, the 2010 Gorillaz album Plastic Beach.

Damon Alburn recently criticised the ‘selfie generation’ for a lack of political engagement in modern music.

For more rather spiffing Blur songs give this year's Lonesome Street a listen, or the old classics Beetlebum and Boys and Girls.

Today’s two for one is courtesy of English alternative rock band The Verve. Bittersweet Symphony (1997) was a number two British chart single and a Brit and Grammy Award’s winner. It’s a stone cold classic and this is the 2008 live version at Glastonbury. Sublime.

“Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die.”

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - The Royal Concept

The Royal Concept came kicking out of Stockholm, Sweden in 2012. Fashion (Aug’15) comes off their third short player Smile (Aug’15). The band have one album to their name Gold Rushed (2013). Fashion is said to "...strut from a funky guitar into a disco-chant replete with sizzling falsetto and unshakeable beat."  The Royal Concept's music has been described as "sun-baked pop and compelling rock." The band's influences are Daft Punk, Paul Simon and The Strokes.

 

 

 

 

Fashion is a frivilous, rollicking number that saunters along with flashes off Rolling Stones-esque guitar and beat and then goes all Scissor Sisters in the choral choruses. Other tunes it minds me off are Spoon Rent I Pay and The Kooks Bad Habit. A song about feeling inadequate in a relationship it may be vacuous, but Fashion is as much fun as sex on methamphetimines and one of the best indie songs of 2015.
 

“I dress like shit, call it fashion

But your fashions the shit”

 

 
 

Shit you need to know:

The Royal Concept are often compared to Phoenix but I’m thinking New Politics, Youngblood Hawke or Grouplove.

The new EP Smile was produced by Tony Hoffer who did the same for Phoenix, The Kooks, M83 and Depeche Mode.

The music on the new short player has “...sunsoaked flavor, upbeat swing, and uncontainable energy” and a glam inspired change of musical direction.The band are big fans of St Vincent.

The Royal Concept's music has been called "electro-funk" and "nu-disco".

The Royal Concept have supported The Wombats, Misterwives and Switchfoot.

More feel good and get-off-your-arse and dance Royal Concept tracks are On Our Way, Smile and Higher Than Love.
 

 

Twice the love for the price of one comes courtesy of these two Swedish and Malawi musicians The Very Best. Makes A King (May'15) is a song that transcends cultural differences to provide a sublime musical experience. True to their name this tune is out-fucking-standing.

 
 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Friska Viljor

Firska Viljor are an indie pop duo from Stockholm, Sweden who started in 2005 and have six long players under their belt. My Boys (Jun’15) comes snapping off their album My Name Is Friska Viljor (Jun’15). My Boys was reviewed as “...like a hurricane whipping a legion of musical elements and nostalgic moments up into the eye of its melodic storm.” More succinctly Friska Viljor's music in general has been called “shambolic, euphoric indie pop.”

Ironically My Boys song is a whinge about how to overcome angst brought on by fatherhood. Though you know they found the answer in this upbeat piece of malarky. It pops like a fourteen year old girls cherry and bounces like you flipped her over to do her like a fourteen year old boy. The verses snap and pop but the chorus is a violin assisted choral all in that charges like a racing horse. A white horse. Pure joy. You’d have to be broken inside not to love it.

“No weight upon my chest

Now I'm sleeping through the night

And I know its my final choice

And I owe it all to them my boys”


 

 

Shit you need to know:

Friska Viljor have vowed never to compose songs while sober.

They describe their music as “sauna rock with poppy elements and folky instrumentation.”

According to the Friska Viljor the new album has “...energy, horns, strings and big epic choruses.”

Friska Viljor have been compared to Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes, The Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men.
 
The band name means “healthy mind” but is meant to be ironic.

More brilliant Friska Viljor songs that will re-affrim your love for life are Bite Your Head Off and In My Sofa I’m Safe.

 

The dodgy double dip comes courtesy of American alternative rock band R.E.M today and their 1994 hit What’s The Frequency Kenneth. Because it’s as solid as Dwayne Johnson’s hard-on.

“You said that irony was the shackles of youth”

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Blossoms

Blossom’s are an indie rock psych-pop band from Manchester (Stockport), England. Cut Me And I’ll Bleed (Mar’15) is just their second single (albeit a re-release as it is the third track off their first EP Madeline (May’14). The song was described by Clash magazine as “...an emphatic piece of psych-pop, one draped in 60’s references...” and the band’s music by Gods In TheTV as “...swaggering, hypnotic and psychedelic pop gems.” The band have a variety of influences that include 60’s influences (The Doors, The Zombies), 70’s disco influences (ABBA, Chic), 80’s influences (The Smiths, The Stone Roses) and more modern ones (Arctic Monkeys, The Coral).

 

Cut Me And I'll Bleed has a great melody in the chorus and that’s it. The band seem all fart and no shit to me. But what a chorus. Sticky as a priests hands after confession. The verses are atmospheric pop reminiscent of 80’s pop like Duran Duran or The Cure. But that chorus, complete with snappy handclaps, is pure melodic gold. Cut Me And I’ll Bleed is as contagious as a cheap Pattaya street hooker’s sausage smuggler after midnight and, easy peasy, one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“The winter frost, from the night
Comforts me”

 

Shit you need to know:

The band that started in 2013 and are a media darling.

The band have been compared to Oasis, The Stone Roses, and The Beatles. Blossoms are also compared to The Doors, The Zombies and 13^th Floor Elevator.

Blossoms have been on fluffing duties for bands like Howling Bells, The Orwells,The Rifles and Inspiral Carpets.

 

The Blossoms' manager put nose to the grind for The Stone Roses and The Courteeners.

 

Blossoms got their band name from a pub of the same name.

 

Blossoms were going to call the band Born In The NHS after the Bruce Springsteen song.

If you need more Blossoms then At Most A Kiss, Charlemagne and Blow don’t suck donkey dick.

 

Stirring custard is English psychedelic garage pop band The Zombies and their biggest hit She’s Not There (1964). I don't know why.

“Well, no one told me about her
How many people cried”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Rain Over St. Ambrose

Rain Over St. Ambrose are an indie folk influenced, alternative rock band from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Broken Love bounces off their second long-player Waking Up (Jun’15). The song is a “...gruff, atmospheric rock tune” and their album “...reverberates with anthemic sing-alongs, swampy fuzzed-out riff rock, and swirling synths.” Their influences are The Constantines, Kings of Leon and Winter Sleep.

Rain Over St Ambrose Broken Love (May’15) comes on like a happyier Kings of Leon hit and that’s all you need to know. Earnest, gravelly vocals are propelled by a finger-snappy beat, backed up with a contrasting of angelic female vocals, and punctuated by a rock guitar led all in. The gist of the tune is hope amongst hardship and it comes on like melodic heroin. Take an orgasm and mutiple it one thousand times and you're still not close, Broken Love is one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“...the songs don’t make no sense no more

I hope you believe in a broken love”

 

 

Shit you need to know:

The band have been compared to The Hold Steady, Gaslight Anthem and British Sea Power.

The new album has been big-upped as “...enormous in tone and uninhibited in its approach. Raw, contemplative, and feverish...”

The album was mixed byTony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle and Sebastien) and mastered by Greg Calbi (War on Drugs, St. Vincent, Paul Simon).

The band are named after the weather on the day of the singer’s father’s funeral.

More hard charging Rain Over St Ambrose tunes are “WalkingHome”, “Campfires” and “Chemtrails of Happiness”.

 

Slippery seconds comes courtesy of American (Nashville, Tennessee) rock band Mona. This is their 2012 hit Lean Into The Fall.

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - WIN WIN

WIN WIN are a production collective, long time bros, and an indie-electronic band from New York. Waster (May’15) is a B-side from their single release Couch Paranoia and a bonus track on their third album Primaries (Jun’15). The tune was called “a debaucherous psychedelic anthem for the rebellious youth”  by Turntable Kitchen and “...pure hedonistic pleasure-center music” by Stereogum. The bands influences are classical to no-wave to trance and psych-rock.

Waster is a feel-good slacker soundtrack with psych-rock stylings. There are handclaps and dirty glam guitar married to a shout it out chorus and a sense of urgency in the driving drum beat. No fucking doubts about it, this is a track that will have you smiling like a masturbating retard. Waster is one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“Find another lover

Take another pill”

 

Shit you need to know:

The band are based in Brooklyn, New York.

WIN WIN’s music has been described as  “grafts rock music to dance music...rooted in pop.”

The bands record label spouted this verbal diarrhoea about the new album Primaries, “an elastic and hyper-modern album of seductive pop permanence and psychoactive electronics.” Inner Speaker were much more precise “...a somewhat confusing mix of electro and psych-rock.”

WIN WIN have remixed tracks for Thom Yorke, Björk, TV On The Radio and Kylie Minogue.

Roofeoo of TV On The Radio is friends and has collaborated with the band.
 

The singer from Hot Chip, Alexis Taylor, sang on one of their tunes.
 

The band fluffed for The Cribs in September in Montreal.
 

Another WIN WIN tune that doesn't felch from a dead hobbos arse is Been So Long.

 

 

Stirring the porridge is English indie rock greats The Cribs and their finest rocker Come On, Be A No-One (2012).

“I was trying so hard to enjoy everything
that i ended up enjoying nothing”

 

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Declan McKenna

Declan McKenna is a 16 year old indie-pop solo artist from London, England. He has blues and folk influences and has numbered Jeff Buckley, The Black Keys, Django Django, The Leisure Society, The Beatles and Jack White, among others, as influences. His music has been described as “fun and lively, a refreshing and light-hearted.” Many commentators are expecting him to blow up big.

Little Pieces (Nov’14) is an acoustic song with minimal accompaniment provided by body percussion and glockenspiel. It’s a foot tapper, thigh slapper and has hauntingly beautiful vocals that worm their way into your consciousness. A song about inequality it has a rhythm that pops and has been called “swirly indie pop”. Don’t listen to people predicting a bright future for this musician. This is perfect. Right here, right now, Little Pieces is one of the best indie songs of 2015.

Note: This is a cover version for a reason. The original version is not available unless you down load it here.

 

Shit you need to know:

Declan McKenna plays guitar and mandolin and says he likes to mix-up genres.

Declan McKenna has described his music as “psychedelic-blues riffs and folk lyrics.”

His influences include Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Flynn, Django Django, Bach and T-Bone Walker.

He self-released his biggest song so far, Brazil (Dec'14), on vinyl. The song condemns Sepp Blatter and the corruption endemic in FIFA.

Declan McKenna's music was compared to Portishead and Radiohead by this reviewer while his unique vocals minded another of The Libertines.

Declan McKenna was the winner of the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition 2015.

The young man toured with rising hot indie band Blossoms on their UK tour this year.
 

Declan is being pursued by a number of labels & publishers according to A&R Daily in the UK.

Other great Declan McKenna tracks are Brazil and All That.
 

 

Declan McKenna’s percussion reminded me of Ben Harper’s Steal My Kisses (1999) which had the beatboxer Rahzel supplying the beats. So here is the roots rock musician with one of his biggest hits.