The 30 Best Indie Rock Songs of 2016 (10 - 1)

No fucking about, let’s get into it. 

10. Red Cabin - I Can't Wait 

Red Cabin is Jonathan Foster, an indie pop multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter/producer from Long Island, New York. His sound falls somewhere between The Shins and Weezer. I Can't Wait (Feb'16) is an ebullient rock song with a vocal delivery that exudes joy. Unique.

9. Yak - Harbour The Feeling 

Yak are a psych-rock band from London, England. They sound like Pretty Vicious and VANT. Harbour The Feeling (Jan'16) is an intense and furious punk song designed for whipping up an instant crowd frenzy.

8. Sundara Karma - She Said 

Sundara Karma are an indie pop rock band from Reading, England. They sound like Blossoms and Get Inuit. She Said (Aug'16) is a slick and instantly catchy synth-pop song with jangly guitars. The heroin of songs.

7. VANT - Fly-By Alien 

VANT are a punk band from London, England. They sound like Public Access TV and Spring King. Fly-By Alien (Feb'16) is a punk song that takes a swipe at the apathy of the millennial generation. 

6. Nai Harvest - Just Like You

Nai Harvest are a punk duo from Sheffield, England. They sound like Cloud Nothings and The Cribs. Just Like You (Feb'16) is sweet punk with a big scuzzy riff and a shout-it-out-loud chorus. Essential. 

5. PARTYBABY - Your Old Man 

PARTYBABY are an indie rock band with glam stylings from Los Angeles, California. They sound like FIDLAR and SWMRS. Your Old Man (Dec'15) is an anthemic garage rock song that is elevated by the glam rock guitar. A fresh, savage, approach to indie rock.

 4. The Crispies - Bad Blood 

The Crispies are a garage rock band from Vienna, Austria. They sound like The White Stripes and The Arctic Monkeys. Bad Blood (June'16) is a gritty stomper with booming drums, that fires off nasty licks faster than lightening. It reeks of piss and blood in a basement where the band are elevating the crowd to Valhalla.

3. The Amazons - In My Mind 

The Amazons are an indie rock band from Reading, England. They sound between Royal Blood and Oasis. In My Mind (Sept'16) is a powerful rock song propelled by a massive riff, pounding rhythms, dense musical textures and desperate vocals. An indie rock tour de force.  

2. Low Cut High Tops - Lonely And Cold

Low Cut High Tops is multi-instrumentalist and producer David Burns. He is from Seattle, Washington. Low Cut High Tops sounds between The White Stripes and The Pixies. Lonely And Cold (Jan'16) is a grunge song that exudes an off-kilter sexuality while taking off musically with the power of a jet fighter. Blows your fucking head off. 

1. The Courteeners - The 17th 

The Courteeners are an indie rock band from Manchester, England. They sound like The Smiths and Catfish and the Bottlemen. The 17th (Aug'16) has a melancholic synth-pop feel that builds, painfully slowly but inexorably, into a joyful crescendo with a scream-it-to-the-heavens chorus. And that's it. The ultimate cock tease of a song. It'll keep you coming back for more.

The Courteeners - The 17th

     1.    Who are these indie rock heroes? 

     The Courteeners are an indie rock band from Manchester, England, and have the finest band name in the world. The band have described themselves as the biggest underground rock band in the world. The 17th (Aug'16) is the lead song from The Courteeners' fifth album Mapping The Rendezvous (Oct'16).  

     2. What's The 17th like then? 

     A slow brooding song with an 80's synth pop feel and melancholic Morrisey-esque vocals cranks into life in the third minute and hits an expansive, joyful crescendo, with a guitar assist at the three and a half mark and a jubilant, scream-it-to-the-heavens, chorus. Special. An absolute belter.

    3. Who do The Courteeners sound like? 

     The Smiths. Catfish and The Bottlemen. Euphoriazine compared The 17^th to The 1975. The Guardian found general similarities with The Enemy and Hard-Fi. 

    4. What have the lords and ladies of the fourth estate said about The 17th? 

“A seductively cool night-stalker” – Vanya Land. 

“Sleek and sexy pop vibes” – Euphoriazine.

“Absolutely fucking sensational” – Gig Slutz. 

    5. Which bands have added to The Courteeners' magic? 

     The major influences on The Courteeners are Oasis, The Smiths and The Kinks. They have some love for M People, Simply Red and The Killers too.

    6. Why should I give The 17th a lash? 

    It's an epic tune. The Smiths for a new century. You can't help but love it; despite trying.

   

   

    7. Do The Courteeners have any more rousing fare?

     Sure they do. Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet, How Good It Was and Are You In Love With A Notion? to name but a few. 

    8. Any more words?

     The new album Mapping The Rendezvous was recorded by long-time Courteeners' producer Joe Cross (Kid Astray, Prides and Hurts).

“Everybody can hear you but nobodies listening”

    

   

    

     AWOLNATION are an electronic rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band started in 2009 and have two albums on their roll of honor. AWOLNATION’s debut long player, Megalithic Symphony (2011) went platinum and the hit single from it Sail sold five and a half million copies.  THISKIDSNOTALRIGHT (2012) was released on a video game soundtrack. The tune is a rip snorter that reminded Ear Milk of Nine Inch Nails and The Black Keys. Wrap up tight, shits about to get real...

“You can follow them to hell”

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - The Courteeners

Wow that voice. Those lyrics. The Courteeners Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet (Aug’14) has a wordy title and quite rightly. It’s a tune that paints an aural masterpiece of being the third wheel to the wrong kind of love. Not just that, it evokes the north of England and the people. Patently something special.

Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet? is a mild, swinging, pop song evocative of The Smiths or even The Housemartins. A song that men everywhere are thanking for making them think more deeply about how their selfish actions affect others. Yeah right. Big hearts in hairy chests are pounding and vaginas gushing listening to this track. No word of a lie, this is one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“The velvet rut looms large
And stands tall
A pelvic strut and then watch
His eyes crawl…”

The Courteeners are an indie rock band from Manchester formed in 2006. Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet ? is the fourth single from their fourth album Concrete Love (Aug’14).

Shit you need to know:

Of the song Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet? The Line Of Best Fit said it “trundles in a sort of faux-psych haze of vocal hums and reverberating tambourine” and is “cringingly sweet”. Another reviewer thought the tune is "custom-made for crowds to sing a long to." 

Concrete Love was produced by Joe Cross who has done the same for Kid Astray and Hurts.

The Courteeners were compared to Bastille and The 1975 by NME in a scathing review (5 out of 10 stars).“Concrete Love is nothing to beat their own drum about.” While another bitchy review (5 out of 10) said The Courteeners have, “a knack for writing catchy radio-friendly indie pop."

The Courteeners main influences are The Smiths, The Kinks and Oasis.

Morrissey is a big fan of The Courteeners, tipping them for breaking the American market. That was in 2008. Yeah don’t think they’re a household name yet Mozzer. 

Bono popped a zipper over  The Courteeeners saying they were the best band in ten years. And if that's not enough they were big upped by Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.

The band have described themselves as the, “…biggest underground band in the world”.


Check out Next Time You Call, How Good It Was and Are You In Love With A Notion for more great Courteeners. But especially Next Time You Call.

It's a real double up today as we've got another Courteener's tune but it's them doing a cover of The Smith's There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. So yeah, fucking awesome. Natch.

“Take me out tonight,

Where there’s music and there’s people,

Who are young and alive”