Keston Cobblers Club - Almost Home

1.    Who are Keston Cobblers Club?

Keston Cobblers Club are an indie folk-pop band from Bromley, England. They started playing together in 2009 and Almost Home (Feb’17) is from their third album of the same name, Almost Home (March’17). 

2. What's the vibe on Almost Home? 

Almost Home is a knee-slapping, singalong folk song chock full of chest-bursting joy and nostalgia. Whoops abound, drums pound, acoustic guitars are plucked and tambourines rattle rambunctiously. 

3. Who do Keyston Cobbler's Club sound like? 

Van Susans, The Strumbellas and The Lumineers. 

4. What have the rags said about Almost Home? 

“Intricate melody and a nostalgic sweetness that proves inescapable” – The AU Review.

“Catchy, folk-infused” – Graffiti Punctuated. 

“Poignant optimism” – Folking.       

5. Which bands influenced Keston Cobblers Club?

Some of the band’s influences are Mates Of State, The Shins, Beirut, Bon Iver and Paul Simon.

6. Why should I press play on Almost Home? 

Because you like indie-poptism. Because you like boozy, infectious, late night singalongs. 

7. What are Keston Cobblers Club's best songs? 

Almost Home, You Go and Won't Look Back.    

8. Any more words? 

Keston Cobblers Club are a band formed by brother, sister and best friend. They are festival favorites and big Fleetwood Mac fans. 

“And I’ve never tried to hide where I belong”

Beirut are from Santa Fe, New Mexico but fight out of Brooklyn, New York. They play world, electronic, indie folk/pop music. Grooving since 2006 they have four albums on their roll of honor. Beirut is similar to Neutral Milk Hotel, Fleet Foxes and Noah and The Whale. Their influences are The Beach Boys, music form the Balkans and Mexican music. Gibraltar was the second single from his fourth album No, No, No (2015). Gibraltar is an infectious indie pop tune with bongos, jaunty keys and whimsical vocals.

“Who laid a line?

Say you’re like my kind”

The Strumbellas - We Don't Know

     1.    Who are they?

     The Strumbellas are a Canadian indie folk rock band who’s single Spirits (2015), from their third album Hope (2015), has propelled them to fame and fortune charting number one on the American alternative charts and heading toward one hundred million streams.  We Don’t Know (Apr’16) is the second single from their album Hope. 

     2. What's the tune like? 

     We Don't Know is a 'pick yourself up by your bootstraps and have faith' tune. Inspirational to some, middle of the road hokey to others. Stadium filler singalong. Wrings the most from the alternating man and his guitar, versus all in, dynamic. You've heard it before. 

     3. Who do The Strumbellas sound like? 

     The Lumineers. The Avett Brothers. Mumford & Sons back in the day. 

     4. What have those cut and paste marvels said about We Don't Know? 

“Sunny chords and bright acoustics” – EW.  

“A folky, foot-stamping tune that builds up momentum all the way to a huge, happy, singalong chorus” – The NY Times. 

“Epic and bombastic” – Sputnik Music.  

5. Which bands have influenced The Strumbellas? 

Ryan Adams, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Carly Rae Jepson are some of the main influences.  


6. Why should I give We Don't Know a listen? 

If you're in the mood We Don't Know is all good rabble-rousing, chest-thumping, we-are-all-in-this-together type stuff.


7. Do The Strumbellas have any more good songs?

Spirits. It's alright.


8. Any more words?

The Strumbellas have made so much coin even Forbes are interested in them. Forget about the exes. 

“It’s hard when you’re living and you don’t feel much”

Candlebox are a grunge band from Seattle, Washington. They started playing together in 1990 and have six albums on their tale of the tape. Candlebox's debut 1993 album Candlebox sold 4 million copies and had their most successful single to date Far Behind (1993) that made it to top ten in the Billboard charts. Far Behind is a song about a friends death from a heroin overdose and is a staple of any 90's rock collection. 

“Now maybe,

I did not mean to treat you bad,

But I did it anyway”

The Avett Brothers - Ain't No Man

1.    Who are the men decked out in their finery? 

The Avett Brothers are a genre-hopping indie folk rock band from Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. Making tunes since 2000 they have four long players to their name. Ain't No Man is the lead single from The Avett Brother's fourth studio album True Sadness (June'16).


2. What have they served up? 

Ain't No Man is a folk pop knockout. A foot-tapping, hand-clapping, sing-along with a little bit of funk. Folk at it's beneficiant best and pop's finest right here. 

3. Who do The Avett Brother's sound like?

Ain't No Man sounds like Bronze Radio Return. The Lumineers are similar.



4. What have the scribes said? 

"Stomping new anthem" - Consequence Of Sound. 

"An uptempo, full-bodied, harmony-heavy song" - The Boot. 

"Foot-stomping celebration" - NPR.

5. Which bands have influenced The Avett Brothers?

The Avett Brothers blend rock, punk, bluegrass, folk and country. Their influences run a gamut from Nirvanna, Tom Waits, Pink Floyd and Rory Coltrane to Beethoven.

6. Why should I give Ain't No Man a listen?

Ain't No Man is rootsy tune radiating love that forces you to sing and clap along with it's good-natured effervescence. 


7. Do The Avett Brothers have any more bangers?

Another Is Waiting rocks a little and Live And Die winds the bluegrass whimsy up to a stomping wigout.


8. Any more words? 

The new album True Sadness is produced by Rick Rubin who has worked for Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Joe Strummer, Johnny Cash, Kanye West and Jay Z to name but a few.

"There ain't nobody here who can cause me pain or raise my fear

Cause I got only love to share"

Half Moon Run are an indie rock band from Montreal, Canada. Playing together since 2010 they have two long players to pin to their flag. Turn Your Love (Sept'15) was the second single from their second album Sun Leads Me On (Oct'15). Turn Your Love is a song Exclaim felt showcases the band's "eclectic styles and influences."

"I don't feel the strongest singing my own songs

And I used to baby"

Bronze Radio Return - Nowhere To Be

1.    Who are these bards?

Gaze on the majesty of Bronze Radio Return. They are an indie roots rock band from Hartford, Connecticut. These stone cold legends have been at the controls since 2007 and have four fantastic long players to their legacy. Nowhere To Be (Nov'15) is an album track from the fourth, Light Me Up (Nov'15).

2. What’s the gist?

Nowhere To Be has a folky acoustic and ukelele intro with a quiet piano and keys assist. A thigh slapping, foot tapping jig with haunting vocal harmonies that maintains tension by never letting go of the clutch. Top tier.
 

3. Who have they been compared to?

Daily Campus compared Bronze Radio Return to alt-J, Milky Chance and The Lumineers. Great Caesar are close.

 

4. What have the venerable citizens of the fourth estate said about the album Light Me Up?
 

“Filled with big choruses, catchy melodies and a spirit that is palpable” – The Prelude Press.

“Pop music that is the fathest thing from hollow – there is a real heart” – Daily Campus.

“Always infectious and upbeat style but a splash of roots-pop mixed in” – The Morning Hangover.

 

 

5. Who are the band’s influences?

Bronze Radio Return's early influences were blues, jazz, country and American folk music. Specific influences are Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Howling Wolf, Ben Harper, Elliott Smith and Ryan Adams.

 

6. Why press play?

Nowhere To Be incapsulates spontaneous, carefree sing-along fun, with immaculate production and earnest vocals. Turn it up and shuffle shoes.

 

7. Do Bronze Radio Return have any more bolters?

No doubt. Hi-fi title track Light Me Up will do just that. Golden. Shake, Shake, Shake is a beautiful folk pop stomper. Actually they are all good.

 

8. Any more words?

Light Me Up was mixed by Mark Needham (The Killers, Imagine Dragons, American Authors)  and also F. Reid Shippen (Cage The Elephant, Switchfoot, Death Cab For Cutie).

Bronze Radio Return are on their first European tour this April with The Dunwells.

 

“Now I’m taking off and cutting loose”

 

 

 

 

The Dunwells are an indie pop rock band from Leeds, England. They have recorded two full length albums and three short players. The Dunwells are influenced by Bon Iver, Elbow and Damien Rice. Hey Now (Sept'15) was the lead single from Light Up The Sky (Feb'16) and is a tune Clash Music called “a gospel-driven piece of indie folk.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 - Freedom Fry

There is a vaguely tribal feel to the percussion in Freedom Fry’s Shaky Ground (Hey Na Na Na)(Jan’15) that was fashioned by beating on the floor and furniture. Whatever works. The tune minds of Katie Herzig if only because of the title and with Marie Seyrat and Bruce Driscoll swapping vocals it reminds me also of Of Monsters and Men. Not a bad starting point. It’s definitely middle of the road indie pop with enough talent to elevate it above the plebs.

 

Shaky Ground (Hey Na Na Na) is a loose, playful and joyful tune with drum and vocals leading and enough stomp in the chorus to get toes tapping and crowds singing. A song with that ‘everything will be alright’ optimism exemplified in lyrics like “Everyone’s time will come” and “Nothing in my world is wrong”. But y’know how seriously can you take a song with Hey Na Na Na in the title and that sounds suspiciously similar to one of their other outings, Wilder Mile? Just sit back and enjoy one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“Nothing in my world is wrong, oho
At least I'm not the only one, oho”

 

 

 

Freedom Fry are an American/French husband and wife duo from Los Angeles making music together since 2011. Shaky Ground is a single and so far they have only singles and short players to show for their efforts, albeit many of them.

Shit you need to know:

This ball sack called Shaky Ground a “Cowboy pop song” while The Revue preferred to call it, “Pure audio sunshine”.

Freedom Fry's influences are 60’s surf rock, The Ventures and Serge Gainsbourg. Their favorite bands are The Smiths and Sia.

It’s been said Freedom Fry sound like Of Monsters And Men (super sleuthing Watson), The Lumineers and Beach House.

Indie Shufflecalled them, quite accurately,“whimsical and uplifiting folk pop”.

Freedom Fry's music is making money, being used in various commercials, TV shows and franchise playlists.

The Freedom Fry songs that don't suck coke dick are Yeah You, Wilder Mile and Earthquake.

Next up is American folk rock singer/songwriter Katie Herzig because she is the best.

And of fucking course it's Hey Na Na (2009).