Updated the playlist a few days ago, who needs some new tunes?
Follow along here on our playlist that gets updated weekly(ish):
This one actually isn’t on the playlist because I just discovered it today (sorry to be immediately confusing):
‘wish u were here’ – grouptherapy.
This album is dope. I don’t want to inundate you with backstory but here’s grouptherapy.’s backstory on Spotify:
Hope that was helpful, great album.
‘illusion’ – Grayson, Uruguay, Danny Denial
Uh… WHAT?! Absolutely gorgeous, accurately representative of the troubling state that the world, you, and I are all feeling, while also being a cathartic journey to resolution. Now…
We were fortunate enough to have our good friend Stepha from Uruguay take over our Instagram and host an interview with both Grayson and Danny Denial, and it was an amazing evening. We laughed, we cried, dug deep. Peep the full interview on our Instagram, and here are some teasers I selected below:
Frankly though I’d be selling you short if I didn’t throw some related bangers from Grayson, Uruguay, and Danny Denial on here.
‘Rented Rooms’ – HESS
Extremely quality song, one of those music speaks for itself situations imo.
If you know me you know this right up my alley. I’m just a warehouse party center-dancefloor dancer trying to make ends meet in the lucrative* indie music blog business, so this pretty much checks all my boxes. I had a nice chat with one of the members of duo Silver Liz and they’re Chicago based (ayyoooooo) so extra love. Now as you all know by now I don’t like to take an amazing out of body experience of a song and try to designate it with genre and superfluous adjectives, so instead I’m going to line up some of my favorite songs that this reminds me of (off the top of my head):
Dope album, there’s another track off it below. Big shoutout to one of my faovrite playlists IndieZA which highlights best new tracks from South Africa, this week they turned up big with some dank ass neighbourhood and Ruff Majik below.
‘Cross That Line’ – DeJ Loaf
So fire. Whole album was great (I know I sound like a broken record but it’s true). DeJ Loaf had one of my favorite songs of 2015:
‘Gregory’ – Ruff Majik
This album was a blast, old school super indie rock vibes and I straight up love it. Reminds me of Parlor Mob in their prime when me and the homies were sneaking already warm Keystones into Lollapalooza at noon and having the time of our lives.
‘If You Love Me’ – Melody Gardot
Alright straight up there’s no way this song is from this year, right? I have notoriously bad cover radar (been caught a fewtimes this year on the playlist) and Sunday Tuesday George’s little brother calls me out on it all the time. He’s this annoying little kid who bothers us all the time but it’s cool because we love Sunday Tuesday George.
This wraps up the selection for this week(ish), don’t forget to blast that <3 button on the playlist for weekly(ish) updates.
Hellllloooooo here we go again. Best new songs, from the last two playlist updates since I was lazy/busy and didn’t do last week’s. Here’s the playlist, follow for weekly updates and follow along as you read if you’d like!
I’m just gonna come smouldering hot out of the gates and talk about this new Mariah Carey/Ms. Lauryn Hill song. Like whaaaaaaat? Iconic artists release new music all the time but what business do these all timers have releasing a song in 2020 that goes THIS hard?
‘Save The Day’ – Mariah Carey, Ms. Lauryn Hill
Unbelievable. While we ride out the entirety of this song, I know this is off brand but did anyone watch the Rockets OKC game 7 tonight? What a trash game. Underwhelming. Should have just Indie Pong’d instead.
‘BRITNEY BITCH’ – BLACKSTARKIDS
Our faves BLACKSTARKIDS are at it again with a very on brand ‘BRITNEY BITCH’. You can check them out in our best songs of the first half of the year post I did or in this interview we did with them earlier this year. Another banger, not surprised. BSK is on a rocketship on their way to the moon.
‘Renegade Breakdown’ – Marie Davidson, LβΕil Nu
This song is insane. I absolutely love it. I’m a big Marie Davidson fan and was bummed when she decided to retire (but understood as it was pretty much the most relatable reasoning I’d ever heard) and then un-bummed when she unretired shortly thereafter with new projects such as an Essaie Pas release. If you dig this check out this banger from our Best of the Decade List and the rest of the Marie Davidson catalog as well.
‘Grasshopper’ – Tkay Maidza
Has anyone come into a song hotter than this? This Tkay Maidza EP is just something special. Zimbabwean-born Australian Tkay goes both unbelievably hard and unbelievably smooth on this album. As a matter of fact I have literally three of her songs (!) on the playlist this last week, which I think is a new record? Check out ‘My Flowers‘ and ‘24k‘ on the playlist as well (and Shook from a few weeks more than a few weeks back).
‘Mijo Pt. 1’ – Josh Dominguez
This album is going to fiiiiirrrreeee. What I’ve heard is that the first two singles off of the album are not even the showstoppers on the record, those are coming soon. Which is nuts because this track is DOPE. Josh has grown so much as an artist and you can really tell, production aside, from his newfound mastery of rhythm and cadence.
‘Live In Life – Alice Ivy Remix’ – The Rubens
This song is hot af.
Obviously we love Alice Ivy dating way back, seeing as it’s practically all I talk about. By the way did y’all catch this #content we put together courtesy of Mubi?
This is some straight up house heat, and not only that, it’s also by a fellow J man and features some Japanese so obviously I am IN.
‘Live 4ever’ – Magdalena Bay
You know how I know you’re special? Magdalena Bay? Because you’re basically the only pop act that #UnderCoverSadGirl listens to. Jen and I brought UnderCoverSadGirl to a Sigrid show and she absolutely hated it. Just kidding that’s an exaggeration but let’s just say she did not buy any merch. But she loves some Magdalena Bay as do I and they just keep continuing to impress.
‘Screwface’ – They Hate Change
Yeah, this is absolutely the next big thing. These dudes are dope af and their whole EP is awesome. This is the kind of sound we’re always looking for, an innovative take on a familiar genre that leaves you wanting more. Kind of reminds me of one of my favorite sleeper rap tracks of the past decade. Watch out for these guys, they’re on their way up.
Haha sorry as you can see by this point in the blog we’re cutting right to the point. Who likes to read, anyway?
‘Surfer Guy’ – Lullabies
Time to mellow out after all of these piping hot tracks.
And I’ll leave you with one final one. Check us out on Instagram, Twitter, and FB if you LOVED this blog, check out our video podcast on our Instagram where Jen, Cassie, and I discuss new songs and I get absolutely drenched in body paint, and tune in for new tracks next week by following our Spotify playlist!
Anyways, one more for the road:
‘You’re Not Real You’re Just a Ghost’ – Sophia Bel
Every week (ish) I update the Indie Pong playlist with the best tracks in the WORLD. I used to break it down every week but have been a bit lazy, and the requests and cyberbullying are getting to be too much for me, so here is your breakdown. You can follow along and get new updates every week (ish) by following our playlist on Spotify:
‘Everything Will Be Alright’ – Joseph E-Shine, Pontea, Mark Franco
Found this one from our good friend and blooger JPGChief on his Fresh Singles playlist which I highly recommend if you’re looking for piping hot tracks literally every day. JPG sort of puts me to shame with how consistently he updates his playlists, kind of makes me look like an asshole.
Joseph is an Israeli artist and this track is dope. It reminds me of strutting around in middle school in the early 2000’s with my oversized backpack and thermally insulated lunchbox thinking about my crush and how many home runs I was going to hit once I reached puberty. Great track.
‘Fefestyle’ – Ifeanyi Elswith
Ifeanyi is a Chicago native (hey-yo!) and is smooth af on this this track, she’s got talent through the roof. I didn’t know what Fefestyle was but now I feel like I do and I can’t wait to integrate it into my daily operations.
‘BRB’ – Mahalia (feat. Pink Sweat$)
UK’s Mahalia truly needs no introduction as she’s pretty much all I talk about. Her album Love and Compromise was pretty much my favorite album of last year and she just seems to be growing. So this song has been released in a few iterations and usually I am all about the original, but in this case I think the Pink Sweat$ addition is very welcome and gives it an extra layer of excellence. Mahalia, if you’re reading this, you’re the best don’t ever change ok thanks bye.
‘In My Mind’ – Alice Ivy, Ecca Vandal
We’ve been tracking Australia’s Alice Ivy since the inception of Indie Pong, and you should have listened to us then and been ahead of the curve, because she just released the AOTY. It’s not too late for you though, Alice just signed a deal with Concord, so she’s about to get HUGE. Big ups to Alice and all of the artists on this album, it’s truly spectacular.
‘Note To Self’ – Jim E-Stack, Empress Of
This song has half a million listens, and it honestly surprises me that it doesn’t have more. This to me feels like what SHOULD be popular and all over the radio but hey what do I know right, that’ why I run an indie music blog where I can write about whatever I want. This production is gorgeous and I love it.
‘sp@CeGirl * (δΊΊζ°γγγ)’ – LoneMoon
I am OBSESSED with this album from LoneMoon. To me this is what it looks like to challenge the parameters of existing music and genre and push the medium forward as an art form. Now the reason for the alert is that we have been ever so blessed with the opportunity to speak with LoneMoon on Wednesday (8/5) on our Instagram Live. I cannot wait to meet her and ask her all kinds of questions about how she made this fantastic album that I’ve been bumping all week, as well as getting to the root of what is going on on that album cover. Join us for the interview!
‘Now U Wit Em’ – Fritz Carlton, Ghostea
Fritz Carlton is one of the most exciting names coming out of the LA electronic music scene right now, and if I’m not mistaken has just signed a deal to make his first full length record. He’s long been a staple of the LA warehouse scene and his tracks just seem to be getting better and better. I have been fortunate enough to see this transformation firsthand, since Fritz is actually a friend of mine. Don’t tell our college but I used to let Fritz copy my Japanese homework before class since I speak Japanese and just took 101 for an easy credit. Fritz rode that freshman year Japanese 101 credit to a successful career as a DJ and electronic music producer, and it’s all thanks to me. You’re welcome, Fritz.
‘I Feel Like I Am Changin” – Cub Sport
Oh me oh my, the cadence of these opening lyrics.
“I used to hate these mismatched houses now they make me smile” – me screaming at the top of my lungs while my roommate is trying to sleep. A gorgeous song on a gorgeous album that deserves every accolade it will inevitably receive.
‘Never Die’ – Soft Set
This is another JPG special, the hardest working man on Spotify. Love this track, really speaks for itself, 90s style dreamy shoegaze song you can’t help but relax to. Soft Set is a Canadian band whose favorite band is Ride, which makes sense. I basically paraphrased this whole thing from their Spotify page but the song speaks for itself give it a listen.
‘reasons 2 live’ – illuminati hotties
LA based illuminati hotties just released a stunner of an album of which, in very typical fashion for me, this is the closing track that ties the whole thing together. I seem to do that a lot, fall in love with the palette cleanser track at the end of an album and it becomes my favorite song from that band. I originally heard of illuminati hotties from a soon-to-be blogger Rashad but you don’t know who he is yet so I’ll save that for another day.
‘Saint’ – Cub Sport
This is my favorite song off of the new Cub Sport album. I know I already said this but THE CADENCE… unbelievable. Australia’s Cub Sport has a way of absolutely owning the rhythm almost as if he is rapping, but in an original and unique way that I’ve never heard before. I LOVE it.
‘Dizzy’ – Phil Higgins
South African singer-songwriter Phil Higgins has outdone herself here with this jam. This is the kind of song you just want to hear over and over again and let its infectious melody permeate your life.
‘Money’ – Alice Ivy, DijahSB
We’re not done talking about how great Alice Ivy is yet. How dope is this track, so cool. This album is off the charts great. I’d say this has been the best year for pop music of the DECADE so far… jk but seriously it’s been an unbelievable year for pop music, with Alice coming through an already stacked year of pop releases with very probably the best one yet.
‘Marigold’ – Blondfire
Blondfire just does it for me. My favorite thing about these new Blondfire releases is they pick up exactly where they left off after their last release in 2014, the perfect blend of soothing vocals and brash pop rock sound. Love me some Blondfire.
‘Bummer Days’ – Liza Anne
More like SUMMER DAYS… because this song sounds so summery… amiright? Love this track and this sound in general.
‘Heartbeat’ – B & the Hive
This cathartic indie pop groove is exactly what I needed. Feels like the kind of song that you could party hard to or cry your eyes out to, I did the latter. But that’s also because there’s no parties going on right now. Can’t wait to see the trajectory of B & the Hive, the sky is the limit.
‘All Grown Up’ – Out Of Love
“Woke me up better than a cup of coffee” – Classsy Casssie when I sent this to her. Or something like that, my phone is dead. This has those punk vibes that have me bouncing off the walls of my place while my roommate is trying to sleep because he has “work” in the morning.
‘Corn Syrup’ – John War
San Diego’s John War’s favorite artists are Arca, Jai Paul and Deftones which he told me in our extensive interview (not really it was actually a three message Twitter exchange). Love this track, that first drop comes in so hard.
‘iLy’ – LoneMoon, Ivy Hollivana
A gorgeous track from LoneMoon that is almost a direct opposite of the track from the same album featured above. You know an artist is good when they have two tracks on the same album that sound completely different but are both great, mumbled my roommate as he paced around the house unable to fall back asleep.
‘Stranger’ – Gaidaa, Saba, Jarreau Vandal
Super smooth track here from the Sudanese Dutch singer from the Netherlands Gaidaa.
‘Learn To Fly’ – Surfaces, Elton John
Surfaces has been blowing up but who’s the feature? NeVeR hEaRd Of HiM… hahahahahahaha JUST KIDDING. This song is wonderful, the airy vibes we needed to bring some levity to a not so airy summer.
And thus concludes our recap of the week (ish). Don’t forget to follow us on social and to support indie artists by buying their music on Bandcamp!
We’re almost a quarter of the way through the year (WTF are you serious), and we are already off to a HOT start. Like a good steak pairs with a nice cab, this blog pairs great with the January edition which I wrote last month.
Here all of these songs and more here, and don’t forget to follow for weekly updates:
“B Cool Janet” – Cheap Synths
It’s the #Yearofthecheap ala Cheap Synths’ Instagram- and I agree. On occasion over here we exercise the #WeekOfBeansAndRice so I get it. An underrated jammer you need to know. This one goes out to every Janet you ever met that sucked, this goes out to you, Janet.
“No Interruptions” – Betty Mae
This one basically broke my computer, repeat button is stuck. What’s cool about this is it’s the promise of something greater, a shining career to come. Watch out for the EP in May- “Bitch I’ve Grown”.
And bitch, I have grown. But sometimes still I need to be tucked into bed by a smooth song that plays directly to my soul. Be sure to catch Betty on my esteemed colleague JPGChief’s epic playlists Less Than 1000 Followers and Fresh Singles, which he updates daily.
“Doubt” – Josh Dominguez, T.R.3.
Josh has always been prevalent in the LA underground music scene, but as of lately he is coming out hot. He’s got an album dropping soon, and mark my words, it’s going to be a game changer for him. The underground scene in LA (where I’m based) has been circulating advanced copies and demos for weeks, including some very fun and unexpected live performances. Watch out for the album in May, and the next single “Air It Out” on April 10th.
“Garden Party” – Roman FlΓΌgel
This is one of the most fire house songs I’ve heard in a while.
It gives me major Terje vibes. And I don’t think I need to say anymore about Terje vibes:
Oof. Major vibes. I have a question and I suppose I don’t need an answer, but what movie does this make you want to watch? I actually am kind of curious, I was bumping this on repeat and my first thoughts that came to my head were Diary of a Mad Black Woman (just based on that twinkly inspirational piano alone) and something inspitaional like Jerry Maguire (I ended up watching Almost Famous, amazing film but didn’t quite hit the spot. Anways, this is a new fave and dead lock for top 50 at the end of the year.
“Sweetness” – Sink Ya Teeth
This song takes me back. It’s brand new but it reminds me of those days when I would bump some Kelly Lee Owens Self-Titled album and some Marie Davidson on repeat. Absolute heater.
“Shimmy” – Amine
That first line- let’s go. I’m gonna let Daw handle this one. Also shout out to the Simpsons both above and in Daw’s article- best friends?
Also if you hated Daw’s article, because he can be a lot sometimes, I think this reaction video says pretty much everything that needs to be said:
I reacted the same way to that first line
“You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around” – Grimes
So anyone who knows me knows that I stan Art Angels and easily put it in my top five albums of the decade. Now, I’ve been a hater on the new singles. For sure. In fact I would even go as far as to say that I only liked We Appreciate Power and Pretty (Demo). But all of the pent up doubt and naysay’n I had was proven to be faithless and foolish when the album dropped- it’s excellent. It’s a masterfully poignant and groundbreaking attempt at a Neil Armstrong first small step for mankind into the forthcoming intersection between humanity and technology. This feels like something old but in reality we’re barely halfway there. It’s only a matter of time before robots envelop most of the human workforce across the planet, and AI deep learns faster and faster to the point where it surpasses mankind in capability. It’s adventurous of Grimes to tackle this topic, even if it’s in the form of unpopular claims about AI music overtaking human music someday soon. Count this as a win for Grimes, a big bold step forward for an already top tier progressive artist, further cementing her place in history as a pop and overall music icon.
I bet that last one alarmed you, right? That’s why Yves is so cool. There is a ton of shock value pop culture out there, but very few back it up with quality art like Yves does. Yves is seriously so cool. Let’s take a quick dive.
“I Never Cried So Much in My Whole Life” – Oh Boy, Cub Sport, Cult ShΓΈtta, A.GIRL, Isaac Puerile
So Cub Sport released this as basically an instrumental with a hook a while ago and my first thought was “this is awesome but it needs rap verses or something” and lo and behold here we are. It’s like this track went from:
To:
You feel me?
“A Little Longer” – Leila Sunier
I absolutely love this one. Leila hails from the suburbs of New York and released this stunner in which she crescendos her effortless, trickling vocals into a powerful and climactic chorus that sticks with you.
“Maura” – Wednesday
If you couldn’t tell from my subtle article about it this is my favorite album of the year so far. It was tough to pick a song because the whole thing is so perfect, but this was my favorite.
“Lifetime” – Caveboy
This is so Indie Pong vibes- you already know. Watch out for this Montreal band and check out their new album “Night in the Park, Kiss in the Dark” for more pop excellence.
“I Just Want To Look At You” – Eilish Gilligan
I was a big fan of The Pull last year and was looking forward to what Eilish would do next- and was not disappointed. The Melbourne based Eilish Gilligan has one of the purest voices around right now, and we’re huge fans.
“Pictionary” – Shmu
This is some lo-fi excellence right here. The kind of song you just get lost in and then have to play again when it ends. Austin-based Sam Chown by way of Toronto feels uncommercial in an endearing way in his self-explained “Futuristic Melty Dream Pop meets hazy Psychedelic Yacht-Vaporwave”. Don’t think I could put it better myself.
While I was writing this I realized this song is actually from 2015 but I already wrote it so… meh. Enjoy. Also be sure to check out Shmu’s new album “Pure Bliss” which came out last month.
EDIT: I have been asked to take this down by my boss because it’s old. Sike- I am the boss fool!
“A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” – Kat Edmonson
This cover is just absolutely lovely. It’s a great conversation piece for when your grandparents ask about what you’re listening to these days (literally has never happened to me but you never know) and you don’t feel like explaining the nuances of Shmu or why Josh Dominguez sounds so angry on Doubt- throw this badboy on and you’ll be making memories of dancing around the kitchen till dinner. You’re welcome.
“Hallelujah” – Oh Wonder
I’m low key obsessed with Oh Wonder, such overwhelmingly happy pop vibes. I’m here for it. This is a great song if you’re a cartoon protagonist who has just reached his/her low point at the end of the second act and need a good “making amends” montage to make everything right with the ancillary characters you wronged before going to the big third act ticking clock event for the big climactic moment where you realize that you’ve had it all wrong the whole time, and that actually it doesn’t matter if the other dads in the community think you’re cool or not- anyways I digress. Love this one- don’t miss the new album “No One Else Can Wear Your Crown” that just came out last month.
This is our weekly best new tracks article. We cover mostly brand new songs but also some gems from the last few weeks. Follow our playlist if you want to follow on Spotify or if you hate my writing and just want the music:
Heaters this week. A lot of new names, a few legends, and maybe even a Fleetwood Mac cover.
‘Driving Blind’ – Georgia Maq
Australia Pong’s Camp Cope’s Georgia Maq just released her poignant and rich debut solo album ‘Pleaser’ which is a welcome addition to an already amazing year in Indie Electro Pop before its end. I personally love how the sounds are so well-nourished and produced but the album still manages to maintain a gritty feel, and on top of all of that the vocals are extremely clear and up front in the production which allows us to enjoy Georgia’s well thought-out lyrics that ring emotionally true.
‘Born To Rap’ – The Game
Awwww yeah, vintage Game here. You’ve got two Games, one that stunts on absolute bangers about Jesus Pieces, etc.:
And the more Introspective Game ™ (shouts out to Last Call and the more introspective Jay) who is a master storyteller painting the portrait in new and inventive ways each time to detail how he got from the streets to where he is now. This is the latter Game, and I’ve got nothing but love for the way this sheds light on the work-hard grind that so many artists seem to think they have the right to skip nowadays.
‘Riding Solo’ – Hinds
Much like the game in his Raindrover with his gun at the end of Born 2 Rap above, Spanish band Hinds is riding solo in this homage to the loneliness we all feel that ironically ultimately unites us. It’s better to be lonely together than lonely alone, namsayin?
‘Pneumonia’ – maxime.
This album, whatevernowiscalled, is AWESOME, enjoyed the whole thing. Maxime. touches on very relatable modern day issues in a fresh your voice that we can’t wait to hear more from. This track is the favorite I chose, but I easily could have picked three or four more from this cataylst album that hopefully acts as a gracious springboard onto superstardom.
‘Only Over You’ – Nautic (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
Fleetwood Mac, the gift the keeps on giving. Since everyone has been basically knocking down my door to find out who my top 5 listened to artists of the year were (literally no one has asked me) I will have you know that Fleetwood Mac came in hot at #4!
Kanye
Carole King
Grimes
Fleetwood Mac
Chance the Rapper
Are you impressed? Let me know.
I know it’s pretty diverse hahahaha.
Anyways this cover is awesome and I can’t get enough of it.
‘Delivery’ – Chela
This came out last month but I SLEPT on it, or rather I HIBERNATED on it because it’s winter and I genuinely don’t want to leave my house ever in the winter.
What an absolutely danceable banger. This song feels like the song that comes on at the prom in a 90’s movie after all of the shenanigans are over, and it’s just three best friends dancing out the remaining few hours of their Senior year.
‘Go Inside’ – We Are Only Human Once, The Dartfrogs
This song crushes, I love it. The whole album, SevenEighteen is awesome, truly rocks. This, however, is the worst music video I have ever seen:
But that’s okay. The album feels honest and like it’s here to revive a dying breed of musicians playing lofi rock from their core in their basements, collecting fives from all of their friends to scrap together the funds for some bricks of Busch Light. Keep rocking on my dudes!
Album Cover
Here is the full album on Bandcamp as well if you want to support:
‘That’s Enough (From “Lady and the Tramp”)’ – Janelle Monae
I couldn’t believe this song was an original, Janelle is the greatest.
Also, how Christmas is this? This feels like some waltzing in the rain in the big park that’s in the Lindsay Lohan Parent Trap in London music. Also, are you guys thinking what I’m thinking? Dog gifs? Cool.
‘Chrome.exe’ – Digitalism
In a jarring and abrupt change of pace from the light hearted Disney song we just enjoyed here’s some heavy synth electro music.
This is just straight cool. Here are some activities I would do to this song:
Headbang Drive with no traffic Stare down a bad driver in traffic while headbanging Hack the mainframe Run on a treadmill for 3 seconds in a movie trailer or Gatorade commercial High five people as I arrive to the club Chug club soda at the club because they think I’ve had enough Go jogging
‘Phoenix Rising’ – Katarra Parson
This St. Louis soul diva released a stunning debut album and this song stands out because it absolutely GORGEOUS.
Songs like this get me so excited about music, so excited that remarkable artists always continue to push the conventions of their genre forward and keep things original. This one’s been on repeat all week, check the whole album out it’s awesome:
This is our weekly best new tracks article. We cover mostly brand new songs but also some gems from the last few weeks. Follow our playlist if you want to follow on Spotify or if you hate my writing and just want the music:
‘Burning Accidents’ – Kate Davis
This snuck up behind me in public and put its dirty hands over my eyes and asked me to guess who it was, and I, a little pissed off, guessed it was an old work acquaintance or person I had one class with in high school who had no business touching my face. I was wrong, it ended up being an AWESOME and totally original album that I instantly fell in love with. It’s sad girl music (something UndercoverSadGirl would listen to) but with almost a bit of a pop punk flavor to it, like if you sprinkled some Wavves onto a sad girl music cake. Anyways this instantly became one of my favorite albums of the year and I highly recommend.
‘γΉγ€γΌγ Sweet’ – SebastiAn, Loota
Allow me to translate that Japanese for you since I happen to speak Japanese, it says… Sweet. Sui-to to be exact. You’re welcome. This whole album from the veteran French producer was awesome, some serious grooves and paint peeling synths.
SebastiAnLoota
‘Sunrise’ – Alice Ivy, Cadence Weapon
It’s the kind of song you could put on loop and you’d never realize you;d been listening for an hour straight, a dreamy jam from Australian Alive Ivy and Canadian Cadence Weapon.
But TLDR it’s one of the best albums of the decade and a true accomplishment in every way, so if you can’t tell I liked it a lot. It somehow meets in the middle of harsh and beautifully raw/emotional, and we are here for it.
My two other favorites on the album are Home With You and Cellophane, which are both also tracks that sound like they couldn’t have possibly come from this planet. I love.
‘I Used To’ – imbi the girl, SUPEREGO
Alrighty roo well this one actually came out a few months ago, but I heard it and fell in love with it immediately and had to include. Yeah, like I’m going to listen to a song on repeat all week and not include it because of a fEw MoNtHs. Get over yourself. Plus, the album is coming out very soon and the people of Indie Pong nEeD 2 kNoW!
I am beside myself excited for this album —–ALERT! LIVE EDIT——– This album actually literally just came out 5 hours ago in Australia, but I can’t listen yet because it’s not out until tomorrow in America. Here is the link, let’s check it out together! Teamwork!
‘DICTATOR’ – REI AMI
This is badass. Rei Ami is badass. Not here to mess around. And then all of the sudden it’s warm and comforting. Really like this one from the Korean-American new force on the scene.
‘Fox’ – Dogleg
Dude this song goes so hard. Michigan band, I’m guessing extremely underrated because I can’t find much on them online. Can’t wait for more.
Also, I had never heard this but I guess a dogleg is something bends like a dogleg, not necessarily the literal leg of a dog. Does it matter? Well the next time you’re at autozone and one of your friends asks you to ‘hand them the dogleg’ do you want to look like a dumbass? That’s what I thought.
‘Another Day’ – #1 Dads
How’d you like that Dogleg->#1 Dads transition, you like? Nice, thanks. This song is mad chill, like when you just had a crazy time camping with your friends (marshmallows, speakers, dance marathon, lots of coffee to stay awake for the dance marathon, pillow fight, etc.) and you need a chill song to put on repeat a few times on your drive back to reflect on the crazy night you just had. P.S. I don’t really go camping.
‘Back To Love’ – Vanessa Amorosi
Oh yeah, power ballad time. This is like the opposite of the above camping scenario, in this scenario you just quit your job and used credit cards to piece together the funds to buy a red Corvette convertible and you stand up while your best friend who also just did that (but it’s a little different, because she had been planning on leaving her job for a while and had been saving money for the occasion so didn’t have to get any credit cards) and you stand up and let your hair blow in the wind and scream as loud as you can because sometimes you have to just do something crazy.
Re-enactment of above scenario in blue car
Banger.
‘Honeybird’ – Andras
Banger from Australian producer Andras. P.S. All of the last three artists are Australian. I guess all I listen to is Australian music. So be it, the Australians are making the best music! Album comes out in January 2020.
This is our weekly best new tracks article. We cover mostly brand new songs but also some gems from the last few weeks. Follow our playlist if you want to follow on Spotify or if you hate my writing and just want the music:
84 Palms – Ackerman
Ackerman! I’ve been waiting for a long time for the EP from this Psychadelic Rock/Trip-pop Brooklyn band, and it finally dropped this week and did not disappoint. The only critique I have of this song is it has to be the hardest song to sing along to of all time. I did a little research, and asked my family and friends to listen to me covering this song and tell me if I’m using my head voice or falsetto. Haven’t gotten any responses yet, pretty sure something is wrong with my phone. There’s something about if you use too much data on Spotify it can mess with your signal. Keep you all posted.
Stainless – The Game/Anderson .Paak
You could have The Game rap over the sound of my broken dryer and I’d still be down. That’s a legend right there. I was watching this the other day so just for shits and gigs (timestamped to The Game):
Did you think Game was bout to stand around and take your shit Ashton? Hell no. He’s from Compton, wear the wrong colors be cautious and one phone call would have your body dumped in Marcy Ashton, think he gives a fuck about your concrete? Hell to the naw.
But I digress. Anderson Paak is as smooth as ever with an I can’t believe it’s not butter ass smooth ass hook that’s got me vibing like I’m popping bottles flying private to Cannes (when really I’m flying Spirit to Spokane to visit my grandparents).
Π‘ΡΡΠ°ΡΠ½ΠΎ – Shortparis
It has come to my attention that this song was actually released as a single late last year which slipped under the radar seeing as, you know, I don’t speak Russian. But I’m leaving it, because I’m a man of integrity and able to stand up to my own mistakes.
Shortparis was formed in Saint Petersburg, which if you didn’t know like I did without having to look it up on Wikipedia is the second biggest city in Russia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia
Threat – Charly Bliss
In the sharpest transition in Indie Pong history, next comes the 90’s nostalgia power pop absolute JAM from four piece Brooklyn band Charly Bliss that feels like it came straight out of a 90s teen movie in the scene where we see the three popular girls for the first time as they strut down the halls of their brightly colored high school wearing sequined everything and one of them is eating a lollipop, an then our protagonist says something like “Samantha Dean is all that and a bag of chips” and her best friend who is the rational one says out loud “barf”. Right guys? Am I right?
Don’t Start Now – Dua Lipa
This is what a perfect pop song sounds like.
And as a bonus, check out the live performance which is pretty amazing:
CRYBABY :*( – Dijon
When was the last time you had a good cry? I’ll tell you one of the most cathartic cries I ever had was watching The Color Purple on a plane, hot damn. Yes please I would like a glass of water.
This song is sweet, it’s got some Blood Orange/Frank/TV On The Radio vibes and I’m here for it. This song feels like experiencing the moment of a breakup and then all of the self-growth on the journey to getting over it up to the moment of finally getting there. Love a good jam that not only slaps but is incredibly substantive and emotional as well.
New York Holiday – Josh Rouse
Merry Christmas y’all. Thought we could use these tis’ the season Christmas vibes to break up this hard hitting playlist of Russian electronic and power pop songs. Thanks to Josh Rouse for spreading holiday cheer from Nashville by way of Spain as we slide into the holiday season headfirst.
The Australians are showing up all at once over these last few years like that scene in Endgame where all the Avengers come back:
Out of the woodwork, and they are absolutely killing it. Mallrat, Jessica Mauboy, Hatchie, Jack River, etc. they are seriously shaping pop music. Australian born Hazel English is no exception, the kind of song you can listen to first thing in the morning to pump you up or right before you go you go to bed to mellow you out. Love it and can’t wait for the album.
No Other Fault – ZLUTZ
TRASHPUNK ELECTRONICA BAND FROM THE UK is how they explained it, couldn’t have said it better myself. Sometimes you just need some techno to close out the week. This is just awesome, fist pump your heart out.
P.S. I understand that there was a shortage of electro girl pop this week which is an Indie Pong staple but don’t fret, we’re on the hunt:
