13 Can’t Miss Bands at SXSW 2020

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This lineup might as well have been curated directly by Indie Pong, very exciting. Now note, this preview is just off of my initial first glance without doing any deep diving (there are like 300 bands, give me a break), I’m sure there are a lot of great young bands that I haven’t heard of yet and I encourage you to check them out for yourself here:

https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/artists

Let’s get into it:

Algiers

Band from Hotlanta Georgia laying deep soul vocals over modern post-punk with an album coming out on January 17th:

P.S. if you dig this sound check Built On Ashes out by Zeal & Ardor- Indie Pong’s #50 track of 2018!

Ali Barter

Fiyah song and album as a whole, can be abrasive at times but as explained in the disclaimer in the below video (NSFW) it’s her way own cathartic way of dealing with the issues that drive her art:

Beabadoobee

This next song is legitimately one of my favorite songs of the year, absolute lock for best tracks of the year list coming next month. The essential emotion of the vocals mixed with the totally relatable content and accessible pop culture reference to Stephen Malkmus allow us to empathize with this song instantly and use it to bury our own sorrows in and purge:

Black Country, New Road

This song is so awesome, totally original and an exciting new voice from the Speedy Wunderground label (Black Midi). I don’t know when the next release is coming but I can’t wait. Must see.

Cadence Weapon

Sound the alarm: Cadence Weapon was just featured on Indie Pong’s Tracks of the Week LAST WEEK for his and Alice Ivy’s stellar track Sunrise, to read the full article CLICK HERE. Here’s the song:

And here’s another with another former Indie Pong Best New Tracks alum Jacques Greene:

Common Holly

Great album. Me and UndercoverSadGirl both enjoyed. This was my fave, thoroughly enjoyed the tempo change which perfectly mirrored the simple yet both comical and saccharine lyrics:

And this was UndercoverSadGirl’s favorite:

Harunemuri (ζ˜₯γ­γ‚€γ‚Š)

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She is one of my absolute FAVES from last year. Her music seems impossible to box into one two or even three genres and thus was probably my favorite album of 2018. Sekaiwotorikaeshiteokure was featured in my top 50 best tracks of 2018 (which I keep referencing, here is the playlist since it was pre-Indie Pong era and there is no post). She’s like an entire country’s worth of electricity compressed into one Japanese person and I love it.

I’ve heard from friends that this show is NUTS and I’m so excited she is finally coming to America. Here are two more of my favorites from the album, eagerly awaiting more:

Nasty Cherry

Netflix stars and Charli XCX formed super band Nasty Cherry are on the brink of absolutely exploding and becoming the next big thing. Don’t miss out on the early show you can brag about for years to come when these gals are YUGE.

Otha

This place is packed with pricks – declares the Norwegian introvert as she laments the club she ended up in like I do every time I go to any club ever. I’ll bet this will be one of the best crowds at the fest, mark my words. This song is due for a high profile remix, can’t wait to see this one climb and can’t wait for more tunes.

Pom Pom Squad

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Ahh yeah Pom Pom Squad’s album Ow had me ready to run straight through a brick wall like

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Seriously though this is a top album of the year for me, can’t miss show for sure. This is one of those situations where the debut album is so good that you must attend and not wait to see this Brooklyn band perfectly collide soul-shattering rock riffs with emotionally draining while also being invigorating lyrics.

Squirrel Flower

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We already gave Squirrel Flower some love when we heard this song and instantly threw it on repeat. If you like Mitski, Lucy Dacus, etc. you should definitely check this one out. Album comes out on January 31st and we can’t wait.

Sui Zhen

Australia strikes again making the coolest most innovative pop music out there right now. Vibes!

Weeping Icon

An UndercoverSadGirl favorite here. If someone asked you to describe your ideal SXSW in verbs and one of the words you picked was ‘thrash’ then this is the show for you.

Don’t forget to follow our Spotify playlist for weekly updates:

See y’all there!

Best Tracks of the Week 11/13/19

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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.

‘γ‚Ήγ‚€γƒΌγƒˆ 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.

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SebastiAn
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Loota

‘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.

‘Sad Day’ – FKA Twigs

I already wrote a whole post about the album here: https://indiepong.com/2019/11/13/fka-twigs-album-so-good-might-literally-be-an-alien/

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!

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‘DICTATOR’ – REI AMI

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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

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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.

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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.

“(Wilson has previously released LPs under solo and shared aliases including Art Wilson, Wilson Tanner and Andras & Oscar.)” – https://www.factmag.com/2019/11/13/andras-joyful-beats-in-space/

Thus concludes another week of Australia Pong I mean Indie Pong, don’t forget to follow our playlist for automatic updates each week my friends!

Continue reading Best Tracks of the Week 11/13/19