Rolling indie-rock and jangle-pop 2025

There's a Tubs album coming out soon.

https://thetubs.bandcamp.com/album/cotton-crown

Some people don't "get it" but they made the best album of 2023, so...

(There is, however, a Tubs thread. This is not intended to be the Tubs thread.)

also, this is pretty good:
https://prismshores.bandcamp.com/album/out-from-underneath

a band I don't think I've ever seen mentioned on ILM that probably should be is Holiday Ghosts, they've been around quite a while now but I only found them a couple of years ago because they supported bands I went to see a couple of times. they're based in Brighton now but were originally from Cornwall. I haven't heard their latest one but their other albums are great. bit of a Flying Nun vibe

i like that prism shores album. it's a little generic but it's just good enough to keep me listening.

a band I don't think I've ever seen mentioned on ILM that probably should be is Holiday Ghosts, they've been around quite a while now but I only found them a couple of years ago because they supported bands I went to see a couple of times. they're based in Brighton now but were originally from Cornwall. I haven't heard their latest one but their other albums are great

Yes, a really fun live band! Definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Alpine Static keeps up on music for this thread more than 1 that I started, so will let other one I started sit

Rolling rock and indie-pop 2025 (for such music that doesn't fit in emo, punk, metal, etc threads)

Oh shoot, I seriously didn't mean to duplicate your efforts, curmudgeon. I just didn't realize that existed and I should've searched.

I'm more than happy to copy my posts here over to there.

I had hurriedly put that up on New Year’s Day I think, and then never got back to it myself. So since you have more comments we can just keep it here .

https://jimnothing.bandcamp.com/album/grey-eyes-grey-lynn

^^ James from mid-'10s Christchurch jangle-pop group Salad Boys' release late-ish last year on Melted Ice Cream; very much in the pastoral Flying Nun vein.

new feeble little horse song is a big stylistic curve ball, i like it a lot tho. takes some cues from jane remover-esque glitch pop (this is the regular indie thread so here is the warning that there is some screaming)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ5ARgm--Ok

this is absolutely terrific ... second half better than the first, so stick with it:

https://rottenapplelabel.bandcamp.com/album/good-flying-birds-talulahs-tape

Wow this Good Flying Birds is so good I feel like I'm flying

i'm sayin'

holy smokes i LOVED that

i thought you guys were talking about noel gallagher for a min haha

momma - "rodeo"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sry-CJbhx18

i love that there are still new indie bands making 90s rock homages that are this good

also loving the new wishy songs "fly" and "over and over"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-JV3dyxvoM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbwUwiReGJ4

"fly" in particular rides this really nifty line between like sheryl crow/sugar ray esque 90s radio rock (i've been wondering if "fly" is an intentional reference here) and more jangly/shoegaze-y 90s indie

"over and over" just has great guitar tones and playing throughout. title track i'm less hot on but really looking forward to the EP

wishy album from last year was one of my very favorites. i like 'em more when they're doing a driving shoegaze thing, but they have great pop instincts (and guitar tones) in whatever mode they attempt.

like this was a pitch-perfect "mbv tries to make a radio hit"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTAxJWX7iis

new hotline tnt, not bad. in other news, they are signed to third man records?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLxf7EKjVwo

and the punisher symbol? i have no idea what's going on over in hotline tnt-land

Yeah, iirc, the last one got released on Third Man as well.

The new Momma album is great; none of the tracks is quite as immediate as the two I loved most from the previous LP ("Callin Me" and "Speeding 72"), but I think it's considerably stronger overall. In addition to the track posted above, check out "Last Kiss":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OvVD8Ovjbg

the final 45 seconds of "rodeo" are so fucking good

both Lottie's songs are quite good... I particularly like "The Cut":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3g7uAa0nyI

Anyone into the new Dingus song? Also the new Whiff track is sick. My friend told about this band Booby that's supposed to be good - kind of a mix of Slimer and Gonz.

I think I'm probably just old but the band names are horrendous these days. I'm trying to make up stupid fake band names but they are better than the real ones I'm making fun of. "Momma"!?

Actually Slimer is a legit a really good band name. Gonna check that on Discogs to see if it's taken.

lol, by the time i was half way through that post i thought it was april fools!

wait it looks like i still missed the joke argh

xxp You srsly think "Dingus" & "Whiff" are better than "Momma"(?)

Fwiw, "Wussy" is one of the worst indie band names I know, and that hasn't seem to hurt their rep over two decades...

Heck yeah Whiff is way better than Momma. And after some thought, at least Dingus is like, purposefully stupid, so yes, it is better than Momma. I can't comprehend a band sitting around coming up with a name and someone's like "OOH what about 'Momma'? "I have an idea! 'Wishy'!"

Wussy is terrible but is orders of magnitude better than the recent (real) names in this thread. I'm enjoying the Momma song though. I wish they were called Slimer. Sorry for the derail.

The Whiffs is already taken, sorry ... and they rule:
https://digthewhiffs.bandcamp.com/album/another-whiff

both Lottie's songs are quite good... I particularly like "The Cut":

― uptight subreddit mod™ (morrisp), Friday, April 11, 2025 8:28 AM (five days ago)

I have a pet theory that "The Cut" is about DC Berman.

Snow on the mountain, print in ashen fluff
The wild and beautiful fluttering stuff
Humanity blew through you
Die on the doorstep, a wing pointed down
Silver cuts through me, a dime-colored sound
Back when there was less to do

Knew next to nothing they move sort of gnarly buzz
Too close for comfort the driver is leaving me in the cut
Cause you’re waiting
And you’re watching
Yeah you’re watching
Yourself go bye

His words are like diamonds, he’s lost in the high
Stick to horizons, they stick in my mind
Humanity blew through you
Stayed up a smoking, the sky smoking too
A feeling of fleeting, of time spent too true
Back when there was less to do

Knew next to nothing they move with the sort of gnarly buzz
Too close for comfort, the driver keeps leaving me in the cut

Cause you’re waiting
And you’re watching
Yeah you’re watching
Yourself go by

listening to the momma album now. good stuff. cracked a big grin when they did the collective soul rawk moment 2/3 of the way thru “last kiss” lol

Their playing is really tight!

Speaking of DC Berman connections... I was unfamiliar with this guy, Jeffrey Lewis; apparently he's a longtime NYC antifolk dude who has played & associated with various indie-rock heavies over the years (and has a Berman connection). Tidal suggested his latest album to me, with its goof-on-Dylan cover art, and I checked it out along with some of his other work. Much of his stuff seems a bit too jokey for my taste, but I love this song from the new album:

Do What Comes Natural

The new Beths single jangles pretty hard

Blondshell's new album comes out tomorrow... I've enjoyed all the pre-release songs, and I'm looking forward to it (I was a real fan of the first album). I gather she's not a flavor for everyone, but I think her songwriting & recording are really strong.

I had already liked the singles, but the whole Mei Semones album is really good. More bossa nova than I expected, which I mean in a good way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apfpm0G5icc

Wasn’t familiar with Blondshell before but I’m digging this new one pretty hard so far. One I just heard referenced the Carolinas, that’s always a bonus for me personally

"What's Fair," a grunge song about her deceased mother, is a highlight of the album for me (and a kind of song I've never quite encountered before):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvXT8BjqhUs

Liking the new Lael Neale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0vXgZunt2k

otm about "What's Fair," that's a good song.

Yep.

Interesting recent NY Times story on Blondshell

Teitelbaum’s formal education in songwriting came from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, which she attended for two years before dropping out because of her aversion to the school’s core curriculum requirements (“I was taking oceanography,” she noted dryly). While enrolled, she adopted the artist name Baum and recorded booming, brooding electro-pop in the vein of Halsey or Bishop Briggs. Colored with sass and a pop feminist perspective (“Don’t call me Barbie / Does it look like I own a thing in pink,” went one song, with an added expletive), the tracks garnered modest attention online before Teitelbaum retired the project around 2019.

In hindsight, that body of work reflected Teitelbaum’s strong songwriting point of view, but a weaker sonic one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/arts/music/blondshell-if-you-asked-for-a-picture.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FE8.6xQO.YmjRDgE9oTR5&smid=url-share

Chezile - Alē
I did not get why "Beanie" was a hit, but I like this new one.
Hope he drops an album soon, and it's a swirly psych pop masterpiece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9TfLlLbuSo

some nice bubblegum indie with a great guitar riff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdo2SB_u3Ro

<3 SSM but I don't love this, will give it more time.

this song from the Momma album kicks so much a$$...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT17GDAC_-w

been meaning to check sharp pins since it got a great p4k review a couple months ago, and yeah, i like it a lot. very smart songwriting with big hooks and sticky verse melodies. lots of alex chilton in the dna, particularly on the acoustic songs.

"chasing stars"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhMR7j5dHjY

"you don't live here anymore"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7XCio3Uc3Y

"storma lee"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liYmiNtai-E

I heartily agree with this Sharp Pins love. Haven’t stopped playing it since it came out.

really really love caveman wakes up, the new album by philly band friendship. a lot of ramshackle indie tries to go for the heights of david berman, but most of them focus on his lyricism and don't share his ability to alter your mood. these guys are great at that, and the lyrics are full of profound mundanities that stick with you (the chorus to "resident evil" is the most memorable).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJLBwFcuK4c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y-6nrQzbAQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z5dO_jx5Q0

"i have chilled on that stoop before," another good one

yes I stumbled upon Friendship a few weeks ago and they are indeed the realness

2022's love the stranger is also very good, tho not quite on the level of the new album. "hank" is my highlight from that one.

I'm also a new Friendship convert. I heard their album playing at the bookstore and said "Who is this, I almost recognize them but can't put my finger on it" thinking it was, idk Lambchop or something. Went home and listened to both Merge records. New one sounds pretty good but Love the Stranger is the one that got its claws in me.

I don’t know where to put this because it is a bit jangle with lovely melodies but also a bit Blue Nile maybe?? the bass i think but also the sense of space/time at times

https://glassgroup.bandcamp.com/album/glass

this is a friend’s project and I wouldn’t think to post it here except that i feel strongly it is good and maybe doing some stuff ILM would appreciate

A friend of mine (who I know as a trumpet player, but he did everything here except the drums) put out this track this week, immaculate vibe -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY4-gWjbTXM

enjoying the new Reds, Pinks, and Purples record, “the past is a garden I’ve never fed.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWh9YyPKaxk

the frontman is glenn donaldson, and they’ve been cranking out more than 2 albums a year for the past 6 years, though it does seem like certain songs appear on multiple records. anyway, it’s familiar, sarah records-influenced warm, jangly indie-pop not unlike the pains of being pure at heart or even a band like felt. it’s good enough to make me want to dig into their back catalog, but its a little daunting and the prolificness and the recurring cover art themes suggest to me they’re not going to be all that dissimilar

They're not that dissimilar but if you enjoy the space they're in you will find degrees of difference, style variations and a lot of great songs that perfectly capture what they're going for. This new one is a compilation of songs they previously released on digital eps, put together for their new label. Their albums "Uncommon Weather", "Summer at Land's End" and "The Town That Cursed Your Name" are my favorites but I keep up with it all

Petey USA - The Yips
Car song of the past weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwVRXvweQQk

New one from nj’s Lightheaddd fills the Heavenly receptors in yr cells:

https://areyoufeelinglightheaded.bandcamp.com/album/thinking-dreaming-scheming

Petey USA - The Yips
Car song of the past weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwVRXvweQQk

― nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, July 15, 2025 7:20 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this song is not for me but i enjoyed watching the video and recognizing almost every location (it's chicago, mostly along western avenue between logan square and bucktown)

Speaking of Chicago, I'm really enjoying the new Beach Bunny album.

Paramore vibes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTAdkvKyPXo

Speaking of Paramore

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/hayley-williams-surprise-releases-17-new-songs-website-1236472196/

I have grown very fond of these Auckland sheepfuxors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN_tTLXFxPA

^^ this is really good

magic of the sale, the new album by slowcore outfit teethe is very beautiful. a great record to sink into on a lazy morning
https://teethe.bandcamp.com/album/magic-of-the-sale

should be a comma after teethe there lol. the first song, "tires and bookmarks," was my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hAF1uj3xKw

I know they have their own thread but I keep coming back to the Great Grandpa record and figured some of you may have missed the dedicated discussion. Reminds me in places of the late 00s band Annuals, for those of you who remember that name. Real earwormy melodies and great harmonies across the board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7M9IJpFVVY

I've been slowing getting into the new Quadeca album. He must be using 100+ tracks in his recordings.
It doesn't have that many standout tracks (songs?) for me, but the production is carrying enough of the creative load
that it holds my interest, and I wind up finding many bits of beauty and pleasure throughout.

One of the songs that I did peel off for the playlist is "Monday"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDp61U9zTj0

checked out the whole ringlets album and wow

Haven't seen any mention of Samia's album Bloodless, but if you've liked any of her prior work, safe to say this one is a continuation of her growth and maturity with some great hooks and genuine effort at album-making. She sounds pretty unique in the landscape to my ears, but I've compared her to Phoebe Bridgers before here; she leans more pop than Bridgers but will appeal to fans. My only complaint is that her songs are often too neat and tidy; she doesn't always give the bridge much thought and there's rarely much build beyond what you get out the gates. Nonetheless, I'd recommend and think this is her best album to date. Her small listener base continues to confound me given the strength of her hooks and sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fevSkDmwWHI

New Glyders song is groovy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyuvmzSBH8A

I like all 3 of the 2025 singles released by Fine.
Beautiful vocals and a subtle finessing of the sonics.
"Portal" reminds me a little of Mazzy Star.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e89LI4tvfY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZK41RMZ5o

I'm not sure exactly what you'd call it, maybe not precisely indie rock but maybe VU meets recent British post-punk meets Slits meets The Wicker Man, but The New Eve Rising by The New Eves is fucking phenomenal. One of the best debut albums I've heard in a few years now:

https://theneweves.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-eve-is-rising

"Cow Song" is my initial favorite, but the entire album is so so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MovNWuNPXXE

best new group of the year imo

very much enjoyed this record

The new Benjiman Booker has really grow on me and is now in heavy rotation.
Loved the music/sound/production right off, but the vocals took a minute.
Has a world-weary melancholy and a slow burn of a groove.

Rebecca Latimer...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNsELA6k010
Show and Tell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvzwUbGjuH4
Pompeii Statues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUyiL4h8VaQ

not jangle pop or really even indie rock, but plugging the new EP of the best band I’ve discovered in the last year here, which is out in a few weeks. the two tracks available now are extremely good

thread for forgotten but recently reconstituted shoegaze legends ALISON'S HALO

The new Creative Writing album is fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-HcntO3JrQ
https://creativewriting.bandcamp.com/album/baby-did-this

Enjoying the Boojums breakout, not groundbreaking but it feels a lot like three high school teachers decided to start jamming and the geography teacher singer does a solid Springsteen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rhnWJwN6tg

new Possible Humans album! loved their last one, Everybody Split

https://hobbiesgalore.bandcamp.com/album/standing-around-alive

aussie indie-rock with three guitars and three siblings, has a touch of jangle to it

Love the new album by Matthew Herbert and Momoko Gill
Plenty of variety and a sweet, sophisticated seduction all the way through.
R.I.Y.L.
Thievery Corporation
Sade
Everything But the Girl
Portishead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeuvfeBradY

and it's indie rock and/or jangle-pop?

I am sorry about that. I think I've been posting shit that doesn't belong here
somehow my dyslexic self always read this thread title as 'indie pop/rock'
pop/rock is pretty much what I call everything. I'm ignorant about all the genres
I actually find all the subgenres sort of daunting
I'll look for a more generic place to post stuff I like

really grateful to you for recommending that Momoko/Herbert album, though - it's great, almost Tirzah-like

yeah this thread is basically for dyed in the wool indie rock... i'm laughing at the idea of there being a "pop/rock" thread

anyway, neither here nor there :) great rec! whole album is cool but "babystar" in particular is a great single. great textures throughout, love the production on "mowing"

i don't know why i even asked the question ... in a bit of a jangle-pop phase and was being protective. "indie rock" means a million different things.

sorry, nicky ... recommend away!

Turns out I am exactly soppy enough to have developed a huge soft spot for these Melbourne indie mongrels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-puhBuNGG_E

Interview with producer and mixer Alex Farrar by Hyden in Uproxx-

Farrar has produced or mixed Wednesday’s Bleeds, Hotline TNT’s Raspberry Moon, and Fust’s Big Ugly, all albums I expect to appear on my year-end list. In 2024, he manned the boards for MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks after previously producing that album’s beloved 2022 predecessor, Boat Songs. All told, Farrar has contributed to acclaimed releases by Snail Mail, Indigo De Souza, Wild Pink, Hurray For The Riff Raff, and Plains, among others.

https://uproxx.com/indie/alex-farrar-indie-producer-interview/

X-post - nice enough jangle guitar pop by Mouseatouille from Melbourne, Australia

The Slow Summits from Sweden, classic UK 80s style jangle riyl Smiths, Go-Betweens, Aztec Camera etc etc

https://theslowsummits.bandcamp.com/album/every-intention

That's a nice find. "Louie Louie" is giving me Housemartins vibes.
They have an interesting habit of re-using classic rock titles (it can't be coincidental that they have songs called "Louie, Louie", "Dream On", "Time Is On Your Side" and "Forever Changes")

They're named after a Pastels song as well, presumably?

oh funny I was listening at work so I wasn't really paying attention to the song titles

(this gets a bit self promotional) but I found them looking through the label Subjangle's catalog

he puts out a ton of stuff in this vein

https://subjangle.bandcamp.com/music

and also runs a blog where he writes about stuff on his label but also bands that aren't on the label

https://janglepophub.home.blog/

he does put out a lot, so you have to separate the wheat from the chaff but there's definitely some gems in there

the selt promotional part is my band is on the label, i submitted it to the blog and he wanted to put it out

whether we are wheat or chaff is up to you, but the blog is definitely worth sifting through

https://fieldhospitals.bandcamp.com/album/ethel-green-3

I didn't realize Mayflies USA put out a new album earlier this year. A turn of the millennium power pop fave. I loved the two albums Chris Stamey produced for them. New one's mostly just nice, but I really like the title track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lIcFj9knDI

big fan of the greg freeman album, which i hadn't got around to until now. songwriting is top notch and he has what certain other pavement & neil young imitators do not: a nasal, high voice that can knock you dead when it breaks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFKifAWIesU

that Mayflies record is surprisingly strong. I was an undergrad at UNC when they were first coming up in Chapel Hill so it's been a great blast from the past.