Tag: Alternative Rock

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Fan Theories – Next Great Holiday

Fan Theories - Next Great Holiday

Next Great Holiday is the debut single of Fan Theories, a band from Helsinki, Finland, founded by two friends who met while they were playing for different bands. Now a 5-piece, the band was lucky to record a few songs just before the world got into lockdown mode due to the pandemic. This allowed them to released their first song this month, which comes accompanied by a very-well-done music video.

Even though they wrote the song last year, its lyrics strike a chord nowadays when we all dream about going on holidays without knowing when we will be able to (proper holidays without that many restrictions). What I really like about this track is its catchy chorus, which really elevates the whole song to another level. If they keep producing songs like Next Great Holiday, Fan Theories is going to be around for a long time.

Listen to this fine piece of Indie rock from Finland here:

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative
  • Folk/Indie

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The Goo Goo Dolls – Tonight, Together

The Goo Goo Dolls - Tonight, Together

Iris is one of the best alternative rock songs ever written, but The Goo Goo Dolls are much more than that single song. In fact, they have been one of the most consistent bands in the genre, releasing solid-to-great albums every three or four years pretty much since it all started in 1987. I have liked some of them more than others but I can’t recall having disliked any. It can’t get any more consistent than that. In addition to that, they sound really great live.

Just this week, the Goos –who have been pretty active on their social networks during the lockdown– released a deluxe edition of their 2019 album Miracle Pill featuring three previously unreleased songs. Tonight, Together is, in my humble opinion, the best of the bunch and it does sound great, which is why I decided to make an extra entry to the mixtapes today (luckily for me, I got more songs to recommend at the moment than time to write the posts). Do not expect a new Iris (or Slide or Acoustic #3), just enjoy this new track by the band from Buffalo, NY, for what it is: a pretty great rock song!

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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Polar States – 2020

Polar States - 2020

Polar States is a four-piece guitar band from Liverpool, UK (seriously, is there something in the water over there? Is it the Mersey?) that in all likelihood will become the next big British band to take the world by storm. The group got already a cult following despite releasing their first EP less than 3 years ago. They describe themselves as a ‘dark pop’ band but I think their genre is spot on alternative rock.

The band released just last week a new single, 2020, which is extremely catchy and already a musical crush of mine. It has huge potential to become a big hit and if you hadn’t listented to it before, this is your opportunity to do so before it does!

I can’t believe it was recorded in their own houses…

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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Angels & Airwaves – All That’s Left Is Love

Angels & Airwaves - All That's Left Is Love

I think Tom DeLonge is the type of person who gets easily bored by routine and repetition. One of the reasons he got into arguments with Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker, was that he wanted to experiment with a more “atmospheric” sound while his friends wanted to keep doing what had been successful for them so far. The bad news is that this is what eventually caused him to leave Blink-182, but –luckily for us– that is also what prompted him to form Angels & Airwaves (stylized AVA). The group is basically a cinematic rock band with a punk-rock flavour, and there is nothing wrong with that.

AVA had been relatively quiet since 2017, partly because DeLonge had been busy looking for UFOs (for real, he co-founded this company), but they are now back on track to drop a new album soon, having released three new singles already since December. All That’s Left is Love is the latest one of them and is also the one that resembles the most the band’s previous work (this is not a complaint, I liked the other two singles as well, especially Rebel Girl). All the proceeds the band makes from this single will be donated to the charity Feeding America to help with the economic impact of COVID-19.

All in all, it is a great song from one of the most curious minds in the music business today.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative
  • Punk Rock
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Semisonic – DND

Semisonic - DND

With the news this week that Semisonic is back together with their first song out in 19 years (which is okay but not great), I thought it would be appropriate to reminisce about Semisonic’s great 1998 album, Feeling Strangely Fine, as this week’s #ThrowbackThursday. The record, which was the band’s second album, was without a doubt one of the best ones of 1998. It had three singles, with one of them being a massive success. In fact, some people might think that the band led by Dan Wilson was a one-hit-wonder because of Closing Time, but that would be wrong. The other two singles were also really good and got decent airplay (I do have a soft spot for Secret Smile). However, the song I wanted to highlight here was never a single. It was the sixth track on FSF: DND.

If you have listened to DND before, you probably agree with me on that it is a great tune with that memorable acoustic intro. And if you haven’t, please do yourself a favour and do it here now. Welcome back, Semisonic!

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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Cultures – Away From Us

Cultures - Away From Us

Cultures is an alternative/indie rock band from Greater Manchester that started just four years ago but has managed to get some attention in that short period of time. In fact, I would not be surprised if they became the next big thing to come out of the Manchester area. The group certainly got the talent for that.

Away From Us is their latest single and it showcases perfectly how much the band has evolved since 2016. It is a guitar-driven song about what it feels like to live away from home for the first time, something many of us can relate to. If this is an indication of where Cultures is heading to, it is clear then that the band is going up. Watch the brand new video (released today!) or listen to the song in the playlists below, and then you’ll be able to brag about listening to Cultures before they became big.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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Hunter & The Bear – Won’t You Ever Come Home

Hunter & The Bear

These British rockers deserve worldwide recognition. Started by Will Irvine (the Bear) and Jimmy Hunter, Hunter & The Bear is now a four-piece rock band that have supported artists like Eric Clapton and played in multiple festivals, but I don’t think the casual listener knows who they are. That needs to change soon.

Hunter & The Bear released a new single in March this year. It is very good and I will probably feature it here in the near future. However, the song I’d like to highlight here today is this gem from their debut album from 2017: Won’t you Ever Come Home. This beautiful song blends the best of Bruce Springsteen with Irvine’s stunning vocals to make it a memorable track that deserves to be played on repeat ad infinitum. It became my musical crush for a while. If you like good rock music, chances are high it was or will become yours too.

*Update: The band has been renamed Daytime TV after guitarist and co-founder Jamie Hunter left the band in 2021.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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The Dangerous Summer – Where Were You When The Sky Opened Up

The Dangerous Summer

The Dangerous Summer is an American band that sits on the border between alternative rock and punk rock. The band has been active since 2006 and even though it didn’t became big –at least not yet–, it got a decent group of fans. The Dangerous Summer’s latest studio album (although they will release a new one soon) was Mother Nature, released last year, and it had the song featured here as it lead single.

Besides having a really long name, When Were You When The Sky Opened Up got a melancholic vibe and a melodic rhythm that make it one of the most memorable songs from the subgenre in a long time. It’s the perfect tune to listen to when you get into a car and start riding. Don’t you think?

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative
  • Punk-Rock

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Meg Myers – Numb

Meg Myers - Numb

Janice Sue Meghan Myers, better known as Meg Myers, is an American singer-songwriter who debuted in 2012. Almost two years ago, she released her second studio album, Take Me to the Disco, for which Numb was the lead single. I know it is not brand new but the song is too good not to be featured here, especially considering the fact that it didn’t reach a very wide audience (that being said, it wasn’t unsuccessful, having peaked at position 182 of Billboard 200.

Numb is perhaps the singer’s most radio-friendly song, which is not something Meg usually tries to achieve. The song’s style reminds me of the late 90’s alternative rock, which feels like a breath of fresh air nowadays. It certainly deserves to be listened to on repeat at a high volume level. Without a doubt, Numb has huge musical crush vibes. Is it yours?

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition

Sweet Disposition

Last week, we recommended the marvellous instrumental cover that Kirsten Agresta Copely did of this classic, so for the #ThrowbackThursday of this week, the obvious choice has to be the original song, which –as mentioned in that post– is considered an indie anthem. It was released in 2008 as the lead single of The Temper Trap‘s debut album, Conditions, and became a top 10 single in multiple countries, including the UK. Something curious about The Temper Trap is that the lead singer, Dougy Mandagi, was born in Indonesia and worked a busker in Melbourne when he met some of the other members of the band.

¿Who doesn’t sing along with the song’s bridge?

“A moment, a love

A dream aloud

A kiss, a cry

Our rights, our wrongs

A moment, a love

A dream aloud

A moment, a love

A dream, aloud“

The Temper Trap, Sweet Disposition

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative
  • Folk/Indie