Indiecast - Making Indie Rock Predictions for 2023

Episode Date: January 6, 2023

Now that the new year has kicked off and people on Twitter are voting for which trends are going to be "in" and "out" this year, Indiecast returns to share their predictions about the state of indie music in 2023 (28:53). Will Sky Ferreira finally release Masochism this year? Who is the next artist to work with Jack Antonoff?Of course, Steve and Ian had to start the episode off by recapping all the music news they missed over the holidays. Sorry to any listeners who thought “talk less about Matty Healy” was on their 2023 resolutions because a video of The 1975 singer hanging out with Phish's Trey Anastasio dominated social media a few weeks ago, so it of course needs to be discussed (:24). Some other noteworthy news items include Courtney Love talking sh*t about Kurt Cobain in a podcast interview (6:51), Bob Dylan admitting he's seen Metallica twice (8:09), and new music by Mac Demarco and The Hold Steady. (14:12)In this week's Recommendation Corner (1:03:32), Ian gives a shout out to Detroit band Fireworks, who just dropped the album Higher Lonely Power. Steve tells listeners to check out rising country star Zach Bryan's latest live album, titled All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster, which was recorded at Red Rocks in Colorado.New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 120 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [e-mail], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Uprox's Indy Mix tape. Hello everyone and welcome to IndyCast. On this show, we talk about the biggest indie news of the week. We review albums and we hash out trends. In this episode, we make our indie rock predictions for 2023. My name is Stephen Hayden and I'm joined by my friend and co-host. He's been waiting three weeks to talk about the night Maddie Healy hung out with Trey Anastasio. Ian Cohen, Ian how are you?

You see, you got it all wrong. Steve's been waiting three weeks to talk to me about the night. Trey Anastasio hung out with Maddie Healy. It's true. It's both of us. We've been waiting a long time. There were a lot of things that happened over the Christmas break, the holiday break, the Hanukkah break, the Kwanza break, whatever your holiday is that we wanted to talk

about. I had to mention the Maddie Healy, Tray Anastasia thing. And I don't even know all the details of this. I just know that like, I think this was maybe right before Christmas or right after my Instagram messages. blew up with photos. It's the same photo of Trey Anastasio and Maddie Healy backstage. Was it at a Bleacher's concert?

It's the Ally Coalition Talent Show, which, you know, I think was more or less like a bleachers type tribute thing. I mean, it is so hard to keep all of the artists who got involved in this, you know, stray because I think that Trey joined Bleachers for a cover of Bloodbuzz, Ohio. But then, yeah. I know. Like, Maddie Healy was not involved in that one, but apparently, like, at the end, you could see this picture of, like, Trey playing his guitar. And, like, Maddie Healy, like, just dowerly hunched over an acoustic guitar. And then Wise Blood and Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridges are there.

And they're covering a Jackson Brown song or, no, a song Jackson Brown wrote for Nico. Oh, these days. Yes, that one. Um, you know, I'm just imagining, like, Someday one of us gets in a terrible accident, and they have to have like a We Are the World type fundraiser. And I think it would look exactly like this. You'd have Trey.

You got Maddie Healy. You have Jimmy, Nico from ours there. You got Matthew Bellamy. You did the first hours reference of 2023. I bet you didn't have that on your bingo card. All the Indycast characters that come together, they have the headphones on, they're singing into one microphone. like a benefit song for us.

I just picture that. Like this scenario, it's so wild. I mean, does Maddie Huey listen to the show? Do you think there's any possibility that he's like, oh, I will pose with this photo, I'll pose in this photo with Trey Anastasio, which will make sense to nobody, except for the people that listen to Indycasts.

And that universe will make sense. sense. It will make sense to anyone else. I'm always surprised and really flattered when I hear any musician listens to Indycast. So, like, I'm not thinking, like, oh, of course, you know, one of the guys from Dirty Hit is whispering in Maddie's ear about, you know, these, like, tiny, tiny gestures that he can make to keep in our good graces. Like, I mean, we haven't even talked about the fact that Maddie posts on his Instagram stories, um, them sound checking.

never meant, which I know they really like fuck with American football, but I just, I haven't been able to let go of like the possibility of like one of us faking our own death in 2023 to get the to get that Indycast tribute show going on. I think that's the direction we need to go to. But I don't know if it listens to us, but like if I were, if I were in a PR company, I would just like really just get deep into the most influential writers, like see how they tick and It's like, hey, man, this will take you five seconds of your time to do, but you will forever be, you know, indebted to, I don't know, like the New York Times or a pitchfork or whatever. It's probably pretty easy. We're easy marks.

Yeah, yeah, music critics are like easily flattered, you know, that's like why Taylor Swift, you know, she'll go on her Instagram and post thank you notes to critics who write nice reviews of her record. I think she did that for lover Yeah The one that was like a couple albums ago Not like not like folklore But whatever one was before that It was like after her reputation So maybe she felt like I gotta show up

My critical support here And just pander to these easy marks in the press You know by posting these thank you notes She also had this run Where she was posing With critics for photos Yes At the uh it was like this backstage like

meet and greet type deal or like the reputation. I think it was called the reputation room. Yeah, that's not a good look. You can't be doing that. Yeah, you know, we're doing predictions in this episode. This isn't going to be a prediction for me. I'm just throwing out a trial balloon here to see if Maddie Healy is listening. If Maddie Healy is listening, go on tour with Goose this year.

Hell yeah. All right. That is the code. So if we see a Goose 1975 tour, that will be the confirmation. that he's listening. So we'll see if that happens. The 1975 are always about like reappropriating this like uncool music, but like so much of like what they think is uncool is actually cool now, like 80s pop and like, you know, like 2000s emo. Maddie got to go jam band. That's the final frontier. Yeah. Either that or like the 90s sort of like crunchy bands. You know, like those.

Hort tour. 175 horror tour I would really love to hear that album Like a John Popper Harmonica solo on the next 1975 record Which I could actually see happening Yeah that isn't even that outrageous

You know this like that squeaking Harmonica Where Popper had Didn't Popper have like the vest You had the Valerra But like he also has like a lot of guns That guy like is like

unknown gun nut So. Yeah. Yeah. Popper, if you're listening, all the respect to you. All right. No disrespect. Not at all.

Something else that happened over the break I wanted to talk to you about because we would have talked about this if we were doing shows. But there were a couple interviews that dropped that were just fantastic. One was Courtney Love on Mark Maren, WTF, where I likened it to the Sister Christian. scene from Boogie Nights where it's just where a person's just

I'm not saying she was on Coke but it seemed like she was on something just talking a mile a minute and it's kind of stressful you know hearing this person like and kind of ranting but she was just

talking shit about Brad Pitt and David Fincher and Ed Norton and even like Kurt Cobain she called him Kurt the Rooner just went off. Did you listen to that? Gosh, I did not.

I mean, I could... You almost didn't have to because people were talking about it. All the best parts got aggregated. Yeah, I feel like it's like Avatar in that, like, you know, I don't want to spend three and a half hours of my life, but like if I kind of get the gist of it from Twitter, I feel I'll be just as satisfied

and able to participate in, like, the current narrative. It's stressful listening to it. It made me nervous. Just like someone who talks really, fast with a lot of intensity. It's just like being shot up with a bunch of caffeine, like secondhand caffeine or something. The other interview was my boy, Bob Dylan,

did an interview with the Wall Street Journal that was later expanded on his own website. He posted a transcript of this interview. Apparently this was like an email interview that he did. So there's like speculation that he didn't even write this interview, but I want to believe that he did because he talks to the interview about how he saw Metallica in concert twice. He refers to

Noel and Liam Gallagher as the Oasis Brothers. That rule so hard. Like that's so intentional. You know he knows their name. And then he talks about how he enjoys the Claxons. Yes.

Like this among like other kind of like not like kind of this like a space between landfill indie and like whatever they were called like New Rave music. Like I. I'm dying to know how Bob Dylan came across Miss of the Near Future in 2007.

By the way, I listened to that album like the other day. Fucking awesome. That is definitely an Indycast Hall of Fame type record. I can't even picture, like, what do they sound like? I can't, I don't remember Claxton's all. I got to say. It's kind of like, you're... Use at like triple speed, but with more like raves,

rave sirens and glow sticks. It rules so hard. They have Thomas Pinchant. They have a song called Gravity's Rainbow. They have a whole lot of very arcane references in their music. But it just sounds like 2007. You know, deep V-neck American apparel shirts. UK hype.

Fucking awesome music. Yeah, I mean, again, I want to believe that Bob Dylan did this himself. But I could definitely see a scenario where, one of his assistants wrote it for him. One of his 12 assistants. But whoever wrote that, the idea of Bob Dylan loving the Claxins is such a great reference. Like, how many bands did he go through or they go through before they landed on the Claxins? Like, did he flirt with the idea of like, you know, I don't know.

I'm trying to think of another band from that. pigeon detectives? Does it offend you? Yeah, this is my territory. Like, was there a draft where he loves British sea power? You know, like, was that the band? Because Claxins, it's such a great reference. Yeah. It's so much better to me than like people getting all like hyped up when they find out like some, you know, big pop star likes, you know, Alex G or something like that. It's like, oh my God. Like big boy loves Kate Bush. It's like, yeah, it's like one of the most popular artists on Earth. I love it when it's reversed. verse when you have like someone who's like old and crusty just like be level artists. Bob, I fucking love Bob Dylan's interviews, man.

Well, I mean, that was the thing about these interviews is that it just reinforced the idea that 99% of musician interviews now, even like with great musicians, like are not that interesting. You know, they're interesting if you're into the artist and you want to know how they made a record or how they wrote a song, but just like the musician who approaches an interview as performance art, which I think in a way is what Courtney Love and Bob Dylan both do. And they're cut from that like 20th century mold of pop stars. Like that's what interviews used to be, you know, not the more sort of PR managed situation that you often get now.

And I was trying to think of like, okay, so in the last, I say, 20 years, I think the best example of that was Kanye West. Like when Kanye West was at his peak, you looked forward to his interviews because, like, his interviews were events, you know, and this, I'm not saying anything about what he is now. It's like night and day. But, like, back in the day, it was great to read Kanye West interviews. Father John Misty, I think that was true of, like, on obviously a smaller scale. But, like, who, like, what was the last great musician?

interview with like a contemporary musician. Like I can't think of one. Yeah, we're going to need to go to the mailbag for that one because like, I mean, first off, like Bob Dylan and like Courtney Love, I mean, what I thought of with these, like, how come Courtney Love isn't doing like a constant podcast like, you know,

crusty and the alkali flats after he gets kicked off of TV? Like, how much, how long would Courtney love have to be podcasting constantly before she runs out of stories? Like, I love I love the balance of this. A long time. A long time.

Because her whole life is, she talks in that Marin interview about how her dad, who was associated with the Grateful Dead back in the day, I gave her LSD as a kid. Yeah. You know, like, it's not just that, oh, her life got interesting when she met Kirk Cobain. Like, her whole life is crazy. So I think she could get a good 100 episodes in before she's like, running on a material. Yeah.

I love that, like, everything that she says in her interview, you can absolutely 100% believe in, like, everything that Bob Dylan says in that interview, like, maybe 5% of it is true. It's like, we love both angles here. Oh, yeah. You know, yeah, I got to say musicians, if you're listening. Just make up a bunch of shit. Yeah, we're addressing the musicians in the audience a lot in this episode already.

But, yeah, make up some stuff. You know, if you feel like, I don't know. have a lot of good making of the album anecdotes this cycle. Talk about the Claxins. Talk about your dad giving you LSD as a kid. That's what we want as a music journalist here. It would be very helpful

for us. I feel like we have to talk about some release news this week. And it's two Ian Cohen punching bags are putting out records in the months ahead. The first is MacDemarko.

he's putting out a instrumentals record. It's called Five Easy Hot Dogs. You know, he's like he's setting himself up with that one. But, you know, God bless MacDemargo. I like MacDemarco. Like, you and I diverge on that. That record's coming out in a few weeks.

I don't know if we, that might be the excuse to do a MacDemarco episode. It's not like we have a ton of material this month. Yeah. So I don't know. I mean, this record, I don't, he hasn't put out like a full-fledged record. Since 2017, I think. Is that right?

I think so, because I like that one song he did My Old Man. No, he had the cowboy record. Oh, right, the fucking Mitzky, uh, the, like, Mitzky Gate, where, like, nobody else in the world was allowed to use the word cowboy after, after Mitzke's 2018 album. Holy fuck, what a memory hold that is. Yeah, he, shout to you, Steve. He got screwed over. Yeah. Because I was going to say like six years.

That seems like here comes the cowboy. There it is. Is the MacDemarco record. Be the cowboy was Mitzki. But so there's that record. And then my boys to hold steady. They have a record coming out. I believe in March, I'm Googling as I'm typing here.

What kind of hold steady stand on you when you don't know the exact? Well, I don't know if top of my head here. I don't know if top of my head. It's, uh, the record is called the price of progress. It comes out March 31st. And, uh, it marks their 20th anniversary. How crazy is it that the whole study's been around for 20 years now? That's a little strange to me.

They've always sounded like they've been around for 20 years. Like I almost, what's the thing. I almost feel like now, like, with both of these acts, um, you know, now that I have like enough distance from the stuff that annoyed me about the conversation surrounding them, I feel like both of these are artists. I'm like open to reassessing. Like I love a, I love a by-low,

uh, you know, scoop up right here. Because like, you know, now that like, not every single person I see on the street in L.A. is dressed like MacDamarko with like the,

the flannel and the car heart and the, you know, the pack of like, uh, cigarettes. Maybe I'll fuck with them. I don't know. But like five easy hot dogs and instrumental album.

I just, this is like a brain in a jar. like AI Mac DeMarco piece of news for us. I mean, I am intrigued by the instrumental album in the sense that I think there's always been a disconnect between Mac DeMarco's music,

which is very pretty and often sentimental, and his persona, which is this snarky, brady type thing. And it's always been interesting to me how those line up, because I feel like how people respond to him often doesn't have much to do with his music. You know, like, it's him doing antics on stage and stuff,

and that's what sticks in people's minds, especially the people who don't like Mac DeMarco. But his songs are often, like, songs are like really heartfelt and sincere, and I don't know. It's always been an interesting combination with him for me. As far as the hold steady, you know, They've had like a really nice run after,

I don't want to say they broke up, but they went into that hiatus in the 2010s. And then France, Nicolet came back, and they put out, you know, I think this is the third record they've put out since he came back to the band. And they just had like a nice run. They do these like weekend stands places.

They don't like tour regularly. It seems like they've got like a nice setup. They're not burning themselves out. I mean, you were talking about the Hold Steady Online this week. Take it some shots. Yeah. I don't know if I took some shots. I just said that, like, yo, like, this band is, we've talked about this in previous episodes.

Like, I am, like, dead center of the demographic that should like the whole setting. There's just something I just cannot grasp. But, like, I understand why people love them. Like, I can, you can never say that, like, the appeal of the Hold Steady escapes me, only that you recognize the appeal and that, like, it has absolutely no interest for you. Like, it's, I mean, they're not a band I look at where it's like, how the fuck are they as popular as they are. Is it the fan base that turns people off? Of course.

It's always, it's always the fan base. That's, like, we never ever talk about music here. Like, all conversations about music, or at least 90% of it is just, like, this way to launder your disdain for, like, the people who like them. I mean, I think there's a caricature of what a hold steady fan is, and I find when I talk to people who don't like them, well, one, they don't like Craig Finn's voice. Craig Finn, that's a polarizing aspect probably of the band. And then there's like this caricature of like the person that listens to the hold steady

that seems to be a sticking point with people who can't stand that band. So I don't know. I understand. I'm like that with other bands, so I can't really knock it, But I'm a fan of the Hold Steady. I've loved them for a long time. I've enjoyed their recent records. I have every reason to believe that this record will be good, too.

Craig Finn making good solo records. Craig Finn showing up at the War on Drugs, Drug Semper. Shows, they did a set with, it wasn't a whole set, but they did like four songs with Craig Finn, including Against the Wind. Bob's Secret, which is, you know, talking about pandering to our show. You don't get more pandery than that. Except for the War on Drugs drummer producing a Christmas album

with members of the Philadelphia Eagles and also some guys from the Hooters. That might be even more pandering. That might be the most pandering thing that we've talked about this entire episode. Shout out to Charlie Hall, by the way. He might be listening. Charlie Hall.

He's a friend of the show listening in his kimono there in Philadelphia. That's how I'm imagining it. Let's get to our mailbag segment. Thank you all for writing into the show. We got a bunch of emails over the break. I think at some point we need to do a mailbag episode. We're going to need it.

Let's be real here. The next two months are, there's not a ton of, like, big ticket releases coming up. If you want to hit us up, we're at Andycastmailbag at gmail.com. Ian, you want to read this letter? By the way, I edited this letter down because it was a long letter. So shout out to Kevin from New Jersey, who wrote us. we're not answering everything in the letter, just like part of it, because we have a lot to get to in this episode.

But Ian, want you to go ahead. Sure. So, hey, Steve and Ian. The recent news of the sidekicks officially this banding RIP and recent news meeting like, you know, during the Christmas break, got me thinking. On a recent pod, there was an interesting mailbag question about trying to identify the modern day Velvet Underground,

a true band's band. I think you both offered up dive and spirit of the beehive, which were sensible nominees. but I remember listening and immediately thinking the obvious answer was the sidekicks. It seems like every active band in their scene either rooted for the sidekicks, enjoyed the sidekicks, or revered the sidekicks. To me, their legacy will be defined by how beloved they were by their contemporaries. And I think that's a really cool legacy.

Kevin from New Jersey. Yeah, we would have talked about this in our banter segment, but I knew we had this letter about the sidekick. So it's a good opportunity to talk about this band who broke up. I think they announced the breakup like right after our last episode posted. So I think it was about a week before Christmas that this was announced.

And we should just say, because there's people who probably have no idea who this band is, they're a band from Cleveland, Ohio, they were active. Well, they formed in like the mid-2000s and they were active throughout the 2010s. Would you call them an emo band?

I mean, they were sort of in that scene. They're kind of like, in the space between like poppy-ish punk and emo, although like I feel like they just sound like a straightforward rock band. I mean, they evolved into one, but the scene of which they emerged out of can be, you know, like Joyce Manor or Tiger's Jaw. That's sort of fan base.

I mean, I saw them. They did a show with this four band bill. It was them into it over it. Pine Grove and the world is a beautiful place, and I'm no longer afraid to die in 2016. So, you know, they were amongst that very cursed tour. And I remember I saw them for the first time opening for against me. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, during like the transgender dysphoria. Yeah, 2014, yeah. So that would have been like around awkward breeds when that record came out. Yeah, or closer to runners in the nerved world. So yeah, they were on epitaph, you know, they, they are a bit, I think this kind of gets to why they never quite. got their due. It was really just hard to assess like where they really belonged. Um, they, they, they kind of appealed to a lot of people, but like also weren't of any scene, which, you know, it can be a great thing for a band, but can also be like what gets them,

uh, kind of stuck in this, uh, band's band sort of, uh, deal. I mean, like, how, how long have you been just kind of a, like, I know you were into them when, uh, runners in the nerve world came out, but like, I mean, just as like this Midwest, you know, as a Midwestern kind of power pop band. How long have you been aware of them? It was awkward breeds was the first record I remember hearing. So that was 2012. So about 10 years ago.

And they did have that trajectory where the records got gradually, I don't want to say slicker, but like less rocking probably. You know, slicker, less rocking. You know, pretty natural evolution for a band as they come along and everyone gets a little bit older. Yeah, this band that I think, again, like if you were in that scene, they did seem like a major touchtone band, but then if you were not of that scene, like, you'd have no idea who this band was.

And it's interesting because, like, they don't seem to have had that thing where people get obsessive about them in the same way that they do about a band like Joyce Manor, for I feel like they have a real culty audience. And the sidekicks just seem like, oh, they're a good band. But I don't know if they were like serious sidekicks heads out there. I never got that sense. So I don't know. It's like they're totally a band though that I think could have crossed over because they're

because again, I feel like they were just a straightforward rock band. You know, they're not a band like the Hotel Year, for instance, which are a total emo band. and you have to be invested in emo, I think, really to love them. And if you are turned off by certain aspects of that kind of music, you're not going to connect with it. Like with the sidekicks, I think it would be possible to listen to them and not even know that they were connected to that. They're just a nice Midwestern rock band that puts out cool songs.

Like, they could have been that kind of band, but they just, for whatever reason, didn't get that kind of exposure. I mean, you know, Runners in the Nerved World was produced by Phil Eck, you know, guy who's done like band of horses and the shins and, you know, built a spill. And so, you know, if that record had come out on, say, you know, like polyvinyl or whatever instead of epitaph, you know, perhaps there would be a lane there. But like you mentioned, the hotel year, like, yeah, I definitely can understand why people are not into that band, but also, like, you have, because they are so emo, like, it makes sense that, like, people are, you know,

who love the hotel year, like, really love the hotel year. They kind of, You know, like the sidekicks, they just make great songs, which I think gets them the admiration of their peers because, you know, like they're good people. They make good songs. Like, why aren't they more popular? And in a way, they kind of lack that cult of personality that makes them translate, like, you know, similar to Joyce Manor. Like Joyce Manor band that was like much easier to meme their lyrics. I mean, like they, you know, Joyce Manor kind of blew up on Tumblr because it was easy to like quote their songs. and you could post, you know, footage of their shows.

The songs are short, they're fast, but the, you know, sidekicks are a little more mid-tempo. And so, yeah, I mean, this is just how shit goes sometimes. There's this special sauce that goes into having a band transcend like being good to being great or being beloved. And, you know, with the sidekicks, they just make great songs. And, you know, I can't imagine, I can kind of imagine a world where they were, you know, as big as everyone wants them to be,

but like kind of similar to Symbol Zee guitar is like another band that has that same sort of reputation. I also understand why they never quite transcended the the same 10 people raving about their album every single time. Yeah, I mean, it's a dumb thing to say, but it is true that just making great songs,

like sometimes isn't enough, that there has to be something else that people latch on to, that they project down to those great songs that puts you to that next level. And it is so stupid. I don't know why that's true, but it is.

It totally is true. So anyway, RIP sidekicks, I think that they are a band where, again, if you're just looking for like a good, straightforward Midwestern rock band, they totally fit the bill. Awkward breeds, again, was the record that got me into them, and it's the record I would recommend to someone who's

never heard the band before. Check that out. I was listening to it this morning before we started recording. Holds up, just a really good record. So the band is gone, but the music is still here, so definitely check it out. All right, let's get to the meat of our episode here. As I said at the beginning, we are going to be doing predictions for indie rock or indie adjacent. Yes. Indie cast. shit we talk about. Yeah. Predictions for 2023, and we have a couple ground rules for this, right?

There's a couple things that we're not going to touch. Yeah, we're like trying to get the good vibes going in 2023, so no deaths, no cancellations. Like, those will happen on their own, and we don't want to like wish that upon anyone. And also, just a clarification to the audience, like, this is what we think is going to happen, not necessarily what we want to happen. Yeah, well, in one case, it's something that I want. And it's probably my most far-fetched prediction. But the other two things, definitely something I think will happen.

And I feel actually very confident in my predictions. Do you feel confident in yours? I feel pretty confident in all three of mine. Like, I mean, I don't know how much I want them to happen. But, like, I feel like we're not going to look back on this episode a year from now and think, like, God, I was way the fuck off. Yeah. Yeah.

If we miss, it won't be by much. And there might be some version of what we're predicting will happen this year. But I think the crystal ball is strong here on IndyCast. So let's get to it. What is your first prediction for 2023? You know, we're doing a little bit of, even though Steve was the one on Paul Feinbaum's podcast, I'm the one kind of in college football mode right now. You know, hopefully by Monday, Georgia will be, you know, two-time national champions.

and everyone will start doing their way too early top 25, which doesn't take into account, like, transfer portal and people even for the NFL draft. But nonetheless, you can kind of tell who's going to be, like, number one next year. And, you know, I feel... You know, we haven't done... We could have done sports cast, actually, at the top of the app. Because you've got Georgia in the title,

your boys, where you went to school. And the Green Bay Packers, surging. Back. The pack is back, baby. And we might be in the playoffs. here, literally coming back from the dead here, clawing our way out of a grave. Can't believe it. So happy. Anyway, that's a short sports cast. Let's get back to Indycast here. What is your first prediction? Yeah, so I have a pretty good idea of like what's going to be the number one albums for

20, 23. And, you know, I got to split this up between like the pop division and like the indie division. So, and also like kind of along the lines of like the way too early top 25, I've not heard any single piece of new music from these artists. I assume they're coming out this year. But I think the album, like this year's Beyonce. This one's like across the board number one album, like across publication is going to be Rihanna. And not just because of the Super Bowl halftime show. You know, throughout the year end list making season, there are people still making the straw man argument about like how, you know, this was the year that like R&B toppled, you know, the, the national and LCD sound system.

Like something, you know, that kind of idea of like what music critics actually like has been true at least since 2017, you know, pop. A longer than that. But like, definitely since 2017, like, like, pop and to a, you know, slightly artsy R&B is, like, really the true north. And, like, since. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that cliche about like the Brooklyn hipster who likes arcade fire in the national. Like, no, that person likes, you know, this arcane, artie, R&B music. Exactly. You know, from the indie world. You know, that's what they're listening to. Yeah. Not like that kind of stuff. And, you know, of all the A-lister's from this world, like, Rihanna is the only one who hasn't dropped since 2016.

And, you know, her last album is kind of seen as like, I don't know, maybe this generation, the Velvet Roe. which, you know, has become like a real touchstone for indie artists. You know, it was like kind of daring, maybe not as commercially successful as the past stuff. And so I think also the reason that I predict Rihanna to be number one is that like, you know, even if the, you know, music aside, she hasn't been like overcovered or like obsessed over by like, you know, corny, you know, corny, like basic people in the same way that like, you know, Rihanna or something like Like Lena Dunham has never tweeted about

how she wishes Rihanna was president Which you know Now that I think about it she actually did that with Solange not Beyonce But There's this strange sense That like Rihanna is somehow underrated By critics which is this like kind of mutant thing that is evolved in modern music

criticism where like you can say that Rihanna one of the most celebrated pop stars in the universe is like underrated because her last album got like a 7-6 at pitchfork or something like that. So I think the pins are set up for Rihanna to basically knock it down, even if she just puts out anything. So again, this is all based on how I know the machinery works, nothing at all do with the music.

Which also kind of leads me in a weird way to the, you know, this year's always, I guess, like the band that just is either like at number one on pure indie sites are like number three everywhere else, and that's Wednesday. You know, they are, like always, they're still kind of ascendant, still kind of viewed as having been underappreciated. You know, their previous album hadn't been like hyped up too much in real time. You know, and they seem like a good hang, and they appeal to zoomers. They're signed to Dead Oceans.

And, you know, I see this being like kind of a newish indie band, like a band, not like, you know, an artist who's like, you know, functioning. band. This is like a real throwback for me. You know, like I feel as if this is going to be the closest we get to like a 2005, this 2007 type hype band. And you know what? If they get to not, if they kill it in 2023, certain people will not be very happy. I think you know what I'm talking about. But yeah, yeah, I, you know, I think that this one, again, I haven't heard a note of their music, but it seems like a pretty chalk pick. See, okay, I agree 100% about Rihanna.

I think she's going to have to put out, like, a record, like, the last Kendrick album to not be number one. It's going to have to be like a real curveball or like a real miss for her not to get there. But I think there's so much goodwill. And it does seem like that's the kind of record that tops your endless now. just like Beyonce was really sweeping a lot of these lists.

I feel like Rihanna will be in that same lane. So yeah, I'm with you on that. I actually disagree about Wednesday because there's something about that band.

And I'm saying this as a fan of that band. And I'm saying this that I'm like an MJ Lenderman, Stan. He was tied for my number one album of the year.

But I saw this a little with M.J. Lenderman too. I wouldn't like in Wednesday to always, I would liken them to like Big Thief, where there's a lot of critics that like Big Thief,

but Big Thief is also kind of polarizing for that reason. There's people that don't like them, because you can look at their press photos, for instance, and say, like, well, these are like, this hippie band and all the ingrained biases that are against that. I think there's certain elements of Wednesday that I think what people don't like about Big Thief, you could transfer that to Wednesday.

And I could see that album, and again, we're totally prognosticating here based on hearing no music at all. But I could see that album getting a big review from Pitchfork and then say like the New York Times reacting against that review. And like John Caramanica going on popcast

and being like, I don't understand why people like this kind of music. I see that happening. I more than always, because I think always is the kind of band they just cross a lot of different demographics. You know, like, they're a band that

young people like, because they relate to Molly Rankin, which he's writing about their lyrics, but there's also something kind of retro about their music, so older people can get into it. There's nothing really offensive about always, you know, like you can't really get upset

about anything that they do, whereas Wednesday already has proven. And again, I say, say this as someone who likes Wednesday a lot. I'm a fan of that band, but I do see people get weirdly upset at them. So I just don't think that they, I just

think there's an element of them that isn't it's not going to unify the different groups in a way that always does. So, yeah, I think I dispute that. Maybe you'll do well at pitchfork, but I could see other people reacting against that. Assuming the record's great, it gets

great reviews. And this imaginary scenario that we're talking about. I point out one thing. You compare to the big thief, like what I have like based on M.J. Lenderman's album, like I imagine if like we were to somehow be in the same space, we talk about like sports and wrestling and jackass.

Whereas like if I were in the same room as like big thief, we would all like hold hands in a circle and talk about like the last time we felt touched by the great spirit of the sky. Like they just strike me as like very, very different hangs. Well, in terms of the hangs, yeah. But I think in terms of like who will like that band and who won't, I think it's a similar breakdown. And I do think that they will be more polarizing than a band like always, which again, I think there's nothing really offensive about them.

You know, that's why they do so well. And they're also a great band. But they're kind of impossible to hate. And people have already found reason not to like Wednesday for reasons that I think are pretty stupid. But they exist nonetheless. My first prediction, and I'm going on a limb here because I am going to pronounce a name I've butchered many times on this show. And I'll probably butcher it again here. Sky Ferreira?

You got it. You nailed that. Boom. Boom, baby. Sky Ferreira, masochism, long-delayed album will not come out in 2023. We've been talking about this record for a long time. I think it was on stereo gums, most anticipated albums of the year list, which, is like a running bit at this point

to keep putting that on the list. But she put out a single last year, which was not very well received. I feel like it's in that zone with the Wrenz record, at least the Charles Bissell part of the Wrenz record.

I feel like it's in that zone where maybe it's never going to come out. Or if it comes out, it'll be rush released in a drop box and you're going to download it, you know. But I just don't think that record's going to come out this year. I hope it comes out eventually. You know, I was thinking about how, you know, 20, 23, it's a 10-year anniversary

of that class of indie pop stars that we've often talked about on the show, which includes Haim, the 1975 Lord. They all put out their debuts that year. You also had nighttime, my time, the last Sky Ferreira record, which is like my favorite record of that group. And you could look at it and say, well, she's had like, she's like the one artist out of those four that hasn't really had a great career since then.

But that's still like my favorite record of that class. Yeah. And so I want masochism to come out, but I don't think it will come out in 2020. It's like kind of a dear Tommy. like that chromatics album where, you know, you could conceivably see it come out. But I think that you mentioned out of all the 2013 freshman class, like she's had like, I don't

know, not maybe like the least mainstream career, but I think it's the right kind of career. I think that, you know, her silence for the most part has kind of burnished the reputation of nighttime, my time, you know, which I think, I like that. I think it's a bit uneven. But, yeah, I think that just the way she's kind of gone about things is really just enlivened the legend of it. And I'm really looking forward to the 10, like this is going to be every single publication on Earth is going to do a 10-year piece on this one. So, yeah. And also the Charles from the Rends, I mean, like, he, he posted a whole bunch of stuff over the break about, like, how this album is coming out.

And subpop is really nice, but, like, it's not coming out on subpop. It's again, like, just put it out so I don't have to read these posts and get my hopes up. Well, I was thinking, I did a story for Grantland on that album. And I think it's going to be the 10-year anniversary of that story this year. I'm pretty sure that was 2013 that I wrote that piece. And at the time, I called it the Chinese democracy of indie rock. And that was 10 years ago. Chinese democracy actually came out.

Well, that's the thing. And I remember at that time, it seemed like it was like 75% done or whatever. And here we are. So, and I'll just say, like, I hope masochism comes out. I hope the Charles from the Wrens record comes out. I just don't know if it's going to come out this year. So that's my prediction. What's your second prediction?

All right. So it's kind of wild that I'm making this prediction a year and a half after Turnstiles glow on. actually came out. But I think that we're in 2020, we're going to fully realize the impact of that album. Like, we're going to be living in like a post-turn style world

where, you know, hardcore bands or bands that, like, can be, they don't even sound like turnstile, but if, like, they are kind of in that similar lane, they're going to get signed to, you know, major labels. Like, I think Brendan Yates is going to do, like, a bunch of rap guest spots. Kind of in the same way that, like,

Kevin Parker from Taman Paulo was the guy you'd bring on. Like, you know, if you were ASAP Rocky or Travis Scott to like say that you were like men, you know, you were trying to, you know, be this like polyglot genius. You know, already like military gun is on Loma Vista, which is like the label that has like St. Vincent and such. And, you know, I think also some other hardcore bands are going to see something similar,

maybe like, you know, anxious or things of that nature. But, you know, I really don't think we've seen turnstile hit their peak, which means that, you know, maybe after the Blink 182 tour, maybe they do SNL, I think we're going to see like some real, like, you know, kind of, like, this band's clearly inspired by turnstile and then possibly some turnstile backlash. Like some, not just like, oh, these like hardcore dudes, like, yo, they, they sound like they're on the radio, fuck them. Like, I think we're going to maybe start to see some turnstile backlash in the same way that we're, like, we're going to, oh, these, like, we see, you know, maybe some, like, Phoebe Bridgers-type backlash where people do it just to do it.

I'm just, like, thinking about, like, backlash in general, you know, because, like, I'm, like, wondering, like, what indie artists, you know, that are due to drop in 2023 are going to, like, finally get, you know, moved on from. Like, I'm thinking, like, I came with, like, U.S. girls and Eve's tumor. Like, those two. I don't know what came brought those to mind, but again, yeah, I thought we were going to keep things positive, but this is going. This is tilting in a more negative bet.

Yeah, I mean, the backlash thing is interesting, because I remember when Turnstile put out the record before Glowon, which was Time and Space in 2018. And I remember I was a fan of that record, and I interviewed Brendan at the time for that record. But that album was not critically acclaimed. And it really wasn't until Glowon that they became the sort of rock band DeJure, and that, of course, coincided with them having this commercial,

breakthrough. Like, when you were talking about this, it made me think about Nirvana and how, like, when Nirvana hit big in the early 90s and how the people who love Nirvana, they didn't automatically love, like, the Melvins or Mud Honey, you know, and it's pretty obvious why they didn't, because Nirvana songs were catchy and melodic and pretty. and a lot of the other bands that kind of followed in their wake were not, they didn't have those qualities. And I think that there's a corollary there with turnstile where I don't think the

successive turnstile means that people want to hear a bunch of hardcore bands. When I say people, I mean like, you know, mainstream listeners, people on the radio, that kind of stuff. I think the reason why turnstile broke through is pretty obvious is that they don't sound like a hardcore band. They sound, to me, really like a 90s alternative rock band. and Brendan Yates, like, he doesn't sound like a hardcore singer. He has like a nice sounding voice that, like, if you have never listened to a hardcore record before, you can listen to Turnstile.

And it makes sense on the radio between, you know, what, Avenge Sevenfold and Theory of a Dead Man songs. You know what I mean? No shots at Turnstile, by the way. But like, you're right. You're absolutely correct. And you can't say that about most hardcore bands. I mean, hardcore by design is not supposed to be mainstream. music.

I don't know. I think you're right. I could see a lot of bands getting signed, but I, I, if they're not like turnstile, I don't think that they're going to be turnstile. I don't think they're going to have that kind of success for the same reason that, like, the bands that followed Nirvana, not formed after them, but like were signed after them and maybe got more mainstream exposure. Like they didn't break through like Nirvana did.

You know, there's a reason why these bands break through. And it's usually the bands that make like, the catchiest music. Like, they're the ones that end up being, like, the crossover band. I think my act, like, the, just to kind of square the circle, my prediction is that we're going to see, like, industry plant-type bands that sound like turn style. That's what I'm predicting.

Well, I'm, you know, hey, we're always a fan of those. Yes. You know, if there's, like, a really kind of fun and catchy, just band that's, like, totally crass, you know, like a very obvious industry. plant band, but they're like the jet, you know, of turnstile world, you know, or, you know, the Stone Temple pilots of turn of turnstile world. I'll probably end up being a fan of that band. You know, just that super catchy, trashy, turnstile rip off.

I could totally get into that. My second prediction is that at some point this year, probably later in the year, Jack Antonoff will go on his Instagram and he will post a photo of his. him in the studio working with Mitzki. This will be the latest female indie star that Jack Antonoff will work with. And it's a weird thing to make this prediction because I feel like it already happened. That's how obvious this seems to me. But it hasn't happened yet.

And in a way, I feel like as sick to death as I am of hearing Jack Antonoff productions at this point, it does make sense for this to happen because with Laurel Hell, my criticism of that record is related to the production. To me, that sounded like a record where Mitzki was really embracing being a pop star. And she was trying to make like this sort of bigger sounding record. Now, for a lot of people, she succeeded because that record did well. But I do think that for me, I thought the production was kind of thin and even like a little lame. You know, like comparing what that record sounds like to like actual pop records,

you know, it just felt a little small time. So I feel like as she transitions in this direction and she's already clearly a big star, I can't picture a world where this doesn't happen. At least on like, there's going to be like a couple songs here and there that Jack Antonoff is involved in, if not a full-fledged album. But I would bank this for sure. this year, or at least next year, that this will happen eventually. Yeah, I, like, when you put this down, I'm like, wait a minute.

Like, I remember a kind of small little backlash to, like, Laurel hell that led me to believe that Jack Antonoff was actually on that record. So, yeah, this was, like, total, like, this is total stricand effect going on here. But, you know, what we've seen, I think a couple days ago was, like, Jack Antonoff playing guitar on something that was posted on Japanese Breakfast Instagram. So, you know, in between playing every single festival on planet Earth, I guess the, you know, Japanese breakfast collabed with Jack Antonoff. And, you know, what I'm wondering, look, what I'm hoping for in 2023 is that, you know, because Jack can't, you know, collect them all. Like, if there's, like, this B-level Jack Antonoff that emerges from, like, the same kind of scene to, like, work with all of, like, the artists that get signed because they kind of sound like Japanese breakfast or Mitzki.

Like, how back in the day, if you couldn't get, like, Nigel. Godrich, you'd hire like Tony Hoffer or like if you didn't have, couldn't get like a Swiss beats beat, you'd get like Nokia from Drew Hill. Like who's gonna, who's like, can Jack Antonoff like franchise out like, you know, just kind of farm team type shit? I mean, you could argue that like Dan Nagro from like as tall as lions was that dude.

But I mean, he's working with like Olivia Rodriguez and whatnot. So I mean, he's definitely not B level. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's definitely a lane there. for some other, you know, sensitive male music producer to step in. But I don't know, Antonoff needs to take five, I think, at this point. Take five, man. You've got to like, even he has to be sick of hearing his productions on every major pop record by a female artist.

I mean, it's become such a terrible cliche at this point. But anyway. Or maybe he just pivot. Maybe he just pivots the dudes rock in 2020. Maybe he produces the next Japan droids. Because we know he likes wearing leather jackets. That's true. So he's already halfway there.

Yeah, boy, we're definitely not getting new Japan droids in 2023. That's a prediction you can fucking put in stone. Oh, yeah. No question about that. What is your final prediction? All right. So this one, I got kind of scooped on this one. There was an article that posted in the New Yorker the other day about the return of Voxtrot,

and I had already kind of thought that, you know, blog rock was going to be the new indie slees. And by that, I mean it's a trend that's not actually a trend, but you see people talking about it, particularly in the New York media as if it's a trend. Now, like, it's not that like I think that people are, I don't know, just pining for the glory days of like the sound team or what have you. but I think there's always this lane, particularly with TikTok to, I don't know, just nostalgicize. That's not a real word, but you know what I mean. Anything that happened like 20 years ago, I mean, you look at like when we were young last year. And maybe it's not blog rock that I'm looking to see come back, like not come back, but just be reassessed.

This is also largely influenced by the fact I'm watching Lost for the first time, you know, which came. Oh, man. Yeah, came out in 2004. So just watching this show even takes place on an island, I still get this visceral like, oh, right, this is what people look like in 2004. I think this, maybe it's not Blog Rock, but the second Bush term is going to be right for reassessment. Not just like Blog Rock, but like the darkness maybe or like maybe early Kings of Leon, like Molly's Chambers becomes a TikTok hit.

Wolf Mother, I just really think that like 2004 to 2008, this kind of like lost era, no pun intended. I didn't think of that before. It's just we're going to see these strange attempts to make it a thing again. And, you know, I'm all four. I fucking love that shit. So, you know, I welcome it. I mean, we were talking in a recent episode about when we were a young type festival for blog rock. So you'd have like clap your hand say, yeah.

and the black kids and, you know, I don't know, trying to think about their blogger. We love your Boris Yeltsin. I already mentioned the sound team. The sound team are the best, man. I love, I love the bands that, like, broke up as soon as they got even the slightest amount of scrutiny outside of, like, the blog, you know, blogosphere, which is a word I haven't said out loud and God knows how fucking long. A friend of mine, and this is a friend, even though he likes to torture me, he sent me

a video clip of Pomplamoose. Remember Pomplimus? I didn't fucking remember Pompelmuse. And like how they they did that commercial. I forget for which car company. Probably Volkswagen. It seems like a Volkswagen thing to do.

And that was 2011. And I feel like that was the last time that Indy Rock or anything sort of, you know, that scans as indie was used to sell cars. You know, that was probably about the end of that. Because that happened a lot in the 2000. spills over into the early 2010s,

and then the next Volkswagen commercial was probably like some Skrillix rip-off. Again, that was like the changing of the guard. Turnstiles Holiday is going to be in a car commercial in 2020. That's like, it's not just Taco Bell. We're going to see like Holiday sell a car. I predict that in 2023. Getting back to the Blog Rock thing,

you know, I think that there's nostalgia, for that era of music because now we have people that were in their 20s at the time and now they're like in their mid-30s and maybe they've knocked out a kid by now and they're feeling a little old looking at 40

wondering what is my life going to be over so that's why we have like nostalgia for Vox Trot which I never thought would happen but it just goes to show any band that you loved when you're 22 that they're going to come back at some point.

I think there's also nostalgia for that era of the internet which is right before social media really took hold where it just seemed way more wide open than it does now. The internet seems so much smaller now

than it did then. I remember back then having a list of different websites I would go to. The blog roll. And it was like 20 websites and you're just going to one by one and you just scan it like, you know, it'd be like having a stack of magazines

and you're just paging through all these things. And now, you know, you're just being spoon-fed by your social media platform, all of your links. So I think there's something to that as well when people talk about this. I mean, it should be noted there's still our music blogs out there. Of course, but when we talk about blog rock, and we should also mention that this New Yorker article, it quoted both of us.

Yes. In this, so we didn't mention that. Yeah, we got to say, hey, New Yorker citing us as experts.

They mentioned you by name and they mentioned me. Well, see, that's what happens. That's what happens when you're right for pitchfork. Because pitchfork has the institutional voice.

So everyone is just pitchfork. But my thing was for Grantland, which I wrote nine years ago. That's crazy. But, yeah, I'd like to see those bands come back. You know,

give them a, you know, that's a very indie cast development if we have some block rock. I just love the fact that like Bishop Allen, which is maybe a little bit late Bragg Rock, like one of those dudes ended up like founding OKCupid or something like that. Yeah.

So like all these guys, I'm sure they work like fucking like decent tech jobs. One of those dudes in Bishop Allen was in this mumblecore movie. Yes. That was black and white. What was that called? Like rude awakening or something like that?

I'm not as good of a remember some guy. guys think when it comes to mumblecore movies. Anyway, let's get to my last prediction here. And this, you know, I said this at the beginning that I felt really confident about two of my predictions. And there are two things that I think will happen, not necessarily what I want to happen. This last one, it's mostly what I want to happen, but I can justify it with why I think it could happen.

So, again, it's the one I'm least confident about. But, I don't know, maybe we can actually. it on this show. Would be the first time. This will be the year that finally, one of the bands that's been broken up, that I would call this maybe the number one reunion that people want.

I can't think of another, I mean, there's other reunions maybe that people would like to, but they're not very realistic. Like, you know, there's still people out there that want the Smiths to get back together. That's never going to happen.

Or like the talking heads or something. This is something that I think should happen. and probably will happen because the money involved will be astronomical and the two main parties. They're not really doing anything great on their own. Everyone just wants them to get back together. And they're a band that remains to be very popular to this day. Younger generations have embraced them because of a recent documentary.

And there's really no band like them right now. They're kind of cut from a classic cloth. The band I'm talking about, of course, is Oasis. Reunion Tour, baby. they're going to announce it this year. And the reason I say that is because in 1994, that's what their first record comes out, it would be the 30th anniversary of that record in 2024.

So I'm saying they announced the tour this year and they go on tour next year. Noel and Liam and Liam, they keep the piece by flying on separate private jets to every show. They bring back Bonehead. Which guy is he the bassist or the, No, he's the bald guy.

Oh, yeah. What is the guitar? He's the rhythm guitar. Oh, the rhythm guitar. Gwigsie is the bass player. He's just like a super stoner. He's not coming back. The drummers, they're going to bring, they should bring back Zach Starkey as the drummer.

He was like the drummer at the end. He was the best drummer they ever had. And then this gets, they get some bass player. I think Andy Bell, was he playing bass at the end? Yeah. They had some guy from Ride who, like, where, Yeah, yeah. I think he was playing bass.

I don't think he was playing guitar. So, okay, so you keep the late period, always, this rhythm section. Noel and Liam and Liam, you bring back Bonehead. You got to have Bonehead. And, you know, maybe they do Glastonbury. They do like five nights at Wembley. They play New York and L.A. Maybe some spots in between.

Do multiple nights at Master Square Garden. I think they could do that. Multiple nights at the forum. play Chicago so I can go. Why won't this happen? This has got to happen. Come on. There's got to be like hundreds of millions of dollars on the table for these guys. Just take the money and play Wonderwall. God damn it. I think about like all the people who are listening to this podcast who like go to work every single day despite having a co-worker they despise for like far less money than on the table for Oasis. Like, I just can't, why hasn't this happened yet? Because when you look at, like...

It's Noel. Noel hates his brother so much. Liam would do it in a second. These guys like... These guys like being rock stars way too much. Yeah, it's like, Noel, you're playing, you know, what? Like, he's maybe doing theaters in America. He's probably doing theaters in America, but he's definitely not doing arenas,

unless he's opening for, like, smashing pumpkins or something. come on man just do the goddamn tour like swallow your pride and take a hundred million dollars or wherever it is on the table you're going to make a ton of money dude just do it

and let us experience this band again I really want this to happen I think it could happen I think it will happen I'm willing into existence like you can afford the amount of drugs

that will take for you to like be okay with being on the same stage as Liam you know rage against the machine got back together Are you more principled than rage against the machine? Like, come the fuck on. Exactly. So, again, I'm the least confident in this prediction,

but it's the one I most want to come true. So fingers crossed, Oasis for Union, 2023, 2024. Let's get it done. Get your park is ready. We've now reached the part of our episode that we call Recommendation Corner. We're Ian and I talk about something that we're into this week. Before we get to that, we just wanted to do a quick tribute to two musicians who died while we were on break. Gangsta Boo of 36 Mafia passed away at the age of 43.

And Jeremiah Green, the drummer for Modis Mouse, he died at the age of 45. This is really sad, both great musicians and both young. I mean, they seem young to me because they're around our age. You just feel like they both had a lot of life and music ahead of them. Yeah. You know, the wildest thing is that, you know, not just that there are age, but they're artists who defined my listening in college, which means that, like, they were teenagers when they made, like, lonesome crowded West and tear the club up, like, just mind-blowing to think about. Yeah, they had, I mean, they, yeah, it's just amazing that they, like, yeah, they kind of defined a generation with their music and, like, barely out of high school, like, when they made those records. What record do you want to recommend this week? Yeah, so I mean, if this, our next episode is like our most anticipated albums for 2023.

And this might have been on there had it not dropped like literally on New Year's Day. It's a band called Fireworks. If you're not familiar with them, they kind of emerge out of that like sidekicks, wonder years, like thinking person, pop punk sort of world. And they've been promising this album, Higher Lonely Power for like at least three years. Like this has been kind of a meme where it's like, yeah, it's never going to come out, whatever. They dropped it on New Year's Day. I did a interview with them at Stereogum.

I fucking love this record. It kind of, you know, it barely sounds like pop punk, but you could tell it came from this world. But it more, it makes me almost think of like Titus Andronicus, you know, early Titus Andronicus in a way where it's, you know, there's a pop punk element, but like also big swing indie rock. Like some of it sounds like Arcade Fire. Some of it sounds like maybe like Titus Andronicus, you know, parts of it are a rime of death cab. But like it really has its own sort of sophistication and worldview to it. If you like albums about 9-11, about like ex-evangelical Christianity, about Midwestern yearning, if you like the Gang of Youth's record, you know, from last year, which if you listen to this podcast, I imagine you do,

hire Lonely Power, check it out. And besides, like, what the fuck else do you had to listen to in 2012? Well, I have a suggestion for something else you could listen to. It's a new live record from an artist named Zach Bryan. And I was a big fan of the record he put out last year called American Heartbreak. And he is a burgeoning superstar at this point. He's a country artist, but I think he has a lot of crossover for people that are just into like Rootsie Americana type music.

Like if you are a Jason Isbell fan or you like Sturgle Simps, Like this guy is sort of like the next in line in that lane and uh American Heartbreak I mean it's like a 34 song record so I'm still digging through that album and finding new favorite songs but this live album that he puts out which by the way has an amazing title it's called all my homies hate ticket master and uh this might even be a better introduction because it's a little more bite size it's really like the best songs that he's put out so far and it's recorded uh live it was recorded at a concert at Red Rocks and I don't know if they're like flaming torches there

like when you two did under blood red sky at Red Rocks but what's amazing about this album is one, the performances are really great and energetic and again it really kind of functions as almost like a greatest hits album for what he's done so far because along with American Heartbreak he also has like a lot of other songs that he's put out online

various EPs. There's like a lot of material but what really blew me away listening to this record is the devotion of his audience This is a big audience, and you hear them just belting the lyrics back to him. Oftentimes, he just stops singing, and you can just hear this crowd with him and energetically singing along. It's almost like a dashboard confessional type concert. I bet he'd like that comparison. Absolutely.

It's such an infectious listen. And, again, if you haven't listened to this guy yet, I think that this record will be a good introduction to his music, and there's a lot to dive into. So again, Zach Bryan, all my homies, hey Ticketmaster, new live record, go check it out. We are about out of time here on Indycast. So thank you so much for listening. We'll be back with more news and reviews and hashing out trends next week. And if you're looking for more music recommendations, sign up for the Indie Mixape newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie.

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