Indiecast - The Smile Returns, Alex G Signs With RCA, and Does Ian Remember Which Albums He Reviewed For Pitchfork?

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

Today's episode begins with a quick Sportscast in which Steven mourns the defeat of his surprisingly good Green Bay Packers and pays tribute to the lovable Detroit Lions (3:49). He and Ian also compare Detroit and San Francisco as music cities — it's Bob Seger vs. Huey Lewis time! Then they do a quick update of the winter Fantasy Albums Draft, as it is a big day for Steven's team with new releases by The Smile and Katy Kirby. (11:25) Then they break down The Smile's Wall Of Eyes, which sounds like a Radiohead album that's 90 percent as good.Next comes Steven's most anticipated part of the episode — it's an Ian Cohen pop quiz where Steven lists off 10 albums and asks Ian if he reviewed them for Pitchfork (25:45). This is taking "Remember Some Guys" to a whole new level. Then the guys address the discourse around Alex G's recent signing to RCA Records and whether he has the potential to become "Boygenius big." (40:38) In the mailbag, a listener asks about the recent commercial featuring a Das Racist oldie and an "explanation" of Hozier's success (48:25).In Recommendation Corner (1:00:31), Ian talks up the latest from the British band Courting and Steven reiterates Ian's recent rave for Glass Beach.New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 173 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 Uprocks'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 talk about Alex G. signing to RCA, and I quiz Ian on his own pitchfork album reviews. My name is Stephen Hayden, and I'm joined by my friend and co-host. He'll never forget where he was when Donald Trump played a Smith song at one of his rallies.

Ian Cohen, Ian, how are you? Yeah, it brings me no pleasure. to report that, you know, they had to choose the Smith songs that Deftones covered. I mean, like, there are so many Morrissey solo songs that, you know, tap into the, you know, latent racism and, like, fear of the future that, you know, that appeals to the fan base of, you know, Donald Trump. They could have played, you're the one for me, fatty. I mean, that one's also pretty appropriate, but.

So we should say, okay, so I think this was. this week or might have been late last week. Donald Trump played the Smith's, the Smith's classic, please, please, please, let me get what I want. Yeah, at least it's a short song. And the thing about that is is like Donald Trump's self-aware. Like there's something about him playing that song

that almost feels like he's being self-deprecating because it feels like him begging to be president again. Am I giving them too much credit here? I mean... Because what he always plays is like the Broadway musical version of like Cat or Phantom of the Opera. That's what he always plays. And it's not even like the...

It's like the Gerard Butler movie soundtrack. He loves that shit. Well, he loves classic rock too. And he, like in 2016, at the end of his rallies, he would always play, you can't always get what you want by the Rolling Stones, which seemed like another self-aware thing, almost like he's making fun of his own supporters.

with that. But again, maybe I'll give them too much credit. I'm just amazed by how the Smith's image, reputation, history has been totally rewritten in recent years. You know, you got the Donald Trump thing, obviously Morrissey with his shenanigans. If you were like a sexually confused teenager in 1985, like you were listening to the Smiths. Like this was a band for outsiders, you know, and now they have this like mega connotation. It's just very strange to me. Like, is Trump at some point going to start playing, I don't know, like joy division songs or like The Cure or, you know, like other outsider music from the 80s?

I don't understand. It's really crazy to me. I don't know. I just feel like if you had told a teenager in 1985 that the Smiths are going to be considered like a conservative. band in 40 years. It would have blown their minds. This is like worse than Ronald Reagan co-opting born in the USA.

That was a contemporary song at the very least and, you know, like very easy to misread. Yeah, right, exactly. And this is just, I don't know. I guess it's just a matter of Smith's fans now being in their 60s. You know, like they're old now. So, and those are the people more likely to vote for Trump. So I guess this means that the Smiths are classic rock in the same way that the stones are, or all the other artists that, you know, John Cougar Mellencamp, you know, like the stuff that he likes to play.

It's really mind-blowing. We got to do a quick sports cast here. It's probably going to be the last one for a while. I mean, we'll probably talk about the Super Bowl, but my Packers, of course, lost to the 49ers last weekend. And it was one of those games where it went from, we're just happy to be here to we should have won this game. Like it was the type of game where I had no expectations going in. And then it turned into another instance of me having my heartbroken in a crushing loss to the 49ers in the playoffs. And I feel a mixture of happiness and resentment about this.

because it's like, why couldn't I just enjoy this improbable run that we've had? Why did we have to outplay the best team in the NFC and then blow it at the end because we let Brock Small Hands Purdy go six for seven on his last drive and beat us at the end of the game? And then he got our idiot kicker, our drunk idiot kicker, I don't know if he's drunk, but I'm quoting Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning on Mike Vanderjack, our drunk idiot kicker. who can't make a goddamn kick at the end of the game.

Can't make a goddamn kick at any point. I don't know. I'm disappointed, but I'm all in on Detroit. I hope Detroit wins this weekend. I hope they go all the way. Upper Midwest forever. NFC Central forever. Not the North, the NFC Central.

I'm pulling for you, Detroit. Please get it done for me. Yeah, I think that... I can't imagine anyone outside the San Francisco area cheering for the 49ers this weekend. And I think that's even debatable whether people in San Francisco can cheer for this team because they're, they're sort of like the Warriors in that they're playing out in like Santa Clara or whatever. You know, they're not even like really part of the city. And I think the only ethical rooting interest in this entire playoff is just whatever prevents

us from getting San Francisco versus Kansas City. I mean, it feels inevitable. It feels just like so dispiriting because you're like if you get k c san francisco i mean this is like they're both like teams with otherworldly talents but just no joy no swag they're like the warriors you know and then you'll have to deal with you know obviously the taylor swift stuff but then like brock purdy doing this kind of like sea list tom brady impersonation like yeah i get it he was picked last in the draft but no one is really sure if he's actually good but you know if he gets like like his shit humiliated totally by the Ravens defense in the Super Bowl. I think that will also be a decent outcome. But yeah, you got to root for Detroit. They got fun players, a fun team.

You got Gretchen Whitmer and Bob Seeger maybe doing a little test run to primary Joe Biden. I love that political comedy. I swear like Gretchen Whitmer is like my personal pick for, you know, like a Democrat like presidential candidate. And I guess it's fun to compare her to San Francisco's like most obvious presidential candidate, Gavin Newsom, who's just like the slimyest, like, Clinton-era smug politician. There's absolutely no ethical justification to not root for Detroit and Baltimore. Well, you know, you're talking about politicians from the various cities. I was thinking about bands from Detroit and San Francisco because I was thinking like, well,

Detroit, obviously one of the great music cities in America, you've got Motown, you've got all those great proto-punk bands, Stooges, MC5. You've got Bob Seeger, of course. And then you get into, later on, you've got all the garage rock stuff. You have the white stripes. And you've got the band that Jack White beat up, Bondi's. You got Eminem, D-12, and then you get more modern here. You have the armed. You have your favorite band of all time, Proto Martyr, all these bands from Detroit. And then you think, about San Francisco and you got the Hate Ashbury period obviously got the Grateful Dead

Jefferson Air playing quick silver messenger service all those bands but then I was digging in and like their indie rock history in San Fran is like pretty deep you've got like Deerhoof is from there obviously the OCs Red House Painters American Music Club

the Brian Jones Town Massacre counting crows my boys from San Francisco I got four non-bluns Berkeley, aren't they? I'm going to say the Bay Area. I think they're San Fran.

They probably had guys in both areas, maybe even Oakland. So I don't know. It's a close battle, musically speaking, between these cities. I don't know if you have a preference, Detroit versus San Fran. I do think that there's a deep history, obviously, with San Francisco. But I don't know if you mention any bands who've been, like, you know, from the past 10 years. You know, just being in San Francisco about a year ago, I can't imagine anyone living there, let alone like an indie rock band. So I'm trying to think of like the recent products of that area because death heaven comes to mind.

But they moved to L.A. Awake but still in bed. And the recommendation corner favorite, they're from San Jose. And, yeah, and Detroit and Michigan in general still has a pretty thriving like emo and punk scene. greet deaths actually from Flint but I think that kind of counts. Yeah, I got and also like I grew up in a Motown household. Like my dad had like one Grateful Dead Allen but like a shitload of Motown. So yeah, I'm going with Detroit.

Like no matter which way you slice it politically, musically, just vibes wise. You know, even we're thinking about Tim Robinson. I think you should leave or Detroiters. Oh, yeah. There's literally no reason. to vote, to vote with your eyes for the San Francisco 49ers. Yeah, I should mention San Fran also has Metallica and Huey Lewis in the news. Those are two other big.

It's the land of contrast. Yeah, man. The tubes, they're also from San Fran. Third-Ey blind, also from San Fran. So they've got a good history there, as do the 49ers. But yeah, I'm leaning in Detroit as well, really hoping that they can come through. I'm going to call Lions Ravens Super Bowl. That's my prediction.

That's my sports cast prediction. I think the Ravens are the best team in the NFL. I think they're going to win it all. They're going to beat Kansas City. And I think the Lions, they've got momentum on their side. My Packers exposed them. You know, they wounded them, and the Lions are going to come off the top rope,

NFC Central tag team, and they're going to take out the Niners. First Super Bowl for the Lions. I'm calling it. I'm like much more. pessimistic. I just feel like it's going to be one of those games where the Ravens let the Chiefs hang around and then Pat Mahomes get some questionable calls on a two-minute drill and they win by like two points. I'm not as anti-KC as you are. I actually like the Chiefs. Or at least I don't

mind them. But yeah, I don't know. It's going to be a good game. That's going to be the Super Bowl, I think. Chiefs Ravens. I think whoever wins that wins at all. All right, well, um, Let's do a quick fantasy draft update. You jumped out to an early lead last week with the Cali Uchis. Is it Kelly Uchis? Kelly Uchis, I believe it. I believe it's Calli Uchis. This is why I need to listen to the radio because if we're, like, we find ourselves

so many times, like, in a situation where we have to pronounce someone's name, and, like, we've just never heard it in real life. Yeah, I mean, they don't even say artist names on the radio anymore, though. I feel like, I feel like they play like a ton of songs, and then you hear ads, and then you hear a bunch of songs. Like, you got to have the Shazam ready to go if you want to know what's actually being played on the radio. But that doesn't help with our pronunciation problem. But anyway, Callie Uchis, you had the early lead last week.

And then I have two albums out today. I have the latest from Katie Kirby, her album, Blue Raspberry. This, again, is a great singer-songwriter from Texas. This is a really good album. She's currently at 81. which I'll take. I was expecting it to be, you know, like low 80s. If that could get bumped up a couple, I'd be happy.

And then we got my boys in the smile. They have a new record out today called Wall of Eyes. That's at 86 right now. Very happy with that. Again, I was hoping for like mid-80s. We're on the high end of mid-80s there. And I hope it can maintain that. Hopefully he doesn't go down.

There weren't a ton of reviews out yet, but I feel good about it. And I'm curious about your feelings about this record by The Smile. I wrote about this album about a week and a half ago because I wrote a big column where I ranked Radiohead albums and I also included side projects and solo albums. So there were 30 albums total. And I had Wall of Eyes at 13. So like on the higher end of like middle of the pack for Radiohead. And I think that's where it belongs.

I think it is definitely one of the best side projects that Radiohead's ever done. I actually like it more than a couple Radiohead records. I don't think it's quite as good as the first smile record, a light for attracting attention, which came out a few years ago. I had that at number 11 on my list, but they're both really good. And it's interesting with this new smile record, because when the first smile record came out, the thing that everybody said is how much it sounded like Radiohead. It sounded more like Hail to the Thief era Radiohead than like actual Radiohead music from the last 20 years.

And if anything, I think that this new album is even more in that direction. Like this sounds even more like B-Sides that would have come out in the late 90s, early 2000s from Radiohead. Like on the first smile record, I feel like the influence of Tom Skinner, who's the drummer in the band, of course, you have Tom York and Johnny Green. what are the other two members? I felt like his influence on the band was more discernible. Like there was more of like a groove aspect, I think, to the first record. This record, his presence, Tom Skinner, it's still, you know, very, you know, it's very apparent. But I don't know, it sounded even more like Radiohead this time.

And my sense that, like, Radiohead isn't going to make another record. Like, I think they might tour again, but I don't know if they're going to make another album. It feels even stronger now with this smile record because I just feel like Tom York and Johnny Greenwood, for whatever reason, can make this kind of music more comfortably and efficiently than they can in Radiohead. Like, both of these guys have complained about how Radiohead works very slowly and that it's easier to make records outside of Radiohead. And you can see that because this is like the second smile record in three years. and there's been two Radiohead records in the last 13 years. But it's like, why is it so hard for Radiohead to make records? You would think that the people that would be the perfectionist in that band

would be Tom York and Johnny Greenwood. It's like, are we being led to believe that, like, Philip Selway is, like, the dictator? Or, like, Colin Greenwood is, like, no boys, we need to do this a hundred more times. I don't understand why these guys are so prolific in the smile and it's harder in Radiohead. There's like some sort of interesting dynamic going on there. But I don't know. To me, the best thing about this record is that it's a vehicle for enjoying Tom York's voice, which is still incredibly well preserved, and Johnny Greenwood's musicality.

And hearing those things working in concert together. It doesn't feel like an event in the way that Radiohead Records do, but maybe that's not such a bad thing if we're going to get more music from these guys as a sort of a, you know, as the reversal of that. But I quite like this record. I think Pitchfork, who still is reviewing records, by the way, they gave it an 8.5. So they're still very high on this band. What's your feeling about the smile?

I just love the idea that, like, after you saying that, like, you know, after interviewing Ed and Phil and Colin, like, they're the super nice guys. Now I have to think of them, like, the directors tell you. millhouse to do the Jiminy Jilliker scene. Like, we got to do it again, again, from different angles. But otherwise, I mean, with the smile, I think back to, for a lot of reasons I've been thinking about, like, pitchfork festival last summer. And I think if you were to tell, like, Ryan Schreiber at the verge of the Condé Nass sale

in 2015, like, hey, man, like eight years from now, Tom York and Johnny Greenwood are going to play pitchfork festival, but it's probably going to be the last one. one and the site's got to more or less cease to exist in six months after that. I think you'd take it, you know, it's like, it's a very like a full circle sort of moment in the same way that, you know, Radiohead ending a moon-shaped pool with true love waits made it a lot easier to accept it's probably the end of them. And when I watch the smile play live, I'm not sure if you had the opportunity to do that yet. It was like, there was like a bucket list novelty to us like fuck man like we are seeing john we are seeing like the two most faith forward

people of radio head like at this festival started by a guy who started this website in his basement and after like 35 minutes i'm like i would stray this entire weekend if we just got the the like ed and colin and phil to play like the most minor radio head song like give me like give me sulk or what like i love that song but you know what i mean and um um Yeah, I just, whenever I listen to The Smile, I appreciate it. You know, Johnny does some really cool shit on guitar with this one. And at the same time, I can't help but feel like it's like a respectable, like, kind of vibe music for Radiohead. I appreciate it and I can't love it.

I can't imagine. I would love to see somebody, like, tell them how this, tell me how this band means as much to them personally as Radiohead does. I think you nailed it in your ranking of the Radiohead Extended Universe, how you gave. I think you put the Benz ahead of in Rainbows, the millennial choice for best Radiohead album, because you like me appreciate when Radiohead go over the top. Like there's that element of like, I say this all the time on this podcast, but like shittiness, I think like the bends, the song is evidence of it or with like, okay computer, how there's still something a little juvenile about it, which obviously connects to

being 17 in the Israeli desert listening to OK computer. But yeah, I feel like they're going to put out a new smile album every two years. I'll appreciate it. It'll always get best new music or whatever equivalent it is. And it'll always show up at like number 26 on year end list. I feel like this is an album at like the one before it that will underperform its reviews. So I think it's fine. Will I go back and listen? Like I wish there was more shit like bending hectic. You know, I'm sure there are people who will say, well, the one rock song, the one rock

blowout, like makes the rest of the album stand out by contrast. But no, I want to hear Johnny do the kind of stuff he was doing in the just solo or whatever. Yeah, I mean, I hear what you're saying. I do think that this is as close. close as they are going to get to that 90s melodramatic, more, you know, widescreen guitar rock that you hear on the Ben's and OK Computer, which that's, for both of us, like, that's our favorite era of the band. I do think that's related to how old we were when those

records came out. Okay, Computer came out when I was 19. And that's like the album you want to hear when you're 19, because it is like the greatest album of all time to you. And I still feel that way. I still, when I listen to Okay Computer, I'm still like, this is maybe the best album to come out since I first heard it. You know, it's hard for me to think of an album better than Okay Computer that's come out since 1997. I still feel like that is the top record. And there's just a mythology with that record that is related to, I think, it's inherent quality, but also when I heard it. And I totally get that for a lot of people, that record is in rainbows. And even that record is the King of Limbs for people.

Really? I could see. Oh, yeah. You hear, I hear that, look, I wrote my book about Kid A, Radiohead came out three years ago, or I guess almost four years ago now. And the thing I was here about that book is I said the King of Limbs is the worst radiohead record, which to me is just like a self-evident thing, unless you think Pablo Honey is worse. But it's definitely in the lower quadrant for me.

And I hear from people all the time who are like, no, it's not. It's one of their best. And those people tend to be people that were, you know, in their late teens, early 20s when that record came out. You know, there's just something about, I mean, part of the greatness of Radiohead is that they have these different eras. And like, you have your own radio head, and it's related to how old you were when certain albums came out.

I wouldn't be shocked if there were people out there who are 19, 20 years old, who love the smile as much as Radiohead. And maybe it's because they got to see the smile at Pitchfork Festival or some other thing. Like this is their radio head. You know, they weren't there in 1997, and they may love that record, but it's like, no, the smile, this is like our music. I think the radio head is definitely one of those bands. They have different eras that mean things to different people. Yeah, I also think, though, that to be 17 or 20 years old, like put you in the exact right position to get what kid A and OK computer we're getting at, they speak to very, like, juvenile, very, you know,

know, just learning shit about how the world works, concerns, you know, because it's like, oh, we're going to be taken over by computers or apocalypse or whatever. And the smile, I guess it's like lyrical content feels a lot more subtle. I don't think it speaks to that sort of mind, like you're in high school and just writing your college application essay. I don't know if the smile does that, but I could totally be wrong. I would love to hear from people who are like, you know, who are like centering their entire identity around the smile the way people do with Radiohead. If they're out there, I'd love to hear from. I mean, I think the worst thing you can say about Wall of Eyes is that, again, it doesn't feel

like an event in the way that Radiohead Records did, even like the later period, you know, and again, King of Limbs, I still think that's like a good record, especially like the live versions of those songs, I think, are really great. Like, the worst Radiohead album is better than like most people's best album. I mean, they're just one of the all-time greatest bands. So, Wal-Ey's, it doesn't feel like an event like those records do, but, I mean, this is like a great late period record by, like, a legacy artist, I think. I mean, Time New York's 55.

I think Johnny Greenwood is like 4950 somewhere in there. And they are not falling off dramatically. I mean, they're still making really good records. And I think that this record, again, can stand toe to toe with, like most radio head albums. Like, again, I had it like in the middle of the pack in terms of like the radiohead cinematic universe, you know, comparing it to like everything that the band members have done. I think it's quite strong.

And I'm glad it exists. I'm glad these two guys are working together. I would rather they make smile records than not work together at all or, you know, putting out records. Like there's this quote from Johnny Greenwood where he, he did an interview with the NME where he said that I'd rather the records be 90% as good, but come out more often talking about Radiohead. And I think that's what the smile is. I think the smile is 90% as good as Radiohead.

And we're getting more records from them. And I think that's a good trade-off. I'm glad there's another smile record. And I hope that they put out records every two years. I think that would be great. If I happen to be a listener right now, I might just do this myself where I make a a burner account to make a fake letter asking if like the worst radio head album is better than the best muse album.

So like King of Limbs or Pablo Honey, is it better than Origin of Symmetry? That's a great, that's a great question. I imagine our mailbag will be brimming with with ideas about that. I would say Muscle Museum, what a great fake radio head song. I mean, I'm, I feel like probably not. I think origin of symmetry is probably better, but it's close. It's a conversation. It's not a slam dunk there.

So, yeah, write in, listeners. We want to hear your opinions on that. Maybe we'll revisit that next week. All right. Well, now we've arrived at my most anticipated part of the episode. The thing I've been looking forward to the most and the thing I did the most prep work for before, you know, leading up to the recording today. I'm going to give you a little quiz here, Ian, on your Pitchfork album reviews.

And before we get into it, I just want to say what inspired this. I was thinking this week about my own history at Pitchfork and how I was, like, how many reviews have I written? I was asking myself. And I think I might have even talked about this last week when we did our talk about Pitchfork. In my mind, I had it as, okay, I think I've written somewhere between a dozen reviews and two dozen. Like, not that many, you know, like a respectable amount. And I was like, well, let's find out exactly how many I did write. So I went online, Googled myself, went on my pitchfork author page, and I was shocked, Ian, shocked to discover that I wrote 57 reviews for pitchfork. Good run. And

there was a period, and I'd forgotten about this, but there was a period in the early 2010s where, you know, I'd left the A.B club. I was the music editor there. I left that. job and I was freelancing for Grantland and they were about to bring me on as a staff writer. But I was doing a lot of writing for pitchfork at that time and looking at the dates of my reviews. I was like reviewing records like every week or every other week for about a happy year or so. So I had a good solid run where I was like pretty busy there. But it was amazing to me because I was going through my reviews and there were so many reviews that I had no memory of writing. I was clicking on the link to make sure that it was really my name.

I was like, wait, these reviews, they were mistakenly put on my page. I didn't write this stuff. But I clicked, and I was like, sure enough, I did. I did review this record. I did review this Melvin's covers record from 2012. I had no memory of writing most of these reviews. I had no memory of listening to these albums. If you asked me, like, what does this album sound like?

I'd have no idea. And it was just amazing to me. And then I started thinking about you. And I was like, I went on your author page. You've written 910 reviews. It's 45 times more than I've written. And I was just thinking, like, if I can't remember most of the reviews I've written, how many of these reviews does Ian remember right?

I was really hoping to get to a thousand, man. Like, that's not going to happen, I guess. I don't know. I mean, they're still going. you know, maybe you can Bill Belichick it and just hang in and get the record. Well, you already have the record, I guess. Yeah, it's unbreakable. You can Bill Belichick it here, hang on with a new regime.

This new regime can... I think I wrote like 10 last year. This would like take a decade. Just you got to pump it up. You got to like just start taking any assignment. You know, just review anything. But anyway, I was like, okay, how many reviews does Ian actually remember writing? So I went into the archive, Ian, and I pulled 10 reviews.

And I'm going to give you the artist in the album title. And I want you to tell me, did you review this record? Some of these records, well, I'm going to say most of these records that I pulled, you did review. Some of them you didn't. So I want to see if you remember reviewing what you reviewed or if you mistakenly believe that you reviewed something that you didn't review. and if you did review it, I want to see if you remember the score. That's going to be bonus points. You're not expected to remember the score, but if you know the score too, then that is just above

and beyond the call of duty. So are you ready? Yeah, and I'm happy we're doing this because this allows me to address like a real pet peeve in online pitfork discussion where people get the scores wrong. Like, I feel like I have like a fucking frightening encyclopedic memory of these things. and I hate when people say like, oh, you guys gave the suburbs at 9.4. It's like it takes a half second to look it up. You don't have to lie to kick it.

Like, it's okay to be a little ashamed of how much you care. But, yeah, I see through that stuff. So I feel like extremely confident in my ability to remember this shit. You were saying that. I DMD you and I was like, I have this idea. I want to quiz you on your pitchfork reviews. And you said, you won't believe how good I am at this. And I was like, okay, I like your confidence.

I went into the deep cuts here. I'm not doing obvious, like, I'm not going to ask you, did you review the melancholy and infinite sadness reissue? Like, that's A-level stuff. I'm going deep here. And I feel like I'm going to stump you at least once. There's one in particular where I'm full, I pulled a little funny business.

I think I could trip you up. We'll see what happens, though. So let's get started. The first record we have is from 2010. It's called Outbursts, and the band is Turin Breaks. Did you review this record? Absolutely. reviewed that. Yes, you did. That's correct. And do you remember the score?

Ooh. That, I'm going to go with, let's call, I'm going to say a 5.6. Oh, no, 3.8. 3.8. But that's okay. You got, again, that's just for bonus points. You correctly guessed that you did review that record. So that's one down. You're one for one. For it breaks the Optimist LP. That is a future. That is a future, our Indycast Hall of Famer right there. I can remember the, I can remember positive scores

to a very good degree. Okay. But, yeah, if it's going to be like, you know, see or D slot reviews that I did in 2010, I might not know the score of those. Okay, well,

I pulled some clunkers. So I thought that the raves would be easier to remember. So I was going for mid-range records to see if I could stump you. The second record we have is from 2014, the other I, the band is 254.

Absolutely reviewed that. Yes, you did. And do you remember the score? You see, I think, so I think I reviewed both 254 albums. So this was the second one. I think it was worse than the first one.

So I'm going to go with a 5.2. Oh, 5.3 is the correct answer. So close. Yeah, I'm going to err on the side of like even numbers. Yeah, 5.3. That's, yeah, that sounds about Ray. That's good. That's a good one.

To get that close, I'm very impressed. Okay, the third record from 2013, it's called At Home. The band is called Keep Shelley in Athens. I totally reviewed that one. Yes, you did. And what was the score? I want to say that feels like 6.8-ish. Okay, a little bit lower, 6.0 for that.

Okay, gotcha. Who in the hell is Keep Shelby and Athens? So they're named after like the city in Greece I think called or Sweden like Keep Selian Act. Like I remember writing about this. They had a good song. They had a song I put on a 2013 mix called Skyway. That's a good song. They're kind of like a, they're kind of like the proto Yumi Zuma.

They're a little chill wave adjacent. Okay. Or shoe gazing Jason. Yeah, I totally remember that one. That is, now we're, I mean. You talk about remembering some guys. I mean, this is just, you know, most people don't remember this hard. It's incredible.

Okay, fourth record, you're three for three so far. Very good. Fourth record, also from 2013. The album is Soft Will. The band is Smith Westerns. I did not review that one. No, you didn't. I think I interviewed them that year, but I did not review the album.

And I think, didn't you review that album? Yes, I did. I reviewed that album. I did. That's the third Smith Westerns record. It might be their last. It probably is. I think it's their last.

One of the members went on to form Whitney, and that's a much bigger band that Smith Westerns were. But I'm a Smith Westerns booster. Diabloon. Diabloon. Fucking good record. Really good record. Okay, so you're four for four.

Fifth record, also from 2013. Spector at the Feast by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I reviewed a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Ambient album in 2008 or nine, but I don't think I did this one. No, you didn't. You did not review this one. Was Pittsburgh even reviewing Black Rebel Motorcycle Club albums in 2013? Yes, they were.

They gave it a 5.1. Who reviewed that? I did. I reviewed that one. I thought I could trip you up. I thought, I feel like that's an album you would have reviewed, and maybe they asked you, and you said no, and then they gave it to me. That's my feeling about that.

just thought the reason why we're using Hayden at this point is that he can review the black Rebel motorcycle club albums that come out okay uh so you are uh you're five to five you're five thousand yeah you bet in a thousand very good uh sixth album from 2015 wasted on the dream the band is jeff the brotherhood totally reviewed that one yes you did you remember what you gave it i want to say a 5.8 oh close 5.2 I think I like that album more than you did. Yeah, that seems like very much like a... That seems like the kind of an album that you, like in a Grantland Roundup album you gave some mention to

because I think... Didn't they work with like some guy from like Poco or something like that? I remember there was like some... It was either a producer that they worked with or something like that. Or like Ian Anderson. Ian Anderson's on that. Oh, from Jethro Toll.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I had a couple of their. albums. They're from Nashville. I don't know if they're still active or not, but they had some good records back then. Six for six. You're killing it. Seventh album, 2012. Nothing bad will ever happen. The band is Dignan Porch. Ooh, tough one. I think I did. Yes, you did. And...

Okay, so this is, this one vaguely familiar, I cannot fucking tell you for the life of me what this band sounds like. I just remember this. name. That was a close one. That one I just kind of took a guess at. What the fuck is Dick and Porch? Yeah, it's getting harder. I put the harder ones at the end. So you gave it up by point nine. Okay. So another middling score.

Seven for seven. You're killing it. Eighth album from 2013. It's called Melbourne. The artist is Jackson Scott. Totally reviewed that one. That album was terrible. No, you didn't. You didn't review this one I, fuck, I interviewed him No, you reviewed the second

Jackson Scott record That came out two years later Oh fuck And you gave it a bad score See this is the one I thought would trip you up This is the tricky one Because I was like, he's gonna remember Reviewing Jackson Scott

Didn't you do the first one? I did the first one Fuck, yeah the second one was terrible Oh my God, yeah Yeah 7.7 Jackson Scott Who I think was sort of like retro 60 sounding singer-songwriter if I remember correctly.

Yeah, totally. He was like Alex G. he was like supposed to be the Alex G before Alex G. before Alex G. Because he was doing a lot of the kind of like post Ariel Pink kind of like helium like Scotch Guard vocal wean stuff.

Right. Oh, I am so fucking about this one wrong. I jumped the gun because when you said Melbourne like, oh, that was the one that Pitchfork liked. Oh my God. See, that was the one I thought of my trip you up on because Jackson Scott, the double Jackson Scott. You did review the second one, but not the first one. So seven of eight, very close Ian.

The ninth record from 2012, it's called Banks, and it's by Paul Banks. I don't think I did that one. No, you didn't. I did that one. That's a 5.8. Again, that's the solo record by Paul Banks. No idea what that sounds like. I don't remember it at all.

It does not sound like banks and steel It does not sound like everyone on my dick like they're supposed to be And I reviewed a lot of like the Latter Day Interpol records But yeah, that one I don't recall I thought it could maybe trip you up on that one Just because that seems again like a record you would have reviewed But you didn't do it Last one from 2013

The record is called Hunters The band is called Hunters That sounds like the sort of shit I'd review Yes, you'd be Yes, you did. Do you remember the score? I cannot remember it for the life of me. Now, based on the name, I'm going to assume they were like one of those bands sounded like neon gold or like downtown records. They seem like one of those kind of synthy, one of those like synthy indie bands that was all the rage after like hyam and churches popped up.

Is that is that what is that the case? I'm looking at it up right now. the Brooklyn duo of Derek Watson and Izzy Almeda positioned themselves as a missing link between 90s grunge and the noisy art pop of NYC in the early odds. Oh, I remember this one. This was like one of those, yeah, this is like kind of a quasi-major label sort of post-Labels rock band.

Yeah, on Mamal Pop. Yeah, exactly. If it's if it's synth, neon, gold, if it's guitars, mom and pop. Yeah. Oh my God. But yeah, I think the fact that you dug into like 2012 to 2013 makes it more likely to I'd remember it.

I would be like, I was like, you know, scared that you were going to like bring up like 2008, 2009 shit. But I think that this exercise worked because I was like writing like two reviews a week in 2012 and 2013. I was like a staff writer at that point. And I had like a quota I needed to hit. And, man, I was just getting busy back then. Yeah.

I'm proud I got you once. I'm so embarrassed. The Jackson Scott thing, I hope you're not up tonight, tossing and turning, upset about the Jackson Scott thing. You did excellent on this. You were on top of all of these. The Jackson Scott thing, I think you got a little overconfident with Jackson Scott. Maybe you had to think about it for an extra second. But I'm glad I got you once, but very good job on the quiz.

I congratulate you. Let's talk about Alex G. Big indie news this week is that Alex G is no longer technically an indie rocker. He signed a RCA, big record deal. And the reaction to this story online was interesting to me because I feel like we're at a point, actually well past the point where the distinction between like a major label and an independent label seems insignificant. I don't recall the last time where people cared about an indie band signing with a major. It just feels like it's all one big stew.

I mean, this is the way that we use the term indie rock. It's more of a vibe than anything like actually related to independent music. I mean, clearly, like we talk about Boy Genius being an indie band and they're on Interscope, you know, all the way down the line. But it did seem with Alex G that there were people out there. there that I don't know if it was like anger but there was like a mix of like confusion maybe about like why RCA would do this and then also I don't know like discussions about the implications of it it was very interesting to me because I just don't remember the last time this happening and it really drove home the fact to me that for a certain

generation Alex G is this Touchstone artist that is associated with. with underground music, I guess. I mean, he did get started, you know, being a very sort of internet native singer-songwriter, got popular from posting albums on band camp. But certainly, like, in the last five years or so, maybe longer, he felt like an establishment indie guy. I mean, he played on Frank Ocean's record.

Did he play on blonde or was it the other one? I think it was endless. But he did, when I, the last FYF Fest, I do recall that he was part of, this like kind of guitar orchestra that surrounded Frank Ocean stage. So that was, you know, like eight years ago. And I don't know. He has a big audience.

He's a good looking kid. I mean, he has that going for him. He's very marketable. He's not a very good interview. Can I say that? I think he's known for that. He's not a very articulate guy. I mean, no offense to him.

But, you know, I don't think he really enjoys that process. He is like the anti-Riley Walker. You know, like Riley Walker. is like the Hall of Fame interview subject just gives quote after quote that's amazing Alex G is like the opposite of that but I don't know like what were your thoughts watching this whole thing unfold again I just found it very surprising the reaction to this yeah I'm more surprised by the reaction uh than the actual instance of him signing to a major label um I mean you know it kind of primed the pump with him opening for the foo fighters who I believe are also

an RCA band. And it was sort of like when, like, I remember the story, Death Cab saying that, like, they were on tour with Pearl Jam and they brought the record deal backstage for them to sign it, which was, you know, like, hey, welcome to the fold. But I'm thinking about that Stereogum article about Shugays that came out like not a month ago where you'd hear about these artists that are getting signed to Interscope off the strength of, like, one song. And I think that's been something that's happened quite a bit, whether it's a band like

surf curse that got TikTok famous of a song that was like eight years old or something like that. But I just, I thought it was very odd that people were trying to frame this like back in the post Nevermind Gold Rush, how labels would sign like the meat puppets or like the Melvins as this sort of like credibility loss leader so they could like, you know, finance the candleboxes and the Bushes of the world or even like Sonic Youth for that matter. But like Alex G has 7 million Spotify listeners. I can't imagine any major label not wanting to sign him. I guess, you know, you put out four albums on Domino, which for all intents of purposes

is like a major label anyway. Yeah, I'm surprised. I don't know what being on RCA might mean for Alex G as far as like the future goes, but it's not like, I don't know. I don't see it as like a credibility thing for RCA. It just reminds me of, I think it was seven something years ago when you would hear that like the war on drugs and LCD sound system and Vampire Weekend were signing the major labels where it's like,

well, they're not on a major label already. Or it's just like, yeah, these are like established amphitheater filling bands. And, you know, nothing wrong with getting a buck off it. Alex, like, get the, Alex G, get your money, get Michael Bynhorn to produce your next record or something like that.

Oh, man, Bynhorn. Get the Bynhorn treatment. I love it. Yeah. I mean, you know, yeah, and Alex G, I mean, he writes what, like pretty melodic songs. I mean, he's not, like, making challenging music. It is pretty much in the center of, like, whatever indie pop rock is at this moment. I do wonder, like, what is his

ceiling you think commercially? Is he, does he have the potential to be like boy genius big, like where he's headlining MSG? I don't think so either. But I do think he will be someone who is productive and has an audience and will always do well. You know, I don't think he's going to be a superstar necessarily, but he's going to be like a really solid. Yeah, I mean, maybe we're looking at like a Wilco type scene. Right. No, yeah.

I think that's a good analogy for sure. Yeah, and look, who doesn't want Wilco on their label? They're really, they're a great band, they have respected. I'll tell you who didn't want Wilco on their label. That's true. So, yeah, anyway, congratulations to Alex G. Go get them. Not the end of indie rock as we know it.

And I don't see this being like, I don't know, bands that, or just like, this, like, this is not going to lead to, like, a swath of, like, Alex G soundelike's getting signed by. major labels. That, like, that would have happened already. You know what I mean? Right. Yeah, I think there is this thing now. You mentioned, like, the War on Drugs and, like, the Nationals on a major and LCD sound system.

You know, there was this thing in the 90s where... National aren't a major label? Yeah, they are. I should look that up. I think they signed with... I'll Google this while I'm talking. I'm pretty sure they are. I still thought they're on 4A.D.

Oh, no, no, they're on 4AD, I guess, still. I thought they Anyway, okay Scratch that The war on drugs though They're on Atlantic LCD census though I'm not sure what label they're on

I think Columbia Vampire Weekend You know It's almost like these labels Collect the indie bands That stick around Long enough And it's like we're gonna put them on our label

We know they're gonna be solid But we're not expecting You know Nirvana By signing this I like these stories because this is like how I find out which major labels are still around. Right. Which ones haven't been folded into like universal or everything.

It's because, yeah, I think like RCA like was most like was quite recently revamped or no, Electra was the one. I remember when I was reviewing the White Reaper album, how Electra was kind of like raised from the dead. And they signed because they're like, yeah, we want the same logo that we saw Metallica records back in the day. All right. Well, let's get to our mailbag segment here, and we haven't done a mailbag segment in a while. But the emails keep coming in, which we appreciate. We love hearing from you all. Hit us up at Indycast Mailbag at gmail.com.

And also, you know, I'm going to put this out there again. I haven't begged for reviews in a while, but if you can give us a review, that always helps the podcast, helps spread the word. We've had a really good beginning of the year so far. Our audience is blowing up. Really? Oh, yeah. The last episode was big. People wanted to hear the pitchfork takes from you and I, and they got them.

And SportsCast, too, is blowing up. It's becoming one of the biggest sports cast segments inside of an IndieCast podcast in America. You know, people that listen to indie rock podcast to get sports news, I think we're number one in that iTunes category. So it's fantastic. Should we talk about then, like, the Bucs? changing their coach, like mid-year. Are you a Timberwolves or Bucks guy? I'm a Bucks guy, but I'm a very casual NBA fan.

I'm like, I follow the league via Twitter and sports podcasts. I haven't watched probably more than five minutes of a game this year. I would wholly, there is so much overlap between NBA, Twitter, and indie rock, like 40-something Twitter. I think that's an area of. growth. Yeah. Especially as we get into like, you know, May and June when there ain't shit going on sports watch.

That's true. That's true. Watch this space. May June is like the heart of NBA playoffs. So maybe we got to kick up our NBA contact. We'll bring Wojohn. We'll do some Woj. And he can like, he can break some indie rock news.

Maybe he could tell us about the next person signing to a major label, you know, band members getting fired from their bands. We'll get like Shabs, shabs, bombs. Right. Yeah. We need a woe. a sham's for indie rock transactions. Just dropping, you know, wodge bombs on, there's a new Adrian Linker album, you know, like, that's the wodge bomb that got dropped today. All right, you

want to read our letter this week? Yeah, I love how this, like, ties into, did you review this or not? Because I know I've reviewed a lot of these guys' albums. So this comes to us from Michael from South Orange, New Jersey. Nice. Hey, guys, first time, long time. Big fan of sports. cast. Yes. Sorry about that Green Bay loss. Not sorry about that Eagles loss. Yeah.

Stay in New Jersey. Do not fucking set foot in the link, Michael. I mean, presumably he's a Giants fan. Yeah. I'm guessing he's a Giants fan. Or a Jets fan. I don't know.

I know, but like, you know, if he's got animus against the Eagles, that's a division rival if you're a Giants fan. That's very true. So, anyway. All right. So,

uh, anywho, uh, couldn't help but notice the Instacart Das Races commercial. I couldn't help but notice it because it's playing every five seconds. Of all the songs I never expected to be in a commercial during the football game, this has to be up there with using Morrissey's Every Day as like Sunday to promote direct TV back in the day. Can't imagine Morrissey watching 0.5 seconds of an American football game.

I don't even know if you could watch like a football game like footy. What are the most surprising songs you've heard used in a commercial? Also, if you have time, can you explain hosier to me? I think the guy is only one song in these headlining festivals. I'll hang up and listen to your answer on the air. Oh, wow, a two-banger here. He's asking about, okay, so there's a new Instacart commercial featuring the song combination, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

There's like a parody of that song by Das Racist. And, you know, that song, I don't know how big it was at the time. I mean, it was definitely big on the internet. It was like the dare of 2009. But way bigger, though. Yeah. Because the dare, I mean, come on, that was like a five-minute phenomenon. Das racist combination pizza and Taco Bell.

I hear that reference all the time online. Like someone will make some play on words. I'm at the something. I'm at the something. I'm at the something combination something something. Like whatever. Like I hear that joke a million times. It is like the dad joke of like millennial and maybe Gen Z.

You know, like if you are an aging millennial, you have probably made a Das racist. reference, like, in the last five years. And this just seems to confirm that it's in an Instacart commercial now, that that generation is getting old. And now this is like the, you know, we were talking about Trump playing Smith songs because all of his followers are like, you know, in their 60s. And that's, you know, they like the Smiths 30 years ago.

Now we've got these people, the Das Racist generation, if I can call them that. They're in their 30s and 40s now or maybe late 20s. And now you're the people that Instacart is going to be marketing to. So congratulations. Now you are being targeted by advertisers who want to exploit your generational nostalgia and your worn out jokes for their own benefit. Yeah, I mean, I think I reviewed some cool 80 solo albums back in the day. But yeah, that song's coming up a lot, like the combination pizza and Taco Bell song.

Speaking of Taco Bell, I know that Military Gun is on Taco Bell commercials now, which on some level feels like, whoa, what's going on with that? But like, when we think about what military gun was compared to, like, all the 90s alt rock bands, you know, when that record came out, it's like a Taco Bell commercial seems like the most logical way for them to break into the mainstream. So shout to military guns, shout to Das Racist. I don't mind hearing those songs on commercials. I don't have any sort of hangups about it. But as far as like, I don't know, the most surprising, nothing surprises me anymore. I mean, like we had the era where you would hear like new slang in a McDonald's commercial or Gravity Rides Everything by Modest Mous, Mouse, like selling minivans.

I think the biggest surprise for me is that, when Volkswagen used the beach house song, but it turned out to not be a beach house song. Right. Where they, like, did AI before AI, where they just, like, got, yeah, just like some beach house sound alike band, not Memory House.

Yeah, we're going to remember some fake beach houses here. Yeah, nothing can really surprise me anymore. And as far as, like, Hosier goes, I think we can just, like, direct anyone who's questioning hosier's popularity to go to Steve's Noah Kahan column. That pretty much explains it. Yeah, I mean, just to circle back a little bit to like the most surprising song. I don't, yeah, I'm with you.

I'm not really ever surprised anymore. It's not like 20 years ago when you hear like Nick Drake Pink Moon in a Volkswagen commercial and you're like, holy crap, like Nick Drake selling out from Beyond the Grave. But the funniest song for me is Beck covering Old Man. Oh, yeah. The Grammy nominated Old Man. That was subsequently nominated for a Grammy, of course, because it's Beck. But, yeah, he covers Neil Young's old man for an NFL promo for a Tom Brady game.

I don't know. I just find that hilarious. I think about that, and I laugh. Hozier, yeah, you know, Hozier, I actually think he has more than one song. I mean, you're thinking the song, Take Me to Church. Yeah. That's his big hit. But he's got other songs, I think.

And you mentioned my Noah, I think it's Noah Khan, I believe. is how it's pronounced. I believe you. Kelly, you just Noah Kahan. We are struggling. No, I think it's Kahn. I think I'm pretty sure it's Kahn. But yeah, I wrote about Noah Kahn this week.

And if you're not familiar with him, he is this folk singer from Vermont who has had this slow burn success in the last few years. He put out a record in 2022 called Stick Season. And it's just kind of gradually produced like a lot of. of big streaming hits. We were talking about Alex G having 7 million monthly listeners. Noah Khan has 33 million.

I mean, he is a huge star and he's growing ever bigger. He's going to be like headlining Fenway Park this summer, like two shows, doing a couple shows at Massa Square Garden that are already sold out. And, you know, he sounds like the early 2010's

folk pop that was huge. You know, Mumford and Sons, Lumineers, heart. There's lots of boot stomping and hand clapping and lots of like ohs like oh like that kind of thing. And that's the kind of music. And Hozier kind of falls under that too. He actually did a duet with Noah Khan recently on one of the songs from Sixth season. It's the kind of music that I feel like it goes in and out of fashion in terms of people talking about it in the media, but I feel like it never stops being popular. Yeah. I, yeah, there's a lot of music. Yeah, there's

There's just a steady drumbeat of this stuff. That's always big. And then occasionally you get a guy like Noah Khan who just really blows up and gets beyond the sort of like level of popular but not famous artists. Like I feel like there's a lot of popular but not famous artists in that scene who do huge streaming numbers but like they're not celebrities really. You know, like Warren Zaders of the world, like people like that.

Like all these guys that like my brother-in-law, listens to that he's in his backyard hanging out. I remember he was on Zach Bryan well before I was or any other music critic just because Zach Brian really blew up online in a very organic way and the media was slow to cover him. I think Noah Khan is sort of like a northern Zach Brian. They have a lot of similarities musically, I think. But yeah, Hozier, I think, falls under that same camp where, yeah, you feel like he's not in the zeitgeist, maybe, but, he has great streaming numbers and he has a loyal audience. So

those people are always going to do well at festivals. Yeah, and they'll always end up on like one of the New York Times writers year end list, you know, in the same way Zach Bryan does. But for context if like 33 million Spotify listeners doesn't sound, like just so that hits home,

Boy Genius has like 5 million. Right. Yeah. Phoebe Bridges has like 10. Right. Like he, you know, like Olivia Rodrigo, because I was looking this up for this column I wrote. She's got 60 million.

So, you know, she's definitely on the upper end. I think Beyonce is 50 million. But like, so like, Noah Kahn, he's not at that level yet, but he's like getting there. And he will probably, you know, be in that like stadium headlining strata here very soon. I mean, he can do that. I don't think he can play stadiums all over the country. He can do it in New England because that's his home base and he sings about New

England all the time. songs. But I don't know. I think he's going to be doing stadiums probably everywhere in the not so distant future. Don't count Noah Khan out. If you haven't heard of this guy, you will either love him or be super irritated with him. I guarantee by the time this year is over. Yeah, for me, if you're asking whether or not I like this stuff, this sounds like the sort

of music that I would like fake like if a girl I liked in college was into him or I'd like write the most scathing college paper review of his music. We've now reached the part of our episode that we call Recommendation Corner, where Ian and I talk about something that we're into this week. Ian went to go first. So as long as we've had like talky British bands that get popular in recent years, I've made a call. It's like, man, I just want like a Maximo Park, you know,

like someone who makes dumb bangers. And I think I say that like very lovingly about this new album from a band called courting. The album's called New Last Name. They got a DJ Sabrina, the teenage DJ guest spot there. And I'd say that they're the Maximo Park to the 1975s, Franz Ferdinand. I don't know if that if that like analogy works, but it's dumber, it's more fun, it's catchier. And yeah, it's just like the sort of thing I've been dying to hear in this wave of talky British post-punk whatever band. So yeah, if any of that stuff made any of that stuff made any bit of sense to you. DJ and Sabrina the teenage DJ,

Maximo Park. Yeah, this is what's up for you. So I'm going to do a quick callback to my draft picks this week, Katie Kirby, Blue Raspberry, and of course the smile, wall of eyes. I like both of those records quite a bit. Blue Raspberry, Katie Kirby, that's a record that it's just a real kind of great slowburn type record. Again, she's a singer-strong writer from Texas. and just really beautiful melodies. I like her voice a lot.

Just a really nice record. I expect that to be an album that people come to as the year unfolds. And you talked about albums underperforming on year-end list, contrary to the review. I actually think that's an album that will grow in esteem as people discover it as we move forward in 2024. I also have to do a shout out to your rec corner choice. I think from last week, the Glass Beach record, Plastic Death.

I hadn't really listened to it that much when you were talking about it. Totally dove in this week. That record is so much fun. I love it so much. The way I've been describing it to people is it's like if Tool had made a sellout record with Brendan O'Brien in the 90s. Doesn't that describe a perfect circle? Well, maybe. But like something that's pretty proggy but also catchy and melodic.

grabs you, even when it gets kind of spaced out and weird. Like, that's what that record is. It also reminded me a bit of, you remember that band, Mew? Of course I remember Mew. Oh, I love that band. Mew is great. I got Mew vibes as well from this Glass Beach record. And that might be even a better comparison than the Toul Brendan O'Brien record,

although I wish that existed. But yeah, again, I'm just going to echo what Ian said. If you haven't caught up with this record yet, definitely an early contender for album of the year. very weird to have that conversation already, but it just feels like that kind of record where the people who like this record are going to love it.

It's going to maybe not appeal to everyone, but the people who are on the wavelength of this album, I think, are going to be obsessed with it if they're not already. This album is crushing it on, like, album of the year and rate your music. Oh, yeah. That crowd, this album

is like straight down the middle. I mean, the people who are on those websites, yeah, this this album is perfect for them. So yeah, great record. Definitely catch up with it if you haven't already. That about does it for this episode of Indycast. 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 Mix tape newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie. And I recommend five albums per week and we'll send it directly to your email box.