Best of What’s New

This weekend, most U.S. states switch to daylight savings time. While opinions remain divided, I like the additional hour of daylight in the evening. To me, it’s also another sign that spring is finally coming. So what does all of this have to do with new music? Nothing much, except this Best of What’s New post appears on the last day of standard time. Let’s kiss standard time goodbye with some indie pop, indie rock and alternative rock. Unless noted otherwise, all tunes came out yesterday (March 12).

Lake Street Dive/Hush Money

Lake Street Dive were founded in Boston in 2004 by four jazz students at the New England Conservatory of Music: Rachael Price (lead vocals, ukulele, guitar), Mike “McDuck” Olson (trumpet, guitar, piano, organ, vocals), Bridget Kearney (bass, piano vocals) and Mike Calabrese (drums, organ, vocals). In 2017, Akie Bermiss (keyboards, organ, vocals) joined, completing the band’s current lineup. After Kearney won the jazz category of the 2005 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Lake Street Dive used the prize money to fund their 2006 debut In This Episode… Apple Music characterizes the band’s music as indie pop. According to their website, “Their personalities, skills, and wide-ranging taste in pop, rock, R&B, and jazz have long blended together to make an impressively cohesive sound, both sophisticated and playful, combining retro influences with contemporary attitude.” Hush Money, credited to all members of the band and producer Mike Elizondo, is a track from Lake Street Dive’s newly released Obviously, their seventh studio album. Cool tune!

The Paper Kites/Climb on Your Tears (feat. Aoife O’Donovan)

Indie rock and folk band The Paper Kites were founded in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. Sam Bentley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards) and Christina Lacy (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) started writing and playing music together in 2009 when they were in high school. After gaining some traction locally in Melbourne, they were joined by their friends David Powys (guitars, banjo, lap steel, backing vocals), Sam Rasmussen (bass, synthesizers) and Josh Bentley (drums, percussion) in 2010, and started self-releasing EPs. Their first single Bloom from 2010 brought the band some international attention, gaining Platinum and Gold certifications in Canada and the U.S., respectively. In 2013, The Paper Kites released their first full-length album States in Australia (August) and North America (October). Climb on Your Tears, written by Bentley, features American singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan who joins him on vocals. The tune is from the band’s new album Roses. Check out the great sound, something I also noticed on the album’s other tracks I’ve heard so far.

Grouplove/This Is the End

Grouplove are an American alternative rock band. Their current members include co-founders Christian Zucconi (vocals, guitars), Hannah Hooper (vocals, keyboards) and Andrew Wessen (guitars, vocals), along with Daniel Gleason (bass) and Benjamin Homola (drums), who joined in 2014 and 2017, respectively. According to their profile on Apple Music, Grouplove are known for their eccentric, upbeat tunes that mix pop and electronic styles. The quintet formed in 2009 after the members attended an artists’ retreat in Greece and later met up in Los Angeles to record their self-titled 2010 debut EP. Their debut album, 2011’s Never Trust a Happy Song, reached No. 75 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than a half-million copies. In 2020, Grouplove became the first US band certified “climate positive” by the United Nations for their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint while touring. How about that! The cheerfully titled This Is the End, credited to the band, Alex Charpentier and Paul DeCourcey, appears on Grouplove’s fifth and new studio album This Is This. It’s kind of catchy!

Teddy’s Hit/Quote Yourself

Teddy’s Hit are a Dutch indie rock trio from Amsterdam, featuring Tom Ogilvie (guitar, backing vocals), Casper van der Lans (bass) and Kick Kluiving (drums, vocals). According to their profile on Spotify, While you can hear some obvious ’90s influences, the melodic fuzzy guitars and energetic catchy songwriting make up for a sound of their own. Their Soundcloud profile notes their arrangements, sounds and melodies that shine bright like the woozy and wondrous tunes of Ultimate Painting, Twin Peaks and Real Estate. The latter three are alternative and indie rock bands from London, Chicago and New York, respectively, none of which I know. Apple Music lists various singles Teddy’s Hit released between 2017 and last year, as well as an eponymous EP from 2019. Quote Yourself is a tune from Painters, which appears to be the band’s first full-length album that came out on January 22. I like this quite a bit. Check it out!

Sources: Wikipedia; Lake Street Dive website; Apple Music; Spotify; Soundcloud; YouTube