Indiecast

After Ian took the week off to recuperate from his wedding, he’s back online with Steve to do what they do best: talk about the biggest indie news of the week, review albums, and hash out trends. This week, the dynamic duo is digging into new albums from Parquet Courts and My Morning Jacket. My Morning Jacket is back with their ninth studio album, following last year’s surprise sequel to  The...

Twenty years helps to put a lot of things in perspective in life, especially music. This week on  Indiecast , Steve and Ian are reflecting on the musical landscape of 2001 and how it has evolved in the two decades since. The discussion revolves around four specific categories: albums they loved in 2001 that they longer care about, albums they didn’t care about in 2001 that are now important t...

This week marked the long-awaited return of Mitski, who has been more or less quiet since the  Be The Cowboy  tour wrapped nearly two years ago. Now, the acclaimed songwriter is back with “Working For The Knife,” bringing with it the always-insane discourse around her music. The meat of this episode revolves around one of the biggest bands of the 21st century, Coldplay. With billions of...

October is upon us, and with it comes new records that are perfectly timed to soundtrack the changing of the leaves. This week, Steve and Ian are digging into  Let Me Have One More , the anticipated new record from  Illuminati Hotties , as well as Strand Of Oaks’  In Heaven . Both artists represent relatively opposite ends of the  Indiecast -core spectrum — Illuminati Hotties h...

Today, September 24th, marks 30 years since Nirvana released  Nevermind . In the last three decades, people have already said pretty much everything there is to say about the Washington grunge outfit, but that isn’t going to stop Steve and Ian from reminiscing about one of the biggest rock albums of all time on this week’s episode of  Indiecast .  Nevermind  is an album that st...

It’s that time again: Steve and Ian are taking questions from listeners. This week’s episode of  Indiecast  kicks off with a recap of last weekend’ Pitchfork Festival, before diving into a discussion of bands that started their career in the indie world before eventually growing to a point that their indie cred became nonexistent. Bands like The Black Keys and Kings Of Leon are shining e...

This week, Steve and Ian are getting ready for festival season. Pitchfork Festival is finally here, featuring sets from Dogleg, Oso Oso, and Bartees Strange and marking the  tripling  of the fest’s notorious “token DIY/emo” acts. This year, festival season arrives in the fall, which leads into a question from a listener asking which albums are indicative of the changing of the leaves for...

What’s your biggest fear as a concertgoer? For Steve, it’s having to do a Number 2 at a show — even nice venues with good toilets seem like a terrible place to spend any significant amount of time. This is perhaps the exact thought that went through the head of the person who had an unfortunate bowel movement in the mosh pit at a Turnstile show last week. Will people now feel empowered to do the s...

During last week’s episode, Steve and Ian wondered if the latest album from Lorde, was going to follow a similar trajectory to recent releases from Clairo and Billie Eilish — LPs with rollouts that feel very muted and underwhelming, but the final product ultimately left them feeling pleasantly surprised.  Solar Power , however, never manages to spin the narrative and truly deliver, offering a...

This week’s episode has Steve and Ian discussing a band that wouldn’t have fallen into the show’s purview on their last record. But the new record from San Francisco black metal heavyweights Deafheaven doesn’t sound very much like black metal at all. Instead,  Infinite Granite  is a genuine departure, a straight-up shoegaze record that starts the band on a completely new path. Where...

It’s been a big week in the indie rock world, from  the return of Big Thief  to  updated Covid policies across the live music ecosystem . Steve and Ian cover both of these topics in the opening minutes of the latest episode of  Indiecast . The meat of this week’s episode comes in the form of a discussion of new albums from The Killers and Bleachers. The Killers are back with&nb...

During last week’s episode, Steve and Ian took some time to theorize that Billie Eilish’s new album  Happier Than Ever  might be heading in the direction of a sophomore slump. However, the latest effort from the young superstar is a good example of an LP featuring a handful of underwhelming singles that misrepresent and otherwise pretty good album.  Happier Than Ever  seems to...

Time flies when you’re having fun: this week marks the one-year anniversary of  Indiecast ! Steve and Ian kick off the new episode with reflections of their highs and lows from a year of doing the show, and take a moment to thank all of the listeners who have engaged with the show and submitted questions. The meat of this episode has Steve and Ian revisiting the  Indiecast  Hall Of...

With new music incoming from The War On Drugs, The Killers, and Coldplay, this episode of  Indiecast  asks the question we’ve all been thinking: is heartland rock stronger than ever or drawing its last breath? The staying power of the aforementioned acts is undeniable, but at the same time there aren’t many up and coming acts who are creating music that feels similar, sonically or themat...

This week’s episode opens with Steve and Ian discussing recent albums from the offspring of famous people. This leads naturally into a conversation of  Sling , the new sophomore album from indie pop phenom Clairo. Claire Cotrill’s parents are well-connected in the music industry, which many haters use as a way to discount her success as an artist over the last few years and reiterate the...

As is tradition, this week’s episode of  Indiecast  has Steve and Ian taking questions from you: the loyal listeners. Questions were fielded from all around the globe, leading this Mailbag episode to revolve around a provocative conversation about topics like the state of music journalism and which medium is best for learning about an artist in 2021, as well as bands that could have been...

Late last year, Steve and Ian created the  Indiecasties , a special, highly sought-after distinction honoring the best, worst, and downright strangest releases of the year. This week, they’re bringing back the segment for a mid-year review to award titles like Most Valuable Album Cycle (MVAC), Memory-Holed Album Of The Year So Far, and Most “Festival Band” Festival Band to the best and bright...

Lucy Dacus! Modest Mouse! Pom Pom Squad! Tyler, The Creator! Lightning Bug! Free Throw! Faye Webster! All of these albums drop today, and that’s just the beginning of the list. Steve and Ian got in front of this week’s onslaught of releases by discussing the new Modest Mouse LP in  last week’s episode . Even with advance preparation, it was difficult to choose just two albums to dig into this...

Next week, Modest Mose is releasing  The Golden Casket , their first new music since 2015’s  Strangers To Ourselves  .  We recently got Isaac Brock to review every Modest Mouse album , including their latest, and now it’s time for Steve and Ian to give their takes on the band’s first release for the better part of a decade. In addition to new music, Steve and Ian are also refle...

This month marks the tenth anniversary of Bon Iver’s self-titled sophomore album, which solidified Justin Vernon’s project as an indie rock powerhouse, and eventually earned him a handful of Grammys (see above). To celebrate ten years of this pivotal record, Steve and Ian are putting aside their opposing views on Bon Iver to spend an episode reflecting on the outfit’s catalogue and lasting impact....

Somehow, 2021 is already nearly halfway over. With the world getting ready to emerge from our collective cocoon, here’s to hoping that the second half of the year will bring more joy IRL than the first half. Despite the lack of in-person interactions over the last six months, one thing that hasn’t been lacking is the release of exceptional new music. On this week’s episode of  Indiecast , Ste...

Last week, Olivia Rodrigo released her highly anticipated debut album  Sour . The full-length effort includes three absolutely massive singles, and sets Rodrigo as one of the biggest stars on the planet. However, some of the discourse online was criticizing the praise, questioning whether critics have any place reviewing “teenage” music. On this week’s episode of  Indiecast , Steve and I...

The new episode of  Indiecast  is all about listener questions. Steve and Ian fielded questions from listeners all over the country, with topics ranging from nostalgia to underdog bands. To begin, a listener is wondering about stan culture, specifically with regard to the response to lukewarm reception of St. Vincent’s new album,  Daddy’s Home . After  Pitchfork  released...

This week’s episode kicks off with a listener question about the current renaissance of post-punk outfits like Dry Cleaning, Squid, or Pottery. Is this style of music, which is often built around the dry musings of a distinctly BRITISH vocalist, built to last, or is its popularity merely a byproduct of being inside for too long? The main crux of this week’s episode, however, is dedicated to&n...

For weeks, we’ve been quietly hoping that Steve and Ian would dedicate an episode of  Indiecast  to the evolution and purported impending comeback of ska. Well, that day has finally arrived, as this week’s episode is all about talkin’ ska. For the uninitiated, ska is a genre of music that originally started in Jamaica in the 1960’s but soon moved over to the UK with the 2 Tone revival in...