indie rock – Queen City Sounds and Art

The Notwist Brings a Fragile Jangle Pop Delicacy to Lovers’ Heartbreaking “How the Story Ends”

The Notwist’s new album News From Planet Zombie is out March 13, 2026 via Morr Music on LP, CD and digitally. But now you can hear a bit of what’s on offer with the group’s delicate but confident cover of “How the Story Ends” by Lovers from its 2008 album I Am The West. The latter was an indie pop band that made a splash in the underground before going on hiatus in 2014. Rather than synths, The Notwist employs a kind of repeated jangle guitar riff but keeps in place the vocals that sound a little raw and fragile in conveying words about a deep heartbreak and lingering heartache of the kind that comes back to you when you remember an intense relationship that ended a little messily and without the kind of closure you might want from a connection that can still unsettle your heart to think back on it because not all stories end neatly in the way of myths or fiction with a satisfying denouement. Listen to “How the Story Ends” on YouTube and follow The Notwist at the links below.

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Bad Flamingo Celebrates Arbitrary Social Taboos on Experimental Indie Folk Single “Shame”

Bad Flamingo, photo courtesy the artists

Bad Flamingo has truly been evolving in new directions as a band and the single “Shame” is a marked stylistic departure from its most recent compositions. A sustained focus on textural rhythm with the vocals carrying the melody runs throughout the song with some lingering guitar haunting the edges. The lyrics are not so much about a couple on the run from mainstream society. Rather, it’s a song about not feeling bad about being one’s authentic self even if it isn’t in alignment with traditional values and conventional mores and exulting in the kind of shame projected on anyone daring to transgress in the most basic of ways. The song seems to be about a love that doesn’t have the sanction of society but it’s a significant permutation beyond what the duo has been thus far in the songwriting. It’s like the adventure part of the long arc of the band’s mythology is in the past or on pause with some moments to reflect on what exactly is going on and making sense and reaffirming one’s dignity on a path to being where in fact shame is an unnecessary aspect of one’s life cast on you by judgmental folk who can’t seem to mind their own business. Watch the video for “Shame” on YouTube and follow Bad Flamingo at the links below.

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Joyer’s Indie Shoegaze Single “Glare of the Beer Can” is Warmly Rendered Portrait of Fond Reverie

Joyer has a gift for framing fond and emotionally complex memories in a way that is more touching and affectionate than nostalgic. The atmospheric and detailed guitar melodies put one in a reflective mood instantly and on “Glare of the Beer Can” the group offers vivid memories in a way that suggests creativity and insight in the realm of visual art to inform the music and vice versa. The song is about how so many things in your environment can remind you of the people that have made memories with you and how it could be haunting but it can also be something you don’t mind sitting with especially in moments of loneliness and isolation to warm the heart just enough to lift your spirits. It’s one of the more mellow songs on the group’s excellent new album, On the Other End of the Line… (out October 24, 2025 via Julia’s War Recordings) band one that showcases the group’s musical versatility and attention to the fine details of how feelings flow through the mind and what triggers memories and how it all interacts within one’s lived experiences. Watch the video for “Glare of the Beer Can” on YouTube and follow Joyer at the links provided.