indie rock – Queen City Sounds and Art

Skinny Dippers’ Cosmic Folk Song “When You Were It” Evokes a Warmly Reflective Immediacy

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Skinny Dippers stride fully into a paradoxical mood of deep reflection and emotional immediacy on hazy folk single “When You Were It.” The accented beat anchors the motes of melodic tone that illuminate and haunt the song throughout as well as the spare rhythm guitar, whistles and the tenderly wistful vocals as we’re invited into vivid memories but more so the lingering feelings of peak moments of a relationship. The title refers to the chorus “I’ll forget what you said/I’ll forget what you did/But I’ll never forget how it felt/When you were it” and how that succinctly captures one’s ability to not focus on the negatives but the essential resonance of connection. Everyone has down times in any relationship and maybe the developments and events that cause them to come apart but the feelings that drew you together and the strength of those emotions can stay with you long after without make it so that you’re stuck in the past. The song captures those moments with a precision that mere words are inadequate to on their own. The textural synth passages and the gentle flow of the song is reminiscent of Wilco’s most poetic songs that draw you back in immediately. Listen to “When You Were It” on Spotify and follow Skinny Dippers at the links below. The When You Were It EP released May 15, 2026.

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The Dead Century Offers a Refreshing Take on the Breakup Song on Impassioned Power Pop Single “Hey Chicago”

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The Dead Century on “Hey Chicago” sound like a classic power pop band in the 80s vein. Fortunately that also means crisp guitar sound, great clarity of tone, sonically and emotionally. The song uses the conceit of referring to someone by the city they’re from rather than have to denigrate a specific name or even assign gender. It’s a different take on the breakup song in which our narrator seems to have come to the conclusion that it’s over but doesn’t want to make an assumption that things are finished even if in it’s not officially so. The seemingly endless moments when everything threatened to collapse but didn’t as embodied so well by the lines “And for a minute we can both pretend/We’ve been counting down the seconds to a second chance/To sift through the requisite waiting/For something more stable.” Sometimes something so combustible can seem exciting but in the end can be so exhausting. But our narrator seems to want the decision to draw the relationship to a conclusion to be a mutual thing. The song has great momentum and an sweeping melody until the last minute six when things go quiet for tranquil moments of contemplation before ramping back up and back down to a quick outro of ghostly feedback. The songcraft is impressive and the sentiments don’t demonize anyone which can be rare in this subgenre of pop music. Listen to “Hey Chicago” on Spotify and follow Minneapolis, Minnesota’s The Dead Century at the links provided.

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“Fine” is Cosmic Madness’ Psychedelic Folk Song About Letting Go of Outmoded Habits and Leaning Well Into Where You Want to Be

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The lyrics to “Fine” by Cosmic Madness seems to unspool a narrative of reflection as a means of looking forward, of establishing a personal framing as the foundation of what comes next in one’s life. The guitar and vocal melody interweave and shift in tone from introspective to assertive as the song progresses in a way that feels like something growing and branching out and embracing what nurtures the expansion. The minimalism in the earlier parts of the song fill in with a backdrop of luminous harmonics and guitar allowed to drift in phasing passages that curl around the percussion and rhythm guitar to convey a sense of well being that uplifts the melancholic mood of the song borne of learning to let go of the habits of mind and living that no longer serve the life you want and are already leaning into. Listen to “Fine” on YouTube and follow Cosmic Madness at the links provided.

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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”

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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.