Tag: Alternative Rock

Jangle Pop. While the term might not mean much to most listeners today, it was the dominant form of alternative rock (on both sides of the Atlantic) in the late 80s to early 90s. As 70s punk gave way to 80s new wave and synth pop, underground bands were looking for more earthy sounds, moving away from sythesizers and often including acoustic guitars and instruments borrowed from folk rock. There was less emphasis on the lead guitar licks of glam metal and arena rock, and more emphasis on jangly guitar rhythms, hence the name.… Continued →

Grandpa Loves Rhinos are back with a brand new single titled “Gimme, Gimme”. The song will release at Midnight tonight through all digital networks and streaming sites. The track is an energetic pop-punk inspired jam full of those unforgettable hooks and melodies the band has become known for. The message is geared towards those that are obsessed with the material treasures in this lifetime and being consumed by them. You can find the single for sale on Bandcamp tonight and remember, all purchases made on IVM Bandcamp tomorrow will be without fees to bandcamp.… Continued →

We are proud to bring you a brand new song stream from independent artist, Collington. Check out the song “Against The Wall”, below. This excellent single is now available wherever you find fine digital music. Recommended for Fans of: Switchfoot, Needtobreathe, Walk The Moon, Foster The People, and The Fray.… Continued →

Another album celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary is “Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place” by the world renown alternative rock band, Anberlin. This Brendan O’Brien produced full length effort (their 5th album by 2010) was a slight departure from the sunny, bright, more upbeat sounds of their commercial break through record, “New Surrender”. One of the stand out highlights from this album was definitely “Pray Tell”, with it’s thundering drum intro and light guitar strumming mixed with Stephen’s unforgettable vocal contributions.… Continued →

Indiana based Pop-Rock band – Winona Ave, just dropped a brand new song and music video for “Masterpiece”. This anthem for those seeking hope and finding meaning in their own self-worth will be delighted by this new song. Hopeful music for times that call out for it. Check out “Masterpiece” below. For fans of: All American Rejects, Hawk Nelson, Mayday Parade, and All Time Low.… Continued →

Hawaii based pop-punk/alternative Rock band, PSPAZZ, has finally posted their 1996 Brainstorm International debut album “Missile Toe” on all digital networks. This fun, sun inspired, little goofy pop-punk album of the 90’s is sure to delight old fans and fans that have never ever heard of these guys. For fans of old Blink 182, NOFX, Sponge, Jane’s Addiction, Weezer, Home Grown, Weird Al, and MXPX. Check it out below.… Continued →

Mad at the World has had a very interesting and diverse career as a band. They started out doing somewhat dark synth-pop on their self-titled debut (in the vein of Depeche Mode, New Order, Clan of Xymox), then added guitars to their new wave sound for Flowers in the Rain. By their third album, they ditched the synths and morphed into a full-fledged alternative rock band with metallic influences. This carried on for three albums (Seasons of Love, Boomerang, and Through the Forest).… Continued →

After releasing last year’s opus Young in My Head, Starflyer 59 are already back. The veteran indie rock band have just released a new single, “This Recliner” and boy oh boy is it good! Fueled by inspiration from the best of his 80s new wave AND shoegaze influences (The Church, Psychedelic Furs, Jesus and Mary Chain, et. al.), the man truly knows how to write a pop song. Sometimes I think his skill lies in brevity. Rather than dragging stuff out, founder Jason Martin always leaves you wanting just a little bit more.… Continued →

We are proud to bring you a brand new song premiere from the Birmingham, AL. based alternative-pop-punk band known as Audiophile. They are a newer band with an incredibly catchy sound that would appeal to fans of The All American Rejects, Relient K, Weezer, All Time Low, Mayday Parade, Neck Deep, TwentyOnePilots, and Capital Lights. This new song, “The Coast” will release on May 15th to all digital networks. Check out the song below and the band here on facebook or instagram.… Continued →

You’re probably tired of hearing it, but these are strange times we’re living in. How could any of us have been prepared for the reality in which we find ourselves? I don’t know about you but I’ve read a lot of dystopian fiction and watched a ton of post-apocalyptic films. Neither of them are all that helpful in our current scenario. But you know what is helpful? Hope. Friendship. Solidarity. Though the song touches on a depressing topic, it is ultimately these themes that emerge. Listen to the urgency with which Steve Taylor croons: If it all comes true And our dreams fall like bombs from the blue Oh!… Continued →

Along with L.S.U. and the Altar Boys, another band that was really influential in getting me into alternative music (as opposed to straight metal and thrash of my teenage years) was Breakfast with Amy. Their debut album had enough punk rock influence to appeal to that side of me that wanted noise and aggression, but there was more to their sound than just loud, fast, and angry. There were also these weird, angular, noisy expressions and interesting metaphors about the faith that I wasn’t hearing anywhere else.… Continued →

I suppose that the first time you hear a band forever affects the way you think or feel about them. Although Undercover already had a long history behind them when I first heard them in 1990, I was completely unaware of it. I didn’t know the huge impact they’d made in the Christian alternative and punk scene in SoCal through Calvary Chapel, Ministry Resource Center, etc. through groundbreaking albums like God Rules and Branded. They had already morphed from a bubblegum-punk/new wave sound to darker, post-punk tones across the span of 4 albums.… Continued →

L.S. Underground (AKA LSU, L.S.U. LifeSavers Underground, Lifesavers, Lifesavors) have been doing alternative music in various forms since the early 80s. “The Grape Prophet,” originally released on Blonde Vinyl in 1992 was a concept album full of nuance and metaphor representing a young man’s journey looking into what was deemed a potentially dangerous Christian cult. Dark and brooding, the album has often been hailed as the band’s magnum opus. The original release is tremendously difficult to obtain, in large part because a vast shipment of units got somehow lost in transit.… Continued →

In the late 80s/early 90s I was a straight-up metalhead. Thrash was my favorite variety, but I dipped into other stuff as well. But I had started developing a taste for punk too. The pace and beat of hardcore punk was actually very similar to thrash, but with different guitar tones. Bands like Nobody Special, The Lead, The Crucified, and even Breakfast with Amy opened me up to new possibilities in edgy music. Then along came the album Poplife by the Lifesavers. I’d only been into Christian rock since ’88, so I knew nothing of Michael Knott’s history (or the many other incarnations and alter-egoes of his various projects).… Continued →

RED are back with a brand new Ep which includes a cover of the classic Fuel song “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)”. “The Evening Hate” Ep is out November 1st and first single “From the Ashes” heads to radio October 25th. Listen to the cover track, Read the full press release about the EP and upcoming tour dates with In Flames, below.… Continued →

Lo-fi indie rock never made a huge impact in the Christian scene. To be fair, it was a niche market even in mainstream circles. Beck and R.E.M. were the only 2 artists to break out of the underground, and both of those bands more or less ditched their lo-fi roots to do so (Beck only temporarily). I can only think of a handful of Christian-themed lo-fi bands: Jetenderpaul, Danielson Famile, Pedro the Lion (early stuff), Sappo, Joe Christmas, and some early Damien Jurado projects. Enter Jupiter James.… Continued →

From Velvet Blue Music . . . “To celebrate the upcoming re-issue of STARFLYER 59 ‘gold’ on vinyl . . . we’ve made a run of Gold era shirts and a cool sticker pack. Links below. Or you can email me if you’d like a link to pay via PayPal jeff@velvetbluemusic.com”. Click below for the links to purchase… Continued →

Huntingtons were a prolific punk and/or pop-punk band, as most of you will know. For me, you just can’t beat their sophomore album, “Fun and Games.” The title says it all. This song has that punk rock meets 50s style doo-wop that many bands tried but not many could pull off. It works incredibly well here! Listen here: Huntingtons – The Only One… Continued →

The year was 1997. The heyday of Christian alternative rock was starting to wane, as mainstream sounds were drifting into new territory. Dance pop (in the form of boy bands and girl bands) was starting to make another attempt at dominating the airwaves. Electronica and house were exploding in creativity and splintering into new subgenres every day. Outside of punk and hardcore, the most exciting thing happening in rock was a revival of traditional British sounds in a new format cleverly dubbed “Britpop.” While not a new genre per se, its popularity had boomed with no small thanks to bands like Oasis, Blur, James and literally dozens of others across the pond.… Continued →

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is one of the greatest songs our scene has ever produced! It gets straight to the heart of what it’s all about: “Hey I’m talkin’ to you/Yeah, I’m trying to get through/God cares about you more than think . . . You are loved! You are loved!” It was the first song I ever heard from the Altar Boys, in the late 80s. Ironically, it was on a metal compilation where I first heard them. Though the song is nowhere near metal, it has that late 80s post-punk/power pop sound from SoCal that has loads of energy.… Continued →

Indie worship/rock artist known as We Are Messengers has just put up a pre-order for their new 6 song ep titled “Honest” right here. Check out “The Devil Is a Liar” below and make sure to pre-order here where you’ll get 2 songs instantly.… Continued →

90s quirky alternative band Mellowdramatic Wallflowers have recently made all their releases available for free download here. The Oklahoma-based band remained independent throughout their existence, but released four full-length albums during their time. The band reluctantly changed their name to Admiral Twin (inspired by a historic Tulsa movie theater) to avoid confusion when the similarly-named mainstream rock band The Wallflowers gained in popularity. The Mellowdramatic Wallflowers might appeal to fans of They Might Be Giants, The Ass Ponys, Hokus Pick and other quirky bands.… Continued →

This is a fun record, that’s really easy to listen to. It’s not really ground-breaking, just straight-forward indie rock with really warm guitar tones. While there’s not a lot of distinction between the guitar and bass, for some reason that’s not a bad thing, it just adds to the simplicity. Most readers probably already realize Lo Tom is basically an indie rock supergroup, featuring: David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones, solo), TW Walsh (Pedro the Lion, The Soft Drugs, solo), Trey Many (Velour 100, His Name is Alive, Liquorice, TW Walsh), and Jason Martin (Starflyer 59, Bon Voyage, Dance House Children, White Lighter).… Continued →

The Classic Crime have launched a new Kickstarter crowd funding campaign for their 6th full length record as a band. Go check it out here (or below). Maybe not as many **** and **** etc this time around? 😉 (PS- Album was funded in 5 hours!)… Continued →

I’d like to introduce you to a new alternative rock band called City of Auburn. The band hails from McKinney, TX and released their new EP titled Spinning on Honey Gold Records today. Watch the lyric video for lead single “Better Off” below and check out the EP on Bandcamp, Apple Music, and Spotify. P. S. Track 3, “Afterthought”, features Stephen Christian of Anberlin!… Continued →

So this video was released back in January of this year along with their new album “The North Star” and I must say that it is a heavy hitter. I can’t believe I overlooked this release and didn’t give it proper promotion right here on IVM. Remedy Drive have created music that is deep and rich in content, overflowing with complex symbolism and a certain sense of urgency. You don’t come across music like this in Christian music scene all that often and I really enjoy this track as well as the album.… Continued →

Indie Vision Music is proud to present the debut ep from Grandpa Loves Rhinos. “Better Eat Your Wheaties” is now available wherever your find your music. You can also pre-order on CD from IVM right here. If you prefer bandcamp, it is up for download here. Thanks everyone for your support!… Continued →

The now “classic” pop-alternative rock band, Dakoda Motor Co., have announced plans to play more dates in 2018. Hopefully I’m right and this materializes. Personally, I’d love to hear a new album by this fine group of gentlemen and lady. Who’s with me in wanting this to happen? Did any IVM friends make it to one of their two shows in Anaheim and Nashville recently?… Continued →

Maryland based indie-punk rock band, Samuel Powers, are celebrating the one year anniversary of their last full length “Wonder” by releasing a brand new song inspired by the hit show of the same name – “Nashville”. This band is unique in the fact that their songs are all centered around and inspired by classic tv shows like Wonder Years, Saved by The Bell, Boy Meets World, and now Nashville. Band member Brody B. was actually a writer here at IVM for many years and typed up some now classic reviews.… Continued →

Longest running alternative rock band in the Christian music scene – The Choir – are at again, dropping a super catchy and ear pleasing new full length record titled “Bloodshot”. It is truly amazing that after all these years this band can continue to churn the hits and songs most people haven’t yet discovered. A band of this talent bubbling just beneath the surface is unheard of but guess what, us fans have these legends to cherish all to ourselves. Am I right? Please go support these wonderful independent musicians by picking up merch in their store here or by purchasing in your digital store of choice.… Continued →