Record #636: Local Natives – Violet Street (2019)

Remember when Local Natives was an indie rock band?

I certainly do. But after the delicious synthpop of Sunlit YouthI came to peace with the fact that they’d probably never write a song like “Sun Hands” or “Breakers” again.

While I wasn’t surprised to see them to further embrace pop sensibilities, I was a bit shocked that Violet Street explored the disco-tinged soft rock of the late 70s.

Did I say shocked? I meant frickin’ delighted.

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Record #624: My Brightest Diamond – A Thousand Shark’s Teeth (2008)

For a little bit in the late 2000s, it seemed like “chamber pop by a classically trained female multi-instrumentalist that used to be in Sufjan Stevens’ touring band” was posed to become its own genre.

And while St. Vincent’s Annie Clark has found the most enduring success out of that crowd, I’m not sure anyone has topped My Brightest Diamond’s stunning second record.

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Record #233: CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe (2013)

There’s always been a weird sort of relationship between the independent music scene and Top 40 pop. Often, indie often derides pop for lack of artistic integrity, separating itself from the cheap tricks of pop to make serious music. But there are other times where indie tries to beat pop at its own game, shoving even more hooks and dance hooks into three minutes, which always ends up dripping with irony.

Then, there’s CHVRCHES.

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