Rosy Overdrive is rolling full steam ahead into December, but first, a look back at a bunch of songs I’ve enjoyed over this past month. Plenty of miscellaneous 2023 releases in here as I put together the blog’s various year-end lists and give everything I’ve meant to give a listen a little bit of attention before closing the curtains on the year (this will continue into December, don’t worry). Also, we had a Pressing Concerns go up yesterday (featuring Neighboring Sounds, Dot Dash, Flat Mary Road, and Colt Wave), so check that out too if you missed it. Plus, the Rosy Overdrive Reader’s Poll opened up yesterday–go vote!!!
Mo Troper, Teenage Tom Petties, and These Estates have multiple songs on this playlist.
Here is where you can listen to the playlist on various streaming services: Spotify, Tidal, BNDCMPR. Be sure to check out previous playlist posts if you’ve enjoyed this one, or visit the site directory. If you’d like to support Rosy Overdrive, you can share this (or another) post, or donate here.
“Ona”, Hammer No More the Fingers
From Silver Zebra (2023, Trinity House/Defend Vinyl)
I hadn’t heard of Durham, North Carolina’s Hammer No More the Fingers until recently, when I read a Talkhouse interview between the band’s Duncan Webster and Sam Goblin of Mister Goblin. That’s an A-tier cosign, so I checked out Silver Zebra–their first release since 2012, as it turns out–and it’s very good! To me, this is “XTC-core”; you could get away with calling this “power pop”, you might be able to sneak “math rock” in there mostly due to the band’s name, but what stuff like “Ona” is more than anything else is immediate, hard-hitting, interesting, and exploratory guitar music.
“Citgo Sign”, Mo Troper
From Troper Sings Brion (2023, Lame-O)
Mo Troper! We’ve gotten (at least one) Mo Troper full-length every year since 2020, and while this year is no different, the Portland power pop hero has taken a different tack with Troper Sings Brion. The concept–Troper records fleshed-out, full-band versions of cast-off songs that the legendary behind-the-scenes popsmith Jon Brion didn’t include on his sole solo “pop” album Meaningless–is brilliant, and Troper is just the ringer for the job. I hadn’t heard most of these songs before, including “Citgo Sign”, so I don’t know how much of its jangly instrumental and incredibly tight chorus are the creation of Brion versus Troper (I hear a ton of both in all aspects of this song); honestly, it doesn’t matter, it’s a killer single regardless.
“This One’s on You”, Teenage Tom Petties
From Hotbox Daydreams (2023, Repeating Cloud/Safe Suburban Home)
Hotbox Daydreams is the second album from Wiltshire’s Teenage Tom Petties in as many years, and the first with a full-on backing band. I’m pleased to say that not only does Hotbox Daydreams retain the spark of last year’s self-titled debut, it’s a leap forward for frontperson Tom Brown and his collaborators in every way. It’s deeper, more energetic, more consistent, and it sounds better. The crunchy power chords, giant chorus, and “slacker rock anthem” vibes of “This One’s on You” maybe make it the best song on the album, although this is a record where every song could’ve been a single, so it’s hard to speak definitively on that. Read more about Hotbox Daydreams here.
“Love, If It Is So”, Maria Elena Silva
From Dulce (2023, Astral Spirits/Big Ego)
On Dulce, Wichita/Chicago’s Maria Elena Silva and her collaborators dive headfirst into the realm of experimental rock and jazz; plenty of empty space is here, although a surprising amount of Dulce is quiet yet probing pop music at its core. The slow-burning, blistering psychedelic rock of “Love, If It Is So” opens Dulce in particularly striking fashion–in under three minutes, Silva and her band go from delicately building its precarious structure to burning it down in an excitingly PJ Harvey-esque fashion. Read more about Dulce here.
“Pillbox”, Seablite
From Grass Stains and Novocaine (2019, Emotional Response/Dandy Boy)
Between their brand-new sophomore album Lemon Lights and their even-more-brand-new remastered reissue of their debut album, Grass Stains and Novocaine, 2023 is a great year to be San Francisco’s Seablite. Compared to Lemon Lights’ more straight-up shoegaze textures, Grass Stains and Novocaine is more recognizably inspired by indie pop and power pop; songs like early highlight “Pillbox” come off more than anything else as louder versions of vintage guitar pop in the vein of K, Slumberland, and Sarah Records. Read more about Grass Stains and Novocaine here.
“Like Skin”, These Estates
From The Dignity of Man (2014, Comedy Minus One)
I discovered Regina, Saskatchewan’s These Estates thanks to Comedy Minus One digitally reissuing their entire discography (two full-lengths and a single) earlier this year; it’s a great fit, as these Canadians bear more than a passing similarity to Comedy Minus One’s flagship group, Silkworm. These Estates get what makes that band so great, though–songs like the cavernous, edge-of-the-earth manifesto that is “Like Skin” would hardly work if the executors of it were just interested in rote copying of their influences.
“Rude Life”, Brontez Purnell
From Confirmed Bachelor (2023, Upset the Rhythm)
We checked in on Brontez Purnell back in September, when the lead single from his then-just-announced upcoming solo album, Confirmed Bachelor, was just released. The album is now out in full, and though it’s short, it’s full of moments that deliver on the single’s ambitious but immediate garage-rock-power-pop promise. “Rude Life” is a second-half highlight of the record–I hear what sounds like a violin underneath the classically-Purnell fuzzy rock and roll guitars. Its mid-tempo first half is a bit more subtle than some of Purnell’s other songs, although it eventually kicks into gear and delivers the pure sugar loud guitar pop we’ve all come to expect from him.
“Six Day Sunday”, Model Shop
From Check the Forecast (2023, Meritorio)
In hindsight, “Lucky” by Model Shop was probably one of my favorite songs of 2022. The Seattle band really delivered an arresting reminder of just how high the ceiling is for well-executed guitar pop music with that song, and “Six Day Sunday”, while being just a little more low-key and less overtly sweeping than “Lucky”, continues to showcase the best of the band. The song opens up the four-song Check the Forecast EP with the kind of wistful exuberance that the band do very well; I don’t think I want to hear anyone other than them attempt to pull off lines like “Thursday, tied up in office drama / And I lost my grip at happy hour again,” in the middle of a verse that upstages its own chorus in terms of melody.
“Riding with Paul”, The Exbats
From Song Machine (2023, Goner)
I’ve been aware of The Exbats for a while–the Arizona group has been making their sunny pop rock since at least 2015, relatively recently sliding onto garage rock kingpins Goner Records’ roster to continue to do so. “Riding with Paul”, a single and the opening track from their latest full-length, Song Machine, caught my attention as I was trawling through new releases–it’s an absolutely perfect piece of retro jangle pop, informed by 60s pop rock but sounding incredibly fresh thanks to everything from the exuberant opening riff to the cheerful backing vocals to the infectious confidence of Inez McLain’s lead vocals.
“Cavalcade of Faces”, Dan Koshute
From Intravolve (2023, Magna Person)
Dan Koshute recorded Intravolve entirely on his own in “a secret recording studio in the back of a Pittsburgh yoga studio”–all things considered, it’s a great-sounding collection of power pop/garage rock tunes delivered with an all-in attitude. Koshute (who has also contributed to Jennifer Baron’s Garment District project) is a direct and urgent performer on his fourth solo album and first since 2018–opening track “Cavalcade of Faces” is a cavalcade of energy, gleefully hanging on one chord before the rest of the band (I mean, Koshute on different instruments) kicks out a garage-pop anthem. Read more about Intravolve here.
“La Modelo de Mis Fantasias”, Sandy Pylos
From Notas de Voz (2023)
Ana Diaz has previously made music in the Paraguyan psychedelic power pop band EEEKS, but they’ve taken a confident step away from that sound on their new solo project Sandy Pylos, which embraces an atmospheric synthpop sound on their debut record. Nota de Voz’s track “La Modelo de Mis Fantasias” gets off to a sprinting start with its bouncy, EEEKS-ish power pop. However, almost as if to assert that this is Sandy Pylos, the song then deconstructs itself, shifting into a more low-key but still catchy pop rock tune in its midsection, and ending with a sound collage of hushed music from the song, bird sounds, and ambient noises. Read more about Nota de Voz here.
“Lord of Shelves”, Wurld Series
From The Giant’s Lawn (2023, Meritorio/Melted Ice Cream)
The third album from New Zealand’s Wurld Series feels like the full realization of their always-apparent promise and talent–on The Giant’s Lawn, they meander through a patchwork sound for seventeen songs, displaying themselves as masters of delicate pop music, indie guitar jams, and spacey acoustic psych-folk detours. Early highlight “Lord of Shelves” is an impressive piece of power pop, giving off an especially Guided by Voices-y air of shit-kicking melancholy that definitely falls on the more immediate end of the record’s spectrum. Read more about The Giant’s Lawn here.
“Old Death – 12” version”, Car Colors
From Old Death (2023, Absolutely Kosher)
Instead of the fourth Wrens album that so many of us waited for for over twenty years, we have instead gotten a public break-up, Kevin Whelan’s Aeon Station, and Charles Bissell’s Car Colors (and, in what should register as more than a footnote in all of this, the revival of stalwart California independent label Absolutely Kosher). Aeon Station put out a full-length back in 2021; Car Colors have moved at their own pace, but, finally, the three-song Old Death EP is out into the world. Two of these songs will appear on a Car Colors full-length…eventually…but there’s more than enough to chew on right now with this single, particularly the title track and A-side. “Old Death” is pretty damn close to what I imagined a fourth Wrens album would sound like–seven minutes, intricate and emotional, surprising and familiar. Looking forward to hearing more of this.
“Willow Springs”, Tristan Dolce
From Medium True (2024, I Love Camping!)
Who’s ready for 2024? Not me–I still have a bunch of music from this year I want to explore before 2023 closes its doors. Still, if the new year brings more music that’s as good as the lead single from Tristan Dolce’s upcoming Medium True–well, it’ll be another year to remember. “Willow Springs” is an excellent piece of wistful, ornate-but-lo-fi power pop, with Dolce’s high and conversational, Ben Gibbard-ringer vocals leading a memorable lyric and several excellent moments of pure melody.
“Giddy Up!”, Molly O’Malley
From Noise Beyond the Mantle: A Mixtape (2023, Mollywhop Record Shop)
The eight-song Noise Beyond the Mantle “mixtape” is the most we’ve heard from Cleveland’s Molly O’Malley in one sitting thus far, and what we get with it is a blurry but undeniably recognizable snapshot of a talented pop singer-songwriter helming a catchy, messy collection of material with a center that feels sharper and fuller than ever in the midst of it all. The mixtape’s second song, “Giddy Up!”, chugs along, its dreamy, reverb-y rock slightly obscuring but unable to hide some of the most interesting writing I’ve heard from O’Malley yet (everything in that second verse could be the line that sticks with you on any given day). Read more about Noise Beyond the Mantle: A Mixtape here.
“Can I Borrow Your Lighter?”, Spiritual Cramp
From Spiritual Cramp (2023, Blue Grape)
Ooh, boy. Spiritual Cramp. I heard 2021’s Here Comes More Bad News EP and enjoyed it, although I definitely didn’t see Spiritual Cramp coming based off of those four songs. I admit, I didn’t listen to these (quite catchy!) Bay Area punks and think they had a British-buzz-band-bait album in them, but their self-titled album is full of completely nuts, overdriven dance-post-punk-rock-and-roll-pop-whatever stuff. I have to say, the weird stutter that the main guy is doing in the verses completely works for me–it might even be catchier than the big, all-out gang-vocal chorus.
“Bang”, Melenas
From Ahora (2023, Trouble in Mind)
I’m not sure if there’s that much to say about Pamplona, Spain’s Melenas, their third album, Ahora, or single and highlight “Bang”. It’s just good pop music! Trouble in Mind Records is, of course, one of the most respectable outlets for rock music today, so it’s hardly surprising that I found something worth sharing on Ahora, but “Bang” is truly a breath of fresh air every time I hear it. The sparkling and droning synths and organs, the simple but transfixing vocals, the solid, slow-moving five-minute structure–this is continental European indie rock at its finest.
“Renter Not a Buyer”, Dead Gowns
From How (2022, VMP)
Geneviève Beaudoin is a Portland, Maine-based folk-country singer-songwriter who self-released the four-song How EP last year. I first heard it thanks to an expanded vinyl reissue that it got this month, although “Renter Not a Buyer” is a track that’d appeared on the original version as well. It’s an excellent piece of electric, sauntering country rock that kicks off the EP in pleasing fashion, featuring some notable New Englanders in the band (Pretty Purgatory’s Peter McLaughlin on drums, Nat Baldwin on bass) but, to be clear, this song is Beaudoin’s show and she’s great in its starring role.
“Junk Drawer Heart”, Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band
From Dancing on the Edge (2023, Sophomore Lounge)
On Ryan Davis’ first solo-ish album and first “song” record since the last album from his country rock group State Champion in 2018, the Louisville singer-songwriter is as sprawling and as “country” as ever. On the surface, both Davis’ unbothered Kentucky tones and the Roadhouse Band’s post-post-country rock and roll sound brilliant, but the core of album highlight “Junk Drawer Heart” is equally striking. The chorus (“Maybe there’s something of use deep down in the matchbox bottom of my junk drawer heart / Maybe there’s nothing there but joker cards and keychains”) is obviously a headliner, but the lines about chewing on an apple in an archery range and the “Sultans of Swing”-stuck jukebox should be up there as well. Read more about Dancing on the Edge here.
“Oh No!”, Physical Congas
From Oh No! (2023, Stress Test)
Late November? Doesn’t matter. I’m still hearing good new-to-me music daily out here. Allow me to introduce you to Physical Congas, a pair of Montreal pop weirdos (Adrian Popovich and Alexander Ortiz) who just put out their debut release, the all-too-brief four-song Oh No! EP. These tracks zip by with a lo-fi, offbeat pop charm–the opening title track is a little over two minutes long, but it still finds time to offer up bizarrely memorable synth bursts, a pleasingly plodding bass guitar part, and surprisingly all-in lead vocals.
“Into the Atlantic”, Mo Troper
From Troper Sings Brion (2023, Lame-O)
Another selection from Troper Sings Brion, because, Jesus Christ, it’s Mo Troper singing Jon Brion. “Into the Atlantic” is the first proper song on the album after the forty-five second “Heart of Dysfunction (Excerpt)”, and it sets up a lot of what makes Brion a great songwriter (and what makes Troper a great translator for him, as well)–intricate construction, lethal melodies, bizarre turns both musically and lyrically (leave it to Troper-Brion to make “raw sewage and seagull excrement” sound brilliant), and above all a striking determination–we are going into the Atlantic. We’re going down.
“Away from the Castle”, Video Age
From Away from the Castle (2023, Winspear)
Away from the Castle is my first full-length experience with the laid-back, dreamy indie pop of New Orleans’ Video Age, although I’ve encountered Ross Farbe (who is half of the band, along with Ray Micarelli) before due to his recording work. The gorgeous title track to Away from the Castle certainly sounds like the work of a couple of musicians who know their way around the studio, although Farbe and Micarelli also know that, when they have a brilliant pop song on their hands, some targeted streamlining is the best course of action with regards to presenting it. It’s kind of an odd place to hear one of the best jangle pop songs of the year, but that’s exactly what “Away from the Castle” is.
“Chance Occurrence”, Postal Blue
(2023)
“Postal Blue” is a great name for a dreamy jangly indie pop group; I’m surprised nobody had claimed it before. Not that they’re a new act, mind you–I was surprised to learn that Brazil-based Adriano do Couto has been making music under the name since 1998 (first as a full band, eventually as a solo project), and “Chance Occurrence” is actually the first new Postal Blue material in eight years. For a comeback single, it’s a bullseye–it starts off fairly low-key, then shifts into gear for a giant indie pop chorus indicating that do Couto is certainly a veteran at making this kind of music.
“Turquoise”, Jon Winslow
From I’m Here Now (2023, Shiny Boy Press)
Jon Winslow is not a guy, but it is the project of a guy–specifically, Baltimore-based folk singer Taylor DeBoer, who just released I’m Here Now on cassette. He seems linked to experimental pop group Surf Harp–he contributed layout and design to their latest album, four out of five Surf Harp members play on I’m Here Now, and both records are out through Shiny Boy Press. Some of Surf Harp’s offbeat art pop shows up on DeBoer’s album, although in the catchy slow-folk-rock of “Turquoise”, it’s more of a tamped-down undercurrent to DeBoer’s acoustic foundation.
“Hiding in My Home”, Uni Boys
From Buy This Now! (2023, Curation)
It’s just good pop music, you know? The Uni Boys’ latest, Buy This Now!, has a bunch of effortless-sounding power pop hooks, but I decided to go with the introvert anthem “Hiding in My Home” as the highlight. Singing about how they absolutely don’t want to go outside–now that’s how you prove that you’re true power pop fans. Handclaps, soaring lead guitars, slick keyboards–despite all of this, “Hiding in My Home” is still able to sound as laid-back as a night staying in should sound. Ordering takeout food is the maximum level of social interaction booked for the evening!
“Baciami”, Mel Stone
From Princess (2023, Honey Machiine)
There’s a lot of music in this world, and it can provide the listener with an infinite possibility of experiences. For example, sometimes you want to listen to a trans woman absolutely sing her heart out for an entire album’s worth of music–if you find yourself in this cohort, Princess by Mel Stone is certainly for you. Princess (initially released as a pair of EPs in 2021 and 2022) is a ton of maximal rock and roll anthems in a row–Stone’s Bandcamp bio mentions Ezra Furman, who I absolutely hear in my favorite song on the album, “Baciami”. As bold as that title (as well as the subsequent English translation of it in the chorus) is, Stone more than backs it up in this song’s performance.
“Center of Attention”, Summer Set
From Summer Set (2023, Fort Lowell)
The members of Wilmington, North Carolina’s Summer Set have played together in some form for over twenty years, although this self-titled album is the first full-length to have surfaced yet under the Summer Set name. It’s a breezy, timeless collection of indie rock of several stripes–some heavier and spacier than others, but consistently interesting. Opening track “Center of Attention” sets a high bar with its deft rendition of alt-country, folk rock, jangle pop, and power pop–a bunch of ingredients to make a song that sounds incredibly simple and incredibly catchy.
“Rain”, The Chills
From Brave Words (1987/2023, Flying Nun/Fire)
The Chills! Statistically speaking, you probably like The Chills, or at least some Chills-inspired bands (Lord knows I’ve covered plenty of them on this website). Despite their beloved status in this particular corner of indie rock, the New Zealand band’s first album, 1987’s Brave Words, has been long overdue for a remastered reissue–thankfully, their recent home of Fire Records has finally done so. There’s plenty on this album I could highlight here, but “Rain” is a great picture of early The Chills–almost perfect pop magicians, but still holding onto a Flying Nun-ish oddball, “zany” streak in the song’s presentation.
“Blue Shadows”, Lower Plenty
From No Poets (2023, Bedroom Suck)
I hadn’t heard of Melbourne’s Lower Plenty before the release of their most recent album, but apparently the band has been around since 2010 and features members of a bunch of notable Australian groups (Dick Diver, Total Control, Deaf Wish, UV Race). The quartet has actually been on something of a hiatus as of late; their fifth album, No Poets, is actually their first since 2016 (busy with all their other bands, I’d imagine). “Blue Shadows” is a nice, representative track from early on in the record–it’s got that enjoyable casual Aussie folk-pop sound, informed by Flying Nun but with a more open, straightforward twist.
“Put the Poison in My Body”, These Estates
From Triumph, Reign (2014, Comedy Minus One)
I’m not sure which These Estates album I like more–The Dignity of Man probably has more “hits”, but the darker Triumph, Reign has a pleasing amount of meat on its bones. The upsettingly-relevant “Stolen Blues” nearly made this playlist, but opening track “Put the Poison in My Body” is such an incredible indie rock anthem that I had to get this one on the playlist somewhere. The title line is a wrecking ball–as is the absolutely boundless guitar solo that the band let loose halfway through the track.
“Dandy”, The Smashing Times
From This Sporting Life (2023, K/Perennial)
This Sporting Life might be the most fully-released The Smashing Times have sounded yet. It’s the Baltimore jangle-psych group’s most pop-forward material to date, even as they haven’t abandoned the exploratory streak that made them stick out in the first place. The sparkling “Dandy” is a hidden gem that This Sporting Life saves towards the near conclusion of the record–the first half is uncharacteristically repetitive for the nonlinear popsters, but it does switch into a different (but no less catchy) kind of pop song in its second half. Read more about This Sporting Life here.
“Til It’s Over”, Marnie Stern
From The Comeback Kid (2023, Joyful Noise)
We’ve been waiting for this one for a while. Marnie Stern took a decade-long break from releasing music after 2013’s The Chronicles of Marnia (but not from music as a whole, as she’s been a longtime member of The Late Show with Seth Myers’ band), and the aptly-titled The Comeback Kid does not disappoint. Stern’s all-over-the-place, math-y-pop-rock guitar hero stuff was part of a mini-scene in the late 2000s, but I’ve always seen plenty of substance in those albums outside of that context, and the success of a Marnie Stern album in 2023 serves to confirm this. “Til It’s Over” is low-key…for a Marnie Stern song, which means it’s still a pretty intense rocker, just in a less confrontational way than one might expect.
“All into the Day”, Forestlike
From Forestlike (2023, Patsy Presents)
Joshua Wayne Hensley will probably be most familiar to Rosy Overdrive readers as one half of undersung northern Indiana indie rockers The Rutabega, a band that released a solid album last year. Hensley also self-releases music under his own name, and now he’s started a new band with a long-time acquaintance in Jared Myers (of Daytime Volume). With Forestlike, the duo explore folk rock music of several stripes, including the delicate but fully-developed “heartland” indie rock of opening track “All into the Day” whose deliberate pace and wandering melody hew true to the project’s woodsy title.
“Dipshit”, Teenage Tom Petties
From Hotbox Daydreams (2023, Repeating Cloud/Safe Suburban Home)
I’ll say it yet again, because it bears repeating: everything on Hotbox Daydreams is a hit. Just massive power pop success after success from Tom Brown and his gang of Teenage Tome Petties. Is “Dipshit” the best of all of them? Perhaps–it’s an instantly memorable lo-fi showtune with one hell of a chorus hook, and the only thing stopping it from dominating the airwaves is probably its title. Read more about Hotbox Daydreams here.
“Maybelline”, Frog
From Grog (2023, Audio Antihero)
Listening to Grog, the fifth album from Queens-based sibling duo Frog, kind of feels like dropping in on an alternate-universe oldies station. It picks and chooses sounds from throughout the past to create a new listening experience, pulling from freak folk, piano pop rock, space-y psych rock, power pop, and scuzzy lo-fi indie rock. “Maybelline”, towards the middle of Grog, is a vintage Frog experience–its power pop is perhaps more sped up than some of the record’s more exploratory fare, but it’s no less intricate. Read more about Grog here.
“Hey, Useless”, Quitter
From Monument Road (2023, GoldMold/Heavenly Creature)
Kenny Bates is a Glasgow-based lo-fi indie rocker who’s been making downcast pop as Quitter (an appropriately glass-half-empty name) since 2016. I believe that Monument Road is the third Quitter full-length, and Bates is joined by a full band for a good portion of this one, giving an extra kick to Bates’ songwriting. “Hey, Useless” is my favorite song here–it’s an undeniable power pop single that’s as chilly as it is catchy. The first verse of the song is about having a rough emotional moment in an ice cream parlor, which feels just about right.
“W”, Handturner
From Works and Shoots (2023, Steno Pool)
Somebody needs to do one of those in-depth scene reports to figure out just what’s happening in Kalamazoo, Michigan these days. Handturner is led by the duo of Franki Hand and Ike Turner, who also play together in the experimental krautrock group Wowza in Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Drone Society. At the same time, three Handturner albums have turned up since last December, the latest of which, Works and Shoots, is a thorny collection of experimental, almost-industrial crossed-wires rock music. “W” is the only thing on the record that’s even sort of a pop song, with Hand’s sung-spoken vocals balancing precariously over a warped noise rock/post-punk instrumental.
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