This month marks the tenth anniversary of Bon Iver’s self-titled sophomore album, which solidified Justin Vernon’s project as an indie rock powerhouse, and eventually earned him a handful of Grammys (see above). To celebrate ten years of this pivotal record, Steve and Ian are putting aside their opposing views on Bon Iver to spend an episode reflecting on the outfit’s catalogue and lasting impact.

In the decade since the release of ...

Somehow, 2021 is already nearly halfway over. With the world getting ready to emerge from our collective cocoon, here’s to hoping that the second half of the year will bring more joy IRL than the first half. Despite the lack of in-person interactions over the last six months, one thing that hasn’t been lacking is the release of exceptional new music. On this week’s episode of Indiecast, Steve and Ian are digging into some of the ye...

Last week, Olivia Rodrigo released her highly anticipated debut album Sour. The full-length effort includes three absolutely massive singles, and sets Rodrigo as one of the biggest stars on the planet. However, some of the discourse online was criticizing the praise, questioning whether critics have any place reviewing “teenage” music. On this week’s episode of Indiecast, Steve and Ian dig into Sour, and this confounding divide.

Lat...

The new episode of Indiecast is all about listener questions. Steve and Ian fielded questions from listeners all over the country, with topics ranging from nostalgia to underdog bands. To begin, a listener is wondering about stan culture, specifically with regard to the response to lukewarm reception of St. Vincent’s new album, Daddy’s Home. After Pitchfork released a tepid review, screenshots were circulating around the internet o...

This week’s episode kicks off with a listener question about the current renaissance of post-punk outfits like Dry Cleaning, Squid, or Pottery. Is this style of music, which is often built around the dry musings of a distinctly BRITISH vocalist, built to last, or is its popularity merely a byproduct of being inside for too long?

The main crux of this week’s episode, however, is dedicated to Daddy’s Home and Delta Kream, new albums f...

For weeks, we’ve been quietly hoping that Steve and Ian would dedicate an episode of Indiecast to the evolution and purported impending comeback of ska. Well, that day has finally arrived, as this week’s episode is all about talkin’ ska. For the uninitiated, ska is a genre of music that originally started in Jamaica in the 1960’s but soon moved over to the UK with the 2 Tone revival in the late 70’s, then re-emerged prominently in ...

This week’s episode of Indiecast kicks off with Steve and Ian recounting their worst and toughest interview experiences with artists. There’s a difference between a good bad interview, like a conversation with Liam Gallagher, and a plain bad interview, like an inaudible conference call with Migos. The main topic of this week’s episode is a conversation about new albums from Manchester Orchestra and the revival of the long-dormant c...

Steve and Ian would be remiss if they didn’t kick off this week’s episode of Indiecast with a discussion of the Morrissey/Simpsons controversy, wherein The Smiths’ singer called the show’s depiction of him “hurtful” and “racist.”

The main crux of this episode, however, returns to the Indiecast Hall Of Fame, which was designed to honor albums in the indie rock and alternative rock realm that were influential and beloved at the time o...

This week’s episode of Indiecast kicks off with a discussion of the new collaborative track from Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl, a very goofy moment in rock history. The conversation then segues into the mailbag segment, which raises the question of which indie artists should follow in Taylor Swift’s footsteps to take another stab at their earlier material.

The main crux of this week’s episode revolves around new albums from The Armed a...

After a very long year without live music, it seems like there could finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. Bonnaroo is on the books for September, and Outside Lands is scheduled for late October. On this week’s episode of Indiecast, Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen are feeling cautiously optimistic about what the return of these festivals could mean for the live music landscape, as a whole.

With festivals scheduled for the fall, ma...

On last week’s episode, Steven and Ian reflected on the year-end lists they made in 2011. They spent time discussing albums like Real Estate’s Days and M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, albums that were very highly regarded at the time.

This week, they are using the benefit of hindsight to revise those lists and name the albums that might have flown under the critical radar in 2011, but we can acknowledge today to have been very influ...

A decade in the rearview, 2011 has revealed itself to be a very interesting year for indie rock. There are several albums that were considered to be very important in the moment, but have, in the years since, faded from the spotlight to become not much more than asterisks. Remember Whokill? How about the first and only Wild Flag LP?

That said, there are still some albums that stand the test of time today: self-titled efforts from Bo...

Steven and Ian kick off this week’s episode of Indiecast with a half-assed recap of last week’s Grammys. It doesn’t last long before the duo dive straight into a discussion of the aesthetic and influence of Kurt Vile in honor of the tenth anniversary of Smoke Ring.

The main topic this week is Chemtrails Over The Country Club, the seventh studio album from Lana Del Rey. It’s the follow-up to Norman F*cking Rockwell, which was one of ...

Before Steven and Ian can jump into the latest all-mailbag episode of Indiecast, they must address the story of Mumford And Sons temporarily parting ways with their banjo player Winston Marshall after he came under fire for praising known right-wing agitator Andy Ngo in a social media post. Mumford has killed one of his sons.

This week’s mailbag is the most interesting collection of listener comments yet, with a wide range of questi...

It’s been teased for weeks now, but the time has finally come: Indiecast is delving into the career and music of Animal Collective. At one point in the aughts, the Baltimore-based group was inextricable from the overall concept of indie rock, and thus indie rock as an actual force in pop music. These days, however, the band seems to have little to no profile or lasting impact. What happened in the last decade or so that forced one ...

With the consistent haze of winter slowly fading into the rearview, 2021 is finally starting to kick it into high gear on the new music front. This week, Steven and Ian are digging into new releases from Julien Baker and Cloud Nothings, but not before taking a moment to eulogize the end of Daft Punk after 28 years.

For Julien Baker, 'Little Oblivions' is her first album in nearly four years, and marks a turning point for the...

This week, Steven and Ian are discussing two of the most exciting indie releases of the week. First up is a passionate discussion of Open Door Policy, the new album from veteran rockers The Hold Steady. Steven appreciates the band’s long-running arc and recent comeback, while Ian has never connected with the Beat-style of what he calls “dude writing.”

Next up on the docket is A Billion Little Lights, the new effort from Wild Pink’s...

After a week of banter about Phoebe Bridgers smashing her guitar on 'SNL' and the discourse that inevitably surrounds the annual announcement of nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Ian and Steven are spending this week’s episode of Indiecast reflecting on a simpler moment in indie history. The so-called indie R&B scene of the early 2010’s spawned some of the biggest artists of today, including The Weeknd, Frank...

This week kicks off with an enlightening discussion of which indie bands should release greatest hits albums. Then, Steven and Ian are diving into one of the biggest releases of 2021 so far: Foo Fighters’ tenth studio album 'Medicine At Midnight.' The album doesn’t really sound like anything the Foos have released to date, continuing down the path that began with 2014’s 'Sonic Highways,' moving away from the thrashi...