Indie Rock Playlist May 2021

Here’s our indie rock playlist for May 2021, featuring the best in independent rock and punk music:

This is the first monthly indie rock and punk playlist from Music Guy’s Music Discovery Online feature. Every month on the 15th, we will be sharing a brand new curated playlist with the best indie rock and punk music.

This playlist covers a lot of ground under that all-things-rock umbrella. A few songs I’d like to highlight are:

Allahu Akbar (Emperor X) – Emperor X has a way with moving uptempo lofi rock and this song is a prime example and a great way to kick off our first indie rock playlist.

The Me That Used to Be (Celebration Guns) – It doesn’t get more under the radar than Celebration Guns. The Me That Used to Be is an incredibly emotionally charged look back at one’s childhood and measuring if and where things went wrong. Nostalgic doesn’t do the level of feels you have listening to this one justice and it’s maybe the best song I’ve heard tackling this subject matter. Watch the family VHS memories themed music video to it and try not to lose it thinking of your own golden years.

Baby (Born Without Bones) – This song makes its hay from the dynamic juxtaposition of the quiet verses to the cathartic shouts of the chorus. I was certainly taken by it the first time I heard it. It rightfully earns its place on our “Music to Cry to” Playlist.

Sunsick (Fort Lean) – This is a song which I thought should have gotten a lot more love. It’s a really unique track with a very satisfying tom-drum led beat.

Serenity (WATERMEDOWN) – The hardest song on this playlist, this is emotional rock as it was meant, and an excellent lyric on those verses.

Below (White Lung) – The chorus on this one really stands out to me. That vocal melody and all of the energy behind it is so good.

Radio Kids (Strand of Oaks) – My favorite from Strand of Oaks, Radio Kids is an emotional love letter for that last generation which grew up with the radio. The radio is a metaphor for a simpler time as singer Timothy Showalter traces that point when things changed and longs for those old days. Great tune and just the right amount of whammy detuned guitar to keep things hazy in this one.

Somewhere (Yuck) – This is a deep cut from a band which is a deep cut themselves: Yuck. Musically it’s just about the most melacholic song I can think of which is an accomplishment in itself; it’s depression and resignation perfectly incarnated in song. And the way that hook just keeps building with a slightly dynamic chord progression after the optimistic feeling bridge is enchanting.

Okay (Ceres) – Hey speaking of sad songs. I just wish this one was longer; it ends just as it’s hitting its stride.

Collder (Have Mercy) – This is just a solid industrial punk rocker. There’s just the right amount of grit in the vocals especially on that chorus hook.

Better Whenever (Elway) – I really like the way this song evolves. It lulls you in with a relatively restrained intro and first half. Once it crosses that bridge into the final chorus, all bets are off. The screaming vocals of the title hit just right, and it’s a world away from where the song began.

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