Tonight’s show is like a parody of several films about being in the “‘hood.” Listen to the Pulsating Sac Of Sound indie show Thursdays 6:30-8pm EST on WBOR 91.1 FM live or online!
Makthaverskan are from Gothenburg, Sweden, and their name is basically a feminized version of the Swedish word for “person in power.” Singer Maja Milner said the name reflected the band’s strong-willed women members. They formed when Milner was only 16 and became cult favorites for combining post-punk intensity with dream-pop shimmer.
Lip Critic might be the most chaotic band on your list. They formed at SUNY Purchase and became known for mixing hardcore, digital hardcore, noise, hip-hop, and absurdist humor. Their recent album Theft World was inspired by a real incident where a fan stole frontman Bret Kaser’s identity and believed the band had hidden secret codes in their music. Instead of suing him, they interviewed him and turned the story into an album concept.
zzzahara is Zahara Jaime, a Filipino-Mexican artist from Highland Park, Los Angeles. Before their solo work, they played in The Simps with Eyedress. A lot of their music pulls from skate-video culture, shoegaze, and emo — which is why their songs often feel both dreamy and emotionally wrecked at the same time.
Teen Suicide became a defining “internet emo” band of the early 2010s. They originally released music anonymously on Bandcamp and Tumblr, and their lo-fi, brutally depressive sound became massively influential on bedroom emo and slowcore revival scenes.
Broken Social Scene are basically indie rock’s collective supergroup. At various times they’ve included members of Feist, Metric, Stars, and Do Make Say Think. Their recordings often sound huge because the lineup constantly rotated between dozens of musicians.
Basement were one of the UK bands that helped revive melodic hardcore/emo in the 2010s. They broke up right as they were blowing up, which accidentally increased their cult status before reuniting a few years later.
Kurt Vile originally played in The War on Drugs with Adam Granduciel before leaving to focus on his solo work. His laid-back, hazy songwriting style became hugely influential in indie folk/rock circles.
Social Distortion have been around since the late 1970s LA punk scene and are one of the few first-wave punk bands to successfully blend punk with country/blues rock without sounding gimmicky. Mike Ness basically helped invent “cowpunk.”
Weezer are interesting here because they’re surrounded by underground acts, but Rivers Cuomo has spent years quietly influencing emo, power-pop, and even modern shoegaze scenes. Younger indie bands constantly cite early Weezer records as gateway albums.
Lala Lala is the project of Chicago musician Lillie West, whose songwriting often deals with addiction, dissociation, and recovery. She’s collaborated a lot with other modern indie heavyweights like WHY? and Baths.
White Flowers are part of the newer UK coldwave/post-punk revival. Their sound gets compared to Cocteau Twins and early 4AD bands because of the icy synths and distant vocals.
