Needles & Grooves

Much more straightforward picks would be Dacus and Japanese Breakfast. Overall I think its been a down year for indie rock tho, interested to hear everyone's answers

@Woob_woob yeah this is very tame, nice synths though. It reminds me slightly of Youth Lagoon a little bit.

@TenderLovingKiller® I've heard all of those except Jimmy Montague, will listen!

@Woob_woob yup! It's such a loose genre that lots of bands/albums fit under it. there's some good albums out there but the only one that scratches the indie rock itch, that I'm thinking of, that I've heard is Kiwi Jr. Basically I'm looking for albums that sound like Pavement/GBV lol

I am excited for the upcoming Steve Gunn album. He usually makes some great guitar centeric indie rock albums.

Seconding JBrekkie and Lucy. There's a lot of good indie this year, but those are the most straightforward rock. A lot of people liked Julien Baker's too, but I haven't visited in a while.

Ignorance by The Weather Station was also pretty good. I'd keep an eye on the upcoming Illuminati Hotties.

I have explored or rediscovers some older stuff to scratch that itch. Tony Molina, Times New Viking, No Age, Cloud Nothing, Deathray Davies, etc…

Also, Dinosaur Jr. and GBV both have 2021 releases that are solid. Gotta respect the classics.

@TenderLovingKiller® Cloud Nothings put out an album earlier this year too. I don't recall it being that exciting but probably due a re-listen.

Not sure if any of these count or not, but I enjoy them all.

Motorama - Before the Road
Really From - Really From
Remember Sports - Like a Stone

Van Weezer

Really enjoyed Indigo Sparke's album "Echo". Honestly though Lightning Bug's new album is wondeerrrrrrful, give it a go.

@Ghost that (Lightning Bug) was one of the albums that prompted me to make this status lol. Nice album, but when I saw some plaudits for it I was expecting something a little bit 'rockier'. And that made me take stock of the indie rock albums that have been released this year, a lot of nice chill albums, fewer rockier releases.

Would Wolf Alice's Blue Weekend count? Cause I've been listening to that one over and over. It may be more kind of polished and less shoegaze-y than their last one, but it's still a great rock record.

I'm with @TenderLovingKiller® : Kiwi Jr. "The Cooler Returns".

One that hasn't been mentioned that's slowly turning into my favorite of the year so far is The Coral "Coral Island". It's a killer double concept album with a timeless sound and great songcraft.

@Turbo Kiwi is maybe my favorite album I've heard this year. the other one I have not heard, I'll add it to my list!

It's from last year, but I'd give Kitchen Sink by Nadine Shah a shot. +1 for Kiwi Jr, Shame. I'd add the New Teenage Fanclub and the new Arab Strap to the list, as well as as Black Country New Road.

Wild Pink - A Billion Little Lights

@TCell I love the first two Wild Pink albums but that one is a little too refined, too gentle compared to what I like best about them.

I like Mother Mother - Inside, King Buffalo - The Burden of Restlessness, and POSTDATA - Haunts. None of them really blew me away though, I agree with the people saying it's a bit of a down year.