Discover the eclectic world of alternative pop and rock with these 9 captivating songs that defy genres. Prepare to be hooked!
Bocce – Good for You
Los Angeles-based rock band Bocce released their debut full-length album on Friday, June 2nd. Entitled Good for You, the feisty, female-led rock album draws on crooner punk, doo-wop, and early 2000s alternative rock, with a nostalgic sound inspired by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, No Doubt, the Strokes, and Le Tigre.
OK Cool – soaked in
If you long for a charming union of noodly math rock and queer-themed shoegaze, look no further than emo duo OK Cool, aka Bridget Stiebris and Haley Blomquist. These Chicago shredders not only play twangy riffs deep enough to be in a Foxing song, but they also prove their shoegaze mastery through beautifully reverberated telecasters and transcendent vocal effects.
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Family Dinner – Revenge Dress
Hailing from Long Beach, NY, the members of Family Dinner are almost as carefree as the beach town they reside in. The band create alternative rock that makes you want to dance, with lyrics that take some dark twists. Formed in 2017, Family Dinner are friends first and a band second. Living just a few miles apart, the group formed naturally when drummer Nick Amalfitano was jamming out with guitarist Michael O’Keeffe as Natalie hummed melodies while making dinner, and thus the band name came to be. Rounded out by bassist Sam Weiss, the band began crafting songs, released a few singles, and started playing shows at DIY spots within the tight-knit Long Island music scene.
Glass Mansions – Nearsighted
Led by the charismatic, sultry voice of Jayna Doyle and multi-instrumentation of Blake Arambula, Glass Mansions is an Altpop duo from Austin, TX, influenced by modern and 90s pop, heavy synths and tight, dance-friendly rhythms. Their music is propulsive and elastic, with lush electronic beds of sound and intelligent, intimate lyrics. Live, it’s pure Rock n’ Roll – raw, sweaty, passionate and covered in a cloud of fog and confetti.
Recently, they’ve recently released two new singles, the grunge-tinged “Faith” and a unique cover of Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” recorded inside of a Tesla. “STANDING O,” the Austin duo’s newest single and music video, arrives November 11th.
Fox Gunn – Pottery
Born in Barcelona on a Friday night, FOX GUNN is a singer/songwriter who blends dark alternative pop with her rock roots. Having performed and released music for several years with her former band LULALONG and played both in the UK and Europe, FOX is now embarking on a solo journey of moody, empowering lyrics with strong queer narratives and is on a mission to make vulnerable badass: in a world where it seems like being emotional is for the weak, she turns the tables and sees it as a brave, authentic trait – which translates into her music in the form of headbanging drums mixed with heartfelt lyrics. She moved to London as a teenager with little to no plan on what she would do there, but six years later and she’s thriving; she channels this rebellious energy in her music as well as in her live performances.
charlø – Lemon
The path for Los Angeles-based songwriter, producer, and vocalist charlø has been anything but traditional. In life before music, charlø (the moniker for Charlotte Reed) had a career in commercial real estate, one in which she felt both lost and stagnant. At the onset of the pandemic, she desperately knew she needed a change and started posting snippets of songs she was writing on Instagram without any expectation. “Songwriting was always the dream, but one that felt out of reach and an unlikely career path.” However, before she knew it, her little snippets were discovered by Tyler Henry (PARTYNEXTDOOR’s manager and founder of STURDY) who encouraged Reed to make her way to Los Angeles and join some writing sessions.
Just as she was ready to take the leap, she ended up breaking her back in a ski accident in the Winter of 2021. As horrible as the incident was (Reed was bedridden for three months) it forced her to realize many things, most importantly that she had to give music a real chance. Recovery also gave her the time to start learning production. She soon took up several instruments while spending long nights going down YouTube tutorial holes. In July of 2021, she finally made a bet on herself, moved to Los Angeles, and quickly immersed herself in writing sessions with a slew of artists and producers (including Grandson, Banoffee, Josh Rubin, Tabi, and more.)
Although Reed’s intention was never to release her own music, she continued to write and produce her own songs. She notes, “My ultimate goal is to write songs and produce for other artists, but I still end up writing a lot of songs that are so personal to me that I want to share. Since moving to LA, I feel like I’ve been falling forward into each new opportunity, and at some point, I just thought maybe I can do both, why not?” That’s when a couple of her demos got the attention of the Los Angeles-based label Future Gods and yet again, she was encouraged to go down another path. As charlø, her music balances two extremes; a sensitive side that clashes with the dark, ultimately exploring the overarching themes of both love and hate. Her music is genre-bending and non-conforming, with influences ranging from Billie Eilish to Lykke Li to (Sandy) Alex G.
Her first single entitled “numb” saw editorial support from outlets such as The Line of Best Fit and editorial support from the DSPs including inclusion on Spotify’s ‘Fresh Finds Indie’ playlist. She follows up that single with “Lemon”, a song that expresses the frustrations of what it is like to be a female musician in the industry.
She shares, “Lemon came about from a general frustration around being written off by people in the music industry and just wishing that I could tell people to shut the fuck up sometimes. I hate feeling like you can’t risk burning bridges by speaking up for yourself in relationships where there is a clear power dynamic, especially being a female artist in a male-dominated industry. I look forward to the day when I can prove the all the naysayers wrong!”
CARR – Sick Bro
CARR had already begun to make a name for herself before being introduced to punk luminaries Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) and Spencer Smith (Panic! At The Disco) who signed her to their label DCD2 Records. CARR was named one of Alt Press’ Artists To Watch in 2023 who described her music as “exactly the kinds of songs you want to sing/scream along to into your hairbrush-microphone in your bedroom”. Her songs have found a home on KCRW and Jack Saudner’s BBC Radio 1 show, while Ones To Watch praised her “indisputable talent” and “brutally honest” lyricism. Simultaneously leaving nothing and everything to the imagination.
KAYLS – On The Rocks
Beginning with punctuated bass and simple percussion, KAYLS’ flippant vocal style is at the wheel, taking the track from lo-fi indie to squalling-guitar driven alt-pop.