Artist Making Waves: Whitney - "No Woman", "Golden Days", and "No Matter Where We Go" [indie rock / alt-country / soul]

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About a year and a half ago, Chicago indie rock band Smith Westerns announced their breakup after penning three solid albums together. Since then, the band's frontman Cullen Omori has released a solo record on Sub Pop while guitarist Max Kakacek and drummer Julien Ehrlich (ex-Unknown Mortal Orchestra) have gone on to form the band Whitney, subsequently signing with Secretly Canadian.

Ehrlich and Kakacek share songwriting duties in Whitney, crafting warm, melancholic songs layered with jangly acoustic guitar, Kakacek's signature twangy guitar leads, triumphant horn sections, and topped with Ehrlich's soulful, unassuming falsetto. They recorded with a full band in California with Foxygen's Jonathan Rado, which makes sense seeing as both band's songs sound like they could have come from the late 60s.

Whitney will be on tour for the next couple months in support of their debut album Light Upon The Lake. Go out and catch a show and pick up a copy of their record when it hits shelves June 3rd. Check out the first two singles from the album that have been bringing Whitney lots of positive attention, "No Woman" and "Golden Days", plus their first demo, "No Matter Where We Go".

Just Rolled In: Redspencer - "Ride It Out" and "Happy Slow Riverbends" [jangle pop / indie rock / lo-fi]

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Based in Melbourne but originally from New South Wales, the jangly indie rock trio Redspencer have shared two catchy singles this month in anticipation of the June 1st release of their debut EP.

The first single, "Happy Slow Riverbends", is the sunnier of the two and gives off a sort of Darwin Deez or Spoon vibe with its bouncy rhythm, punchy guitar riffs, and distorted vocals, while the newest single, "Ride It Out", is a more introspective cut, allowing the restless guitars to do most of the talking, much like summery guitar-pop poster boys Real Estate and Mac DeMarco.

Stream Redspencer's two new singles below and be sure to buy the debut EP coming out June 1st via Deaf Ambitions! And if you're in Melbourne, hit up their EP launch show at Bar Open on Friday, June 5th with Tourist Dollars and Head Clouds.

Just Rolled In: Crepes - "Stages of Fear" [slacker pop / indie rock / jangle pop / psychedelic]

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The promising Melbourne-based slacker-pop band Crepes have just put out their second single, "Stages of Fear", which sticks to the psych-tinged jangle pop we were introduced to in "Ain't Horrible" but shows that they can do upbeat just as well as downbeat. This bouncy track along with its contrasting predecessor paint a pretty clear picture of the range of songs that you can expect on their debut EP being released in mid-April. In the meantime, boogie down with "Stages of Fear".

Just Rolled In: Crepes - "Ain't Horrible" [slacker pop / jangle pop / indie rock]

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One of the most recent additions to Melbourne's robust indie music scene, the four-piece band Crepes (originally from Ballarat), has just released the easy going indie pop track "Ain't Horrible" as the first single from their forthcoming 2015 debut EP. The song's laid-back guitar/drums interplay and singer Tim Karmouche's lackadaisical vocal delivery remind me of a mix between Cass McCombs and Melbourne "dolewave" band Dick Diver, while its gratifying blend of harmonizing vocals and keys and the sometimes-strange assorted sound effects layered throughout the choruses and latter half of the song give me the feeling that I'm falling in slow motion into the freaky psychedelic realm of Connan Mockasin or Mac DeMarco. However, the way that Crepes have managed to draw from multiple influences to make a "slacker pop" song sound so rich, smooth, and catchy is what makes them truly unmatchable, and as the title seems to suggest, not horrible.