On This Track: Weekend Listening #5
- Anne
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Five new releases that prove independent music never stands still.
Some weekends call for familiar favourites. Others are a good excuse to discover something new. This edition of On This Track: Weekend Listening 5 moves between jangly guitar pop, alternative rock, post-hardcore and boundary-pushing indie, bringing together five artists with very different ideas but the same instinct to write songs that stay with you. Whether reflecting on change, identity or the strange routines of everyday life, each release earns its place for a different reason.
The Gershwin Brothers -
”Doomscrollin”
You probably know how it starts. One quick look at your phone becomes ten minutes of headlines, arguments and bad news. By the time you put it down, you've learned a lot without feeling any better. Doomscrolling has become part of everyday life, yet few songs have captured its strange mix of curiosity and anxiety quite this well.
The Gershwin Brothers approach the subject with a sound that couldn't feel further removed from the digital world they're describing. Inspired by the bright guitar pop of the 1960s, "Doomscrollin'" pairs jangling guitars, tight vocal harmonies and an irresistible chorus with lyrics about our endless appetite for information. The contrast is what makes the song work. Its melodies feel warm and familiar, while the restless rhythm mirrors the impulse to keep scrolling long after we've stopped enjoying it. Rather than turning the habit into a joke or a warning, the New York duo treats it as a reflection of modern life: we're constantly connected, constantly informed and, somehow, rarely at ease. It's an intelligent opening statement for an album that looks at the present through the lens of timeless pop songwriting.
🎧 Stream "Doomscrollin" on Apple Music
Mixed Signals – "Ghosts"
Most people know the moment. The places you've always called home suddenly feel too familiar. Every weekend looks the same, every conversation follows the same pattern, and you start wondering if there's something waiting beyond it all. That's exactly where Mixed Signals begin with "Ghosts".
The Scottish trio wraps that feeling in big guitars, driving rhythms and a chorus that doesn't waste any time getting stuck in your head. "Ghosts" never turns leaving into an easy decision. Instead, it lingers on everything that makes moving on difficult: old habits, old relationships and the version of yourself that's comfortable because it's familiar. Ben Gardiner's vocals keep the song grounded, giving those thoughts the kind of honesty that feels lived rather than imagined. Even when the band leans into anthemic territory, the track never loses sight of its emotional core. "Ghosts" is less about escaping the past than recognizing when it no longer has to decide where you're going next.
🎧 Stream "Ghosts" on Apple Music
Cascades – "in moments"
Change rarely happens all at once. More often, it arrives quietly. You realize something feels different long before you can explain what it is. One chapter is ending, another hasn't quite begun, and for a while you're left somewhere in between. That's the space Cascades step into with their debut single "in moments".
The Los Angeles quartet introduces itself with a sound that shifts as naturally as the emotions behind it. Crushing guitars give way to atmospheric passages before soaring melodies pull everything back together again, drawing from post-hardcore, shoegaze and alternative rock without settling comfortably into any one lane. "in moments" isn't interested in neat resolutions. Instead, it stays with the uncertainty, exploring what it feels like when old versions of yourself begin to disappear but the next one hasn't fully taken shape. That push and pull runs through every part of the track. Heavy when it needs to be, restrained when it matters most, Cascades let the dynamics do as much of the storytelling as the lyrics. It's a confident introduction from a band that already sounds like it's found its identity by writing about the moments when identity itself feels uncertain.
🎧 Stream "in moments" on Apple Music
Big Red – "Isn't He Funny?"
"I'm gonna leave the band / Hope you notice." It's a great opening line because you can't quite tell how seriously you're supposed to take it. Is it a joke? A threat? Or someone trying a little too hard to sound like they don't care? "Isn't He Funny?" never gives you a clear answer, and that's exactly what keeps it interesting.
Big Red builds that uncertainty into every part of the song. The guitars drift between calm and chaos, the drums refuse to settle for long and Joseph Scarisbrick sounds as though he's arguing with himself from one verse to the next. Every repeat of the title changes the mood. What starts as a throwaway remark slowly turns into something far less comfortable. There's a nervous energy running through the whole track, but the band never pushes it too far. They know when to hold back. For a debut single, that's impressive. It leaves you wanting to hear where Big Red goes next.
🎧 Stream "Isn't He Funny?" on Apple Music
Lava La Rue – "Prince of Bologna"
Some songs feel as though they were planned for months. "Prince of Bologna" sounds like the opposite. It races from one idea to the next, picking up half-finished conversations, strange opinions and moments that probably made perfect sense at one in the morning. Somehow, it all holds together.
Lava La Rue doesn't waste time explaining any of it. Over distorted guitars, vintage organ and a rhythm that barely stops to catch its breath, lines about Turnstile, Reddit fame and rejecting an OBE fly past before you've had chance to process the last one. That's part of the fun. The song feels less like a story and more like standing outside a venue, catching snippets of conversations as people drift in and out of earshot. Even at just over two minutes, there's enough happening to keep you coming back for another listen. "Prince of Bologna" doesn't ask you to keep up. It just throws you into Lava La Rue's world and lets the noise do the rest.
🎧 Stream "Prince of Bologna" on Apple Music
Five artists. Five completely different takes on what independent music can sound like right now. Some are loud, some are reflective and some barely sit still for two minutes. That's what makes this week's selection so enjoyable. There's a good chance you'll find at least one song you'll want to play again before the weekend is over.
Continue discovering new independent music through On This Track, Three Track Week and the INDIENOXZINE | Selections Spotify playlist.
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