{"id":666857,"date":"2026-05-12T22:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/666857\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:00:10","slug":"classic-indie-pop-rooted-in-the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/666857\/","title":{"rendered":"Classic Indie Pop Rooted In The Present"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are three primary cities around the world that come to mind when I think of indie pop\u2019s genesis in the 1980s: Bristol, England; Dunedin, New Zealand; and Olympia, Washington. In Bristol, the short-lived Sarah Records championed lo-fi heroes like Heavenly and the Field Mice through their output of 7\u201d singles and their staunch fans-first business strategy. Meanwhile, bands like the Clean and the Chills and others affiliated with the revered label Flying Nun garnered Oceania unlikely international attention with regards to jangly, ramshackle guitar music. And just before riot grrrl and grunge took over the Pacific Northwest, one Calvin Johnson forged a gentler approach to American punk, running his own K Records out of his kitchen initially to help his buddies release their music on cassettes. The following year, K would become an outlet for Johnson\u2019s own band, the cult icons Beat Happening: \u201cTouch girl, apple blossom\/ Just a boy playin&#8217; possum,\u201d he drawled on their 1988 classic \u201cIndian Summer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays down in Austin, Texas, there\u2019s the quartet Touch Girl Apple Blossom, one of the more promising indie pop revivalist groups working today. But perhaps \u201crevivalist\u201d isn\u2019t the right word; K, who are appropriately releasing Touch Girl Apple Blossom\u2019s debut album Graceful under the Perennial imprint, is still alive and well under Johnson. (Not the case for their peers across the pond at Sarah, who famously shut down on their own volition in 1995 after reaching 100 releases.) It sounds almost too good to be true, getting signed by the guy whose lyrics became your band name three and a half decades later. To the more cynical, the pipeline might even feel a tad gimmicky. But indie pop was never meant to be glamorous or gimmicky, and Graceful, luckily, never comes off as either. \u201cObviously I feel like Touch Girl has an element of nostalgia, but we\u2019re also: Be here now,\u201d guitarist\/vocalist Olivia Garner recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austinchronicle.com\/music\/touch-girl-apple-blossoms-pure-pop-community\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">said<\/a> of her band\u2019s philosophy. \u201cAs much as a purely guitar band can be in the present moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Touch Girl Apple Blossom \u2014 Garner, guitarist John Morales, bassist Dustin Pilkington, and drummer Daniel Charles Powell \u2014 formed in 2022. The following year, they released a four-song EP of fuzzy, unpolished guitar gems just a notch heavier than most of the stuff that made K famous; after all, Garner once had a stint playing with beloved New York noise-rockers Hotline TNT, while Pilkington formerly shredded in the defunct hardcore band Total Abuse. Graceful leans into this balance with even more deftness, an interpretation of classic twee pop that employs familiar components like alternating female\/male vocals, sunshiney melodies, and freewheeling riffs, yet doesn\u2019t get too swamped in the sweetness of it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say that heart-on-sleeve pathos isn\u2019t a guiding principle of Graceful, but Touch Girl Apple Blossom ground those gushy feelings in reality. Even the twinkly, doe-eyed album opener \u201cThe Springtime Reminds Me Of\u2026\u201d forges an air of melancholic tension: \u201cI want to stay inside\/ But I must go\/ I can\u2019t say no\/ The world keeps turning,\u201d Garner sings, as if willing Morales\u2019 bounding guitar riff to transport her outdoors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Those sentiments seem to set the tone for Graceful, an album that often ruminates on small conflicts at the intersection of relationships and livelihoods: \u201cYou know I hate it when we fight\/ All these meaningless distractions\/ We\u2019re working all our lives\/ One day soon, though, we\u2019ll start living,\u201d Garner professes on \u201cTell,\u201d just before a searing guitar-solo outro. \u201cYou Made Me Do It\u201d is a playful lament on early-stage romantic turmoil, while the sugary hooks of \u201cHeart-Go\u201d make its writer\u2019s-block confessions go down easy: \u201cWhere does the heart go\/ When the heart\u2019s not in it?\/ The pen got tired of writing all these I\u2019ve got to say to you.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Those little strifes sprinkled and embraced throughout Graceful \u2014 gigs that go over poorly, resentment towards an entire city, days that might as well be over before they\u2019ve even begun \u2014 make its more saccharine, blissful moments feel all the more earned: \u201cLove is back and it\u2019s in my arms,\u201d Pilkington exclaims on the album\u2019s standout penultimate track \u201cI\u2019m Lucky I Found You.\u201d\u00a0\u201cLucky\u201d is the operative word there, as Graceful doesn\u2019t ever function under the false pretense that good fortune is inevitable. As reminiscent of the past as the album can be, figuring out how to navigate a sometimes messy, often bewildering present is Touch Girl Apple Blossom&#8217;s main concern. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/tgab_82abd5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2498763 size-full\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Touch Girl Apple Blossom &#8211; Graceful [LP]<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Graceful-Touch-Girl-Apple-Blossom\/dp\/B0GN49V5PT\/ref=sr_1_1?tag=gum00-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Graceful is out 5\/15 via K\/Perennial.<\/p>\n<p>Other albums of note out this week:<br \/>\u2022 Drake&#8217;s Iceman<br \/>\u2022 Kevin Morby&#8217;s Little Wide Open<br \/>\u2022 horsegiirL&#8217;s Nature Is Healing<br \/>\u2022 Dua Saleh&#8217;s Of Earth &amp; Wires<br \/>\u2022 Porches&#8217; MASK Mixtape<br \/>\u2022 Telehealth&#8217;s Green World Image<br \/>\u2022 Prisonnier Du Temps&#8217; Prendre Le Pouvoir Par La Force<br \/>\u2022 Nara&#8217;s Room&#8217;s Tearless, thoughtless<br \/>\u2022 Shaggy&#8217;s Lottery<br \/>\u2022 The All-American Rejects&#8217; Sandbox<br \/>\u2022 The Karma Effect&#8217;s Cruel Intentions<br \/>\u2022 Held.&#8217;s Grey<br \/>\u2022 Maisie Peters&#8217; Florescence<br \/>\u2022 New Constellations&#8217; It Comes In Waves<br \/>\u2022 Khun Narin Electric Phin Band&#8217;s III<br \/>\u2022 Lawrence Kim&#8217;s The Hours &amp; The Times<br \/>\u2022 alt.&#8217;s Nevermore<br \/>\u2022 Maluma&#8217;s Loco x Volver<br \/>\u2022 Ben Alleman&#8217;s Underneath The Orange Tree<br \/>\u2022 Orphan Donor&#8217;s Ailments<br \/>\u2022 Discovery Zone&#8217;s Library Copy Do Not Remove<br \/>\u2022 Speedy J&#8217;s Walkman<br \/>\u2022 49 Winchester&#8217;s Change Of Plans<br \/>\u2022 David Bird&#8217;s Hinterlands<br \/>\u2022 A Box Of Stars&#8217; Walnut Street<br \/>\u2022 Haste The Day&#8217;s Dissenter<br \/>\u2022 MC Serch &amp; Apathy&#8217;s Millions Of Zeros<br \/>\u2022 Towa Bird&#8217;s Gentleman<br \/>\u2022 The Bodies Obtained&#8217;s Bouncing Off The Curb<br \/>\u2022 Mr Bruce&#8217;s OK<br \/>\u2022 Hott MT&#8217;s Haunted House<br \/>\u2022 Echo Bloom&#8217;s Anabasis<br \/>\u2022 Lord Sko &amp; Statik Selektah&#8217;s Elevator Music<br \/>\u2022 New Idea Society&#8217;s Fire On The Hill<br \/>\u2022 Yu Su&#8217;s Foundry<br \/>\u2022 Pro-Pain&#8217;s Stone Cold Anger<br \/>\u2022 Gun Outfit&#8217;s Process &amp; Reality<br \/>\u2022 Smug Brothers&#8217; Gravity Is Just A Way To Fall<br \/>\u2022 The Elovaters&#8217; Shark Belly Motel<br \/>\u2022 Immanuel Wilkins&#8217; Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard Vol. 3<br \/>\u2022 Nymphlord&#8217;s Shedding Velvet<br \/>\u2022 Trousdale&#8217;s Growing Pains (Deluxe)<br \/>\u2022 S.G. Goodman&#8217;s (Re) Planting By The Signs<br \/>\u2022 I&#8217;m Kingfisher&#8217;s Give Up Together<br \/>\u2022 Jeff Parker ETA IVtet&#8217;s Happy Today<br \/>\u2022 Various Artists&#8217; Off Campus Original Soundtrack<br \/>\u2022 Steve Louw&#8217;s Traces Of The Flood<br \/>\u2022 Alan Braufman&#8217;s Anthem For Peace<br \/>\u2022 EFFIGY&#8217;s Burnt Offerings<br \/>\u2022 PARTYOF2&#8217;s AMERIKA\u2019S NEXT TOP PARTY! (EXTENDED CUT)<br \/>\u2022 Rhododendron&#8217;s Ascent Effort<br \/>\u2022 Suss&#8217; Counting Sunsets<br \/>\u2022 Phillip Golub&#8217;s Partisan Ship<br \/>\u2022 Shakey Graves&#8217; Fondness, Etc.<br \/>\u2022 Johnny Dynamite&#8217;s Johnny Dynamite<br \/>\u2022 Holy Sun Opera House&#8217;s Holy Sun Opera House<br \/>\u2022 Super Sometimes&#8217; Show The World What\u2019s Underneath<br \/>\u2022 Eluvium\u2019s Virga III<br \/>\u2022 Dylan LeBlanc&#8217;s Cautionary Tale (Deluxe Edition)<br \/>\u2022 Tank And The Bangas&#8217; The Last Balloon<br \/>\u2022 Hunter Morris \/ Mountain Of Youth&#8217;s Nowhere, NW<br \/>\u2022 Genesis Owusu&#8217;s REDSTAR WU &amp; THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE<br \/>\u2022 Carl Gari&#8217;s Carl Gari<br \/>\u2022 Jack Johnson&#8217;s SURFILMUSIC (Soundtrack &amp; 4-Tracks)<br \/>\u2022 Ryan Bingham&#8217;s They Call Us The Lucky Ones<br \/>\u2022 Peter Frampton&#8217;s Carry The Light<br \/>\u2022 Self Deception&#8217;s One Of Us<br \/>\u2022 IAMEVE&#8217;s Legacy<br \/>\u2022 Sam Hoyek&#8217;s demonstration_01: anomalous<br \/>\u2022 William Hooker&#8217;s Convergence: Live In China<br \/>\u2022 Primitive Ring&#8217;s Primitive Ring<br \/>\u2022 Kreidler&#8217;s Schemes<br \/>\u2022 Jobi Riccio&#8217;s Face The Feeling<br \/>\u2022 Arturo Sandoval&#8217;s Sang\u00fa<br \/>\u2022 Spencer Krug&#8217;s Same Fangs<br \/>\u2022 Mad Honey&#8217;s Bridge Over Cumberland<br \/>\u2022 Jethro Tull&#8217;s Under Wraps: The Unwrapped Edition Box Set<br \/>\u2022 Mrs. Magician&#8217;s Spiritual Hangover<br \/>\u2022 Russell Jamie Johnson&#8217;s Russell Jamie Johnson<br \/>\u2022 Active Child&#8217;s Active Child<br \/>\u2022 U.S.Highball&#8217;s God Save The Kelvin Wheelies<br \/>\u2022 GIV\u0112ON&#8217;s Beloved: Act II<br \/>\u2022 Ibrahim Alfa Jnr.&#8217;s Infinite Black Inside<br \/>\u2022 Mia Joy&#8217;s Spirit Tamer (Deluxe Edition)<br \/>\u2022 Trinty Ace&#8217;s Learning To Be A Cowboy On The Horse That Broke My Arm<br \/>\u2022 Kolb&#8217;s No One Has To Lose EP<br \/>\u2022 Trinity Ace&#8217;s Learning To Be A Cowboy On The Horse That Broke My Arm EP<br \/>\u2022 The Field&#8217;s Now You Exist EP<br \/>\u2022 Eel Men&#8217;s Glass Hammers EP<br \/>\u2022 Various Artists&#8217; Served Hot EP<br \/>\u2022 Mirador&#8217;s The Gathering At Badon Hill EP<br \/>\u2022 Kid Sistr&#8217;s American Teenage Prophecy EP<br \/>\u2022 Vines&#8217; Covers I EP<br \/>\u2022 Daisy Grenade&#8217;s So Much To Say EP<br \/>\u2022 Function &amp; Nastia Reigel&#8217;s Devocion EP<br \/>\u2022 STINGRAY&#8217;s Enemy EP<br \/>\u2022 Bicurious&#8217; Afterthoughts EP<br \/>\u2022 Sofia And The Antoinettes&#8217; Leaving The House Is A Performance EP<br \/>\u2022 Smerz&#8217;s Easy EP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are three primary cities around the world that come to mind when I think of indie pop\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-666857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}