The 16 best songs from the last two weeks with an indie rock / indiepop bias. Album highlights from The National, Vampire Weekend, Beaches, Songs, and Underground Lovers plus new tracks from Laura Marling, The Pastels, Imperial Teen, Dodos, Sigur Rόs, a new Katy Goodman track and mysterious dreampop outfit Badlands. A fare few Krautrock influences this time round.

Imperial Teen ‘Runaway’
Bright catchy powerpop from Roddy Bottum and co.
[Imperial Teen]

Queens of The Stone Age ‘I Appear Missing’
Several tracks from QOTSA’s forthcoming …Like Clockwork album have surfaced (along with accompanying animated videos) but this is easily my favourite, recalling the trippier moments of Rated R and living up to the “codeine cabaret” tag that the band mentioned in connection with their new stuff.
[Queens of The Stone Age]

Vampire Weekend ‘Unbelievers’
A contender for album of the year, Modern Vampires of The City manages the neat trick of being stylistically diverse yet cohesive; a big leap forward while still obviously the work of the same band who made their brilliant debut (and its somewhat disappointing follow up, Contra).
[Vampire Weekend]

Dodos ‘Confidence’
Freak folk band follow up their wonderful No Color album with first single from the forthcoming Carrier.
[Dodos]

Songs ‘The Country’
Fuzzed up melodius indiepop with a healthy dose of 80s Flying Nun from the Sydney bands second album Malabar.
[Songs]

Underground Lovers ‘Au Pair’
Krautrocking track from Weekend, the new album from the re-united and reinvigorated 90s Melbourne dreampop band.
[Underground Lovers]

Hospital Ships ‘If It Speaks’
Indie rock from Lawrence, Kansas.
[Hospital Ships]

Books Of Love ‘Space Time’
Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls / La Sera teams up with Greta Morgan of The Hush Sound for a cosmic indiepop inspired by hiking out near LA’s Griffiths Observatory.
[Books of Love]

Beaches ‘Send Them Away’
What started as a side-project looks likely to surpass all five members’ other bands. Three-guitars, motorik rhythms, fuzzy psych-rock with hints of a shambling indiepop sensibility. Taken from She Beats, which features Krautrock legend and fan Michael Rother.
[Beaches]

English Singles ‘Ordinary Girls’
Very English sounding indiepop from Sacramento fourpiece signed to Slumberland.
[English Singles]

The Pastels ‘Illuminum Songs’
As the Scottish indiepop veterans prepare to release their first new album since The Last Great Wilderness soundtrack 10 years ago, here’s a new non-album track, the b-side to recent single ‘Check My Heart’ (featured on #ITP 31). It’s a half-cover of a song cowritten by the band’s Katrina Mitchell and Japanese popstar Hideki Kaji.
[The Pastels]

Laura Marling ‘Once’
Second single to surface from the still-only-23-years-old English folkie’s forthcoming fourth album Once I Was An Eagle.
[Laura Marling]

Sigur Rόs ‘Isjaki’
Second single (which I believe translates as “Iceberg” ) to be taken from the forthcoming seventh album Kveikur.
[Sigur Rόs]

The National ‘Pink Rabbits’
Highlight of one of the album’s of the year, Trouble Will Find Me.
[The National]

Badlands ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Dreampop with a 60s girl group feel. Little is known of this mystery duo
[Badlands]

Camera Obscura ‘Fifth In Line To the Throne’
The Scottish indiepoppers have a new album Desire Lines due out next month. This is the second track to appear and is much prefer it to slightly underwhelming ‘Do It Again’.
return with
[Camera Obscura]

[Takeaway]