There have been certain moments in indie-rock where the genre boomed, both creatively & commercially, from eighties new wave to nineties alt-punk to the emotional indie explosion of the late aughts that gave us everything from Phoenix to the Swedish Invasion (and even some Americans…). But like every musical wave, it crests and subsides as something else takes its place. Thankfully, not only are so many of those acts still around & still great, but also new artists picking up the torch, like Dublin’s Cian Godfrey as Somebody’s Child.
Somebody’s Child distinctly has a late aughts feel (particularly if you loved that era), finely balancing feelings and catch, guitars and synths. There’s the evening emotion of “Jungle” that brings to mind Foals, or the indie-pop press of Shout Out Louds on “I Need Ya” (indeed, Godfrey’s voice would definitely remind any SOL fan of Adam Olenius). But, perhaps with the era still not that long ago, Child is not some retread or carbon copy, finding its own life, such as the expanding hope & love of “Broken Record”, “Stay”, and closer “We Could Start a War”.
It’ll never be 2007 again, and aging millennials need new music to keep them from becoming the kind of aged boomer who thinks music peaked in 1973 – or Gen Xer who thinks it peaked in 1993. So, welcome great new artists who are doing what you’ve long loved, such as Somebody’s Child.
