Avery Friedman, Hello Damascus+ 9 Indie Rock names that deserve your attention

I know that when it comes to indie rock, the names are usually many, diverse and new. That’s why it’s always difficult to gather artists from this genre in a single list: there’s always one or two that are left out. Anyway, this is my last selection and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Avery Friedman

Brooklyn-based artist Avery Friedman has announced her debut album, ‘New Thing,’ for release via Audio Antihero on April 18th.

Friedman had always felt that songwriting was just something that other people did until she was pushed by a transcendent live music experience and a traumatic mugging to seek catharsis through music. Playing her first show in July 2024, she soon shared stages with h. pruz, Dead Gowns, and Sister., and she impressed the latter’s James Chrisman enough that he offered to record her debut album. The result was ‘New Thing,’ a sonically deep and layered debut that sees Friedman explore her trauma and queerness with a raw open-heartedness inspired by artists like Adrianne Lenker, Squirrel Flower, and Babehoven.

The lead single, “Flowers Fell,” is an ode to transitional stages that uses the changing seasons to demonstrate the growth Friedman has experienced by finally immersing herself in her art. The song’s tense guitar bursts offer an illustration of resistance before a starry-eyed chorus blooms, and Friedman sings, “The flowers fell off when I was asleep / But that’s okay, ‘cause now it’s all green,” as she finds acceptance and resilience in the face of change.

Hello Damascus

Hello Damascus is an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon blending folk, alt-country, pop, and indie rock into something that’s both familiar and totally its own. Originally formed in 2006 by Matt Lounsbury (guitar, vocals), Jason Madore (bass, piano) and Jeff Hardison (drums), the band reconnected in 2020 during the depths of the pandemic, adding guitarist and songwriter Alex Williams to the mix. The result is a new creative chapter and a new record, “Please Let Me Know,” dropping April 28, 2025 — a collection of songs shaped by years of friendship, musical evolution, and human struggles: working through grief, contending with local and environmental collapse, and trading chaos for intention. Recorded by Cam Spies (Night Heron, Radiation City) at Trash Treasury, the album features contributions from Night Heron personnel and backing vocals from celebrated Portland musicians Haley Johnsen, Adria Ivan, and Shawna Pair. Echoing the eclectic approach of 1990s indie rock, where stylistic diversity was celebrated rather than constrained, Please Let Me Know refuses to be boxed in. From catchy synth-pop (“Only Safe Place,” “Vie for Your Memory”) to haunting, western-tinged rock songs (“Gold Record,” “Delta”), this album doesn’t just rock, it reaches out a hand if you need it.