2023 was an amazing year for the Indie Pop and Indie Rock genre. With the still-growing influence of social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, small rock and indie artists are able to share their art and gain a following. I scoured through dozens of bands last year ranging from grunge, punk, shoegaze and indie rock, and, after searching through all these bands, the three that really stood out to me were: Sap, Rehash and A Letter for Ashley.

My personal favorite out of the three, coming from Austin, Texas is the modern-day Grunge band Sap. Consisting of guitarist and lead singer Evan Fundora, bassist Hank Barna and drummer Jared Cox, Sap is a very fun band. It was formed after Fundora posted a Craigslist ad about needing a bassist and drummer and Barna and Cox, who were in the area and shared the same love for 90s Grunge music as Fundora, responded. The three of them immediately clicked and started working on the original music. 

On February 2, 2023, Sap released their first debut single “Kiss My Kitty Cat.” The song is a heavy, jumpy, catchy song taking huge inspiration from iconic bands of the nineties like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Later, on July 13, 2023, Sap released “Lard Baby,” their first album. Consisting of nine songs and only taking up a little over 35 minutes, the album is an intense, yet fun hidden gem. I think it is a shame that Sap only has a little over 8,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Coming from South Florida, Rehash comes in as a close second for me. First forming as a duo project, their first album, a self-titled piece written and performed by Renzo Valdez, (rhythm guitarist and vocalist), and Sebastian Gamez, (lead guitarist and keyboardist). After the release of their first album, an indie rock album with Hispanic influence, the duo were joined by Ethan Lopez on drums and Daseth Lopez on bass guitar. Their first and only album, “Rehash,” released on June 9, 2023, is a compilation of ten songs that only takes up a little over 27 minutes. Taking inspiration from bands like The Beatles, Nirvana, and Radiohead, the album is a complex project that tackles topics from depression to love to societal issues. Even with these serious topics, the band manages to keep the authentic indie sound: upbeat rhythms mixed with slow melancholy melodies. Rehash still has an underground following with slightly 17,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

The third and final band that caught my attention was the local Shoegaze band, “A Letter For Ashley.” The band’s first album, “The Place I Go in My Mind,” released on October 27, 2023, was a solo adventure written, produced and performed by Atticus Mitchell. Mitchell would claim that he took inspiration from 90s Shoegaze and Slowcore bands like “Duster,”  “Whirr,” “American Football” and others. The album is a very personal moody montage of 11 songs that takes up about 32 minutes. The official A Letter For Ashley Instagram account wrote “A Letter For Ashely is no longer a solo project! Guitarist Atticus Mitchell has decided to bring in bassist Tony Crosby, pianist Carter Harrington and vocalist Micah Gaston as new full-time members of the band!” 

2023 was a great year for underground indie music. I hope to see these bands continue their legacy well into the future.