Recipe for “Indie Cred”:
- Musically cutting-edge home town (eg. Austin, TX)
- Intriguingly cryptic band name
- Song title comprising four straight nouns
- Unusual instruments
- Multiple SXSW appearances
- Glowing review by Pitchfork (note: for Pitchfork, ‘glowing’ means 7/10 or better.)
- Minimum 1 band member with beard
- Minimum 1 band member with strange name (eg. Toto)
- Provide soundtrack for obscure Japanese-American film
- Provide soundtrack for nerdy design podcast
As you may have guessed, The Octopus Project has enough of the above ingredients to make a batch of indie cred that could feed an army of liberal arts majors.
From my snooty tone (which is ironic, because snootiness is often considered a characteristic flavour of indie culture) it might seem like I’m not a fan. But good music is good music, and no amount of beards or vintage eyewear or artisanal bike seats can change that.
So please join me in setting aside any snootiness and enjoying this indie gem.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The xylophone triplets.
2. The ghostly theremin choir.
3. The end: a sudden, low, echoing hum.
Recommended listening activity:
Drinking small-batch beer out of a mason jar.