There are numerous indie rock enclaves across the south, but most of their bands make a point to sound like they're from somewhere else. If you're looking for Southern indie rock bands, Athens, Georgia is a great place to start, and New Madrid certainly embrace their surroundings on their upcoming LP Sunswimmer (out February 25); it's their first for Athens-based label Normaltown, the sister label of New West (Drive-By Truckers, Vic Chesnutt) and produced by former Sugar bassist David Barbe, who's chief of the Chase Park Transduction Studio (Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Bright Eyes) and director of the University of Georgia's Music Business program.
Three-quarters of the band are recent transplants from Nashville and Chattanooga, and there's still some residual Tennessee fire to Sunswimmer's first single, "Manners". Phil McGill's vocals have an unabashed twang in their upper register, and as the band hurtles towards the finish, a guitar is processed to sound more like a souped-up pedal steel. While New Madrid don't sound much like R.E.M. or Pylon, they do draw from the same elemental sources as the Classic City legends, fashioning jangly, 80s indie with the rhythms of post-punk into something that was concisely called "college rock" at one point. That's what you're getting on "Manners"—only, with an SEC accent.
