Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen argue about indie rock, one Metacritic score at a time.
Indiecast follows Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen as they sort through indie news, album releases, critics' lists, and the shifting rock canon. The appeal is in the mix: sharp music takes, dry self-mockery, listener emails, and digressions that can wander from The Strokes to Thanksgiving turkey before snapping back to the point.
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Indiecast is a two-host panel/conversation show rather than a guest-interview format: Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen, both music critics with backgrounds at outlets like Uproxx, talk through the week's indie and alternative music news in a loose, joke-heavy style before settling into more substantive record talk. Episodes typically open with media or pop-culture asides (celebrity news, football, media-industry gossip) before moving into album reviews, artist profiles, and festival coverage. Recurring structural segments include a 'fantasy album draft' where the hosts track Metacritic scores for albums they've claimed, a year-end 'IndieCasties' awards episode, and an audience mailbag. Coverage leans toward established and legacy indie-rock and alternative acts (The Strokes, Wolf Parade, Sugar/Bob Mold, Wednesday) as well as newer or breakout artists (Geese, MJ Lenderman, Ethel Cain, This Is Lorelei), with occasional attention to how those artists intersect with pop and hip-hop (Taylor Swift, Chance the Rapper, D'Angelo). The show also treats the state of music journalism as a recurring topic in its own right, discussing layoffs, paywalls, and the breakdown of shared critical consensus. There are no outside interview guests in the sampled episodes; the format is consistently a two-person dialogue. The show has had at least one hiatus and relaunch (returning under an Amazon Music partnership after being tied to Uproxx), which the hosts address directly on air. Tone throughout is conversational, opinionated, and often self-deprecating, with detours into sports and internet-culture asides. Listeners who already follow indie-rock release cycles, festival lineups, and music-critic discourse are the natural audience, since episodes assume familiarity with artists, past albums, and ongoing critical debates. Production is a straightforward two-mic conversational recording without narrative scripting or sound design beyond the segment structure.
Made for: Listeners who follow indie-rock and alternative music news and want critic-level discussion of new albums, festival lineups, and music-media industry shifts.
What sets it apart: Runs as a long-form two-critic dialogue built around recurring bits (a Metacritic-scored fantasy album draft, year-end IndieCasties awards, mailbag) rather than a guest-interview format typical of other music podcasts.
Indiecast is a weekly show from Amazon Music hosted by music critics Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen. Every week, Hyden and Cohen discuss the biggest news and names in modern indie, as well as look back to moments that established the indie rock canon.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Hyden and Cohen turn album talk into sharp, funny analysis of how indie taste, reputation, and critical consensus keep changing.
Indiecast turns current indie conversation into a lively argument between Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen, with album judgments, scene-level analysis, and dry jokes sharing the same space.
New Strokes songs meet Coachella billing arguments, with you happily keeping score.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A loose, funny Indiecast episode that turns new Strokes and WU LYF talk into a sharper argument about indie memory.
Indiecast works best here as a hangout with an argument running underneath it. Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen cover new music from The Strokes and WU LYF, look back at what they missed in the first quarter of 2026, and set up a second-quarter fantasy albums draft, but the Strokes…
A loose, funny Indiecast year-end episode about 2025 albums, indie trends, and the pleasure of a shared favorite.
Indiecast turns its favorite-albums episode into a loose, critic-brained temperature check on 2025: indie rock feeling unusually present again, David Berman's influence surfacing in newer records, unmastered-album energy, Taylor Swift catching some real blowback, and a new batch…
A warm, sharp IndieCast episode anchored by D'Angelo's legacy and the line between influence and costume.
IndieCast opens with Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen doing what they do best: turning a festival dispatch into a miniature scene study, this time from Best Friends Forever, where 90s emo bands and their aging audience seem to have met in the same shorts-and-hat middle ground.
A funny, reference-heavy Indiecast on Coachella 2026 hierarchy, Wednesday, and the messy way music eras get remembered.
Indiecast turns the Coachella 2026 lineup into a loose, funny argument about festival status: who still scans as huge, who gets grandfathered into relevance, and how Disclosure can end up discussed near Moby, the Strokes, Justin Bieber, Turnstile, Ethel Cain, Dijon, Teddy Swims,…
Indiecast turns five with Ethel Cain, Chance the Rapper, and a sharp, insider-friendly read on fractured music criticism.
Indiecast belatedly marks its fifth anniversary with the kind of loose, critic-brained episode the show was built for: Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen look back at launching in July 2020, when lockdown made a new music podcast feel both absurd and necessary, then fold that memory…
Chicago critics DeRogatis and Kot pair new-album reviews with deep dives into records like Rumours.
Annual Songlines Music Awards ceremonies spotlighting global artists, from Afrobeat to sevda.
A high schooler's music diary — Grammys press pass stories to family concert interviews.
A hiatus ends with crate-digging jokes.
Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen announce that IndieCast is returning on Friday, April 10th, with Amazon Music as its new presenting partner.
Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen open Indiecast’s favorite albums of 2025 episode by detouring through Charli XCX’s The Moment trailer, a Brat Arena Tour mockumentary that Stephen reads as a possible marker of millennial culture’s end.
This episode of IndieCast discusses year-end music lists, the Bonnaroo 2026 lineup, and critiques a conservative podcast's take on Taylor Swift, blending indie news with cultural commentary.
The hosts of IndieCast answer listener emails and discuss a recent incident at a Jeff Tweedy concert where audience members debated whether to dance or remain seated.
The hosts discuss potential albums that critics might include on their year-end lists, while also debating the merits of turkey as a Thanksgiving tradition.
The hosts discuss the new Radiohead tour, Grammy rock nominations, and Tobias Gesso Jr.'s upcoming album.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss indie music news, including a new supergroup, Ryan Adams' return, and The 1975, along with their recent concert experiences.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss indie music news, including Lily Allen's love life, Halloween music, and the 20th anniversary of an Animal Collective album, along with a humorous tangent about Beach Slang.
Hosts discuss indie music news, review albums, and debate trends, including a segment on Pitchfork's new comment section.
Indiecast opens in its usual loose-chat lane.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss the Taylor Swift backlash of 2025 and recommend new albums by The Antlers and J-Som.
Hosts discuss indie music news, review albums, and introduce a fantasy album draft segment, with a brief tangent about a new movie.
This episode discusses new indie albums by Geese and Cate Le Bon, explores whether Frank Ocean will release new music, and touches on pop culture topics like Paul Thomas Anderson's films.
Coachella stays on the dartboard.
This episode discusses the indie music topics of Sombra and freak folk while addressing the disturbing viral video of Charlie Kirk's assassination.
This episode discusses the new Big Thief album and Radiohead's return to touring, while also touching on indie music trends and artists like Michael Stipe.
This episode discusses the legacy of Deftones, critiques the current state of music criticism, and includes banter about Taylor Swift's engagement and the concept of coolness in pop culture.
This episode discusses indie music news including Mac DeMarco's return and reviews the worst rock songs of the last 25 years, while also featuring casual banter about sports.
Five years slipped by.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss a viral video about Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and reflect on notable indie albums from 2005.
Hosts discuss indie music news including Ozzy Osbourne's death, new Tame Impala single, and indie bands leaving Spotify, with humorous banter about drummer Josh Fries.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss indie music news and respond to listener emails in a banked mailbag episode.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss indie music news, album reviews, and trends, including Alex G, Deftones, and Tame Impala's Currents anniversary.
Hosts discuss the Oasis reunion, a new Geese album, Lord Huron's popularity, and Pearl Jam's drummer change.
Hosts discuss Arcade Fire's failed comeback, Andre 3000's jazz encounter, and NBA conspiracy theories.
Hosts discuss indie music news, including a Charlie XCX vs.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss new album announcements from Arcade Fire, Stereolab, Pulp, and others, and review the latest record by Bunnybear.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss their favorite albums of 2024 and banter about the Yacht Rock documentary.
The hosts discuss the surprise Kendrick Lamar album and the Coachella lineup, with casual banter about Thanksgiving leftovers.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss potential Album of the Year candidates and review new releases from Father John Misty and Michael Kiwanuka.
Two music critics discuss indie music news, including the end of Pitchfork Festival and Grammys, while bantering about social media platforms.
Hosts discuss indie music news, review The Cure, and share political reactions to the election.
Hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen discuss indie music news, album reviews, and trends, including pop stars overreacting to bad reviews and recent concerts they attended.