On this week's Indiecast, Ian Cohen and Steve Hyden try to make sense of the conversation around Rihanna's Super Bowl Halftime performance (7:00), as well as the buzz about U2's upcoming residency in Las Vegas (15:23).

In the meat of the episode (28:57), they reviewed two recent releases — the first is This Is Why, the first album in six years from the venerable emo-pop institution Paramore. In recent years, the band's aughts-era music has been an obvious influence on a range of pop and rock acts. But on the new LP, Hayley Williams and co. attempt to pivot away from their traditional sound toward a more post-punk type vibe. Do they pull it off? Let's talk it out.

The second album is Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, the latest from singer-songwriter Caroline Polachek. The album already has serious "Album Of The Year" vibes — yes, we're already talking about this stuff in February — so why is it also reminiscent of Oscar bait films or prestige TV?

In our Recommendation Corner (52:10) segment, Steve suggests checking out The Future Is Our Past, the new album by the Brian Jonestown Massacre, while Ian talks about the new EP from shoegaze band Crushed, Extra Life.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 126 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

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