Hey indieheads! I’m Ricky Montgomery, an indie pop singer-songwriter from St. Louis and based out of LA. You may have heard of me through my songs “Mr Loverman” and “Line Without a Hook” from my first album Montgomery Ricky (which just turned 10!). I put out an EP of songs from that era aptly titled “Montgomery Ricky (Plus 3)”, which you can listen to here and I’m here to answer your burning questions! Fire ‘em off!

Here's the rate trailer made 85% by me, and 15% by u/systemofstrings! We suggest you watch it first for funsies.

After spending these past few weeks brainstorming, submitting, voting, and contemplating, here are the rates that will grace this sub for the next couple of months:

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May - June:

2000s Folky Indie

The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree; Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood; The Decemberists - The Crane Wife; Rilo Kiley - The Execution of All Things

• If you send a ballot for IPA Indie the next couple of weeks, be sure to stick around for what should make a great follow-up (as well as a great opener for the one-two punch of 2000s rates that start off our cycle). Featuring four long-running artists even longer overdue for a proper album rate, this rate is all in the name: folk-inspired classics from the first decade of the millennium.

• Hosted by u/krusso1105 & u/MightyProJet

June - July:

2000s Ind-EPs

Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind; Arctic Monkeys - Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys; Bon Iver - Blood Bank; Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey; Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant; Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band; Modest Mouse - Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks; The National - Cherry Tree; TV On the Radio - Young Liars; Washed Out - Life of Leisure; Yeah Yeah Yeahs - IS IS

• We've done album rates and grab bags, now it's time for a different format to make its debut here on indieheads. Take a taste from a wide sampling platter of sounds from eleven of some of the most notable EPs from the 2000s indie sphere. Even in the most evenly matched scenario someone's going to be missing the top ten, so get ready for a bloodbath of returning ratees and newcomers alike. This was the top performing rate of the cycle, topping almost every major metric.

• Hosted by u/TiltControls

July - August:

New Wave of No Wave

Gilla Band - Most Normal; Chat Pile - God's Country; Special Interest - The Passion Of; Model/Actriz - Dogsbody

• Baby ears, beware! Noise heads, rejoice! Our second non-Ultimate 2020s-specific rate is the polar opposite of the peaceful and meditative Chamber Folk rate, and very well might be our loudest ever. Take a dive into the new scene of industrial and no wave inspired noise rock/dance punk that took the indie mainstream by storm in the 2020s with four highly acclaimed albums that all have their own distinctive brand of distorted and noisy excellency.

• Hosted by u/innuendo_overdose

August - September:

Charity Rate IV

A collection of songs chosen by donors

• Back at it again for the fourth time with oft-cited favorite rate for many indiehead regulars, donors to this rate community's charity drive get to submit a song of their choice to be scored. Will you enshrine a future indiehead legend, like the Vengabus, Johnny Yeast, or Rock N Roll McDonalds? Or maybe you'll get gold with the next Charity Winner, like one of the co-hosts did just last year. Whether you send for the podium, the controversy leaderboard, or for the text to your musician friend saying "so please don't hate me...", you'll definitely want to get involved with this beloved rate!

• Hosted by u/afieldoftulips & u/vexastrae

September - October:

Classic Goth Rate

The Cure - Pornography; Siouxsie & the Banshees - Juju; Bauhaus - In the Flat Field; Sisters of Mercy - Floodland

• We usually take a short break from rates for this month, but could not pass up the opportunity to place this idea in spooky season. So smear on some black lipstick and enjoy the surprise fifth rate off the ballot! Evolving out of the post-punk scene, goth rock took influence from glam, classic horror movies, and existential philosophy to create a sound that was droning and foreboding. Ranging from a self-aware silly campiness to genuine sorrow, the genre is famous for dark lyrical themes, angular guitars, heavy bass, and synthesizers.

• Hosted by u/Saison_Marguerite & u/absurdisthewurd

October-November:

Hip Hop '88

Eric B. & Rakim - Follow the Leader; Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back; N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton; EPMD - Strictly Business

• Hip hop heads return as this will be our first rap rate in almost two years. 1988 is widely considered to be a landmark in rap's maturation as the album trumped the single and the floodgates for great groups opened overnight. New technology ushered in a golden age of sampling, begetting a generation of producer heavyweights & blurring the lines of hip hop, punk, and jazz. Meanwhile new approaches to rhyming & topic upped the complexity and opened the door for gangster pulp as much as social realism beyond straight battle raps. These four are landmarks in production, lyricism, and intensity that characterize the best of what the year has to offer. Also, "WaneLietoc is so excited the Rate Gang is rating charity 2 silver medalists & jazz rap bonus gold medalists Eric B & Rakim"

• Hosted by u/WaneLietoc & u/nonchalantthoughts

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Here are the honorable mentions:

• 2000s Alternative Metal

• 2020s Indie Folk/Americana

• Broken Social Scene Extended Family

• Coming of Age Grab Bag (Life is Strange Soundtrack Rate)

• Early 2020s Indie Pop

• Kranky Records

• Manchester to Madchester

• Mercury's Choice

• Post-Dubstep

These made the final shortlist ratcom debated on based on strong performance in the voting form in at least one metric, but were ultimately not picked. However, no matter how you did, we do encourage you to try again next voting cycle - expected to be next September - whether with a new idea, a revised idea, or your idea completely unchanged.

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On another note, for the "What is your most anticipated release of 2026" question, the winner with five votes was Friko, which will hopefully not trigger any bots in the comments. The runners up with four votes were Slayyyter and Olivia Rodrigo, so thank you to the popheads who voted. The full results can be found here - and to the person who sent Miles Davis - Kind of Blue 2, I wish you all the luck in the world my friend.

Thank you to all who submitted rates and the seventy-two voters, as well as all who worked on setting up this cycle! Submitters, feel free to contact me if you want results for your submission or if there was any feedback, especially for the shortlisted rates. And if you want to see what rate is currently running on the sub, please check out the following:

• Due April 7th (or April 9th if you ask for an extension!): Y2K Indie Rock (Built to Spill - Keep It Like a Secret; The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency and I; Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump; Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica)

• Beginning next week: IPA Indie (Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues; Destroyer - Kaputt; Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver; The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient)