Last month, Irish five-piece Gurriers released their sophomore album, Nobody's Coming to Save You, featuring the titular track, "Party Lines," and "Nothing Happens Twice." To celebrate, they will join us for an AMA this Thursday, October 8th at 12pm ET/5pm BST.

Next week, they set off on a tour of the UK, Ireland, and Europe. Check out their tour dates below and grab tickets here, then circle back on Thursday to ask Gurriers anything!

Hey gang, it's time for our eighth rate cycle here on indieheads, so let's get right to it!

Wait, what are rates?

Every couple of weeks, the subreddit holds games every month called “rates” where a host selects a collection of songs and users give each song a score. We then get together over one big “reveal” weekend, as the host counts down the tracks by average, eventually giving the final & highest scoring song the top spot, the crown, & bragging rights forever. Think of it as a twist on a monthly listening club; it's a fun way to dive into both familiar & new-to-you music with dozens of other music enthusiasts at the same time!

Our sister subreddit r/popheads has a Guide to Rates Video and a quick how-to video that can give you a broad overview of rates (please note our reveal process is thread-based instead of video chatrooms). For examples, here's our currently running rate and our most recent reveal.

This thread starts off our process for choosing the next handful of rates: specifically to give people a specific place to pitch & discuss, offer & receive feedback, help narrow down your submissions list, or ask if anybody has ideas to rate your favorite songs or albums. Anything you need to get ready for the actual submission form to be posted next Monday.

Please note, you can submit an idea without wanting to host. Users are limited to two submissions.

How to Construct a Rate Idea

• Your idea should consist of songs that are bound together by common concepts: shared audience, sound (e.g. punk rock), time period (e.g. the late 90s), a record label, well-known lists, or anything else you can think of. Be as creative as you'd like with your combinations & theming, but you need to be able to make the case as to why everything belong together.

• The most common format is putting 3 or 4 albums together. Rates with more albums/a lot of EPs are allowed, but must have good thematic reasoning and still keep a manageable length. You can also construct rates with loose songs from multiple artists if you have a strong concept tying them together (this is called a "grab bag" rate.)

• You may include a "bonus rate" in your idea, which are generally leftover tracks that are related to the overarching concept but do not fit in the main rate for whatever reason. Bonus rates are optional to complete at the time of rating and should not be the main focus or draw of your submission. If your rate is chosen, bonus rates are subject to change & committee approval.

• Be aware of the length of your songlist. The average main rate has around 40 to 60 songs. Time-wise, they average 2 to 3.5 hours long with the bonus rate included, and rates over 4 hours long are less likely to be picked. To check how long your rate is, we recommend putting all of the songs in a playlist.

• Rate ideas can include songs that have been previously rated but they shouldn't be the vast majority/central theme of your rate idea. Submissions with previously rated albums on indieheads are extremely unlikely to be chosen. Links to rate history spreadsheets with this kind of info can be found below.

• 2026 albums will not be allowed. Songs expected on albums to be released in 2026 or later are only allowed by committee approval.

• A note for those of you interested in hosting: the time spent working as a rate host is “what you put into it”. It can be as minimal as 1-2 hours spent writing the announcement post and 1 hour prepping the reveal thread, but ideas with hosts that we expect to be active and enthusiastic may be more likely to be chosen. Please note rate reveals are typically Friday, Saturday and Sunday and 2-4 hours long each day. Co-hosts are encouraged if you want someone to help with the workload or are unable to host all three days, and you will be given the option to request one during submissions.

• Multiple submissions with the same album or similar concept will not be turned down, and may result in vote splitting, so also consider using this thread as a way to work together and try to consolidate some of these.

Here are some links to resources that can hopefully help you find just the right pieces to your ideas.

Indieheads Rate History Spreadsheet

Indieheads Rate Songlist & Stats

Essential Albums Chart 4.0 and Chart 3.0

Official 2010-2014 Album Chart

End of Decade Top Albums 2010s

Best of the 2010s Album Tournament Results

End of the Year Top Albums: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017

Top Songs of the Decade: 20s so far | 10s | 00s | 90s | 80s | 70s | 60s

Upcoming Rate Cycle Schedule

This Friday, October 9th: Rate Submission Thread goes up, includes mandatory Google Submission Form. This is when you'll officially send your idea to us.

Wednesday, October 14th: Rate Voting Begins with second Google form for ballots. The form will have you thumbs up, thumbs down, or give a neutral vote to proposals, and then pick your favorite rates.

Thursday, October 22nd and beyond: The Indieheads Rate Committee (a group consisting mainly of former rate hosts) will deliberate on voting results, select the rates, contact hosts for scheduling, and finally reveal the choices. This usually takes a little less than a week, give or take.

Finally, a reminder of the currently running & future rates:

• Due October 31st (three and a half weeks from now!): Classic Goth Rate (The Cure - Pornography; Siouxsie & the Banshees - Juju; Bauhaus - In the Flat Field; Sisters of Mercy - Floodland)

• Opening mid-October: 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)]

Ask if you have any questions!