Best Ever Albums

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 01:33:14 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/10/2026 05:33

Repo wrote:

I was positively flailing. I did NOT want to admit that my arch-nemesis, the nefarious MJ, was right. That this would be the week that I would have no new albums to look forward to come Friday morning. I searched both Pitchfork's and Metacritic's slate of upcoming album releases in vain. All seemed loss. April 10th would be my bane. And then, behold, I remembered. My champion as a wee lad - Metal - would surely not fail me. Surely, the Metal Gods themselves would avail me of that vile unbeliever MJ! Alas, via YouTube site of BangerTV, the Metal Gods brought favor to their ever faithful servant with a righteous and triumphant Melodic Death Metal album by the likes of Inferi that will surely be gracing the higher echelons of my Metal '26 End-Of-Year list. Rejoice! A welcome discovery indeed. Blessed be the Metal Gods!!! 🤘 😈

Somehow I always end up being everybody's arch-nemesis. How does that happen? I'm a nice guy! I hardly ever spoil other people's diabolical master plans to take over the world. Okay, maybe a couple of times. Today.

Anyway, I'd never heard of Inferi, which is the Italian word for "Underworld," but their name reminds me of Injera, the spongey bread you get at Ethiopian restaurants, so they must be good. And now that I have heard of them, I have to say, I really like their album covers — very Lovecraftian, and of course anything with a giant eyeball on it is cool as far as I'm concerned! However, I did say early on that I'm not a metal guy, and I also didn't actually say there was "nothing" coming out this week — in fact, there was a surprise drop today from Australian post-rockers International Karate, which might end up being my pick-of-the-week if the new Sparkler and Cathedral Bells albums aren't as good as the preview tracks currently indicate. Also, there are new LPs from semi-famous people including Joe Jackson, Jessie Ware, and Richard Barbieri (who used to play keyboards for Japan).

Sparkler, Glidewinder: As mentioned earlier, this is an MBV-style shoegaze band from San Diego, and this is their second full-length LP. (I really liked their first one, and this sounds like it's going to be quite a bit better, so...)
Cathedral Bells, Parallel Dreams: More of a nugaze/dreampop band, this time from Los Angeles. What can I say, I'm a sucker for stuff like this, even though they don't have a female singer. Maybe they can get Loreena McKennitt, since she also made an album called "Parallel Dreams," except she's well over twice their age. (And she's from Canada!)
International Karate, Lifetime as a Beginner: A complete surprise, as there was no pre-announcement (that I'm aware of) and they hadn't made an album in 20 years. In the meantime, another band called "International Karate" formed in Minneapolis, so that's nice. The name-squatters haven't make a big splash though, so maybe the confusion level won't ruin this band's comeback attempt. Actually, it probably will.
Sugar Horse, Not a Sound in Heaven: Post-punk/doomgaze band from Bristol, UK. No preview tracks at all for this album, but their previous work has been fairly... compelling? Also, if you get on a horse and find out it's made of sugar, you should get off the horse.
Spoils, Mile Wide Inch Deep: All-women band from Cincinnati who sort of remind me of Warpaint, but with more verve and energy. This one could be a real sleeper!
Komana, A.I. Lust: Art-punk solo act from France (not to be confused with the bands of the same name from Ireland and Belgium). Cool record, but don't expect any cute/catchy singalongs... Also, this one might not qualify for BEA yet as it appears to exist only on Bandcamp, at least for now.
Lime Garden, Maybe Not Tonight: Indiepop group from Brighton — a bit like Charli XCX meets Wet Leg, though maybe not quite as transgressive. (I might just be imagining that.) There could be some hit potential on this one, and as an added bonus, their name should help remind gardeners that lime should occasionally be applied to vegetable beds to reduce soil acidity!
Wavering, The Inexplicable Valley of Lights: This is a doomgaze act from Connecticut, which makes sense if you've ever been to Connecticut.
The Wulongs, FACH: All-female tweepunk trio from Japan. My expectations aren't super-high for this one, but they could surprise me. It's happened before...
Iguana Death Cult, Guns Out: Punk (mostly) band from The Netherlands; normally I like bands like this, but I'm not so sure I like the vocals with these guys? Maybe I'm just looking for something to needlessly criticize here.
Richard Barbieri, Hauntings: No previews on this whatsoever, just an "Official Trailer," but recent releases from him have basically been ambient vaporwave stuff with occasional trip-hoppishness. The title suggests he's going for a more spooky vibe this time, and the trailer suggests there could be some upbeat stuff in there too, but we'll see soon enough. Ambient vaporwave fans don't scare easily.

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Tap — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 01:27:36 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 04/10/2026 05:27

Oh and as far as other known names go, you've got Lone, WU LYF, Squarepusher (tho speaking as a fan I gotta say this one seems real bad), Gnod, Alex Zhang Hungtai, and a collaboration from Félicia Atkinson & Christina Vantzou

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Tap — Thu, 9 Apr 2026 21:10:47 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 04/10/2026 01:10

There's a big one from a former Black Midi member

My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe
https://mynewbandbelieve.bandcamp.com/album/my-new-band-believe

But I'd also recommend keeping an eye on these obscurer figures

Rosa Pistola - Incorregible
https://rosapistola.bandcamp.com/album/incorregible

Not entirely sure what to expect but that's good production on the preview track, and I love the art

HYPER GAL - Our Hyper
https://hypergal.bandcamp.com/album/our-hyper

This seems like some fun violence (but not like full on noise, like regular folks could still get into this maybe)

Guests - Common Domestic Bird
https://by-guests.bandcamp.com/album/common-domestic-bird

The vocalist of this band is so good at going from speaking voice to barely-not-speaking singing, I love this stuff

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Repo — Thu, 9 Apr 2026 20:24:46 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/10/2026 00:24

RELEASE DAY EVE: April 10th, 2026

Believe in the Metal Gods, Ye Mortals!

Heaven Wept (2026) by Inferi

I was positively flailing. I did NOT want to admit that my arch-nemesis, the nefarious MJ, was right. That this would be the week that I would have no new albums to look forward to come Friday morning. I searched both Pitchfork's and Metacritic's slate of upcoming album releases in vain. All seemed loss. April 10th would be my bane. And then, behold, I remembered. My champion as a wee lad - Metal - would surely not fail me. Surely, the Metal Gods themselves would avail me of that vile unbeliever MJ! Alas, via YouTube site of BangerTV, the Metal Gods brought favor to their ever faithful servant with a righteous and triumphant Melodic Death Metal album by the likes of Inferi that will surely be gracing the higher echelons of my Metal '26 End-Of-Year list. Rejoice! A welcome discovery indeed. Blessed be the Metal Gods!!! 🤘 😈

What April 10th, 2026 release do YOU have your ears & heart set on when midnight strikes?! 🔭�'�

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Repo — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 07:41:30 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/06/2026 11:41

MadhattanJack wrote:

[*]Angine de Poitrine, Vol. II: I assume everybody has heard of these guys by now, but if you haven't, then I'll just post one of their videos below. You should definitely check it out, because it's certainly something you don't see every day. (Unless you work in a polka-dot factory.) All I would say is that high-level technical virtuosity combined with extremely weird costumes doesn't automatically lead to music that I actually want to listen to for more than, say, five minutes or so without stopping, but at least it gets people talking about them. These days, that's half the battle! Maybe more than half.[/list]

Link

Sickness! It's like Primus meets Lightning Bolt if both were more into Prog.

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 05:44:22 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/06/2026 09:44

Loose ends, missed drops and surprise drops from last week (in order of how I would rank them):

Makthaverskan, Glass and Bones: This album was practically a revelation — I'd never heard of them, but they're a post-punk guitar band from Sweden with a great (female, of course) singer, and damn, they're really good! (They need a new logo, though — I might have overlooked them in the past because I thought they were a black-metal band.) This is their fifth album, which I guess means I have four more albums to listen to now.
Robber Robber, Two Wheels Move the Soul: And here's another surprisingly good post-punk guitar band with a great female singer whom I might have ignored in the past due to an inappropriately-metalish band logo. It's weird that both this and the Makthaverskan LP would come out on the same day, but maybe there's a special management company for post-punk guitar bands with misleading logos that makes these kinds of decisions.
U2, Easter Lily EP: This was a legitimate surprise drop, though it wasn't as much of a surprise as it might have been because they did the same thing with their Days of Ash EP in February. The stuff on EP is more like what we've been used to from them ever since the Joshua Tree days, but that doesn't mean the other one is better. However, I do think the other one had a bit more... panache? I believe that's the right word.
The Bevis Frond, Horrorful Heights: These guys recently had some lineup changes and their sound (if not their songcraft) has significantly improved, I'd say largely because of it. Unfortunately, my main problem with this band, namely Nick Salomon's voice, is something they're never going to change — it's his band, after all. There are many good tracks on this album, and it may even be their best record of the 21st century, but if I try to listen to more than three or four of them in succession I just have to turn it off. Anyway, this wasn't a surprise drop — they originally scheduled this for January and then postponed, and then didn't announce the new date until it was practically upon us.
Spaceport, Cut the Lake: Nice, well-made guitar-pop album. I'm not saying it lacks energy, but it could use a bit more noise and distortion — you know, for the kids! Also, with a name like "Spaceport" you expect something more spacey than this.
Angine de Poitrine, Vol. II: I assume everybody has heard of these guys by now, but if you haven't, then I'll just post one of their videos below. You should definitely check it out, because it's certainly something you don't see every day. (Unless you work in a polka-dot factory.) All I would say is that high-level technical virtuosity combined with extremely weird costumes doesn't automatically lead to music that I actually want to listen to for more than, say, five minutes or so without stopping, but at least it gets people talking about them. These days, that's half the battle! Maybe more than half.

I would also commend this set of reviews from BrooklynVegan.com, covering several of the aforementioned albums in considerably more detail.

Link

Next week there's a new Sparkler album called Glidewinder, for fans of My Bloody Valentine-style shoegazers. Yippee?

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Tap — Sat, 4 Apr 2026 02:31:19 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 04/04/2026 06:31

Big one this week

Wendy Eisenberg - Wendy Eisenberg
https://wendyeisenberg.bandcamp.com/album/wendy-eisenberg

You all need to listen, this one's mandatory. Maybe a bit more "singer-songwriter" than previous stuff, but it still has their character. But where it previously felt like all the irregular moves were dodging something, creating a residual vigilance, this one feels like it moves because it wants to. There's a peace to it. Extremely good.

But also of note

Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE & SURF GANG - POMPEII // UTILITY
https://mikelikesrap.bandcamp.com/album/pompeii-utility

Haven't listened yet but this is surely going to be good.

89 the Brainchild - Not Who I Thought I Was: the evil who brought us joy
https://89thebrainchild.bandcamp.com/album/not-who-i-thought-i-was-the-evil-who-brought-us-joy

I did hear this one though, and it's some great hip hop. Every track has a different producer so the sound gets varied, sometimes it goes really far out with effects on the vocals but its never so far out that it feels totally different from the grounded ones

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Thu, 2 Apr 2026 21:51:46 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/03/2026 01:51

As I may have suggested earlier, this week (and/or Apr. 3 specifically) really isn't one for people like me, since presumably "people like me" are all waiting for Record Store Day. There's only one album coming out tomorrow that I'm genuinely enthusiastic about, and that's (as mentioned above) the new deary album, Birding. It's all about birds!

Deary
Birding (2026)

Maybe they'd rather not have people point it out all the time, but basically they sound like the Cocteau Twins, they look like the Cocteau Twins, and they'd probably smell like the Cocteau Twins too if we could get close enough to have a good sniff. I'm sure they'll eventually get tired of the comparisons and change it up a little bit, but this is their first full-length album, so let's not make a lot of unreasonable demands at this stage. (The other two we have listed on BEA are six-track EPs.)

I'm tempted to not even mention anything else, but I endeavor to be inclusive:

Wax Head, Gnat: This was actually released on Wednesday; they're a psych-punk band from Manchester, this is their first album, and they're very lo-fi and garagey. I enjoy stuff like this, but you have to be in the right mood for it.
Lavalove, Tan Lines: This is an almost-all-girl pop-punk band from Los Angeles (they have a male drummer, the rest are women) that I really like — their songs are great, but they are very, very cheesy, to an almost parody-like extent. Be warned!
Joe Pernice, Sunny, I Was Wrong: I totally missed the listening party and the title track isn't one of the three preview tunes, so I don't know who Sunny is or what Joe was wrong about, but knowing him, it was probably super-devastating.
Arlo Parks, Ambiguous Desire: This will probably be the "big album" of the week along with Thundercat. I love her voice, but the music's not really in my wheelhouse, you might say. I'll just leave it there, I think?
Bruce Hornsby, Indigo Park: I met him in person once. He seemed like a nice guy...
Kronos Quartet, Glorious Mahalia: This is kind of cool — apparently they assembled some old "archival audio" of Mahalia Jackson singing some stuff and recorded some contemporary-classical backing tracks for it all. Maybe you're not down with the concept, but if you are, it sounds really good, actually.
SUNN O))), sunn O))): It's their tenth studio LP, and obviously these guys occupy a rather small niche audience-wise, but I've never particularly disliked them. All I can say is that the two tracks (out of six) that they let out for pre-release here don't exactly have much "hit single" potential. And by "much," of course I mean "any."
The Shits, Diet of Worms: This is actually a pretty good punk album if you can get past their insistence on scatological, well, everything. I have a sneaking suspicion that even the cover art was done with, well, you know... scatalogical art supplies, let's just say.
Pranatricks, Infiniteness: This came out today; it's a guy from British Columbia who bills himself as "psych-folk," but I think he's selling himself short — this is a straight-up post-punk album with some decently interesting stuff on it. He's not a great singer, but he's not bad, either. If you like the Asteroid No.4 (one of my favorite bands!), you might like this too...? Hopefully we'll get a new Asteroids album later this year and I'll forget all about it, but for now...
Pigeon, Outtanational: This band has been referred to as "Electropunk-funk" and "Afrodisco," which isn't wrong. It's good dance music, still not "my thing," but it's been that sort of week.
Hiding Places, The Secret to Good Living: Kind of a southern Americana-ish indie-rock band with a somewhat disenchanted-sounding female singer. They're okay, but I don't think they're named after the Billy Woods album.
Gentilesky, Dream: This is a 4-piece post-punk guitar band from Italy that really takes that "angular" label seriously. I like it! Most people probably won't, though.
How to See Know and Fall, Ecologies: I'm not sure how to describe these guys, but the Bandcamp page says they're "combining intricate hybrid percussion with shimmering synth lines and ambient textures," and gosh darn-it, that's good enough for me.

In addition to all that, there's a new compilation LP of Bon Iver live tracks, and a b-sides/rarities album from A Place to Bury Strangers. Woo-hoo!

Next week will be even slimmer pickin's than this week due to RSD, but there's supposed to be a new Sparkler album, which is nice. (They're sort of like a My Bloody Valentine tribute band, except they do originals.) One of the songs you can hear now, "Postal," sounds enough like Slowdive's "Star Roving" to be potentially lawsuit-worthy, but at least they have good taste in what they lift...?

Finally, looking a couple weeks past RSD, they've just announced a new Noveller album, for May 1! Life just keeps getting better! 😄

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Repo — Thu, 2 Apr 2026 18:07:27 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/02/2026 22:07

RELEASE DAY EVE: April 3rd, 2026

Freak Funk.

Distracted (2026) by Thundercat

I know next to nothing about Thundercat, but I've seen him often enough on End of Year "Best Of" lists that I've been curious. And after listening to a couple of his funk-tastic singles from his upcoming album Distracted, I'm now even more curious. Especially as it's release promises to be quite the event with numerous all-star guest appearances ranging from Mac Miller to Lil Yachty & Flying Lotus to Tame Impala. I really enjoyed A$AP Rocky's similar All-Star heavy album Don't Be Dumb released earlier this year and felt it was great radio-friendly album. Hoping Distracted is even better!

What April 3rd, 2026 release do YOU have your ears & heart set on when midnight strikes?! 🔭�'�

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Thu, 2 Apr 2026 03:01:00 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 04/02/2026 07:01

Before we move on to April 3, which is already tomorrow in my own personal time zone, I've got a list of 8 items I missed from last week — either due to them being surprise drops, failure of the artist(s) to provide preview tracks, or just plain incompetence on my part (though to be fair, there was quite a lot of stuff coming out). The first four have already been added to BEA's database:

The Clockworks, The Entertainment: Somewhat-commercial alt-rock band from Ireland, this is a significant improvement over their previous (debut) LP, Exit Strategy — it's tighter and more "under control" though, so if you prefer looser and out of control, you might well disagree with that assessment.
Stuck, Optimizer: This is a a three-piece post-punk band from Chicago (yay!), who seem to have a distinct 1979 "angular" new-wave art-punk vibe going, but aside from that are hard to categorize. I guess I'd go with "math-punk."
ampule, life;dismissed¿: These guys don't want you to call them "grungegaze," so I'll just call them "doomgaze" because I insist on being "difficult." This one is probably my personal favorite of these seven, and even better, it's currently free/NYOP on Bandcamp!
Marnie Weber: Returning Home: The Music Of Marnie Weber (compilation): For avant-garde experimental art-pop fans, this is a career retrospective of sorts from someone who is much better known as a visual artist — she did the album cover for Sonic Youth's A Thousand Leaves, apparently. Some interesting stuff here — I thought I was listening to a Colin Newman solo LP or maybe an old Mekons album for a minute there. (Not to be confused with top-shelf guitar shredder Marnie Stern, English pop singer Helen Marnie, or the Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie.)

These last four have not been added to BEA as of the moment I'm posting this, though they should all be eligible:

Lauren Auder, Whole World As Vigil: Not my usual cup of tea, but this is a really impressive pop album — she tags herself as "baroque pop," which I guess is fair, but mostly it sort of alternates between quieter, intimate moments and big epic moments in a way that doesn't irritate me the way it does when most people do that.
Still Ill, End Daze: I guess they named themselves after a Smiths song because their singer's voice is an "acquired taste," which is what a lot of people used to say about the lead singer of The Smiths. But if you can get past that, this is a pretty good record.
Winter Crush, Green Flame[: Basically this is a post-rock album, all instrumentals, but it struck me as better than most of the post-rock stuff that I've been hearing lately. Or at least, more varied.
Death Tennis, Thank You. No, Thank You: Maybe I just liked the name, but this is a nice lo-fi guitar-driven indie rock LP with a pretty good female lead singer, which is also free/NYOP on Bandcamp. So why not.

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Keatownrodriguez — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 17:55:27 GMT

Author: Keatownrodriguez

Posted: 03/27/2026 21:55

Khimera's Brother (2026) by Khimera's Brother

Here to put on a local band I'm attatched to. Very rough/ diy garage rock

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 17:16:19 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 03/27/2026 21:16

Tap wrote:

I listened to one of those Snail Mail songs earlier today and it was an interpolation of The Presidents of the United States of America - Peaches, I'm sorry but I just cannot go along with that.

Good catch, that! This is referring to the opening notes of the lead-off track ("Tractor Beam")... To be fair, it's just a four-note descending guitar pattern (G, F#, E, D), and while it is indeed exactly the same, she's clearly not old enough to remember "Peaches" from when it was a hit single back in 1996. (She probably doesn't even remember that Cathy Dennis album I mentioned earlier, from the same year.) She could have heard it while listening to her parents' CD collection, but I'd still be inclined to call it a coincidence, at least until she makes the rest of the tracks streamable on Bandcamp so that we can identify which US government officials all of them are borrowed from.

Album Review: Snail Mail – Ricochet <- BeatsPerMinute.com

There's a ton of new stuff on Bandcamp and elsewhere today that wasn't pre-announced, so it'll probably take a few years to get through it all, but right now I'm listening to a brand-new 6-track debut EP from a duo called Mirror Mirror called It's Happening Again, and it's really good in a 90s-ish sort of way. Apparently one of the two guys is named "Robert Kennedy," which is unfortunate for him obviously, but he used to play guitar in David Johansen's backup band (among others) so of course I had to check it out. It's commercial, but not crassly so, at least in my opinion.

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Tap — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 01:49:20 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 03/27/2026 05:49

I listened to one of those Snail Mail songs earlier today and it was an interpolation of The Presidents of the United States of America - Peaches, I'm sorry but I just cannot go along with that.

As far as hyped acts go, there's this one

Fcukers - Ö
https://fcukers.bandcamp.com/album/-

It seems like it'll be fun. Like I took a glance at it and it reminded me of some of the cocainiest 00's hipster electronic band with vocals type of stuff, but that's not a problem for me.

Actress and Suzanne Ciani - Concrète Waves
https://werkdiscslondon.bandcamp.com/album/concr-te-waves

THESE TWO COLLABORATING WHAT. I still need to listen but I am so curious how they're gonna bounce off each other

Shinichi Atobe - Silent Way
https://plasticandsounds.bandcamp.com/album/silent-way
Foote/Dickow - High Cube
https://foote-dickow.bandcamp.com/album/high-cube

If you like dub techno type of stuff you'll want to have these on your radar

Harriet Tubman & Georgia Anne Muldrow - Electrical Field of Love
https://harriettubman.bandcamp.com/album/electrical-field-of-love
Irreversible Entanglements - Future Present Past
https://irreversibleentanglements.lnk.to/futurepresentpast

If you like jazz you'll want to have these on your radar

Andrea Giordano / Kalle Moberg / Jo David Meyer Lysne - Radis
https://blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/radis
Zosha Warpeha - I grow accustomed to the dark
https://zosha.bandcamp.com/album/i-grow-accustomed-to-the-dark

If you like weird stuff you'll want to have these on your radar

KINACT - Kinshasa in Action
https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/kinshasa-in-action

Nyege Nyege Tapes is always cool

Also re: next week, there's some big ones with Wendy Eisenberg, SUNN O))), Thundercat, and the Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE & SURF GANG split album. And then there's some very promising obscure ones like Cowboy Builder, I bet it'll be a good time!!

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 22:35:30 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 03/27/2026 02:35

There's a ton of "significant" stuff coming out tomorrow, and after this the next two weeks will probably be a lull-period leading up to the big Apr. 17 Record Store Day avalanche. But my own expectations have only changed slightly... 😐

I wouldn't call the new Cigarettes for Breakfast album (Colour Wheel) a "disappointment" — it's still probably the best shoegaze-classic LP of the year so far, but that's actually not saying much. It's just not as good as last year's Cigarettes for Breakfast album, and I've become horribly spoiled because it's the first time this has happened with them. I guess I thought they would keep getting better and better until someone other than me finally took notice, or at least reported them to the Food and Drug Administration.

That means the big revelation is now the new Paula Kelley album, Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out. I knew it would be good, but not this good! For those who aren't aware, Paula Kelley is the lead singer of the Drop Nineteens, an OG shoegaze band from Boston, but her solo records (including this new one) have all been much more pop-oriented, and could even be called straight-up 70s-influenced pop along the lines of the Beach Boys, ELO, or Todd Rundgren, only with vocals more reminiscent of teenbeat singers like Tiffany or April March. Whatever! The fact is, I haven't heard an album like this that sounds this good since Cathy Dennis's Am I the Kinda Girl. That was 1996...

Paula Kelley
Blinking As The Starlight Burns Out (2026)

So that's my pick-of-the-week, and for a while there I thought it might be my AotY (so far) too, but I think that was just initial enthusiasm, maybe...? I get that way sometimes.

In addition to that, we have:

Courtney Barnett, Creature of Habit: I doubt you're going to see many negative reviews of this one, but the thing I like about her is the occasional silliness, so if she's jettisoned that, I'm not gonna be anywhere near as interested.
The Twilight Sad, It's the Long Goodbye: These guys keep making good albums, but they're practically the definition of a "cult band" because they do that sort of gritty, almost-bluesy western-tinged midtempo stuff that only a small percentage of people really like. And i'm still not sure I'm one of those people... not yet, anyway.
Young Fresh Fellows, Loft: This is probably going to be great, and the usual assortment of friends and co-conspirators is on board, most of whom are now getting very close to retirement age.
Snail Mail, Ricochet: I do like her stuff; there are just others who sound similar who I like more, I guess.
Cult of Dom Keller, Unholy Drum: This is a "heavy psych" band from Nottingham, who are really good but not quite THAT good, so far at least. The preview tracks suggest this could be one of their best albums, maybe their best yet, so fingers crossed for that.
MEMORIALS, All Clouds Bring Not Rain: This is a 60s/70s pop-influenced post-punk duo, with Matthew Simms (the guy who replaced B.C. Gilbert in Wire) and Verity Susman (from Electrelane) on vocals and non-guitar instuments. It's their second album and it seems like a safe bet to be pretty good, but I'm not going to get all excited about it, at least not yet.

And in addition to those, there are new albums from the (mostly older) people-you've-heard-of contingent, including Robyn (not that Robyn) with Sexistential; Flea's Honora, basically a jazz/lounge album with some dub; Suzi Quatro's Freedom (which, as you'll recall, must sometimes be paid for in blood); Nina Hagen's Highway to Heaven, a kind of "gospelpunk" album as she's apparently quite religious; Slayyyter's WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA (which I have to say is probably an appropriate title); and Melissa Etheridge's Rise. Repo already mentioned the new New Pornographers album... My experience with them is very similar to his, though I only bought Twin Cinema myself.

Speaking of Robyn — Robyn Hitchcock that is, the "real" one — he just announced a new full-band LP to arrive on July 24, entitled The Confuser. So my year is officially "made," as they say.

This will probably be information-overload for most people, but there's also quite a lot of new stuff from bands you haven't necessarily heard of, way too many to list in full, so I'm only including the stuff I personally liked one or two tracks by. (I don't think any of these have been added to BEA as of the time I'm posting this.)

Wildernesses, Growth: One of those post-rock-ish, dark-shoegazey baritone-singer kind of bands.
SSAANN, Higher: Chillwave, but very nicely produced, and I really like the singer (who is female, of course).
Green Seagull, Smoke and Mirrors: Retro 60s British psychedelia. Fun!
The Corner Laughers, Concerns of Wasp & Willow: Tweepop, and the "nice" kind at that, from Northern Cali.
Many Tiny Boxes, Moon Touches Earth: Kind of a weird/quirky experimental pop act. Apparently it's a solo release from someone who goes by the name "Aspen Fawn," only there's a Youtuber named @Aspenfawn who is, shall we say, a bit of an exhibitionist who shows no indication of having any musical talent whatsoever. It can't be the same person, but also I can't guarantee it isn't the same person.
The Pretty Flowers, Never Felt Bitter: Melodic punk/power-pop. Very nice, actually.
Dry Socket, Self Defense Techniques: Pretty good hardcore punk/screamo outfit from Portland, OR, notable because the person doing the screaming is a woman. (That's unusual, right? Or am I being sexist?)
Hikes, Winnower: From Austin, TX, this band calls itself a "mathfolk" act, which I think just means they're a folk-rock act with a really good drummer. Maybe too good.
Dead Finks, New Plastik Abyss: A post-punk, jangly-guitars duo, currently based in Berlin, with a straight-up-punk singer.
The Pale White, Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century: Two brothers from Tyneside who do not-quite-lo-fi power pop with occasional riffage. This one is a bit darker than their previous stuff, which seems to suit them better.

As I mentioned above, next Friday will be slim pickin's. There should be a new Deary album though, so that'll be good. They sound just like the Cocteau Twins! (Almost.) 😄

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Repo — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:57:42 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 03/26/2026 21:57

RELEASE DAY EVE: March 27th, 2026

Does Audience:Band Loyalty Matter? 🤔

The Former Site Of (2026) by The New Pornographers

Does anyone else remember Billy Corgan’s hissy-fit after Adore, one of my favorite Pumpkins' albums btw, was released? The one where he bitched & moaned that Smashing Pumpkins fans weren’t loyal enough since Adore failed to sell quite like Mellon Collie? Did Billy have a point?

Some of my friends are incredibly "band loyal" and focus on just a few select bands; essentially buying every album their favorites put out. Their CD shelves would always look remarkably uniform and tidy – something I sort of admired. Meanwhile, and I’m sure this comes as no surprise, I was constantly jumping around & looking for new sounds. I also had a pretty firm belief that most bands, even the good ones, only had two or three vital albums in them.

So why do I feel just a bit guilty that I’ve totally slacked on my relationship with The New Pornographers? I consider their first three albums – Mass Romantic (2000), Electric Version (2003), & Twin Cinema (2005)- to be absolute classics of Indie Rock in the 2000s. Yet, after struggling to get into Challengers (2007), I sort of ditched them and never looked back.

Until now! Their new single "Votive" positively crackles. Possessing propulsive dynamic shifts & riffs that remind me of peak ‘80s New Order. And the other two singles released thus far are no slouches either! Who knew?! Now I feel like I've been missing out! Waah! 🙀 Anyone have a favorite New Pornographers album post-2005 that I need to check out?! Clue in the clueless! 🙏

What MARCH 27th, 2026 release do YOU have your ears & heart set on when midnight strikes?! 🔭�'�

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:50:29 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 03/23/2026 04:50

Loose Ends: There were only two surprise drops of note this week. One of them is the new BTS (Bangtan sonyeondan) album, entitled Arirang. Most of them are over 30 now, so I should call them a K-pop band instead of a "boy band," but either way I suspect the South Korean government is coordinating these album drops to prevent teenagers from rioting, because I guess that's just what they like to do there. The other drop is from Neurosis, called An Undying Love for a Burning World. This is a doomy "post-metal" band from Oakland who formed 40 years ago, when the word "neurosis" was still being used by psychiatric diagnosticians. But hey, they still rock!

Mostly I just wanted to point out two releases from Friday the 20th that are free/NYOP downloads (at least for now) on Bandcamp, for the benefit of those of you who are still downloaders:

Suitor, Saw You Out with the Weeds: This band (from Cleveland, OH) bills itself as an "art-punk" act. It's actually their second album (the first one, Communion, is OK but suffers from excessively lo-fi production sound). The album is really good, though the cover art is lackluster at best and so is the band name... still, if you like stuff like P.J. Harvey, Shana Falana, or early Cocteau Twins, or maybe if you think Interpol would have been much better with a female singer, or if you like Alvvays or Warpaint but wish they were more aggressive-sounding, you might very well like this. (I was impressed, anyway.)
Dream Deleter, Dream Deleter EP: This is the debut EP from a shoegazey post-rock (with vocals) band from Fort Worth, TX — it's only four tracks, but it's about 27 minutes total, so it counts as an album here on BEA. Its not groundbreaking or anything, but it's loud and has lots of distortion and reverb, so of course I liked it. I also like the idea of being able to delete dreams, since most of mine involve things like plumbing disasters and forgetting to put clothes on for TV appearances.

Finally, fans of extreme-metal bands who wear masks all the time won't want to miss the new album by Gaerea, their fifth, entitled Loss. Even if you like extreme-metal bands that don't wear masks all the time, you might still like it — it's just that extreme.

This week we're in now looks a little better than last week for the older contingent, what with new stuff from Paula Kelley, The Twilight Sad, and the Young Fresh Fellows, but unless one of those (or the new Courtney Barnett album) is totally mind-blowingly great, my pick-of-the-week is once again likely to be a non-Friday, non-geriatric release — namely the new Cigarettes for Breakfast album, Colour Wheel, which is supposed to arrive on Tuesday.

Until then! 😄

Suitor • Saw You Out With The Weeds (2026)

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Tap — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:02:41 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 03/20/2026 21:02

I've been slow to get up on the Underscores stuff, it seems like there's so much lore! I'm pretty in the dark but I've enjoyed what I've heard, psyched to hear more.

My big suggestion for this week is

Ali and Charif Megarbane - Tirakat
https://habibifunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/habibi-funk-034-tirakat

The latest in the Habibi Funk series is a total delight, just so many straight bops on here. Good, good tunes!!

But also, big rec for

Damaged Bug - ZUZAX
https://damagedbug.bandcamp.com/album/zuzax

John Dwyer got stuck on this one for like 7 years!! Extremely rare to get something with so much consideration time from the highly prolific artist, and I think it winds up making this one quite special in his discog

Also a good idea to look out for new ones from Saba Alizadeh, John McGuire, more eaze, and Adam O'Farrill

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 06:09:33 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 03/20/2026 10:09

Three more notables for March 20th:

Tedeschi Trucks Band, Future Soul: I think this is their tenth studio album if you count the four "I Am the Moon" EPs, or the sixth if you don't. I'm a little surprised at how much I liked this one, since blues-rock is definitely Not My Thing. But then I thought, c'mon, why shouldn't it be? I'm certainly old enough at this point.
KillerStar, The Afterglow: It's not their first album, but apparently what happened here is that a guy named Rob Fleming got several of David Bowie's old post-Spiders backing musicians together and said, "let's start a band!" And they did! Only Rob Fleming isn't quite the singer David Bowie was, and when I first heard this I almost started thinking he isn't even quite the singer I am, which would be pretty harsh if true. (It isn't.) But the backing tracks are fantastic, and you can probably get used to the voice. Eventually.
Grace Ives, Girlfriend: This is electro-pop with more intelligence and better vocals than your typical radio/streamer-friendly hit-making machine product, and the album impressed even me, but ultimately she's going to need more guitars in there to make me a convert. Still, her voice is great, not quite up to Kate Bush levels but she has similar tone and control. She's just not quite there in the highest registers, but then again, neither am I.

Oh, and that new Girl Scout album really is out and it's definitely my pick of the week. Whew! I was really sweatin' that one, lemme tellya.

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

Repo — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 21:30:06 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 03/20/2026 01:30

MadhattanJack wrote:

So that means nearly all my hopes for the week are now pinned on the new Girl Scout LP, Brink, which they've been keeping very effectively under wraps so I haven't heard anything but track 1, conveniently entitled "Intro." It's on Amazon Music and Apple Music now though, so it's probably coming out tomorrow, right on schedule... I'll just have to wait, I guess. I hate waiting...

BTW: I didn't mention the new Ladytron album, Paradises, which is actually pretty good if you're into electro-pop IDM stuff. I'm not, but I have to admit, based on the (four) preview tracks it sounds like it'll be a very well-put-together record.

Looks like a good week for my oldest! Listening rn to Girl Scout's "Crumbs" and I know she'll love it. She also LOVES those first couple of Ladytron albums (especially the track "Seventeen") so we'll have to check that out too. 😊

ps: And Yes! The Underscores to Wire association is admittedly a total stretch. They sound NOTHING like Wire or Post-Punk. BUT, it is something I totally feel. So I'm sticking with it! �... (it helps if you had been tracing their evolution starting with fishmonger in 2021. If I had just heard the lead singles to this particular album, I would think I'm crazy too! 🤣 )

Re: All Things 2026... & Release Day Eve: April 10!!! 🤘 😈

MadhattanJack — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 20:51:49 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 03/20/2026 00:51

Repo wrote:

In late ‘70s/early '80s, I'm pretty sure Underscores would have been a Post-Punk band. Something akin to what Wire were doing with Chairs Missing & 154.

Look, I like hyper-pop/IDM sung by hot trans-women who are less than half my age as much as the next guy, and sure, I've only heard the three preview tracks at this point, but I'll be a little surprised if there's something analogous to "The Other Window" or "I Am the Fly" in there when it drops tomorrow. (And by "a little," I of course mean "a whole lot.")

Just sayin'! 🤔

Anyway, I do have updates... The Sugar Plant album, One Dream, One Star, actually dropped yesterday and it's not quite what I was hoping for, to be honest. When I heard their 2018 LP, Headlights, I really liked it — it seemed like the perfect blend of modern dreampop with 60s/70s European jazzy chansons, without quite crossing the line into easy-listening/adult-contemporary tedium. On this album I'm afraid they may have crossed it, so while it's pretty and very pleasant to listen to, I can't generally recommend it unless you're like a huge Claudine Longet fan or something like that.

Bubble Tea And Cigarettes is still around, though. At least we still have them, thank GAWD.

So that means nearly all my hopes for the week are now pinned on the new Girl Scout LP, Brink, which they've been keeping very effectively under wraps so I haven't heard anything but track 1, conveniently entitled "Intro." It's on Amazon Music and Apple Music now though, so it's probably coming out tomorrow, right on schedule... I'll just have to wait, I guess. I hate waiting...

BTW: I didn't mention the new Ladytron album, Paradises, which is actually pretty good if you're into electro-pop IDM stuff. I'm not, but I have to admit, based on the (four) preview tracks it sounds like it'll be a very well-put-together record.

I also have high hopes for Hey Elbow's new 40-minute single, and I was really impressed with a 5-track shoegaze-pop EP by Sloe Noon (aka Anna Olivia Böke, from Germany) called Principles In The Way of Progress. I'll probably add that here tomorrow if nobody else beats me to it, and if the Girl Scout album is a disappointment it'll probably be my "pick of the week."

Finally, in my last post I failed to mention the new Dandy Warhols all-covers album, Pin Ups. I like the selection of covers, quite a lot in fact, but I'm not really a big Dandy Warhols fan and this album just strikes me as "fan service." Also, I'm not impressed with their decision to steal the title from David Bowie's covers album, since he's no longer alive and can't object, but at least they didn't try to parody the cover art.

There's also a new singles compilation from Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine called Straw Donkey (The Complete Singles), but I'm not a big fan of theirs either since they stole the last three words of my own personal nickname and I'm not even dead yet. I will be soon enough though, and what am I gonna do until then, sue them? F*** that!

I guess that's all I've got for now... If I see any good surprise drops tomorrow, I shall endeavor to provide another update. 😄