What October 16, 2026 releases are YOU trying to stop the release of prior to October 16, 2026 so that everyone will hear them all at the same time on October 16, 2026?
I'd call this a "slightly above-average" week, quality-wise. Again, not a lot of recognizable names, but more than we've seen the last two weeks, and plenty of interesting new stuff overall.
I suspect most BEA folks will be most interested in the new Fontaines DC record, Dopamine Chamber. It's their fifth album, and the follow-up to their 2024 big breakout hit album Romance, which in turn was the follow-up to their 2022 big almost-breakout hit album Skinty Fia. Honestly, I think this is better than both of them — it's more ambitious and musically interesting, and it has better vocals too. Some of their fans will no doubt have preferred that they stay (or go back to being) more "punky" and avoid the electronics and effects, but — again, this is just my personal opinion — I think they're better doing this stuff, as they just didn't seem to have the right vocals and guitars for "punky." This album is closer to what they're good at, and while I'm still not crazy about them, I personally consider this to be their best album yet.
Eels, aka Mark Oliver "E" Everett, has a new one called Cookie Happened. (He's right; it did. I ate some of it.) It's been 30 years since Eels' debut LP, Beautiful Freak (a Top 1,000 album here on BEA, along with the follow-up, Electro-Shock Blues). During that time, Everett's voice has gotten even deeper; his songs have gotten more folksy and, I would say, conventional (and more world-weary too); and he has still yet to come up with a decent-looking album cover. It's okay, I'm not saying the album isn't good or anything like that, but if you're interested in the Eels discography then the early stuff is still probably where you should start.
More Old (and Deceased) Guy Stuff Dept.
Richard Thompson, who is about to celebrate 60 years in the music biz — starting with Fairport Convention, way back in the Hippie days — has a nice new LP called Hippies, Thugs and Heroes. His voice still sounds pretty good, and apparently he can still play too, because the album is surprisingly gutsy and sprightly for a folk-rocker of his age and background. Bang-up job, man!
Canadian folk-rock legend Bruce Cockburn has a new covers album out entitled The Blood of Others, since "The Songs of Others" was already taken. This covers album is slightly unusual because from what I gather, all of the songs were written before 1950, well prior to the "rock era" and mostly blues and R&B numbers. I don't usually take much notice of what Cockburn gets up to, but it's a nice gesture from him to give these songs some modern-day exposure.
I don't usually take much (if any) notice of "special product" reissues either, but it seems whoever is handling David Bowie's back catalogue has given the green light to a new pressing of the Labyrinth soundtrack, which they're calling the "Bog of Eternal Stench Liquid-Filled LP." If you haven't seen one of these liquid-filled LP things, what they do is stamp Side A on one disc and Side B on another, and then seal them together with various materials sandwiched in between — usually it's some sort of oily liquid, but I've also seen flowers, leaves, hair, postcards, half-eaten sandwiches, my missing car keys, and so on. They charge you about twice as much for this as you'd pay for an ordinary pressing, but I guess it's a nice collector's item, and of course they're all limited editions, etc.
Finally, Kid Rock is choosing this week to release Halfway 2 Jesus, his first Christian/Gospel/whatever-the-heck LP in which each song is meant as a plea to "Mister J-Town" to somehow provide him with just two simple letters so that he doesn't have to incorrectly substitute a numeral in his latest album's title. (Sources have suggested that J-Town did in fact provide Rock with two letters, just not the ones he specifically asked for.)
It's Round, Baby, Round Is What I'm Sayin' Dept.
I'll admit that many of my picks-of-the-week can be rather... obscure, including last week's. And, as it turns out, this week's too!
Sphere are a shoegaze-pop duo from Japan, consisting of songwriter and guitarist Makoto Gomi, who is also in a band called Zeppet Store, and a young (or at least young-sounding) woman named Shoko, from a band called Collapse. The album is called Circumstances, and I suspect the few people outside of Japan who give it a listen will just shake their heads in befuddlement... But hey, the guitars are super-loud and heavy, the twisting-turning chord changes are great (assuming you like chord changes), and the vocals are clearly intended to appeal to J-Pop audiences as well as waifgaze fans like me, though I'll admit I'm still not sure that's a real subgenre. There are subtle romantic-classical as well as prog-rock elements going on in there too, mostly in the background, but occasionally in the foreground, or just wherever. It's like nothing you've heard and everything you've heard, simultaneously. The only problem is that it was already released on Wednesday, so I already know that none of these other albums are likely to be better.
And Yet There's Somehow More Dept.
They Are Gutting A Body Of Water (TAGABOW), Kool Faith / Loosies II
The main guy in TAGABOW is Douglas Dulgarian, who apparently is a very outgoing and gregarious fellow indeed, as he's managed to find enough collaborators to make a 29-track album on which only 6 tracks were made without them. (The extent to which the three or four other TAGABOW band-members were involved is unclear.) Each track is intended to sound different enough from the others that the whole album comes across as more of a "mixtape," rather than a cohesive statement. It's a neat idea — it's just that the last TAGABOW album, last year's LOTTO, was such a major improvement over their previous stuff, it makes this one sound like a big step back, to me at least. I realize some bands don't care about this stuff, but if they do, I'd say TAGABOW is at a point in their career when they should be trying to keep their momentum going, not doing projects like this that have to be explained to their fans lest they have a WTF? kind of reaction. That said, it's not a bad record, though both the title and the cover art are frankly a bit sketchy. And there's still no word on what body of water it is they're gutting.
June McDoom, Follow the Light
The lovely Ms. McDoom is a wispy-whispery-waify singer from New York City, and this album lands somewhere between modern lite-acoustic dreampop and 60s-era French "ye-ye" music. In other words, it is not going to overwhelm you with BLISTERING POWER CHORDS. Get that idea out of your head right now! As it happens though, I have a strange personal fondness for ye-ye (which is probably based more on the idea of it than the actual music itself), and this album might just overwhelm you with how ridiculously soft and pretty it is.
Pardoner, Target Practice
Pardoner are a pretty good, and slightly jangly/twee-ish art-punk 4-piece guitar band from San Francisco, and this is their fifth album. It sounds like it's going to be a little less "fun-punk" and more artsy/post-punkish than their last one, 2023's Peace Loving People, and they might also be putting more effort into their vocals too. Probably a good idea, since that's likely to be the main thing keeping them from The Proverbial Big Time (other than maybe their terrible cover art). I wouldn't call them "math rock" because they're a bit too chaotic-sounding for that, but they've got some interesting song ideas and I really dig their guitar interplay. So if you like bands like Pavement, Polvo, and Pixies, maybe you'll like these guys too since their band names all begin with the same letter. Speaking of which....
Paint (Pedrum Siadatian), Whip of an Ear
Here's another interesting LP from Pedrum "Paint" Siadatian, who recently moved from LA to Brooklyn, because I guess that's where all the interesting art-rockers live now. To me, this record almost sounds "retro-experimental," because it would have been deemed simply "experimental" back in the 1980s, but these days there are too many people doing stuff like this, and the bleeding edge has moved further out. It isn't as weird as his first couple of albums either (this is his sixth), but it has its moments, and he still does a fairly good Lou Reed impression. (Not on every track, of course.)
Exploding Flowers, Alphabet Window
This is a kinda-nice, somewhat retro-pop act from Los Angeles, who seem to have latched onto the old "Paisley Underground" tag in their PR — probably just because they're from Los Angeles, since they don't really sound like any of the Paisley Underground bands, except maybe The Three O'Clock. They clearly have talent, but they lack "punch." You can be psychedelic and even a little "mellow" on occasion, but you've got to have "punch" if you want to be in the Paisley Underground. Those are the membership rules, and they're there for a reason. I don't just make them up out of whole cloth or anything like that, the way I do with all the other musical genres.
@, Autosmile
Having a band name like "@" (simply pronounced "at") is pretty much a guarantee of total commercial failure, but this male-female acoustic-experimental duo from Baltimore and Philadelphia was nevertheless signed by 4AD Records, so somebody must've thought they had some sort of potential. Maybe they were just looking for a challenge, but @ does have some interesting tunes here, with some fairly complex vocal harmonies sung over deceptively simple (in most cases) acoustic guitar and cello accompaniments. It's good if you're into that sort of thing, but then again, let's be honest — if they chose the name "@" just so they'd always appear at the beginning of alphabetized lists, almost anyone could have told them they should have gone with the tilde symbol (~) instead.
TVOD, The Farm
TVOD, who are presumably named after this 1978 single by The Normal, are a six-piece "egg punk" band from Brooklyn. I didn't know "egg punk" was even a thing until recently, since I've always been more of a "bagel-with-cream-cheese and fruit-bowl punk," but it turns out to be a lot of fun, actually! And it's not a bad album, either — despite the name, I'd largely ignored their earlier releases because they'd been tagged as "disco punk" (a ridiculous notion if there ever was one) and their cover art was uniformly terrible, but they seem to have corrected both of those problems. They have some decently high-energy songs, some of which are even sort of funny, in spots. I'd imagine they're a good live band too, assuming they're playing a venue that can fit all six of them onto the same stage.
The Keening, Devotion
Here's a nice gothic/dark folk record with metal tendencies, just in time for Halloween! "The Keening" is the nom de plume of Rebecca Vernon, from Salt Lake City, Utah, who apparently used to do doom metal in a band called SubRosa but probably (I'm just guessing here) got tired of seeing so many Republicans in the audience at live shows. I don't think that's her playing the cello on the album, but it could be. I guess it could be almost anybody, really.
The Lovecraft Sextet, Penance
This is the album that answers a question I think we've all asked ourselves at one time or another, that being "what happens when H.P. Lovecraft fans from the Netherlands make records where each track combines opera, jazz, black metal, trip-hop, plunderphonics, and droney ambient electronica, all in one big sloppy contraption with real saxophones?" Well, here it is — and it's actually not bad, and it too is just in time for Halloween! Apparently it's just one guy though, not a real sextet, but "sextet" just sounds more... sexy, somehow. I'm not sure why.
Little Side Notes Here and There Dept.
Fans of Sleater-Kinney might be interested in a new release from Heavens to Betsy called Baby's Gone, as this was Corin Tucker's band (duo?) with Tracy Sawyer before S-K was formed. They made one proper album, 1994's Calculated, and this record contains just about all of their other recordings - demos, live stuff, maybe a single or two. It's pretty rough, but there are probably still some S-K completists out there who will appreciate it.
For BEA confusion-reduction purposes, please don't be fooled by the new mini-album from XO, Need to Know — this is a different XO from the Portland, ME-based nugaze band that released the album Heart in 2014. The nugaze band is still around, but their name has now been hijacked by a UK girl group because nobody really cares about anything anymore and nothing is sacred.
Last but not leafed, Brian "Geologist" Weitz from Animal Collective has teamed up with a guy named Kyle Simon, who runs an observatory in the Mojave Desert, to release an experimental ambient-electronica record called The Sirens — consisting of one long composition derived from light collected by the observatory's telescope which is then electronically converted into... music! (Sort of.) The whole thing is explained here, but suffice to say they're probably not going to crack the Top 100 with this one.
Masked Band Dept.
This week's masked band is Corchorus, yet another new-ish "black-ambient"/dark-folk act from Portland OR. except that it's really just one guy (not an actual band) and he just wears a burlap sack over his head, plus a hat, so he looks more like a scarecrow than anything else. Maybe he'll be able to afford something more impressive if his newly-released debut album, Lost in Life's Great Shadow, becomes a big seller. I have to admit he's got an interesting concept going musically, since he takes black metal's raspy, strangled-sounding screamo vocal technique and tones it waaay down to a level more appropriate for a goth-ish folk-ambient record, without completely losing the effect. What would you call that, "whispereamo" maybe? That sounds too much like "emo"... I'll have to give this some thought, except "thought" isn't something I'm especially good at.
If you can wait until the 19th, which is really just three more days, there's a new album from the Pink Pussycats From Hell entitled Hellectricless. I'm not sure they qualify as "masked" though, because they're more of a "costumed band" —specifically they're a duo, with "Mighty Hunter" on guitar in a Mexican pro-wrestler hood and doing Tom Waits impressions, and "Danger Rabbit" on drums and in a full bunny suit. Every song title on each of their four albums begins with the four letters "Hell," so on this one, track 1 is "Hellpless," track 5 is "Hellucination," track 8 is "Hellton John," and so on. I should point out that most of the songs have been released on previous albums and are being recycled, probably because they assume nobody will ever recognize them on the street so they'll never be loudly accused of ripping people off in such a ham-fisted way. They're also not very good at music, as it happens. Maybe I should have mentioned that earlier.
Next week...
The lack of big-name releases continues next week with the biggest names (as far as I can tell) being Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, Chicago second-wave punks The Effigies, and Elephant 6 posthumous-revenants The Olivia Tremor Control — along with Gwar, who are releasing their third post-Oderus LP. I'll probably be more interested in the new albums by the Sour Widows, Caroline Rose, and the Phantom Handshakes... There should be a big increase in recognizable names the following week (Oct. 30), unless all of them cancel their releases out of pure spite. I don't know why they would though, since that's a full four days before "Midterms" Election Day in the USA, assuming the regime doesn't manage to cancel that too.
I wouldn’t call myself superstitious; for instance, I never stop when a black cat crosses my path. But the moment I start making jokes about dark forces, they never miss an opportunity to respond in kind. Sometimes these responses are quite harsh, which leads me to only one conclusion: they don’t understand jokes.
All in all, for the past three or four days, music has been the last thing on my mind. Or, to put it another way, my thoughts about music have been inextricably linked to a sharp sense of rejection toward anything alien to my own inner world. This, of course, makes for a poor foundation for forming an impartial judgment—let alone for sharing such views publicly.
This week, I was looking forward to albums from four female artists—none of whom I was particularly familiar with, nor had any of them ever held a significant spot in my rankings. I find myself constantly having to add the caveat, "if my memory serves me right." Unfortunately, as it turned out, none of the albums were worthy of being named "release of the week." I’d rather not label these performers with the cliché "little-known," but it seems that’s actually the case.
Initially, my personal ranking was quite clear-cut, as the advance singles varied significantly in quality. In the end, everything got jumbled, and I still find it very difficult to establish a definitive order of preference. Some releases feature standout singles, while others contain less striking—yet more consistent—tracks; the latter also came as a pleasant surprise by including previously unreleased material, something I always welcome.
Rather than following the trend of some reviewers who simply list releases in alphabetical order, I’ve put together a preliminary—but nonetheless genuine—ranking. After all, I can always revise it later; there’s no harm in that.
3. Margo Mann - Love Is A Dog (16/X-2026/42) (Album)
I had high hopes for this album by an Australian artist this week. I didn’t come across any mention of its release on the forums I frequent. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of videos that were released earlier, nothing has really stuck with me so far.
I wouldn’t call myself superstitious; for instance, I never stop when a black cat crosses my path. But the moment I start making jokes about dark forces, they never miss an opportunity to respond in kind. Sometimes these responses are quite harsh, which leads me to only one conclusion: they don’t understand jokes.
Interestingly enough, this comment of yours naturally reminded me of the song "Dark Forces" from Killing Joke's mid-career 2003 self-titled album, but it didn't come up as a track in the BEA search box. It turns out the title was misspelled as "Dark Forced," and there were two other spelling errors in there, plus the release date hadn't been filled in. The site of course did not allow me to make the corrections myself, because I don't have 100,000 mod points (getting that many points takes sincere and sustained effort, which acts as a major obstacle for me)... but someone will take care of it soon enough. So hey, nice work, man! You helped strike another blow for the dark forces of database accuracy! 😄
As for the four albums you listed, after admittedly cursory listens I would probably rank them (1) Thea May, (2) Flora Hibberd, (3) Margo Mann, and (4) Nieve Ella. The Thea May LP definitely belongs in the BEA database and I might have listed it here it too, except everyone (including May herself) insists on referring to it as an "EP" (though it has 7 tracks). I did listen to a bit of the Flora Hibbert album last week, but it's a bit too adult contemporary/soft rock-ish for my tastes... still, the album is well-put-together and she clearly has a decent amount of vocal talent.
That said, I'm actually much more embarrassed about overlooking the debut album from Chloe Slater, entitled Riot Youth and released back on Oct. 9 — she's not a shoegazer, as the LP lies somewhere between Olivia Rodrigo and Violet Grohl on the hardness/rockness/popness scale, but I like the songs better on it than a lot of what I've been hearing in the female pop-star category lately. Also, I've always liked the approach of singing angry lyrics over catchy pop tunes. It's fun! (And oh by the way, Violet Grohl's father Dave played drums on the aforementioned Killing Joke "Dark Forces" track, which has nothing to do with Chloe Slater whatsoever!) So that one's probably going into my 2026 Top 100 year chart, which means something else is probably going to have to come out. This is why we need bigger charts...😠
I wouldn’t call myself superstitious; for instance, I never stop when a black cat crosses my path. But the moment I start making jokes about dark forces, they never miss an opportunity to respond in kind. Sometimes these responses are quite harsh, which leads me to only one conclusion: they don’t understand jokes.
Interestingly enough, this comment of yours naturally reminded me of the song "Dark Forces" from Killing Joke's mid-career 2003 self-titled album, but it didn't come up as a track in the BEA search box. It turns out the title was misspelled as "Dark Forced," ...
The word "Forced" was not a mistake, but rather—as I understand it—a prophecy or a message. And it came from a group with a fittingly prophetic name. I had heard of these artists, of course, but I had never taken any interest in them—and I certainly would never have been able to connect these two events.
I am glad that you perceive these errors or misunderstandings as nothing more than silly, random coincidences. For my part, however, I see behind it all that lethal game played by those very same "super-forces."
It seems highly likely that I had the audacity to displease certain women—women who view themselves as vestals, as priestesses with the power to grant life or decree death.
Suspecting nothing, I was—as is my habit—awaiting the new releases for the week; there were only four albums, all by artists unknown to me.
As it would later turn out, every one of these albums was the work of a woman.
One album was released on the very day of the "execution," distinguished by a cover that was dismissive and provocative. I had already been aware of two intriguing singles on it, but beyond those, I found nothing else that resonated with me.
The other three albums were released the following day—the standard day for weekly music releases—and were cloaked in the black hues of mourning.
It is strange, but on that day—when my head was spinning and I had no idea what was happening—I found myself doing nothing better than listening to female artists I had never encountered before. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed at least two of these albums. This came as a genuine shock, as I hadn't thought myself capable of perceiving anything harmonious at that moment.
Yet, this is precisely how women in ancient times would lament a person’s fate and escort them into the realm of Hades.
MadhattanJack wrote:
... As for the four albums you listed, after admittedly cursory listens I would probably rank them (1) Thea May, (2) Flora Hibberd, (3) Margo Mann, and (4) Nieve Ella. ...
Thea May recorded an album—the one with the casual-looking cover—that I removed from my review and then added back in three separate times, all because of just two singles.
Flora Hibberd offered a surprise in the form of an intriguing track that wasn’t released as a single (Mythic Figure) — a song that Bandcamp is now, quite deservedly, highlighting as a primary entry point. Her vocals once again reminded me of Cassandra Jenkins and her brand of ambient pop. The album itself is truly worth a listen.
Margo Mann released the most melodic and danceable track of the bunch, "Not Love." Unfortunately, it seems she entrusted her fate to people who were either incompetent or unscrupulous; they failed to make the full album—including this standout hit—available on Bandcamp until Sunday evening. For an artist without a major promotional machine behind them, the "Cinderella window" typically opens on Friday morning and closes, at best, by Saturday night.
Nieve Ella recorded the album that surprised me the most—one I fully intend to revisit as soon as I have some free time.
MadhattanJack wrote:
... That said, I'm actually much more embarrassed about overlooking the debut album from Chloe Slater, entitled Riot Youth and released back on Oct. 9 — she's not a shoegazer, as the LP lies somewhere between Olivia Rodrigo and Violet Grohl on the hardness/rockness/popness scale, ...
When Bandcamp selects a lead track, two questions immediately come to mind: is it because no one has listened to the album yet, or did the artists put all the best material right at the beginning? I’m not even sure which is worse.))
At first glance, the music seems rather frivolous—much like the cover art, though it’s probably better to ask Hayden about that.))
It seems highly likely that I had the audacity to displease certain women—women who view themselves as vestals, as priestesses with the power to grant life or decree death.
Yeah, those are the worst! I gave up on internet dating sites years ago, myself... bring back the seedy dive bars, church socials and ballroom-dancing courses at the local community colleges, is what I say. It's important to make sure you've got the right physical "vibe" at the outset, before you even say a word to them — that helps you determine whether or not they're part of some impossibly ancient religious death cult before you ask them out on a date. (Not that something like that would stop me, of course.)
Quote:
When Bandcamp selects a lead track, two questions immediately come to mind: is it because no one has listened to the album yet, or did the artists put all the best material right at the beginning? I’m not even sure which is worse.))
There are actually lots of people here on BEA who have tunes up on Bandcamp, but I assume you're asking who determines which track comes up as the starting track in the play queue when you land on a Bandcamp album page, and it isn't the album's leadoff track? If so, that's determined by the artist, and as an "album guy" I actually find it a bit annoying, but it's understandable that they'd allow for that since so many albums begin with short "Intro" pieces that aren't the least bit representative of the rest of the tracks.
What October 23rd, 2026 releases are YOU yipping about?
The biggest name releasing an LP this week is probably John Legend, with his new album Muse. I'm sure it's great, but I won't be happy until the band Muse releases an album called John Legend. (They probably won't; they've never struck me as having much of a sense of humor.) Meanwhile, Orchestra Baobab, the jazzy world-music outfit from Senegal who have been around for 55 years, has a new album too, appropriately entitled Made In Senegal. They're known specifically for cubano, Wolof, mbalax, and Mande music, which suggests there might not be any black metal tunes on this one. (Everybody else seems to be doing that, though.) There's also a new one from Seattle-based hip-hop stalwart(s) Shabazz Palaces called It’s a Style Sport — they're really a solo act at this point, with Ishmael "Palaceer Lazaro" Butler calling the shots all by himself. That's right, he's the guy in charge, the big honcho, the head cheese...
There are also new albums from somewhat-legendary blues-rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor (The Trouble With Love) and Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin (The Sea Has No Mercy). It's Taupin's first ever "true" solo album, with no co-writers, recorded in Nashville with the Tennessee Stone Cutters. Its basically down-home acoustic Americana-type stuff. Personally, I prefer the Joanne Shaw Taylor album, but that's just me.
Over in Metalworld, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is back with a new LP, From The Dark. Tony doesn't sing or write lyrics much, so his solo albums have mostly been collaborations with Deep Purple singers Glenn Hughes and Ian Gillan, as well as his preferred producer/engineer, Mike "Exorcist" Exeter. For this one, he's working with a Norwegian guy named Jorn — Jørn Lande that is, who has been in bands like Masterplan, Vagabond, and the Snakes. He doesn't sound like Ozzy at all, but aside from that the album is just about everything you'd expect, i.e., a giant riff-fest. And yes, Jorn looks like a Viking. (What can I say? I'm sorry, but that's what he looks like.)
If you prefer non-English and/or non-Viking metal guys though, fear not! Gwar, who are supposedly not human and come from another galaxy entirely, have a new one called X-Cops Confidential. It's their third LP since the untimely death of Dave "Oderus Orungus" Brockie, and it's... great? (Are people allowed to write things about them other than that?)
They Still Won't Tell Us What Happened to the First Five Elephants Dept.
If you're like me and try to avoid any and all news involving The Olivia Tremor Control and... bands of that ilk, you might not know that the two main guys, Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss, are both deceased. (Or, maybe you do.) After breaking up in 2000, the band sort of got back together in 2009 and were supposed to be working on a third album in 2012 when Doss died, and were still working on it when Hart died in 2024. Well, here it is! It's called The Same Place, so you know it sounds pretty much the same as before... Indeed, they sound only slightly less lo-fi and twee and precious than they did back in the 90s, and they've even got an album cover that looks just like the one for Dusk at Cubist Castle (which was probably the only album from the Elephant 6 gang that I actually liked). They're saying there definitely won't be any more OTC albums after this one, but of Montreal and Elf Power are still around, so let's not break out the champagne and microdots just yet.
Some of you might recall that her last album, last year's Year of the Slug, was recorded on her iPhone using Garageband (and sounds like it), and the one before that, 2023's The Art of Forgetting, was basically an art pop record for "serious" pop fans. This time she's back to the fun, loud, energetic, not-quite-cowpunk-but-close-enough stuff that made her a big fan favorite nearly a decade ago with albums like 2018's Loner and 2020's Superstar — only this time she's got fewer synthesizers, more guitars, and better tunes. (The rear-view mirror on the album cover even makes it eligible for my Rear-View Mirrors chart. Result!) The leadoff track, "Yip Yip Yow," is a psychobilly bangerstomper par excellence and a legitimate song-of-the-year candidate if you ask me. It sounds like it's going to be her best record yet!
Also, not to get off on too much of a tangent here, but folks who are interested in yip-yip-related stuff will of course remember Yip-Yip, a sometimes-masked band from Orlando, Florida. Their outfits look like they could easily have inspired Angine De Poitrine, except the Yip-Yip guys were decked out in a checkerboard pattern instead of polka dots. The guy who wore polka dots, though they were mainly just on his gig shirt, was Robyn Hitchcock, one of my all-time faves — whose album Respect came out in 1993, and leads off with a track called "The Yip Song." So... yeah. It all makes sense now.
But There's More In Spite of it All Dept.
Kristeen Young, Full Scrotal Scorpio
Normally anything new by Kristeen Young would go straight to the top of whatever list I happen to be making, and I try not to be too abnormal, so that's basically what's happening here. However, based on the two pre-release singles at least, this album is going to be a lot more aggressive, chaotic, and punkish than 2022's super-brilliant The Beauty Shop. She calls it "piano death rock" and "Missouri goth." That isn't necessarily a good thing, even if you live in Missouri — the problem is, her voice sounds so much like that of Kate Bush, you just sort of want her to make a Kate Bush album every time, which is kind of what The Beauty Shop was. Maybe I'm reading too much into the singles, though. She has the same backing musicians as on the last one, including Bowie/Eno uber-collaborator Tony Visconti on bass, so... that's good, right? We'll find out soon enough! (Or at least I will, since nobody else around here seems to be much of a fan.)
Sour Widows, Sigil This is the second album by this Bay Area (in California, that is) alt-rock/post-punk guitar duo, which I believe is now a trio since they've made their drummer an official band member. The original duo, Susanna Thomson and Maia Sinaiko, both have those almost-but-not-quite-waifish Tanya Donelly voices, so that's good, and they sing in two-part harmony most of the time, which is also good, and there's plenty of grit and distortion on those guitars too. I actually have nothing bad to say about this album, other than that the album cover is perhaps a little cryptic. (Which is also good, even though it's bad! For the swan, that is.)
The Effigies, Fire. Aim. Ready.
These guys brought some much-needed legitimacy and respectability to the Chicago punk scene (and music scene in general) back in the 1980s, at a time it was being overshadowed by towns like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston, and maybe even Akron, Ohio. At least that's how I remember it... But after three great 80s albums, they went on an indefinite hiatus in 1990 (with rare/occasional local reunion gigs), and lead vocalist/frontman John Kedzy went off to become a prosecutor with the Illinois attorney general's office. (He later became Bureau Chief of the Statewide Grand Jury. Score!) The band got back together in 2007 to make Reside, and again in 2023 to make what would later become Burned, but then Kedzy was killed in a bicycling accident. They could have just packed it in after that, but no, America needs them now more than ever, so... long story short, this will be their first album without Kedzy, whose successor, Geoff Sabin, is 20 years younger than the other three guys and has much less vocal fry and sneer in his voice than Kedzy had. He almost sounds like an emo singer by comparison, or to be more charitable, he has an Ian MacKaye-like voice whereas Kedzy's was more like that of Guy Picciotto (in Fugazi). Personally, I probably wouldn't have chosen him, but I'm sure there were other factors involved, and he is technically a better singer and you can understand the lyrics a lot better too. (Also, he runs a design firm, so he also did the album cover, which isn't bad.) Aside from that, they sound pretty much the same as they always did, really... so if you liked them before, you have no reason not to like them now except for the fact that you're 40 years older and you've probably abandoned your youthful rebellious idealism in the face of a soul-crushing and increasingly fascistic system of economic oppression, media brainwashing, and pointless unending violence.
How Strange It Is, There is No Evil(released October 20) Here's the third album by this rather obscure Portland, Oregon 5-piece lo-fi slowcore band with distinct psychedelic-pop and noisepop tendencies. It's a very interesting record and maybe even a bit of a "grower," but assuming anyone out there notices it at all, I worry that they'll be accused of trying a little too hard to be clever and fill their songs with elaborate weirdness. Then again, that's sort of what the band's name implies, ne c'est pas? At least they're not trying to deceive you with inappropriately non-descriptive terminology.
Small Pond, Soft Burn
Small Pond is a female-fronted quartet of indie rockers from Portland, Maine (not Oregon, for once), and this is their second album, assuming you don't count 2022's Let it Fall Like it Should as an EP. I wouldn't call them "sadcore," but they're in that general vicinity. (I have a feeling this album will get delayed a couple of weeks.)
Soft Siren, 4AM 4AM is the debut album from this guitar-based dreampop act from Los Angeles. It features very nice whispery vocals from lead singer Jacqueline Torgerson, who is also the only person featured on their cover art (for what would seem to be obvious reasons). It's good for what it is; some dreampop records try to grab you with hooks and occasional weirdness, but this one is more of the laid-back and relaxing variety. It would probably make for good romantic bedroom music, actually.
HMLTD, Fangs
These guys have been around since 2015, and this is their fourth album. It's quite a bit like the previous three. At various times they've been described as "art punk," "glam-punk," "electro-goth," "electroclash," and "vampire punk." I think they just like misusing genre tags, personally. (Don't we all, though? I know I do.)
The Snuts, Joy in Short Moments
It's the fourth album from this highly anthemic would-be indie-rock juggernaut from Scotland, but they still have the same two problems they've always had — their band name sounds vaguely disgusting, and their lead singer sounds way too twee for the music the band is actually playing. On the plus side though, they've got some great high-positivity pop songs, and people seem to like them, at least in the UK. And to be fair, the singer is getting better, if this album is any indication. Hey, these days, anything can happen! Even if your name is "Snuts"!
Porcelain, Today's Minor Victories
This is the second LP from a fairly decent punk and/or "post-hardcore" (I'm still not sure what that term really means) band from Austin, Texas. Their less-aggressive songs tend to be a bit repetitive, and some would use the term "hypnotic," except that if they actually wanted to hypnotize you they wouldn't do it with loud, distorted guitars, would they? I honestly don't know anymore. I guess I like their more aggressive tunes better, but of course that's exactly the sort of thing I would say, isn't it.
System Exclusive, Don't Stop Now
This male-female duo from San Francisco are a sort of upbeat 80s-retro new wave synthpop band, and I only say "sort of" because the male instrumentalist guy (Matt Jones) is making backing tracks that sound like Devo while the female singer (Ari Blaisdell) sounds just like Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons. Don't get me wrong, I liked both Devo and Dale Bozzio, and I like this album too, but the juxtaposition might be a bit jarring for 80s-pop/wave fans, many of whom are now approaching retirement age and are mostly just concerned about health insurance.
Masked Band Dept.
Well... I did find this one guy, but it turns out he wears the mask because he's depressed and has terrible social anxiety, so I didn't want to make things any worse for him. Besides, I already mentioned Yip-Yip earlier, and even though they're not releasing a record this week, "attention must be paid" as they say.
Side Notes
The sort-of debut album from NYC gothgazers Comet, Autopsy of Me, which I thought had been released on Sept. 25, was moved at the last minute to this week. Still looks like it's gonna be good, though they'll have competition this week from a similar (though LA-based) band called Aurat — their album, Silhouette, is actually a little darker and heavier-sounding, and the lyrics are all sung in Urdu, too. Hard to beat that!
I'm going to break my "no reissues" rule again here because there's one coming out from Sing-Sing this week of their first album, The Joy of Sing-Sing, with 12, count 'em 12, bonus tracks. You'll recall that Sing-Sing was Emma Anderson's duo with co-lead-singer Lisa O'Neill after Lush disbanded, and they lasted about 8 years or so, making two fine albums. Admittedly, the bonus tracks are still the sort of b-sides, outtakes and demos you usually get with reissues, so you probably don't have to have them, but of course I do.
Next Week...
Halloween's a-comin', and all the indie rockers, post-punks, etc. are getting in on the action with new albums from DIIV, Editors, Ministry, The Big Moon, Thao (apparently without the Get Down Stay Down), ex-Fall guys House of All, Rocketship, and the recently-turned-twee Sennen. We should also finally see that promised new LP from The Church, as well as more-recently rescheduled stuff from Queens of the Stone Age and Wavves, who are doing a collaboration with Say Anything. It's a veritable smorgasbord of records from people you've probably heard of!
Until then! 😄
Last edited by MadhattanJack on 3 days ago; edited 1 time in total
It seems highly likely that I had the audacity to displease certain women—women who view themselves as vestals, as priestesses with the power to grant life or decree death.
Yeah, those are the worst! I gave up on internet dating sites years ago, myself... bring back the seedy dive bars, church socials and ballroom-dancing courses at the local community colleges, is what I say. It's important to make sure you've got the right physical "vibe" at the outset, before you even say a word to them — that helps you determine whether or not they're part of some impossibly ancient religious death cult before you ask them out on a date. (Not that something like that would stop me, of course.)
This plot could easily turn into a great song!
It’s a story so many people can relate to, told in a really catchy way—even if it has little to do with reality. ))
It always amazes me how highly successful creators can get so genuinely hooked on artists who, in my opinion, are... let's say, not the finest.
MadhattanJack wrote:
musicoed wrote:
When Bandcamp selects a lead track, two questions immediately come to mind: is it because no one has listened to the album yet, or did the artists put all the best material right at the beginning? I’m not even sure which is worse.))
There are actually lots of people here on BEA who have tunes up on Bandcamp, but I assume you're asking who determines which track comes up as the starting track in the play queue when you land on a Bandcamp album page, and it isn't the album's leadoff track? If so, that's determined by the artist, and as an "album guy" I actually find it a bit annoying, but it's understandable that they'd allow for that since so many albums begin with short "Intro" pieces that aren't the least bit representative of the rest of the tracks.
This is a highly relevant topic for new releases. On a side note, due to some technical issues with standard Google Translate, I have switched to using AI for translations, just in case any change in phrasing is noticeable.
I used to think that Bandcamp's default starting track was selected by an algorithm based on play counts. So, whenever an opening track played first, I assumed the album simply hadn't gained any traction yet. However, after looking into it, I’ve learned that the opening track plays by default unless the artist specifies otherwise.
I go through hundreds of Bandcamp emails daily, and that first track is absolutely critical. It only has a few seconds to catch my attention, so it truly needs to be the strongest piece. That said, the artist's right to choose their own introductory track is, of course, undeniable.
MadhattanJack wrote:
... This week's pick-of-the-week has to be the 7th album from LA's Caroline Rose, Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall. ...
As for Caroline Rose, I’ve known her for a while through a few standout tracks and videos. But this year, she co-produced Tōth's third studio album, And The Voice Said, and even hopped on a few tracks. Fun fact: this is actually the album I submitted for our 2026 tournament as my February pick, and that round just wrapped up this week.
From what I gather, before dropping her own album, Caroline opened her own recording studio. It totally fits the whole vibe of self-promotion, which seems to be quite a headache for musicians these days. Too bad all her impressive multitasking still didn't help me vibe with her own music, though.
The last two albums you picked as your favorites both feature flames on the cover.
Quote:
In psychology, they call this projection and emotional resonance—when you see fire and unconsciously read it as a perfect reflection of your own inner state. Fire is incredibly multi-faceted, so everyone sees something different. For instance, it can symbolize positive but highly intense emotions, like being madly in love or fanatically dedicated to a cause, where you're literally "burning" with passion.
Speaking of fire, I wanted to mention another release from this week that also has flames on the cover—a burning car, to be exact.
Shedfromthebody - We Fly into Windows (22/X-2026/43) (Album)
The music left me pretty indifferent, but it’s tagged as doomgaze, among other things, so I thought it might be right up your alley.
MadhattanJack wrote:
... System Exclusive, Don't Stop Now
This male-female duo from San Francisco are a sort of upbeat 80s-retro new wave synthpop band, and I only say "sort of" because the male instrumentalist guy (Matt Jones) is making backing tracks that sound like Devo while the female singer (Ari Blaisdell) sounds just like Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons. Don't get me wrong, I liked both Devo and Dale Bozzio, and I like this album too, but the juxtaposition might be a bit jarring for 80s-pop/wave fans, many of whom are now approaching retirement age and are mostly just concerned about health insurance. ...
System Exclusive - Don't Stop Now (23/X-2026/43) (Album)
Finally, that rare moment when your flagship weekly review features the exact artists I was thinking about just before this Friday! The fact that they managed to jump into the very last car of the train already speaks volumes! ))
They aren't exactly the kind of band whose albums top my personal charts, but when it comes to music videos, their energy has always been more than enough—especially back in their earliest videos. Too bad their 2026 release has only given me a couple of interesting tracks so far. They weren't released as singles, and there are no videos for them yet.
From what I gather, before dropping her own album, Caroline opened her own recording studio. It totally fits the whole vibe of self-promotion, which seems to be quite a headache for musicians these days.
She actually started her own "imprint," sort of like a sub-label, called SUCK records. (The new album was recorded at Animal Rites studios in Los Angeles, which is owned by John Congleton, who used to be in The Paper Chase...) I haven't seen anything saying she opened her own studio too, though that's always possible.
Quote:
Speaking of fire, I wanted to mention another release from this week that also has flames on the cover—a burning car, to be exact.
Shedfromthebody- We Fly into Windows (22/X-2026/43) (Album)
The music left me pretty indifferent, but it’s tagged as doomgaze, among other things, so I thought it might be right up your alley.
Indeed, this is one of the most egregious examples of Bandcamp mis-tagging I've seen in a long time (and that's saying something, since I see that all the time). They've got themselves tagged as "metal alternative-metal doom-metal doomgaze post-metal Finland," and the only one of those tags that's even remotely accurate is "Finland." (Apparently her name is Suvi Savikko, and she comes from Espoo, Finland's second-largest city.) I would call this something like "shoegaze girlpop-slowcore" — it's not even particularly "dark," if you ask me, and hardly metal or metal-adjacent at all... There's plenty of heavy guitars, but practically no riffage, no screamo, almost no histrionics or dynamics, and very little distinct anger or aggression. What's more, having just listened to it, I really like the album (!) and if it had been properly tagged, I would have definitely listed it — probably pretty high up too. They've got five other LPs listed on BEA, so someone will probably put it in a chart before too long if I don't beat them to it... Regardless, thanks for bringing that to my attention! 😄
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MadhattanJack
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