On “Black & White,” The Mellons are still tied in the trappings of harmony, orchestral swells, and hooks brighter than a daycare mural. With just a touch of bittersweet magic, the band adds this to their sterling run of post-album singles. bit.ly/4czrad4
The overcast aura & downtrodden jangles give Julian Never some easy company among the Echo acolytes & New Wave highliners of the 2020’s, sliding easily onto the shelf alongside early Reds,Pinks & Purples, Wild Nothing, or Business of Dreams. A crystalized vision of JN's indie pop past bit.ly/3NuQ2bF
Still gripped tight in the tractor beam of Game Theory, The dB’s, and Permanent Green Light, “Dismantled Man Tells You” bounces on bright strums and a lost-era dreaminess that perfectly straddles the line between Power Pop and New Wave’s buttoned-up embrace. bit.ly/47vSJAr
Today sees the first taste of Urq, an art-damaged solo stint from the man behind Spllit and W-9. “Another Mystery” finds no comfortable purchase, no slump to settle into. It’s hackled & hinged, banging bent guitar lines into blindfolded origami shapes brushed with 4-track aesthetics. bit.ly/4lo7wDc
The Maureens hit the ‘90s power pop and jangle charms hard. The second single from their new album finds the band right back in the ranks of sunshine-soaked pop. “Me & My Friend” sways in the coming Spring breezes, a bouquet of harmonies, jangles, and hummable hooks. bit.ly/4ltMWkP
Cindy's latest shows no signs of shaking the comforts of their cocoon. Just above the fray of tape hiss Karina Gill lays down her pillowy vocals to great effect on the first single, “Procession,” wrapping her poetry of longing in quilted canyons of sound. bit.ly/4bxYnEH
Stoltz scratches out a narcotized and nihilistic vision of synth pop. Digging into the Gary Numan gulch, with echoes of Starter and Ultravox reverberating around its edges, the new single nudges his pop needle ever so slightly in a new direction but it remains a pure Stoltz classic. bit.ly/3Nn9B5L
The RPP's latest lets band’s sound balloon in beautiful ways. “Worthy of Love” retains the band’s rain-streaked n sequestered notions, but this time the homespun jangles are amplified with a pop grandeur that rivals prime period Go-Betweens and the oceanic embrace of The Chills. bit.ly/3N157BI
Feeling more akin to the pastoral tones of Japanese folk music and the more recent waves of ambient that have caught hold of the Leaving Records roster, the solo album from Cosmic Tones Research Trio's Harlan Silverman is true to its title, evoking an an anchor in still waters. bit.ly/40c3AvF
“Living The Dream” saunters onto the speakers, a woozy, prog-breathed vision of nightlife and transient glamour. An Eagles-y slide through hotel rooms and hot nights, a desert-dazed delirium of substances that slip away until the sun crawls over the horizon. bit.ly/4aSsXZw
First single “Mostra,” from a collaboration by Tomo Katsurada & Misha Panfilov floats in on psych-funk breezes & a surreal sense of dream. The duo finds fantasy in between the groove, a cut that’s scratched by the sensibilities of the ’70s, bound in bright hues & a freewheeling flow. bit.ly/4cpXLlx
With a pulsating beat & squelch of synth, Setting's latest creeps among dark entrails of sound, feeling like it might be just as comfortable combing through John Carpenter cutout footage. Bursts of noise batter into greased grooves, rattling around like a fever dream of funk & fusion bit.ly/4csUkKO
Laced with flutes & streaked with the Autumn glow of Cullum’s pedal steel, the song has the kind of cable knit comforts & indelible ennui of a classic Nick Drake tune. Smoke curled and bundled, the new song feels like just what’s needed to fend off the lingering damp of winter’s grasp bit.ly/3N3r6Yv
The new record is rife with hooks, but not averse to tension and torsion, scratching at the listener with a splintered soul before soothing them with just a taste of those power pop charms. The band remains criminally underrated. They’re pop purveyors outpacing many of their peers. bit.ly/4uglQBR
The new single from SUSS reverberates around the headspace, warm and woolen, but also soaked in a melancholy that tugs at the seams of the soul. The record is rooted in memory, time, and the erosion of what little we’re given. The first peek is dipped in the weight of this sentiment. bit.ly/4su9PXL
Upupayāma is back at Fuzz Club, turning the torrents into torn and frayed freakouts pummeled by rhythm and slashed by searing guitar. Alessio Ferarri has been flaying the mind since his days at Centripetal Force, and with each new record he only deepens the burn. bit.ly/4d0IO9J
Darkness threads through Suitor's new single, punctuated by quick slices of guitar that puncture the inky aura, searching for soft purchase. Picking up the reigns left by Siouxie, the band feels like they’d be easy company for newer releases from The New Eves, RVG, or Horsegirl. bit.ly/4uqCDlR
With her latest single, Haylie Davis announces a debut album for Fire Records. "Wandering Star" tiptoes in on piano and Davis’ resonant voice; echoes of Ronstadt and Carole King hung fragrant on the air. The song builds, a sweetly simple elegy, bruised, but buoyant. bit.ly/4b1lOoi
On the eve of her sixth album, a collection of songs streaked with vulnerability and personal growth, @charlottecornfield.bsky.social goes deep on a personal favorite from the past. Read as she explores Panoramic & True's overlooked debut album from 2010. @mergerecords.bsky.social bit.ly/4rLjrNA
Lupo Città crashes the gates with an acerbic growl. First single “Can’t See” churns uneasy waters, riding frothy riffs and an ironclad beat. The band whispers from the shadows, circling the listener in tightening paces until the song seethes towards its final moments. bit.ly/4rMCxTK
Mac Cornish recasts “Trucker’s Cafe” in a slightly more raucous light than the original version put out by Ian & Sylvia. With high sheen twang, you can practically hear this one on the jukebox as bottles clank, shouts ring, and smoke curls around the grease clouds from the kitchen. bit.ly/3OBvwqf
Featuring members of The Essex Green, with ties to fellow psych-pop outfits Guppyboy & The Ladybug Transistor, The Sixth Great Lake lightly loops the seams between folk, indie pop, & a grassy canyon country. Flutes flutter under easy strums, the band harmonizes in hammock-swung tempos bit.ly/4rMlEIQ
A b-side from Cochemea, recorded along with the Ancestros Futuros sessions, but left off the final version of the album. A rhythmic wonder, the cut is built on everything that makes Gastelum’s work vital, from the woven tapestry of percussion to Cochemea’s searing sax. bit.ly/4rKcdtj
RSTB faves Beefheart & McQuinn announce their much anticipated debut LP. First single “Do It Again” pairs a chugging blues to their breezy folk, feeling like Paul Simon ditched Art G for JJ Cale and set simmer against Spring breeze for an earworm that latches tight. bit.ly/3Nd3d0P
Following the jumped-up power pop of the first single, the band lays back a touch into the grove of grooves for this one. Letting Carson McHone take the reigns, “Cardinal Star” cools the band’s usual burn, trading some back and forth between her verses and Romano’s comedown choruses. bit.ly/4tYIdvj
Josephine’s long been the queen of NYC power pop and if you’ve got notions otherwise, any doubts ought to drip away with the release of “Hooked.” It’s a towering single that bites into the stagelight shimmer of the ’70s. This is as hi-fi and humming as the Network has sounded yet! bit.ly/4l093iA
WOW cool !
RCU just wrote up a thing about a few our recent Heavy Lidders live releases. Check it out:
recordcratesunited.com/2026/02/26/l...
Includes shout-outs to @eiderdownrecords.bsky.social @ravensingstheblues.bsky.social @pefkin.bsky.social
Thanks Keith !! YTMND
The Early envision improvisation as collaboration, a push & pull; leaderless but never rudderless. The pair play off each other with a 6th sense, a feeling that they’ve been through shadows of their works before, but are always ready to pull the shades & shine light on new direction bit.ly/471aLud
Aww thanks man. Means a lot!
NC's Object Hours, a new trio feat members of Solar Halos, Work Clothes, & Les Savy Fav, announce their debut. The band pairs pulsing drums with a double guitar vortex. “Yellow House” locks into the band’s heady hypnotism, a cocoon of rhythm and reverberation that’s hard to shake. bit.ly/4tW3hme
