New album: The Refraints || Badminton

Rough around the edges and impossible not to like

By / / Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Let’s make a quick detour to the Pacific Northwest and meet The Refraints, a Bellingham, Washington trio built on the classic guitar, bass, drums setup. Aaron Rayborn, Brandon Juntunen, and Molly Russell handle the playing, with Rayborn and Russell sharing vocal duties, which adds a lot of charm to the band’s sound.

What made me fall for Badminton, which I assume is their debut, is how they play a scrappy kind of pop punk that feels both old school and current at the same time. This is the kind of band that could have appeared on Lookout! or Go-Kart Records in the ’90, but also the kind you might see sharing a stage with Jeff Rosenstock today. The Refraints operate on the unpolished side of catchy. There is no bubblegum gloss to their sound, but the love for the pop side of punk is obvious.

Lyrically, The Refraints dive into awkward crushes, bad decisions, and small everyday disasters, turning heartbreak, drama, and embarrassment into messy little confessionals that feel part self-own, part survival tactic. And yes, The Refraints are really easy to like.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The 77s || 7

Timeless songwriting wrapped in resilient optimism

By / / Alternative Rock, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Formed in 1979, so almost half a century into their career, Californian rockers The Seventy Sevens return with a new full-length, succinctly titled 7. The band members—Michael Roe, Bruce Spencer, and Mark Harmon—present the album as an expression of gratitude, a musical thank-you to the community that has supported them through decades of rock ‘n’ roll. A few seconds in, and fans immediately know this release was worth the wait.

Expect warm melodies with killer riffs, soulful hooks, raw edges, and charming vocals, radiating a power pop energy, with earnest lyrics that reflect their Christian roots. All in all it’s just as solid as the bold lucky number in the cover art.


7 is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Mezzo Music and Fools Of The World. In this 52-minute track the band talks you through the album.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || The Choir || Discogs

New single: Fan Club || Don’t Give A Damn b/w All Tied Up

Two songs that spark serious anticipation for the upcoming LP of this band formerly known as LYSOL

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Seattle’s Fan Club, aka the artists formerly known as LYSOL, are gearing up for the release of their debut album. To warm you up, no, to properly set a fire under your anticipation, the band have dropped a two-song single packed with electric tension.

The tracks are not on Bandcamp, but they are streaming on most services. The A-side Don’t Give A Damn is 100 seconds of everything that makes this band exciting, a tightly wound blast that fuses garage rock grit with hardcore punk urgency. It hits fast, hits hard, and leaves a mark.

Do not sleep on B-side All Tied Up, which rocks and rolls with real purpose and keeps the momentum going. Together, the two songs feel like a promise of what is coming next.

Already all hyped up for the upcoming LP? I definitely am.

Add to wantlist: Streaming only

New single: The Low Spirits || Time Will Tell b/w No More Mistakin’

Fuzz for the dancefloor

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Rochester, New York–based garage-rock four-piece The Low Spirits have become a regular fixture in these pages, and their latest 45 is no exception. Both Time Will Tell and No More Mistakin’ are hip-shaking goodness, sun-soaked and surfy. It’s analog adrenaline packed with the hallmarks of the usual high-octane sound: frantic guitars, rattling rhythms, and weathered vocals. Driven by fuzz and farfisa, this 7″ captures the band at their most immediate and infectious.

Time Will Tell b/w No More Mistakin’ is out now digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Groovie Records. Featuring Michael Maier (guitar, vocals), Richie Dejohn bass, vocals), Ryan Moore (guitar, organ, vocals), and Zachary Koch (drums, vocals).

Add to wantlist @ Bandcamp: The Low Spirits || Groovie Records

New album: Black Dog Otis || Fire Hazard

Punk energy, blues blood, and a whole lot of smoke

By / / Blues & Roots, Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Take cover, here’s a multidimensional guitar attack incoming.

Call it garage-y country punk or funky blues rock, but whatever the label, it’s tough, loud, and gleefully out of control. Louisville, Kentucky’s Black Dog Otis return with their sophomore full-length, Fire Hazard, a record that sounds bigger, dirtier, and more combustible than anything that came out these weeks. Built on dueling guitars and potent vocals, these twelve songs revel in breaking things and burning gear (true story: My Casiotone Died For Your Sins), chasing fast cars, throwing fists, flirting with devils, and spiraling into druggy detours. Roll the windows down and let it scorch.



Fire Hazard—produced by Seth Everhart—is out now digitally and on vinyl LP. Featuring Brian Hughes (vocals, harp, handclaps), Tony Feltner (guitar, vibraphone, backup vocals), Gene Brock (guitar), D. Jay Rice (guitar), Seth Everhart (guitar), Ashleigh Bills (bass, backup vocals), and Keith Raines (drums, percussion, backup vocals, keys), with Matthew Zoeller (backup vocals) and Avia Brock (backup vocals, banjo).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: TY || Hot Wheel City

Killer zero filler 7" from Detroit's TY

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Here is an attempt at the “if I wait long enough, maybe no one will notice I forgot to write about this killer EP” strategy. Sure, TY’s Hot Wheel City dropped right in the middle of AOTY season (excuse 1), then got a vinyl release in January on Under The Gun Records (excuse 2), and then TY put a release date of July 15, 2026 on their Bandcamp page (excuse 3). Plenty of ways to get confused.

But the truth is, most of you have probably been blasting these four bangers daily for months now. Still, it would feel wrong not to give it a proper nod here. So in case you somehow missed it, TY are a freakin’ great and ridiculously fun punk band, and Hot Wheel City is proof.

Also worth knowing: they will be taking over Europe in May and June. Psyched.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Ratboys || Singin’ to an Empty Chair

Unafraid to linger in the in-between, letting unease do the talking

By / / Indie Rock / 1 Comment

Singin’ to an Empty Chair is the sixth studio album by Chicago indie-rock/post-country quartet Ratboys, and it’s a pretty ambitious one. The 11 new tracks—over 50 minutes in total—find the band’s songwriter and lead singer Julia Steiner turning inward, traveling through estrangement, therapy, and the uneasy middle ground between holding on and letting go. She explains: “This record feels like the most complete, living thing that we’ve ever made, and the songs feel the most personal to me. There’s an overarching goal that ties everything together: to bridge the gap across an estranged relationship, to provide an update on what life is like in the midst of great absence.”

It’s an immersive, slow-burning listen that rewards surrender and repeat plays. The magnetic vocals naturally take center stage, but don’t underestimate the underlying musical layers, which are as inspired and creative as they are controlled and focused. Intimacy and tension, twang and jangle, soft and hard—they all seem to coexist in a miraculous way.



Singin’ to an Empty Chair—produced by Chris Walla and Ratboys—is out now digitally, on cassette, CD and vinyl LP, through New West Records. Featuring Julia Steiner (vocals, guitars), Dave Sagan (guitar, pocket piano), Sean Neumann (bass, synth bass, vocals), and Marcus Nuccio (drums, tambourine, shaker, synthesizers), with Chris Walla (keys, tape loops), Elizabeth Jordan (cello), Andy Krull (pedal steel), and Jenny Conlee (organ) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || New West

New EP: Xray Xeroxx || Art Rock!

New shades for this one-man show

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Xray Xeroxx returns with Art Rock! Does this mean he has traded in his sweaty punk balaclava for a black turtleneck, angular haircut, and a thoughtful stare into the middle distance? Not really. These four songs do reveal new layers to the one-man show though, sounding a tadsy more artsy than previously, without any hint of pretension or grand plans to become the next Monet or Talking Heads.

The spirit is still scrappy at heart, just dressed up in a slightly different shade. And in true Xray Xeroxx fashion, the presentation gets its own twist too, with 3D artwork (and video!) and accompanying glasses for the 7″ lathe-cut vinyl. A tape version exists as well, if that is more your speed. Out now on Low Ambition Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Vegas Water Taxi || Long Time Caller, First Time Listener

Sharp jokes in sad pop songs

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

Long Time Caller, First Time Listener is the beautifully titled sophomore full-length album from London-based indie pop/alt-country outfit Vegas Water Taxi. It’s actually a combination of the five tunes we knew from last fall’s Long Time Caller EP (we called it “a wry soundtrack to post-breakup self-sabotage”), supplemented with four new ones from the First Time Listener EP, forming a cohesive whole where humor and sadness intertwine.

Song titles such as Brat Summer, Birkenstocks, Ozempic (Celebrity Weight Loss Anxiety Blues), and Jamie XX seem to honor pop culture and the spirit of the times, but the underlying lyrics drag modern life for filth. Yet, with warm melodies and funny observations, this is comforting music that feels like sanity sneaking through the noise.



Long Time Caller, First Time Listener—produced and mixed by Louis Milburn and Ben Hambro—is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through PNKSLM Recordings. Featuring Ben Hambro (guitar, vocals, bass, synth), Fred Lawton (bass, guitar, vocals), Charlie Meyrick (drums, guitar, bass, vocals), Molly Shields (vocals), Rhodri Brooks (pedal steel), Louis Milburn (organ), and Holly Carpenter (violin).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || PNKSLM

New EP: The Nervous || 4 Songs

A beautiful mess of blown-out punk noise

By / / Punk / 3 Comments

Liverpool’s The Nervous are impossible to ignore with their new 4 Songs EP (out now on Brainrotter Records), throwing four blunt objects right in your face. Really, this band has been described as Black Flag doing the Stooges with GG Allin as an extra member, and you can kind of imagine the result as a barroom brawl set to music, held together by blown-out amps, bad decisions, and pure chaotic energy.

Now imagine The Nervous injected with some Chuck Berry DNA, because there is definitely some rock and rolling going on underneath the noise. Obviously, no recording budget was available for this record, so you have to look hard for it. Actually, scratch that. It almost sounds like no recording equipment was used at all, which only makes this trashy little release feel even trashier in the best possible way. It adds to the fun, the danger, and the sense that anything could fall apart at any second.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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