New EP: Field Hospitals || Ethel Green

A charming blend of strum, thrum, and college rock

By / / Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Minneapolis “shamble pop” quartet Field Hospitals made a quick impression on Subjangle’s Darrin Lee, who didn’t hesitate to release their six-song Ethel Green EP on CD. It’s easy to hear why: the band’s blend of college rock and strummy, thumping power pop has immediate charm, combining catchy songwriting with an easygoing pulse that makes your head nod without thinking.

Field Hospitals have a clean, jangly sound with strong ’80s undertones. Ethel Green is an impressive leap by the band, and I’m already eager to hear what’s next.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Empty Bones || Speed, Commitment and Luck

A decade late, but right on time

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Empty Bones are a garage rock quartet from Bremen, Germany, featuring Cederik Schwarz, Julian Kramp, Maximilian Bopp and Tim Andreas Maziull. It took them about 10 years to record their first full length album, but here it is, appropriately titled Speed, Commitment and Luck. The titles of the thirteen songs—Empty Nights, Drop In Drop Out, Drunk, Defuse Me, Funfair, and so on—reveal a period of considerable fun and quite a bit of beer, something that, with a critical eye, could also be seen as self-sabotage.

Anyway, this is over half an hour of raucous tunes with unstoppable riffs, for those who like their music raw and fast. Closing track Your Love is a delicious but almost unrecognizable cover of Jackie Wilson’s (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher, one that will turn any gig into a dancing mass full of smiles and sweat.



Speed, Commitment and Luck—recorded and mixed by Felix Margraf—is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through La Pochette Surprise Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || La Pochette Surprise

New album: Frizbee || Sour Kisses

Garage punk that plays by its own rules

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Frizbee are an Indianapolis quartet made up of Susie Slaughter, Jacki Walburn, June Smith, and Maude Atlas. Their new nine-song album Sour Kisses, out now on cassette via Painters Tape (Detroit) and Noise Merchant (UK), follows a 2023 split with PAL.

Sour Kisses is an in-your-face kind of record—raw, ferocious, and undeniably fun. It’s rooted in garage punk but refuses to play it straight. The talk-singing walks a fine line between menace and camaraderie, like Frizbee are letting you in on the secret to their chaotic charm.

Sour Kisses rips. No doubt about it.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Noise Merchant

New EP: Adam Hopper & The Wimps || Remember to Have Fun

Echoes of Blockbuster days and jangly nights

By / / Indie Pop, Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

Remember to Have Fun is the sun-kissed debut EP from Manchester-based singer-songwriter Adam Hopper and his band The Wimps. They put their money where their mouth is in four anti-folk songs with jangly guitars and charming vocals. It’s feel-good music with friendship in the spotlight (for example, opening song My Friend Al looks back on growing up in the market town of Great Driffield, Blockbuster video, playing in teenage bands, video games, and Adam’s friend Alex)—driven by retro vibes and real feelings.



Remember to Have Fun, produced by Zac Barfoot, is out now digitally and on cassette through Bingo Records. Featuring Adam Hopper (vocals, acoustic guitar, melodica), Niamh Purtill (vocals), Big John Chips aka John Kirkpatrick (electric guitars), Nathan Bailey (bass), Felix Harrap (drums, percussion) and Alex (harmonica).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires || Sounds Made By Humans

Where poetry meets pop in perfect harmony

By / / Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

This is a partnership as remarkable as it is inventive and intelligent. From their previous projects, we already knew that singer-songwriters Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey have indie pop gems for the ages in them, and they live up to that reputation with indie pop outfit The Catenary Wires (listen to Mirrorball from their 2021 Birling Gap LP for the most compelling evidence). But on their new full-length album, Sounds Made By Humans, they up their game by collaborating with Brian Bilston, one of the UK’s most popular poets. It turns out to be a perfect match.

Together—with Ian Button on drums and Fay Hallam on keyboard—they deliver thirteen unique tracks where appealing poetry (thematically total in the here and now) and punchy music (played by a full band) have become completely intertwined. Not only do they redefine the use of spoken word in songs, they also give a new meaning to the concept of synergy. It’s tempting to quote from the countless memorable and relatable lines, but that wouldn’t do them justice—really, you just have to listen.



Sounds Made By Humans is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Skep Wax Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Skep Wax

New single: The Sound Minds || Hide and Seek / She Won’t Stay For Long

The beat music revival you didn't know you needed

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

The Sound Minds are a New York-based rock ‘n’ roll trio featuring Graham Tichy (guitar, vocals), Ian “Ritz” Carlton (bass, vocals) and Christopher “Gringo Starr” Sprague (drums, vocals), seasoned musicians who have played with big names like Nick Lowe, Wanda Jackson and The Neanderthals, to name a few. They have a new 45 out that may be rooted in the 1960s, but is nothing less than irresistible in 2025. A-side Hide and Seek is an awesome garage rock stomper with infectious gang vocals and killer riffs, B-side She Won’t Stay For Long is a Beatlesque hit captured in an unstoppable sound—a high-octane performance, energetic and electrifying.

Hide and Seek b/w She Won’t Stay For Long is out now streaming and on 7″ vinyl through Hi-Tide Recordings’ new imprint Go-Time.

Add to wantlist: Hi-Tide

New album: Jacob Freddy || Sports Announcer

Jacob Frericks blends indie rock and power pop in subtle and satisfying ways

By / / Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Jacob Freddy is the solo home-recording project of New York-based talent Jacob Frericks. I was already impressed by his 2024 debut From a Quiet Aliso Viejo Wasteland, but after a few spins, the follow-up Sports Announcer might be even stronger.

The album blends indie rock and power pop in subtle and satisfying ways. Opener I Don’t Want To Know starts soft but gradually opens up, evoking the charm of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin—whether by influence or coincidence. On jangly standout If Only and the hushed Point of View, you can hear echoes of Alex Chilton and Teenage Fanclub. The latter also comes to mind on tracks like From the Start and All I Can Do as well.

Jacob Freddy fits comfortably alongside contemporary bands like Hurry and 2nd Grade—artists who approach guitar pop with an ear for melody and a knack for understated brilliance. It’s a great time for finely crafted, heartfelt tunes like that, and Sports Announcer is a worthy addition to the canon. It is out today on Tape.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Brett Newski & the Bad Inventions || ameriCONa Pt. 1: Educate Freeloaders to Buy Art

At the forefront of the battle for artistic survival

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

That Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based prodigy Brett Newski takes a stand against streaming exploitation—he urges fans to purchase music directly, which ties into our blog’s mission—is reason enough to shine a spotlight on him, but the sheer quality of his new record is even more so (as we are used to). On ameriCONa Pt. 1: Educate Freeloaders to Buy Art, the idiosyncratic singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/author/podcaster delivers eight heartfelt folk punk songs that naturally encourage enjoyment and reflection. A surprising cover of Jewel’s Who Will Save Your Soul fits seamlessly between the self-penned tunes, acoustic paintings with rough strokes and daring colors. DIY ethics and raw rock ‘n roll, weapons that we can only appreciate.



ameriCONa Pt. 1: Educate Freeloaders to Buy Art—performed, engineered and mixed by Brett Newski—is out now digitally, on CD and on vinyl LP. Also featuring Leroy Duester (pedal steel) and Spatola (piano) on select tracks. The album won’t be available on streaming services: “For years, we’ve been told that music is free, but if you don’t support art, the world gets sterile, sad, and everything starts to look like a Wal-Mart or Jimmy Johns. All bands have a very finite lifespan. If you like what they do, buy their records, because odds are they won’t be around next year.”

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Brett Newski

New single: Split System & Les Lullies || Chemicals / L’étroit

A final firecracker (for now) from the mighty Legless Records

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

One of the top dogs in Australia’s  punk scene teams up with one of France’s finest punky power pop outfits for a split 7″ that marks—at least for now—the final release on Legless Records. The label’s founder has pressed pause to focus on quality family time, and if this really is the end, it’s a hell of a way to go out. Over the years, Legless built a rock-solid reputation as a go-to imprint for raw and vital punk. What a run this label had!

Split System contribute Chemicals, a ripping, guitar-driven punk anthem with just a hint of garage lean—perhaps a subtle nod to their French counterparts. On the flip, Les Lullies fire back with L’étroit, injecting a shot of Split System-style snarl into their signature high-energy power pop.

Here’s hoping Legless Records returns someday. Until then, grab this final gem through the label, or via Drunken Sailor (UK) or Green Noise (North America).


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Drunken Sailor

New album: Le Pain || Dirge Technique

A dreamy debut LP that revels in retro charm

By / / Indie Pop, Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

Le Pain is a Los Angeles, California-based indie pop quartet featuring Olivia Babuka Black, Madeline Babuka Black, Scott Rosenthal, and Alan Everhart, Dirge Technique is their sparkling full-length debut album. You’ll hear ten appealing songs with amazing vocals and jangly guitar melodies, a gentle collision of dreamy vintage pop with a girl group feel, French-flavored whimsy, and a few subtle indie rock peppers (it is not without reason that ‘no le pain, no le gain’ is the band’s motto). This record is delicate, disarming, and delightfully offbeat.



Dirge Technique—produced by Joo Joo Ashworth and Scott Rosenthal—is out digitally, on cassette and on vinyl LP, through Slouch Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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