Semi Trucks released VS. California in 2021. While that record was essentially a Brenden Sepe solo effort (and a good one!), its follow-up, Georgia Overdrive (out now on LP at Post Present Medium), marks the band’s first full-band outing, with Finn Beard (guitar and vocals), Bronwyn Bradshaw (bass and vocals) and Ian Collins (drums) rounding out the lineup. The record feels like a major step up in both production and scope, more ambitious and more accomplished than its predecessor. It’s easily one of the finer, more interesting indie rock/noise pop releases I’ve heard so far in 2025.

Georgia Overdrive isn’t without instant highlights — Motorbike Riding Star and Lou and Edie come to mind — but it’s best experienced as a whole, and in sequence. Semi Trucks master the art of push and pull, never letting the tension snap. With repetitive instrumentation layered in haze and hiss, the effect is often hypnotic. Semi Trucks create space for both introspection and catharsis, balancing moments of urgency with stretches of unhurried drift — just listen to Famethrower. There’s classic indie rock (Secret), there’s something more elusive and spectral (Somewhere Far Away), and plenty in between. It’s quite the trip, really.

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