Garage Rock

New album: Summer Sleeves || I’m Shelling Real Daggers

Rich and ramshackle, a power pop triumph

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

Summer Sleeves turns self-preservation into something remarkably exhilarating on I’m Shelling Real Daggers. Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Wayne’s latest long-player goes straight to its target, packing twelve songs with confident vocals, jaunty guitars, driving synths, glam-tinged drums, cool harmonies, and catchy melodies that stick. This is bright, sharp-edged, and versatile power pop, with a sound that shares a few genes with a young Elvis Costello. It’s gloriously unpolished but has plenty of emotional weight beneath the surface, feeling intimate even when it reaches full volume.

The lyrics seem to be about drawing boundaries without losing the desire for connection, searching for clarity, vulnerability and the freedom to reclaim your own time, heart and headspace. But it could just as easily relate to life as a songwriter: “When you’re writing it down // No matter how it’s feeling // Number one is you’re getting it out // Another knife in your heart // With a blade you’re holding// You’re the one who is bleeding it out” (from Days in Gold).

There is no Bandcamp or SoundCloud embed available, but the videos below give an impression; you can listen to the whole thing via streaming services. For all its raw edges, the sheer richness of the music makes this record unexpectedly infectious.


I’m Shelling Real Daggers—written, performed, recorded, and mixed by Jeremy Wayne—is out digitally, on cassette and vinyl LP (self-released). Also featuring Ethan Jones (bass), Roni Schmiedeskamp (trumpet), Peter Schmiedeskamp (trombone), Alon Bassok (flute), and Harry Rivera (sax) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

‘New’ EP: The Odd Mods || We Are The Odd Mods

Unearthed garage mayhem with decades of dirt on it

By / / Garage Rock, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

Far from new, but (as far as I know) now released for the first time, these four long-lost songs capture a Greek garage punk band determined to get everything gloriously wrong for 1992, the brief window between grunge’s reign and Britpop’s arrival. Armed with a a rare 1964 Farfisa Compact organ, fuzz pedals and an unhealthy devotion to the Back From The Grave and Pebbles compilations, a bunch of teenage 60s obsessives bashed out primitive three-chord workouts with snotty vocals, murky minor-key grooves and instrumental mayhem. Rescued from the vaults more than three decades later, The Odd Mods prove that their sound is timeless.


We Are The Odd Mods is out digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Sunnyboy66 Records. Featuring Dimitris Pantelias (vocals, saxophone), Apo Stragalinos (organ), Jim Kokkalis (guitars), Bill Tsigos (bass), Chris Tarantilis (guitar), and Nondas Ninos (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: 1-800-Mikey || In Yun

1-800-Mikey put the fun in punk

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

One year ago, almost to the day, I saw Michael Barker rock out on a stage in Utrecht, first with his own 1-800-Mikey band, then as a member of the mighty Gee Tee. The venue was nearly sold out, but what I remember most about the evening was how these two bands transformed the room into a lively crowd, and how a sense of (comm)unity was ignited. Everyone smiling, everyone having fun, no one being left out.

Well, that and that marvelous moment when a teenage punk asked my grey-haired brother (not Dennis) whether the show “was as good as in the late ’70s.”

My brother, mind you, was born in the late ’70s.

But I digress. The reason I wanted to bring last year’s show up is because 1-800-Mikey’s In Yun captures that feeling of downright joy. It is punk rock (and honestly, the B-side aims for a broader garage-pop sound) that is there for the taking, for everyone to enjoy. Not because it is super polished (it is not), or because it is tame with all the sharp edges sanded off (it is not), but because it all sounds so damn right infectious.

In Yun is full of songs that beg to become live anthems. Like Me and My Only, a song where the sonic waves between his Gee Tee gig and 1-800-Mikey one start to blur, and the “’cause I can’t stop thinking about you” is an awesome hook. The super-contagious Faery comes with synth licks disguised as choruses.

In Yun is twenty-one minutes of the funnest music you’ll hear this year. It is out now on Goner and Ragnar Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: The Thermals || Under Crushing Rain

Back from disappearance, still making noise

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, Lone Wolf and Eaten By Snakes celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Body, The Blood, The Machine by The Thermals with a split 7″ on which they each covered A Pillar Of Salt. We ourselves also cherish warm memories of the band, seeing them live a few times (the first time as early as 2003), and having their albums in our collections. So what a pleasant surprise this return is.

“Good morning fellow scavengers, it’s back to work today // We’re not far from where we started and it’s too soon to decay.” These are the fitting opening words on Under Crushing Rain, the new album by the post-pop-punk project, appearing ten years after their supposed end with, equally aptly, We Disappear. In the meantime, we have entertained ourselves with strong solo work from the band’s brains Hutch Harris, and even considering that this is actually also a solo effort, it is great to hear that the Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter clearly hasn’t forgotten how to make a racket with that unmistakable Thermals vibe. He clearly enjoyed creating this.

Although less intense than before, in characteristic fashion guitars buzz, drums charge ahead, and whoo-hoo choruses and catchy melodies keep poking through the distortion. As you might expect, there still is quite a bit of frustration in these ten songs, though without being miserable about it. Beneath the lyrics’ apocalyptic imagery and parade of scavengers, parasites and spirit collectors lies a surprisingly hopeful battle, choosing love over revenge, connection over isolation, and survival over surrender. The telling last words of the title track that close the record: “I don’t think that you are ever coming back this way // But I will die here waiting just the same // Under crushing rain.”



Under Crushing Rain—written, performed, and produced by Hutch Harris—is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Static Catsup Aspic.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Loose Lips || Love You

Reliably, ridiculously good

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

Melbourne’s Loose Lips are the Australian equivalent of Swiss clockwork. You know exactly what you are getting: quality that is consistent and reliable. Which makes sense given the three members of Loose Lips: Josh Hardy (The Chats, Rick N The Sickos, The Unknowns), Nadine Muller (The Prize, Mr Teenage), and Ethan Stahl (Chubby and the Gang, The Prize, Ruckus, Street Sweeper), who happen to be part of a selective crew of people who make the wantlist with just about every project they are involved in. Hence, new Loose Lips music is an event at our headquarters.

To our ears, Last Laugh, last year’s debut LP, was “pure, unfiltered rock ’n’ roll… [with] songs [that] are lean and direct by design, but played with a swagger that oozes cool and feels quintessentially Australian.”

Loose Lips’ brand-new Love You 7″ solidifies that approach one song at a time. Beehive Teardrop is a wonderful rocker where the guitars make you want to turn the volume up, the bass lines excite the hell out of you once you start to notice them, and the drums make you wish you had a kit yourselves. Remember We Love You is classic Loose Lips as well.

Those two are mixed with two songs that reveal the poppiest side of Loose Lips, in the form of Looking For and Tired of Toein’ The Line, both of which have a Holly & The Italians / The Shivvers feel to them. Love it.

The Love You 7″ is out now on Drunken Sailor and Dig! Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Drunken Sailor

New album: Alley Girl || Kerosene Gambler

More scruffy yet gorgeous melodies from Doris Stanić

By / / Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

Doris Stanić has a system. Kerosene Gambler is the new Alley Girl album, following last year’s Peregrine Rambler EP (which we discussed here) and Paradigm Scrambler. The formula seems simple enough: find two words that rhyme, make sure the syllables roughly line up, and call it a record. It sounds like a terrible gimmick, and she recently hinted she might ditch it, but I kinda like it. It feels like an inside joke between her and the audience.

Last year turned Alley Girl, essentially Stanić’s solo home-recording project using a Yamaha MT-50, into something of an underground hype. Kerosene Gambler meets those raised expectations.

Alley Girl’s music has an out-of-time-and-place quality that somehow makes perfect sense for a Dutch-Bosnian human being living in Hollywood Heights. There is a distinctly ’60s feel to timeless pop songs like You Don’t See Me When I Cry. They sound like they could be lost hits from another era, often built around gorgeous melodies, while the lo-fi treatment gives everything a scrappy underground garage-pop edge.

It’s a pretty great compromise, or excuse if you will, for those who like their music rough around the edges but still appreciate a really good pop song when they hear one. And Alley Girl is a pretty great name to captain this particular ship.

At almost a full hour, Kerosene Gambler can initially feel a little overwhelming. Songs start blending into one another while your attention inevitably wanders. Give it some time, though, and the rewards are there. Doris Stanić has a special talent for writing vocal melodies that sound pure, honest, and entirely her own. I’m particularly taken by the underground pop hits that kick off the record, but there’s something to fall in love with in pretty much every song here.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Kevin Steele || One Thing Left To Do

A rock ’n’ roll life with plenty left to say

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to keep up with all new releases (I read a few music magazines and blogs, receive newsletters, listen to playlists, search proactively, and follow 4,000+ Bandcamp accounts, but I probably still only see a fraction of what comes out). It would be wise to accept this as a given of these volatile and abundant times, but it remains frustrating that so much good music goes unheard. Fortunately, a missed gem surfaces every now and then, like this one.

In the depths of Bandcamp, I unearthed One Thing Left To Do—apparently released last February, but it’s about time this one got its due. This is the first solo LP by St. Petersburg, Florida-based singer-songwriter Kevin Steele, who already had a life full of rock ’n’ roll behind him (Roxx Gang, Mojo Gurus). Here, with guitar phenom Billy Summer (Luxury Mane, The New Brutarians) by his side, he tears through a versatile and rowdy mix of rock, punk, glam, punk, blues, country, R&B, and gospel, occasionally brushing against sounds that feel strangely familiar, teasing your memory without giving up their source.

From big riffs and hypnotic grooves to bruised melodies and intimate ballads, performed with garage dirt under the fingernails, the record covers plenty of ground without ever denying its backbone. The moods may change, but for 44 minutes, Steele makes clear that he’s answering to no one but himself. Or as he sings: “Nobody Tells Me When To Quit (Na Na Na Na Na Na).” And I, for one, wouldn’t have wanted to miss the trip.



One Thing Left To Do is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Steele Records / Too Cool Music Publishing.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Anytime Cowboy || Gone By Now

Get lost in the world of Anytime Cowboy

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

Second wantlist appearance by Anytime Cowboy this year, and it totally makes sense. Clearly, illustrator Reuben Sawyer is in an inspired mood, and not just in his illustrations. On Slab Songs, which came out in the first week of 2026, he blended slack rock, outsider country, and dark post-punk into something that feels slightly off-kilter in all the right ways.

The new 18-song Gone By Now continues that trajectory. It is full of 90-second songs where the juxtaposition between the slack-ish low-pitched vocals and the punk-rock urgency of the music is my favorite thing about the record. The sequencing is another thing, because Gone By Now pulls you in and out like you’re a puppet in the artist’s play. And while I care deeply about my autonomy, I don’t mind getting lost in the world of Anytime Cowboy at all.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of August 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / Leave a Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, e.g. as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range (only if supported by the artist, so no live videos filmed by the audience or anything like that), here are—in a kind of random order—a bunch of successful covers from last month.

Are You Sure (first performed by Tammy Grimes, later also recorded by Aretha Franklin) by Tami Neilson — from Songs from the Motion Picture “Holy Days” soundtrack (Outside Music)

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (AC/DC) by City Kings — from Chainsaw EP

I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones) by The Offspring — digital track (Concord Records)

…

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of August 2026Read More »

The Loose Ends || August 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / Leave a Comment

There are more wantlist-worthy releases than time to cover them all. Starting this year, Loose Ends is our monthly fix for the great records that slipped through the cracks. Expect a key track and quick take on each release, and a link to add it to your shelves.

ABAOAQU || BUDDHOD
Noisy, subtly mathy yet melodic indie rock from France. Consider us intrigued.

The Afghan Whigs || Soft Control
With visceral guitars, soulful intensity, and hard-won wisdom, these ten new songs find strength in embracing both the darkness and the light without losing sight of the absurdity in between.

Apes of the State || Nothing Makes Sense Anymore
Blending biting political rage, personal turmoil, dark humour, and genuine solidarity, these ten folk-punk songs turn a dysfunctional world into a surprisingly life-affirming celebration of resistance, friendship, and simply making it through another day.

…

The Loose Ends || August 2026Read More »

Scroll to Top