Indie Pop

New album: Spice World || Purple Patch

Five friends, ten songs, zero interest in playing by the rules

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

Spice World’s debut LP wasn’t planned or intentional. It was simply five friends spending a couple of hours playing music and pressing record on ten songs. Their follow-up arrives this week with much of that same spontaneous charm.

The kitchen-table indie guitar pop of Spice World is the kind of thing that could only come from their corner of the world. It’s not too hi-fi, jangly and quirky at the right times, with a scrappy, loose delivery that gives the songs their own personality. But while the music still has that slack-ish vibe, Purple Patch hits a little harder emotionally than its predecessor. The songs feel more immediate, with a growing sense that things aren’t exactly heading in the right direction. There’s frustration with the endless push for progress, the pressure to keep hustling and the people who always seem to find a way to profit from it. Against all that, Spice World hold on to the things that make life worth living: freedom, beauty and doing things on your own terms.

By the end of the record, Spice World have won you over, as fans as well as friends.

Purple Patch is out now on LP at Rough Skies Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Imperial Teen || All Over You

Familiar voices finding unfamiliar corners

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Three decades in, Imperial Teen still knows how to make indie pop future-proof. On All Over You (their seventh studio album), the San Francisco quartet blends bubblegum hooks, grungy guitars, electro beats, and warm boy/girl harmonies into unpredictable output. It’s heavy on synths, with traded vocals and left-field studio textures keeping the whole thing on its toes. The ten songs feel like snapshots of a band still curious and colorful (although the four members now live miles apart, their musical chemistry remains remarkably intact), without losing sight of an uplifting melody and infectious chorus. Euphoric one minute, introspective the next, this record makes room for both thinking and dancing (or thinking about dancing, at least).



All Over You—recorded and engineered by Ryan Conway / Nels Jensen—is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Merge Records. Featuring Roddy Bottum (guitars, keyboards, vocals), Will Schwartz (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jone Stebbins (bass, vocals), and Lynn Truell (drums, vocals), with additional guitar by Joey Holman on Bringing It Down.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Merge

New album: Wide Orbit || Tomorrow! Or The Day After That

A package full of hooks, arriving right on time

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

It is far from a given that a second album will be as enjoyable as the first, but Wide Orbit pulls it off with admirable ease, at least that’s how it comes across. A year after Introducing… Wide Orbit, the Chicago outfit returns with Tomorrow! Or The Day After That. It features thirteen lo-fi songs packed with delightful guitar and piano melodies, and a grooving rhythm section alongside uplifting whistling and sing-along choruses. In The Immaculate Conception and The Suicide Death, the epic closing track of 06:34, the band showcases the full breadth of its competence. Somewhere between charming indie folk, raw chamber pop, and energetic barroom rock, this record finds its own twists and turns to the kind of hooks that stick.



Tomorrow! Or The Day After That, written and recorded by Ryan Tuohy, is out digitally (self-released). Featuring Ryan Tuohy (guitars, lead vocals), Ethan Machamer (piano, keyboards, vocals), Calvin Horsley (bass), Matt Boguslawski (percussion, vocals) and Daniel Tuohy (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: the taps || it’s… the taps!

Angsty twee punk for people in a hurry

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

Talk about making an entrance. Here is a new band from Newcastle, Australia, that will make hearts flutter for underground pop aficionados across the globe. They sound like some forgotten ’80s twee punk C86 outfit, with songs that are delightfully ramshackle and fast, almost like the band is in such a rush that they’ve recorded an eight-song full-length they’re trying to cram onto an EP.

Or maybe they just have so much to say that they need every word to fit into these songs about crushes, missed chances and the highs and lows of falling in love. the taps make all of it sound like a combination of nervous excitement, terrible timing and getting repeatedly hit in the head by public transport.

The first three songs could probably be played just as nicely at 33 RPM instead of 45. The fourth, Trolley Pole, showcases a more jangly side of the band and hints that we ain’t seen nothing yet in terms of what the taps are capable of. It’s a strong one, as is Town, the closing track. But the rest of this record is fast and lovely.

I love stumbling on a band like this. It’s… the taps indeed!


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: CHECKER || I REALLY DO BELIEVE

Detroit garage pop duo is more dan ready to woo the world in all caps

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

Detroit Rock City strikes again: please meet CHECKER. Although they are not nearly as wild as predecessors like The Stooges, MC5, The Gories, The White Stripes, or The Dirtbombs, those influences definitely linger in the more pop-oriented sound that McKenna Fain and Nas Cinque Sorrell bring to the table together. Their debut full-length I REALLY DO BELIEVE is a 65-minute double album with no fewer than 21 quite varied tracks (including three instrumental interludes), and it has everything to conquer the world.

The cool duo deals just as easily in gritty guitars and expressive vocals as in acoustic ballads and dreamy harmonies, but all ideas always serve the song. There is fuzz and humor, but these songwriters are not interested in cynicism for cynicism’s sake; they believe there’s still something worth fighting for. That rare yet welcome optimism is just one facet of the charm, as this record is sprawling by design, with relatable lyrics and a stubborn aesthetic that binds its many moving elements together. At this point, believing in the band’s future hardly requires a leap of faith.




I REALLY DO BELIEVE, produced by Checker and Brion Riborn, is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Crimson99 || Daredevil

Where the heart goes, the rest follows

By / / Alternative Rock, Funk & Soul, Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

There’s something disarmingly open about Daredevil, the debut EP from Montreal’s Crimson99 aka Dominican-Canadian singer-songwriter Maria Brousseau-Labbé. Recorded live in a single day, these five songs are all about feel, with room for rough edges both musically and lyrically. We are taken on a journey from loneliness and self-destructive habits towards love and spiritual clarity (“The heart // Is the only place // Where the truth can find shelter // In this fallen world”—from Fix Your Eyes), stories that gain eloquence through distinctive, forceful vocals so magnetic that resistance is not an option. A comparison with Amy Winehouse, Adele, or Tami Neilson is probably appropriate, but here we are in other genres, a wonderful mix of dream pop and alternative rock, and yes, with a good dose of cinematic soul.


Daredevil—produced by Koko Love—is out digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of September 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, 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—no less than 40+ successful covers from last month.

Teenage Kicks (The Undertones) by Christina Jean & Her All Stars — digital track (Rum Bar Records)

Starry Eyes (Roky Erickson) by Veronica Falls — from upcoming S/T debut LP deluxe reissue (Slumberland / Bella Union)

The Best of My Love (Eagles) by Patton — from a digital 2-track EP with which the Pattons celebrate their parents’ 50th wedding anniversary (Radiant Radish)

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

The Loose Ends || September 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.

Apeshit || Life! On TV
This Dutch band uses punk as inspiration not a rulebook, turning the genre on its head with their powerful full length debut.


Arab Strap || Half-Told Tales
Their ninth album finds Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton in a richly textured world where gallows humour and genuine hope somehow keep dancing together.

Kurt Baker || Wonder Woman
First taste of a record that Baker recorded during the pandemic but never got released. Sounds huge…and VERY promising.

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The Loose Ends || September 2026Read More »

New EP: Waterpistol || Hey Harry

A kaleidoscopic clash of grit and shimmer

By / / Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

Waterpistol? Hey Harry? We’re talking about the debut EP of a Cardiff six-piece who put 60s garage-psych and 90s shoegaze in a vitamizer and added some bongos. The output is surprisingly colourful and infectious. In these four songs, shimmering guitars and sunny melodies go together with melancholic and cryptic lyrics that make it sound like the creative process came with its own smoke machine: “Hey Harry, what do you carry? // Got some weed // Got some dope // Got some blow” (it’s surely no coincidence that one of the band members shares his name with the protagonist of the title track).

Give it a few spins, and you can’t help but conclude that this is the kind of release where one catchy tune barely has time to leave your head before another one takes its place.



Hey Harry is out digitally (self-released). Featuring Aaron Tormey (guitar, vocals), Carwyn Whiteman (guitar, vocals), Harry Watton (vocals, percussion), Rhea Padua (vocals), Emma Way (bass), and Efan Watkins (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Rookie Mistake || Fields Of Plenty

A tender mess of memories and maybes

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

Fields Of Plenty is the spellbinding debut full-lengther by Brooklyn, New York-based indie four-piece Rookie Mistake, DIY slacker rock of the highest order. The nine guitar-driven songs are lo-fi and idiosyncratic, with two instrumentals that showcase the creative and experimental character of the band to the greatest extent: wobbly folk strumming changing into runaway beats (in Playing Dead) and field recordings over a cinematic arrangement (in Carousel).

However, when the vocals enter the picture, their unpolished and heartfelt character cuts straight through. It fits the persistent tension in the intimate lyrics, somewhere between romanticizing the past and accepting that youthful dreams and maybe-tomorrow’s inevitably change or disappear: “I’ve realized that every memory I’ve got inside of me // Fades away until my mind decides that it wants to be forgotten and thrown away” (from the title track).

There’s a rare purity to this music, charming enough on first encounter but full of little details that keep revealing themselves with every spin.



Fields Of Plenty is out digitally (self-released). Featuring Justin Gambardella (guitar, vocals), Ethan Brown (guitar, backing vocals), Gianna Minerva (bass), and Nick Fioravanti (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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