Indie Pop

New album: The Kind Hills || Little Epiphanies

Jangly reflections on heartbreak, friendship and simple pleasures

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

It is nothing short of a miracle that we now can listen to Little Epiphanies. For the third album by slacker-pop collective The Kind Hills, the band members’ ideas and contributions had to cross the borders and time zones of four continents, but Martin (Brisbane), Roman (Lucerne), Brett (Perth), Jess (London), Bea (Los Angeles), and Chase (Hong Kong) managed to pull it off. In no less than fourteen tracks (including a cover of Pavement’s I Love Perth), they add introspective storytelling and sun-faded warmth to jangly guitars and dreamy synths, with variation in male and female vocals that complete it.

Basically, the lyrics here are about finding comfort and meaning in life’s small, ordinary moments, such as bike rides, seaside views, late-night dancing, breakfast with friends, or simply escaping the noise of modern life (and the man flu). Beneath the record’s breezy surface runs a gentle tension between reminiscence and growth, reflecting on heartbreak, anxiety, burnout and digital overstimulation, while implying that joy, friendship, and simplicity remain the best antidotes: “I don’t understand // half the things you say // I do it my way” (from closer Vegemite). This is soft-focus indie pop full of humor, healing, and heart.



Little Epiphanies, written by Roman Gabriel and Martin Brabec, is out digitally and on CD through Subjangle.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Northern Line || The Northern Line

A vibrant revival of Cool Britannia through an eager American lens

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

The Northern Line may be a band from Boston, Massachusetts, but their self-titled debut EP is a four-track rush of Britpop shimmer driven by Madchester grooves. Yet this isn’t just a nostalgia exercise. The band avoids imitation by filtering the baggy-era dance rock influences through a raw, modern DIY spirit that’s bursting with confident optimism and unfiltered enthusiasm. Even more, the emotional core is rooted firmly in the present, with lyricist/frontman Bilvox singing loosely about resilience, escapism, and the search for connection in anxious times: “Bang the drum // Here it comes // When the lightning strikes // You know it’s right.”

Across its 16 minutes runtime, the EP thrives on pulsing rhythms, soaring guitars, and an undeniable sense of communal freedom, capturing the kind of euphoric energy that especially comes fully alive in crowded clubs and sticky-floored late nights, so let’s hope DJs take notice. Either way, every psychedelic hook and shouted refrain here sounds fueled by genuine belief in the joy that music can unleash, regardless of time and place.


The Northern Line’s eponymous debut EP, produced and engineered by Mark ” McG” McGettrick, is out now digitally via Mad Fer It. Featuring Bilvox (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Pete Kitchener (lead guitar), Mike Ackley (keyboards), Carrie Ingber (additional keyboards), Joshh Magee (bass), and McG (drums, percussion, backing vocals).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Goobs & My Friend Cowboy || Happy Loving Couples

Your latest sugar (c)rush has arrived

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

If you’re not already in the loop, Sims Hardin’s monthly Bandcamp roundup of the best new punk releases is required reading. April’s edition tipped us off to a new label we somehow missed: Painty Pot, started by Good Flying Birds guitarist Kellen Baker. One of its first releases is this collab between The Goobs & My Friend Cowboy, which Hardin called “a tender bedroom punk masterpiece.” That checks out.

Happy Loving Couples is written by Logan Adam and Carson Brom, who clearly also had fun tipping their hat to pop history with the song titles. What you get is nine lo-fi pop hits that land somewhere between jangle, psych, glam, and bubblegum. The guitars sparkle, the hooks come quick, and it all feels a little giddy in the best way.

Or, as Sims Hardin puts it: “it’s like stepping into an anachronistic timeline where The Beatles opted for ecstasy over acid.” Not entirely sure what that means either, but it sounds about right. This thing is a blast. And honestly, Big Shot (a killer power pop hit) alone makes me an instant fan.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Little Grandad || Sleepwalking / Unmasked

A long-awaited debut that switches between fragility and noise

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

London’s Little Grandad arrive with a debut 45 that feels both overdue and oddly elusive, capturing a band that’s already built serious word-of-mouth through their live shows, yet still resists easy definition. A-side Sleepwalking drifts on dynamic guitars, warm harmonies, and hazy introspection, while its flip Unmasked is more restrained, slowly unfolding with a delicate, almost weightless touch, atmospheric thanks to the beautiful trumpet playing, but not shying away from a powerful tempo change.

The video below says a lot: it smells like teen spirit (searching, just like the lyrics: “I wanna try a life // But not by the book // Don’t wanna get it right // Or care about how I look // In the mirror today”), yet at the same time it is quite solid, structured, and controlled. The approaching hype might actually be justified.

Sleepwalking b/w Unmasked—produced by Kev Jones—is out on 7″ vinyl trough Communion. Featuring Jack Lower (lead vocals, bass), his brother Harry Lower (guitar, bass, vocals), Ned Ashcroft (guitar, trumpet, vocals), and James “Jimmy” Brennan (drums, vocals).

Add to wantlist: Communion || Rough Trade

New EP: The Level || Technocrats

Soft-focus songs for an over-optimized age

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

Technocrats, the debut EP from Brooklyn-via-Pittsburgh alt-rock project The Level, feels gently unraveled in the best way. Across eight tracks (actually seven, if you don’t count the brief soundscape opening), it tackles hyper-optimized modern malaise without getting lost in it, favoring cracked introspection and fuzzy, mid-tempo drift with atmospheric clarity.

When asked, frontman Ian Abels is happy to explain how the songs came about: “I was thinking a lot about the texture that memories bring to life and how so much of daily life feels void of real feeling. (…) Much of the modern age is defined by technology—the hyper-optimization of advertising, the claustrophobia of choice, etc. I found myself continually torn between accepting the world as it is and being overly nostalgic for a past that isn’t coming back. There was a lot of reflection and draw to memory and the permanence of the past—trying to both escape nostalgia while also being deeply moved by the emotion of those memories. At the same time, I had also been reading a lot of Carl Jung and Mark Fisher and so their ideas were floating around a lot for me at this time.”

The theme is solidly packaged, with a heart of wistful melodies and assertive vocals, recalling slacker rock’s softer edges while carving its own inward gaze. Lead single Fate Insurgency, an earworm with a killer hook and irresistible chorus, could easily become a big hit, but actually there are no fillers in these 25 minutes of captivating music. A little comfort in a collapsing world.



Technocrats—engineered, mixed, and mastered by Matt Poirier—is out digitally via Montague Records. Featuring Ian Abels (vocals, guitars), Samuel Nobles (bass, keys), and Shane Luckenbaugh (drums, percussion), backed by Max Kulicke (additional guitars).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: eleanor on earth || eleanor sings and swings

a fascinating kind of warped pop

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

Some bands do CAPS. eleanor genzer keeps everything in lowercase. eleanor sings and swings is her second full-length in three months, with an EP in between and another record already lined up for May. What?

Genzer didn’t exactly enjoy making this one either. By her own account, it kind of forced itself out of her.

If that sounds like a warning sign, think again. These nine songs hit in a way you don’t quite see coming. eleanor sings and swings feels like Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson holed up somewhere, demoing warped pop songs for a side project no one was supposed to hear. At the same time, genzer points to a deep influence from Black American music of the 20th century, especially hill country blues, which gives the record an extra layer beneath the odd angles.

This isn’t a standard release by any stretch, but the melodies are strong and direct, and genzer’s voice pulls you in fast. Stranger than it looks, catchier than it has any right to be.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: First Boy On The Moon || Demons

Echoes of loneliness with a pulse of hope

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

After a blue debut (self-titled, 2021) and a red follow-up (Cybergirl, 2024), First Boy On The Moon returns to earth with Demons, a third LP dressed in green, featuring legendary drag queen Divine as the fluorescent cover star. Across the ten new songs, David Pedroza (vocals, guitars, bass) sings about isolation, inner conflict, and the push-pull between self-destruction and self-determination. Characters such as single parents, lost dreamers, and drifting antiheroes grapple with “demons” both literal and metaphorical, often caught between apathy and the urge to break free. I guess Divine’s face represents the album’s lonely, strange, theatrical, and defiantly ugly world, and the kind of larger-than-life, grotesque, and oddly liberating forces that the 1970s/80s icon embodied.

The sound here is solid, much less excessive than the foregoing suggests, but upbeat guitars, melancholic synths, and inviting vocals keep things compelling for the entire 38 minutes. The Malmö, Sweden-based musician blends wiry alt-rock with glossy pop hooks, which makes us dance on the edge of doubt and desire: “Hey get out and find the answer // You are the captain of the ship // In a port of fire.”



Demons—written, performed, and produced by David Pedroza—is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Manic Records. Also featuring Phil Maturano (drums), Greg Kuehn (keyboards), and Derek O’Brien (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of April 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, 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, here are—in a kind of random order—a bunch of successful covers from last month—links to pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

Fade To Black (Metallica) by The Tubs — digital track (Merge Records)

Don’t Look Back (The Remains) by The Peawees — from More Scraps LP (Wild Honey Records)

Problem Child (AC/DC) by Neo-Magics — from Leaving on a Jet Plane EP (Half A Cow Records)

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

The Loose Ends || April 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 1 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 (35 this month!), and a link to add it to your shelves.

Gomez Addams || Let’s Blow Up The World
Fun album title, fun album art! Gomez Addams make their dystopian indie rock sound surprisingly jangly and upbeat on their latest.

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New album: The Reds, Pinks & Purples || Acknowledge Kindness

Glenn Donaldson ups the goosebumps

By / / Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

Not sure if David Byrne and Glenn Donaldson coordinated their messaging, but it lines up nicely. Byrne has been telling audiences that “kindness is the most punk thing you can do right now,” while Donaldson titles his latest record Acknowledge Kindness. I’m on board with both. Whether they mean it politically or not, it lands in a world where so-called leaders treat kindness like a weakness instead of something to aim for.

The world can feel cold, which makes a new The Reds, Pinks & Purples record especially welcome. Even when it leans this heavy. To my ears, Acknowledge Kindness is a sad record, but not in a draining way. It’s reflective, a little worn, and quietly gorgeous. It won’t lift your mood, but it will make you feel something, and sometimes that’s the better deal. So grab a coffee, wrap up in a blanket, sit down, put on your headphones, and take it all in. Embrace the goosebumps, don’t hold in the wet eyes.

Donaldson has reportedly written over 200 songs in the past six years and yet continues to find new ways to impress.

Acknowledge Kindness is out now on CD and LP via Fire Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

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