Indie Rock

Album review: Fuzzy Feelings || Under The Pit

Melodies up front, fuzz cranked

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

Joe Weber used to live in NYC and played in Gross Relations, a garage rock band that mashed up ’90s alternative and Kiwi pop hooks. These days he’s based in London, still writing songs, but under a new name. Enter Fuzzy Feelings, a project that’s been quietly drip-feeding tracks since last September—now revealed as the runway to a debut full-length landing this week.

Under The Pit collects twelve songs that don’t simply replay the Gross Relations playbook, but don’t burn it either. The shift is subtle: a bit more pop-forward, still rooted in alternative rock, and powered by Weber’s obvious love for melody. That said, this is not soft-focus indie—he still likes his guitars fuzzy, loud, and pressing right up against the red.

Early call? Yeah, this one’s hitting just right.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Tom Lawns || Peace Out, Robot Wingman

Lo-fi alt pop, straight from the couch into your heart

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

Tom Lawns is the kind of artist who’s hard to find, but once he’s on your radar, you’ll follow him anywhere. I completely missed the three EPs he released over the past 15 months (available on one convenient CD), but his debut full-length arrived this Friday, and if you ever want to argue that some of the most interesting pop music is still being made in bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms on the most rudimentary gear, Peace Out, Robot Wingman is Exhibit A.

Billed as a “couch symphony,” the record tips its hat to Ace Frehley in title and artwork, but any sonic resemblance to KISS mostly stops there. There’s no bombast or theatrics, just gorgeous songs wrapped in a delightfully unpolished haze of hiss and noise. This isn’t about rock ’n’ roll every night and every day; it’s more a happily-stuck-on-the-couch-with-a-guitar kind of record. And somehow, the melodies shine through no matter what.

Take Heavy Ghost, a song that sounds like it wandered out of the Lemonheads’ better timeline, or Metal Girl, a standout infused with rock ’n’ roll romanticism that makes it feel like the universe is quietly rewarding you for reasons unknown. And those are just two highlights—this record is full of moments that sneak up on you and refuse to let go. Find this release (and many other worthwhile ones!) on Lawns’ own Terminal Releases label.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Fragiles || Sing the Heat of the Sun

David Settle finds beauty in uncertainty and strength in persistence

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

David Settle is back with his indie pop/rock project The Fragiles, releasing their third full-length album, Sing the Heat of the Sun. It feels like a journey through the wide-ranging landscape of no man’s land, also a meditation on endurance, with lyrics circling uncertainty, stalled motion, and the ache of waiting (relationships caught on fault lines, choices deferred, faith and work requested, and love remembered more vividly in absence than presence): “Let the mess you made // Comfort you // Let the less you take // Guide you through” (from Unglued).

The ten original songs vary in tempo and intensity—from gentle guitar picking to weighty riffs and everything in between—but are always heartfelt and honest. From quiet confessionals to roaring reckonings, every note carries intent, every tune is captivating.



Sing the Heat of the Sun is out digitally and on cassette through Living Lost Records. Featuring Catherine Dwyer (bass) and Gavin Perez-Canto (drums), with Fran Lyons (synth) on select tracks. All proceeds will be donated to Anera, to Palestinian refugees.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Living Lost

Album review: Anytime Cowboy || Slab Songs

Slack rock and outsider country with a warped heartbeat

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

File Anytime Cowboy under bands that coulda/shoulda made the wantlist earlier—because with Slab Songs, we’re officially making good on that. The new album blends slack rock, outsider country, and dark post-punk into something that feels slightly off-kilter in all the right ways.

The musical project of illustrator Reuben Sawyer sounds unsettling, but never alienating. The vocals feel warped, like they’re spinning on an unreliable record player, and that fragility is very much a feature, not a bug. Slab Songs is laid-back without drifting into boredom; in fact, it’s surprisingly vibrant and colorful beneath its dusted-over surface. That energy matches the artwork perfectly: stark black-and-white backdrops interrupted by oddly drawn cowboys splashed in bold, strange colors.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Joe Glass || Snakewards

Heart-on-sleeve rock that burns bright, wobbles loose, and refuses to settle

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

Snakewards is the sophomore full-lengther from Chicago-based singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Joe Glass (member of Sharp Pins live), a varied mix of alternative rock and power pop, with a ragged garage rock edge. The thirteen songs are lo-fi and ramshackle, eager and lively, with heartfelt vocals and spirited riffs and rhythms—excelling in hooks tumbling over each other.

The musician sings about lovers, friends, and stand-ins for meaning (diamonds, halos, dandelions) that feel just out of reach, while characters keep moving (down avenues, back roads, rail lines, and interstates) to outrun regret, jealousy, or self-knowledge. There’s a constant push-pull between devotion and escape: wanting to stay, needing to disappear.

Both musically and lyrically, it’s so fascinating that you don’t even consider skipping a moment—the embeds below are just a few of the highlights. Cool stuff.




Snakewards is out now digitally and on cassette through Hallogallo Tapes.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Crabber || Sweet Credibility

Everything clicks naturally on Crabber's fourth

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

Dropping a new record right in the middle of year-end list season might not be the most strategic move, but when a record is this good, it finds its way onto the wantlist sooner or later. Sweet Credibility, Crabber’s fourth, came out mid-december and feels like a band hitting a sweet spot without overthinking it.

These 13 songs breeze by and leave you wondering if Crabber have ever sounded this confident, this relaxed, or this locked in. It’s honest guitar pop and indie rock with a punch and a touch of jangle, full of charm and hooks, and—yes—cute as hell without tipping into precious. Out now on CD at Jigsaw Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Only God Forgives || Extra Strength

Second album from Toronto band is lo-fi, loose, and loaded with good ideas

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

Released on the final day of 2025, Extra Strength feels like a record built on new beginnings. The new album by Only God Forgives, a Toronto collective led by Shelby Wilson and Stephen Pitman, is packed with spontaneous, quirky, dynamic indie punk and alt-pop.

It’s scrappy and lo-fi, and while nothing here feels overthought, the record overflows with strong, often contrasting ideas. Opener Bug Bites pairs a mean edge with a childlike na-na-na chant delivered in a perfectly disaffected tone. Car Song blends twinkly semi-acoustic guitars with communal vocals, laid-back but still quietly driving. Elsewhere, Extra Strength moves easily between jangle garage pop (Growing a Garden, a song that fans of Holiday Ghost will appreciate), slacker indie rock (Ontario Place, Gun Song), hardcore punk (Transgressive Media), straight-up punk rock (Dupont Daisies), and even a touch of cowpunk (Band Pics). It’s a rich, generous record that reveals more of itself with each repeat listen.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of December 2025

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Punk / 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.

Happy new year!

We start 2026 with a final look back at 2025. December saw quite a few Christmas-themed covers, but there’s little point in sharing them now (we’ll close below with just the nicest ones)—please remind me in 11 months to put together a Xmas edition of this feature. Nevertheless, there was much more to enjoy.

Ace of Spades (Motörhead) by West Texas Exiles — digital track (Floating Mesa Records)

Lean On Sheena (The Bouncing Souls) by The Kilograms — from Strike A Match EP (Rad Girlfriend Records)

Just Like Honey (The Jesus and Mary Chain) by Spare Snare — from American Psychocandy compilation (Almost Halloween Time Records)

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An Incomplete List of Releases I Overlooked in 2025

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

Browsing through the many year-end lists, I stumbled upon plenty of share-worthy releases that, for one reason or another, I either overlooked or simply forgot to write about. I also had some bookmarked gems lying around that are absolutely wantlist material but somehow got lost in the shuffle. Here are some of them.

This wraps up my year, see you again soon. Happy 2026!

Beauty || I’d Do Almost Anything For You
On their debut album, this Red Bank, New Jersey trio leans into late-’70s pop rock à la Cheap Trick and ’90s power pop like Fountains of Wayne. Definitely more than a couple of hits on this one.

Natalie Bergman || My Home is Not in This World
It’s easy to see why I missed this one, as it’s not really the kind of music I usually gravitate toward. Still, this finely produced record sounds gorgeous coming out of the speakers, and Bergman (of Wild Belle) makes it awfully easy to fall for her voice. Probably the most pop-leaning release on this list, wrapped in warm ’60s sepia tones.

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An Incomplete List of Releases I Overlooked in 2025Read More »

New album: Commercial Breaks || Commercial Breaks

Scruffy hooks and hidden depth from Austin

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

Well here’s a cool new band for guitar pop enthusiasts who like their tunes a little scruffy and lo-fi, yet undeniably melodic. Commercial Breaks hail from Austin, Texas, and feature at least one pair of brothers alongside members of Gus Baldwin and the Sketch and Tres Oui.

Most of these songs land firmly in old-school garage power pop territory, but the band isn’t afraid to wander. There’s an unmistakable ’80s college rock vibe on some tracks, while Nature and Mirror drift into lightly shoegazed, reverb-soaked territory. Elsewhere, This Is Why I Want a Gun taps into something closer to raw proto-punk.

It feels like a band deliberately tugging at the rug now and then, teasing the range of ideas they’re sitting on without ever losing the hook. A very cool record, and one that keeps revealing little surprises as it spins.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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