Indie Rock

New single: The No Colour Twins || Fifteen / You Can Count On Me

A jangly throwback to the golden age of teenage rock dreams

The No Colour Twins are a power pop / dad rock / mod revival band from Münster, Germany, featuring Nero Bates (vocals, guitars), Hump Rocket (bass), Stefan Schemmelmann (drums, keys), and Chrischi Wolf (backing vocals). On their new single Fifteen—referring to that formative age—they look back on 1980: “A school trip to Berlin, the first buzz, the first band, the party starts.” All in all, it’s a catchy ode to rock ‘n’ roll that blends the grit of The Dogmatics with the jangle of The Go-Betweens. Flipside You Can Count On Me is an indie-pop nugget with vibrant melodies and an earworm chorus. Both tracks shine with golden harmony vocals that radiate the glow of a setting sun. This is feel-good music with nostalgic hooks.


Fifteen b/w You Can Count On Me—written by Nero Bates and recorded/mixed by Stefan Schemmelmann—is out now digitally via Bureau Platiruma!!!

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Scott Evil || Big Dipper

A beautiful mess

For days now, Scott Evil has been haunting my mind, so be warned. They’re a grungegaze band from Cologne, Germany (named after the character from the Austin Powers films), featuring Farina Lang (vocals), Till Mülheims (guitars, backing vocals), Rene Meffert (guitars, backing vocals), Tibor Kricsfalussy (bass,) and Philipp Koronowski (drums). The eleven original songs on their debut full-length Big Dipper shift between bright, jangly daydream pop with angelic vocals, and dark, heavy shoegaze with emo screams.

It’s a slow-burning emotional arc built from communal DIY ethos, late-night riffs, and existential drift, both playful and painful. The lyrics range from barroom chaos (Cop Cab, my favorite track here) and falling in love (Seize My Head) to nostalgic mixtape-making (Pizzazz) and watching Twin Peaks (which makes total sense, in Happening Again), exhaling a feel both massive and intimately cracked open. How do I get these creative outbursts out of my head?



Big Dipper—recorded by Felix Margraf—is out now digitally, on CD and on vinyl LP, trough Spinda Records and Backpack Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp (Backpack) || Bandcamp (Spinda) || Spinda

Festival report || Stardumb 25 (Day 1)


Has it really been 25 years of Stardumb Records? What a run this label has had since its start in 2000! While several legendary Rotterdam venues that staged Stardumb shows (Waterfront! De Vlerk!) have long since disappeared, the label stuck around and became a constant presence—or should I say lifeline—in the pop punk scene. Cherished not just in Rotterdam but beloved globally, Stardumb’s reputation rivals Lookout! Records. They never had their Green Day moment, but they proved durable, run with heart and integrity by head honcho Stefan Tijs. In recent years he’s expanded the sonic landscape of the roster without straying too far from the blueprint. Dare I say the label has released some of its finest material in the past five years?

To mark the occasion, the label set up a celebratory festival featuring many of the fine bands and artists who’ve released music on Stardumb over the years. I immediately bought a ticket upon announcement—partly for nostalgic reasons (remember how much fun those Stardumb Rumbles of the ’00s were?), but also because the lineup was stellar, including old favorites, reunion shows, and contemporary acts I’m a huge fan of but haven’t seen live yet (The Speedways! Local Drags!).

This past Friday and Saturday I attended the sold-out festival, and honestly, I had a blast—and I wasn’t the only one. With ticket buyers from 15 countries, Kepi called it a “Rock’n’roll Summit,” which is exactly what it turned out to be. This festival reminded me how much fun it is to experience catchy rock’n’roll in a sold-out venue with likeminded souls, how the energy between band and audience can build off each other. Loads of smiles and singalongs at this fest! Here are my thoughts and experiences from the weekend.

New album: Smug Brothers || Stuck On Beta

Even a dying recording device won't slow down these veteran masters of lo-fi guitar pop

Smug Brothers are messing with the natural order of things. Aren’t bands supposed to peak early and ride the nostalgia wave from there? Apparently not. While most groups flame out or fade away, these Dayton veterans are only getting sharper, stranger, and better with age. Their latest, Stuck on Beta (out now on Anyway Records), follows two of their strongest efforts to date — In the Book of Bad Ideas and Another Bar Behind the Night — and somehow still levels up.

The songs on Stuck on Beta share a kinship to Big Star, The Lemon Twigs and Guided By Voices. But more than anything, this album feels like the product of a veteran band brimming with inspiration and drive. Even setbacks in the recording process—like the motor on their trusted 4-track dying—were turned into assets, lending the album its wobbly, lo-fi charm and a great title.

Smug Brothers’ knack for jangly classic power pop is at full display on Stuck on Beta, and if you arrive expecting timeless melodies and sharp hooks, you won’t be disappointed, There are surprises as well, with Smug Brothers expanding their musical landscape with cello, violin and saxaphone. It makes for a highly durable listening experience. Start with the strong opening sequence, and you’ll find it hard to stop listening to this modern guitar pop classic in disguise.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New compilation: 5,4,3,2,1… The Countdown Records Story – 1985-88

The Countdown legacy from Mod and beyond in 13 songs

“There are plenty of [mod] bands out there with a decent following and no record deals. We can pick up the best of them. What we want is our own label as part of Stiff.” This proposal by Maxine Conroy, Eddie Piller and Terry Rawlings, as described in the must-read memoir Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances, led to Countdown Records. Highlights of their releases were already collected on CD in 2003, but Acid Jazz now presents a new vinyl compilation marking the 40th anniversary of their group label.

Young and eager acts like Makin’ Time, The Prisoners, The Kick, Long Tall Shorty, The Scene, Fast Eddie, The All-Jacks, The Combine, The Ambassadors, The Kick, and The Daggermen epitomized the flourishing mod revival, an exciting and danceable melting pot of influences from rhythm and blues, new wave, pub rock, power pop, soul, jazz, and ska. It’s hard to sit still and not be cheered by the thirteen tracks on this record.



5,4,3,2,1… The Countdown Records Story – 1985-88 is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Acid Jazz Records.

Add to wantlist: Acid Jazz || Bandcamp

New album: Fuzziliers || Most Fun

Sophomore LP with Eastern hues and Western grit

Most Fun is the sophomore full-lengther by Russia-founded/Turkey-based rock quartet Fuzziliers, featuring nine tracks that sound just as multifaceted and colorful as their background. Moving freely in the playing field between garage psych and indie rock, and drawing on influences from 60s tropicalia and 90s Britpop, they arrive at unearthly melodies, original riffs, and surprising details. Contemporary lyrics with a dark undertone go hand in hand with a live feel that radiates optimism, compelling and at times exotic, always in the service of the song.



Most Fun, produced, mixed and mastered by Slava Lobanov, is out now digitally via Addicted Label. Featuring Slava Lobanov (lead-vocal, guitars, trombone, krakeb, baglama, bongos, frame drum), Georgy Kopylov (grand piano, yamaha DX7-button 17, volca keys, vocals), Misha Pashkov (bass) and Simon Shiriaev (drums, percussion, harmony vocals).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Dan Webb and the Spiders || Spring Forward

On this inspired latest offering, Dan Webb finds humanity in imperfected characters

Dan Webb has been at it again—fiddling with instruments, scribbling lyrics, and tinkering with his trusty recording setup. Spring Forward is his first EP of 2025, and based on his track record, it won’t be the last. As always, Webb sets out a clear sonic direction acting as his North Star, while his lyrics pull from a range of personal reflections and unexpected places. This time, the sound leans toward punk-tinged folk/alt-country (or vice versa really), continuing the trajectory of 2024’s Fall Back EP.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll burn through your free Bandcamp plays in no time. Opener Be Around is a standout—musically rich and lyrically immersive, the high energy and raw-edged guitar playing stretching my attention span way past its usual two-minute mark. New Campaign follows with deceptively simple structure, anchored by a clever recurring rhyme scheme.

Then there’s Typical, perhaps the EP’s most compelling moment. Webb takes on the perspective of Ippei Mizuhara, the disgraced interpreter Shohei Ohtani, who embezzled $17 million from the star athlete to cover gambling debts. Webb paints Mizuhara not as a villain, but as a remorseful and imperfect human being buckling under the weight of bad decisions—a mini character study wrapped in four and a half minutes of rock.

Even when the characters fall short, Webb’s songs land perfectly.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The 10 Best New Cover Songs Of May 2025

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg 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 random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

Hey Sah-Lo-Ney || Cover: The Chelsea Curve || Original: Mickey Lee Lane
Three years have flown by since The Chelsea Curve released their debut LP All The Things. The Boston mod pop trio promises new music soon, with a limited edition 7″ single on Rum Bar Records as a warm-up. The A-side is an Andy Lewis remix of Jamie C’Mon (the opening track from said album), but here we’re shining the spotlight on its flip—a searing rework of Mickey Lee Lane’s 1965 freakbeat nugget Hey Sah-Lo-Ney. It doesn’t get much cooler than this.

New album: Labrador || My Version Of Desire

Prairie twang and college fuzz are natural companions for this Philadelphia band

On their new album, My Version Of Desire, Labrador lay down an alt-country framework and fill it with both classic rock leanings and underground college rock sensibilities. The result is a mature indie rock record, with vocals that—before you even glance the lyrics—sound full of longing and ache.

Take Bobby Gillespie, for example: a slow-burning, acoustic campfire song you’d actually want to sit around for. It’s followed by Heavy Hearts, one of the most straightforward rockers on the record, and then the memorable closer It Only Dies If You Let It. These later tracks feel like a payoff for listeners who stick with what initially feels like a frontloaded record—the opening stretch of Someday I’ll Pay, Dry Out in June and the next couple of tracks is an absolute knockout.

Throw in the appealing art direction, and you really start to wonder: is there any reason not to get this record?

Out now on Safe Suburban Home Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Safe Suburban Home

New album: Amazing Space || Parallel Dreams

A dreamy collision of seasoned Norwegian musicians

Amazing Space may be a new name on the Norwegian indie rock front, but its members have made their mark in bands like Datarock, Casiokids, Electric Eye, Aurora, Young Dreams, and Mighty Magnolias, to name a few. Emil Nordtveit (vocals, guitar), Fredrik Vogsborg (guitar, keys, vocals), Anders Bjelland (guitar), Ole Gunnar Eikeland (bass, keys), Rune Vandaskog (keys), and Einar Olsson (drums) blend influences from roots rock, chamber pop, shoegaze, and synthwave into a mesmerizing sound that feels somewhat like that of The War On Drugs, Kevin Morby, or Future Islands.

Their full-length debut album, Parallel Dreams, contains eight mesmerizing songs—41 minutes in total—with yearning guitars, dreamy synths, and sophisticated poetry. A sonic tapestry woven from the threads of Norway’s best.



Parallel Dreams is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Apollon Records. Also featuring Charlie Hall (drums) and Thomas Nøkling (saxophone) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Apollon || Bandcamp

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