Indie Rock

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 EP: Pressure Wheel || I Hate The Night

Members of Restorations, Signals Midwest and Timeshares tag up, go for the knockout

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

Results from the past aren’t always the best predictor of success today, but in the case of Pressure Wheel, it’s no big surprise to see this level of quality and conviction. The band consists of proven talent from the Philadelphia music scene and four four friends for life: Jeff Meyers and Dan Zimmerman from Restorations with Maxwell Stern of Signals Midwest and Jon Hernandez of Timeshares. The band releases its second EP today, following last year’s Atomic Woe.

The quartet create what I’d like to call post-punk rock, an evolution of punk rock into something a little broader, wilder, more dynamic, and more diverse. It makes sense that the band name Hot Snakes, Sleater-Kinney, and Spiritual Cramp as RIYL references, but what really stands out to me is the passionate and inspired delivery. Lyrically, these songs sound like someone stayed awake too long, started thinking about society, and decided the whole thing could probably use a good punch in the face.

This one’s got heart!


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Pocket || Pocket

Poppy punk rock perfection from Bristol

By / / Indie Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Fans of poppy punk rock should sit up straight and prick their ears, because a contender for new favorite band has entered the ring. Pocket are a quartet from Bristol, UK, featuring Thom Weeks (Gnarwolves, Shit Present), Kathryn Woods (Fresh, Cheerbleederz), Andrew Horne (Bangers, Specialist Subject Records) and Brian Scally (Anna’s Anchor, Stupid World).

The Pocket 12″ is out now on Specialist Subject Records and showcases a band with a clear vision for what Pocket should be: extremely energetic, poppy and packed with fast little songs. They’re not a carbon copy of The Ergs!, but they have a similar approach, while some of the material, like closer Sidestepping Danger, leans more toward indie punk.

It’s the kind of band that fits right into the Specialist Subject roster. If you love bands like Good Luck, Martha, Fortitude Valley and Big Mess, you’ll find plenty to like here. Songs like Starting At People waste no time getting you excited. It’s basically made out of catchy parts, and it’s addictive.

Part of what makes Pocket so much fun is their dynamic, lively approach, like on the noisy and bouncy Permanent War. They prove that familiar chord progressions and well-worn ingredients can still work when they’re deployed smartly and with conviction. You don’t necessarily need to reinvent pop punk. You just need to play it like it’s the thing you love most in the world. It kinda is.

The Pocket 12″ is a jolt of energy that I keep wanting to return to.

First that fantastic Bashful record, and now this Pocket one. This particular corner of pop punk is in good hands in 2026.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Specialist Subject

 

New album: Salmon Sisters || Taller Than Normal

Not just another band from Melbourne

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Early August, Melbourne’s latest hypeworthy band Salmon Sisters dropped a pretty hot two-song teaser for the thing that came out this week: Taller Than Normal, a ten-song full-length that offers a playful take on garage rock-indebted punk. And while the fast stuff hits hard, with the cluster-bomb combo of T.O.X.I.N., Cock It and MeatgrindR, that’s only one side of Salmon Sisters.

Multiple singers and absurdist lyrics make sure things never stay in one place for too long. Elevator Music is upbeat, jangly indie rock with a chorus that goes something like “I wanna be a pregnant Salmon in a sea of demon fish.” Sure. Why not? Then there’s Like This, a bluesy storyteller about a boy named Kermit Jagger, the son of Mick Jagger, who had sex with a frog. I have questions, but I’m not sure I want the answers.

And that’s what makes Taller Than Normal so much fun. Salmon Sisters have the punk energy, a clear sense of identity (look at that band pic on the cover!) but they clearly aren’t interested in following any script.

This is not your average record, but it will definitely get people talking and listening.

Count us in.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Twerp || 1,000 Ways to Hotwire Your Life

Idiosyncratic garage pop punk for the digital age

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

Twerp may not be the first band to announce they ‘wanna be a Ramone’, but damn it if the opening track of their new EP isn’t the catchiest thing I’ve heard recently. It’s the Athens band’s second EP of the year, following their February release which also made the Wantlist.

In addition to celebrating Ramones fandom, these songs take aim at phone addiction, home improvement gone horribly wrong and fake tough guys. In a way, (I Just Wanna) Be a Ramone sets the wrong expectations. After that garage pop punk hit, Twerp let their artsy post-punk side take the reins for the next couple of songs, before switching to fast punk made for the digital age. Sprinkle in a Larry David sample that will make Curb Your Enthusiasm watchers smirk in recognition? Sure, why not. Then they close with Scout, a truly fun garage mutant punk, followed by a seven-minute finale (The Nuclear Option) that sees Twerp morph into (Minneapolis) Uranium Club (Band).

KILLER EP! Out on De/Pressed Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Spike Fuck || Evidence

A little sin, a lot of soul

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

Ten years after debuting with The Smackwave EP, Melbourne’s Spike Fuck releases his first full-length album, Evidence. Whatever strange spell its first two singles cast, I ended up pre-ordering the album, something I almost never do. The eight tracks here blend art rock and new wave with glam, soul, alt-country, and doo-wop, performed with a good dose of CBGB coolness. It’s an intimidating listen, though not dangerous (as the artist name might suggest), but rather because it allows us such intimate access to the singer-songwriter’s inner world (as the song titles already hint). The morbid humor and guilt-ridden confessions carry immense emotional weight, driven by heartfelt vocals that shift from one emotion to another. This is a record of opposing impulses that should cancel each other out, yet somehow only make the whole thing more compelling and addictive.



Evidence—produced by Adam Hyde—is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Sacred Bones Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Sacred Bones

New album: Gizmo || All Your Worships

Charlottetown band makes the 120 Minutes revival we didn't know we needed

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

Gizmo are Charlottetown rockers inspired by the guitar-damaged pop of 1990s American slacker bands and their contemporaries on Canada’s east coast. A 120 Minutes band for the Gen Z set…”

Not going to try to top that bio. It’s too good to tinker with.

We became fans fast back in 2023, and the wait for the follow-up has felt longer than it should have. But here it is, a full-length LP out now on Victory Pool Records without a single piece of deadwood, and suddenly the wait feels like a distant memory. Gizmo blend alt pop, power pop, and slacker indie rock in a way that is smooth and easy on the ears, instantly likeable but backed by songwriting sharp enough to keep you coming back. Listen to Celestial or Crystal Palace — both close to three minutes of punchy, hooky guitar pop perfection. Or Gift Shop, with its Bandwagonesque intro (the influences don’t stop at the US border, clearly). Kissing Our Days Goodbye plays like a poppier version of Liquid Mike and Kiwi Jr., which is exactly as good as it sounds.

There is no shortage of touchpoints throughout All Your Worships, but what lingers most is the feeling that we are genuinely lucky a band with this particular knack for melodies exists and keeps making music squarely in our wheelhouse.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Whippets || No Skulls

Dark, crunchy, and completely its own thing. Whippets deliver.

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

Whippets is yet another musical project in the extended Bobby Hussy universe. He of The Hussy, Cave Curse, Wristwatch, Digital Leather, and many more, here joined by his trusted Hussy and Wristwatch bass man Tyler Spatz (currently also playing in Geoff Palmer’s band) and Hart Alan Miller (Tenement, MDC) on drums. Whippets debuted in 2022 with a 7″ on Goodbye Boozy Records, followed by a full-length in 2024. Their second LP, No Skulls, arrived freshly on our doorstep today.

First impression: I just love the sound of it. Everything is in balance, every instrument firmly placed in the mix. The result is full, crunchy, and powerful without ever becoming overbearing.

Second thought: how do I describe this record? It’s not really punk, garage, alternative rock, or indie rock, although it contains elements of all of them. It’s pretty dark, and there is this symbiotic call-and-response thing going on between Bobby’s vocals and guitar riffs that I’m really enjoying. The bio calls it “Post-Punk Grungegaze.” I’ll take it.

No Skulls is out today on No Coast. Catch Whippets live this fall in the US, and in Europe in January and February.


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)

…

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

Album Premiere: Heavy Weather || Always Tired

Out October 7th, stream now in full!

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

It’s been a while since we did an album premiere here, but today we have a good one: a full album stream of Always Tired, the new Heavy Weather LP, which comes out October 7th on CD via Snappy Little Numbers. Pre-order links are at the bottom of the post.

While Heavy Weather started as a songwriting project by Nick Bitikofer almost 15 years ago, it turned into a three-man operation in 2019, with Greg Myers and Brian Hilderbrand joining the fold. You can describe the St. Louis trio as indie rock, punk or alternative rock and you wouldn’t be wrong, but Always Tired explores the whole area of that triangle. Think Jawbreaker, think The Weakerthans, think Samiam. Think guitar music with melodies, feelings and enough pull to keep you coming back.

If you’re strapped for time, try Being Honest and You’re Not Dead for the more uptempo side of the band, which dominates the first three quarters of the record. The final stretch slows things down and shows a quieter, more introspective side of Heavy Weather.

Given the state of things, the combination of the band name and album title already feels pretty timely. Then you look at the tracklist and things get even clearer: Shitty Friend, Sad Bastard, Nothing Makes Sense. This is not exactly a record pretending everything is fine. The songs deal with frustration, anxiety, self-doubt, getting older. Bitikofer explains: “Always Tired is a collection of songs about growing up and trying to figure yourself out in the process. These songs are at times confessional, but I think also relatable to anyone who’s trying to figure life out through change.”  It’s heavy, but there are silver linings lurking.

And maybe that’s why Always Tired works so well. Heavy Weather turn the mess into melodic, guitar-driven songs that make it all a little more bearable.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Snappy Little Numbers

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