Jangle Pop

New album: Inland Years || Nowadays

Lo-fi comfort for overstimulated brains

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Thirteen songs in sixteen minutes? There have been less compelling reasons to start an argument online. But debating whether Nowadays, the latest release from Inland Years, is an EP or an album misses the point entirely. The important thing is that Ryan Daniels has once again packed a surprising amount of charm into a very small package.

The Brooklyn songwriter specializes in home-recorded jangle pop: chiming guitars, easygoing vocals, and melodies that feel far too beautiful to be trapped inside such delightfully lo-fi recordings. The songs arrive quickly, often disappearing before you’ve fully settled into them, but that’s part of the appeal. They function less like grand statements and more like little resets for an overstimulated brain.

If you’ve already spent time with Bill Fox, The Byrds, Guided by Voices, Tony Molina’s more recent work, or 2nd Grade, Inland Years feels like another secret handshake. One of the underground’s best-kept secrets, quietly releasing songs that are over almost as soon as they begin and somehow lingering long afterward. There are 13 new Inland Years originals here, with the record closing out with a cover of Gene Clark’s Dark of my Moon.

Nowadays is out now on BSDJ.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Neil Brogan || Near Broken Band

Belfast songsmith offering comfort and joy on latest album

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Neil Brogan’s new album sounds a lot like its 2024 predecessor Neil Brogan Band. Even the title feels like a sequel with a typo. Neil Brogan Band? Near Broken Band? Potatoes!

We’ve been fans of Brogan since his Sea Pinks and Girls Names days, and under his own name he continues to write jangly, breezy guitar-pop songs wrapped around that warm, instantly recognizable voice and the gentle punch of his drumming. The impressive thing is how effortlessly he reaches a level of melodic satisfaction that many songwriters spend entire careers chasing. You almost start taking it for granted.

Which is why it’s such a pleasure when Near Broken Band forces you to stop and appreciate the craftsmanship hiding inside all that easygoing charm. The opening stretch is sequenced beautifully, moving from the almost twee-punk bounce of Joys of Spring and Fast & Loose into the standout Sooner (Rather than Later). Built around a deceptively simple guitar riff, it’s the kind of song that tricks your brain into believing you’ve known it for years, only to make you hit repeat anyway.

Then Brogan follows it with Egg On Yr Face, a wonderfully playful tune with a chorus that’s hard not to grin at. By the time the album reaches its midpoint, Neil Brogan has done what Neil Brogan albums tend to do: quietly, unassumingly, and completely won you over. Again.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Bramwell || Standing on Stones / British Rails (Are Long And Fast)

Two jangly gems that sound equally at home in 1984 and 2026

By / / Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Psych / 1 Comment

You may have noticed there’s a bit of a renaissance going on, with contemporary bands rediscovering the sounds of the ’60s and ’70s. Think The Lemon Twigs, Mod Lang, or Daniel Romano’s Outfit. Well, Cardiff has entered the conversation with Bramwell. They’re actually from Torquay, whose local football club I once guided to Champions League glory in Football Manager. But I digress.

Bramwell’s new 7-inch on Gob Nation draws as much from the Go-Betweens as it does from ’60s psych pop and the jangly college underground of the ’80s. Two beautifully crafted songs, lovingly recorded and effortlessly timeless, that fit the current moment as if they’d been waiting decades for it.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of June 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, 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 (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—a bunch of successful covers from last month.

50 Ft (PJ Harvey) by The Bobby Lees — from New Self LP (Epitaph)

Foggy Notion (The Velvet Underground) by Bob Bert — from Beach Bongo Bloodbath (Bar/None Records)

Hotel California (Eagles) by Bandit Voyage — from Daddy Core EP

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

The Loose Ends || June 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 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 (40+ this month!), and a link to add it to your shelves.

Annual Leaf || Sign of the Bellbird
In April’s Loose Ends, we’ve put the spotlight on the most recent EP from these Melbourne indie pop janglers and slackers. This new CD compiles that EP and songs from 5 other releases of the past 5 years. Turns out Annual Leaf have been great for a while!

Baby Jane || Surfing To Hell
This Barcelona “kebab punk” riot grrrl quartet looks like trouble and sounds even better. Fast, loud, and gloriously unruly.

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The Loose Ends || June 2026Read More »

New single: New Passengers || Wild Colors

Wistful guitar pop with a coastal breeze

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I’ve spent a lot of time this week writing about fast, sugary pop punk records, which makes sense given the heat wave over here. But summer also calls for something a little more relaxed, and New Passengers have arrived with impeccable timing.

Wild Colors is guitar-pop bliss, accompanied by a beach-themed video and infused with the wistful feeling of summer evenings that slipped by too quickly. Bare feet in the sand, the last rays of sunlight, a hint of melancholy beneath the warmth. Truthfully, it’s currently so hot over here that I’m mostly dreaming about air conditioning. Still, the melody feels timeless, the kind that settles in effortlessly and makes itself at home on your summer playlist or radio show.

Based in Washington, D.C., New Passengers feature Aaron Morgan (Aaron & The Alligators, Golden Void, The Finches, Roots of Orchis), Candice Adams (Riff Randells, Nacho Business, The Comedians), Roger Poulin, and Dan Sachs. The second track on this digital single, Orchid, is a fine piece of jangly indie rock that further highlights Adams’ appealing vocals.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New mini-album: Staring Contest || Staring Contest

Jangler

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

We love all things jangling, so we immediately fell for Staring Contest. It is a new band from Ottawa, featuring Kerri Carisse (vocals, guitar), Sebastian Major (guitar, vocals), Matthew Thompson (guitar, backing vocals), Joel Soucy (bass), and Jon Bennett (drums), names you may have seen pop up before from Ontario’s indie scene.

The quintet makes their debut with this eponymous mini-album, an exciting yet level-headed mix of jangle pop and indie rock. The seven tracks are driven by chiming guitars, confident and powerful vocals, an energetic rhythm section, and relatable storytelling. The record is undeniably bursting with emotion, yet every note feels deliberate, revealing musicians fully in command of their craft.



Staring Contest is out digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Astrologer || Maiden America

Garage pop for crate diggers and daydreamers

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

“Mid-fi powerjangle & pop oddities” is how Astrologer describe themselves, and for once, the self-assessment is spot on. On their third album, Maiden America, Andy Cline and Candy Caballero blend garage pop with decades of pop and rock’n’roll history, creating eight songs that feel less like quirky curiosities and more like hidden treasures.

The duo cast a surprisingly wide net here, hopping effortlessly between jangly guitars, power-pop hooks, and offbeat flourishes without ever losing sight of the song. The result is a compact but rewarding listen that reveals a new detail with each spin.

The album may be oddly absent from Bandcamp, making it harder to point you toward individual highlights, but the opening run of Clarion Call, Drug of Choice, and Coyote is as good a place to start as any. Better yet, dive into the whole thing.

Maiden America is out now on LP via Lolipop.

Add to wantlist: Lolipop Records

New album: Yea-Ming And The Rumours || Residue

A masterclass in understated beauty

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Residue, the new Yea-Ming And The Rumours LP, is another stunning display of romance, melancholy, and quiet seduction. It is the fourth album from Yea-Ming Chen and her Bay Area cohorts (this time featuring Ryli bandmates Luke Robbins and Rob Good alongside longtime Rumours member Eóin Galvin), and a worthy follow-up to the wonderfully charming I Can’t Have It All from 2024.

These songs practically beg for black-and-white videos featuring stylishly dressed musicians wandering through beautiful, windswept landscapes with nowhere particular to be. This is jangle with a twang, pop with a wistful ache, Camera Obscura by way of Yo La Tengo. The arrangements are patient and unhurried, allowing lines like “is it a cheap thrill or is it love?” from Cheap Thrill to linger a little longer, and making the following ooohs sound even sweeter.

With Ryli providing an outlet for her more extroverted, rock-oriented side, Yea-Ming leans into introspection and vulnerability here. As always, her voice is a cheat code. Few singers make melancholy sound this inviting. No matter how understated the arrangements become, it unlocks emotional depth, reveals hidden pathways through the songs, and transports you somewhere else entirely. This is perfect staring-out-the-window music. And if your eyes well up during the sequence of Uncommon Dreaming and Fine Afternoon, well, we’re only human, right?

In a fair world, Residue would be a major release from one of pop music’s brightest stars. Yet part of me still likes the idea of Yea-Ming Chen remaining a treasured secret passed between those in the know. Then again, every time she releases a record this good, that becomes a harder position to defend. The best-kept secret in indie pop keeps making a terrible case for remaining one.

Residue is out now on LP and CD at Dandy Boy Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Sensitive || The Sensitive Complete Discography

Compiling all of the output from Jakarta's twee pop band extraordinaire

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Indonesia continues to be one of the most exciting places on the planet for indie pop. Unfortunately, in the case of Jakarta twee-pop outfit The Sensitive, the magic appears to be coming to an end. If I’m reading the liner notes from Untune Records correctly, this compilation serves as the band’s final release, with farewell performances scheduled for Jakarta Popfest over the weekend.

As such, The Sensitive Complete Discography gathers the band’s entire recorded output from 2018 to 2026: 23 songs of jangly, stripped-down indie pop built from simple ingredients. A drum machine, guitar, bass, a handful of melodies, and an obvious devotion to the genre. Whether The Sensitive was a one-person operation or not, the music carries the intimacy and determination of a true DIY project.

The compilation includes covers of beloved indie-pop touchstones by The Wake (On Our Honeymoon), Lawrence of Belgravia (We’re Selfish and Lazy and Greedy), Blueboy (Too Good To Be True), The Pastels (Nothing To Be Done), and Mighty Mighty (Where Would I Be). Just as revealing are the originals. Song titles like Forever Twee, Indiepop Politics, and Anoa Records Is My Shepherd radiate a powerful “if you know, you know” energy. This is music made by someone who didn’t just listen to indie pop but genuinely lived inside it.

The “band” may be calling it a day, but this collection feels less like an ending than a permanent document of a scene, a sound, and a deep love for DIY pop music.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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