Jangle Pop

New EP: Sorry Monks || When In Rome

Timeless songwriting shines across a remarkably assured new collection

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

British singer-songwriter Oliver Paul Flanagan is one of those few contemporary indie pop artists who relentlessly push forward. Not only is the output under his Sorry Monks moniker almost impossible to keep up with, it consistently hits a high standard. Last March we wrote about his Flora and Fauna LP, and since then we have overlooked some other releases, but we really can’t ignore this new one.

The four songs on the When In Rome EP venture into Beatlesque territory, with clever pop hooks and warm vocal harmonies that bring about a slightly psychedelic and sunny mood. The title track, reportedly written as early as 2012, is the biggest hit here, a timeless hit for the ages. The remaining tunes hardly fall short, rewarding both instant affection and repeated listening. Hats off.

When In Rome is out digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New compilation: Various Artists || Pets Sounds

Super likeable animal appreciation from Skep Wax

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

A Skep Wax compilation featuring some of the finest indie pop bands around right now? Including Add To Wantlist favorites like The Cords, Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires, U.S. Highball, Jetstream Pony, Swansea Sound, Special Friend, Railcard, and The Burning Hell? And every single song is about pets? Say no more. Let me just wait for my cat to stop sitting on the keyboard long enough to place an order.

As much as Gorilla Biscuits’ Cats and Dogs and Youth of Today’s No More remain a part of my diet, there is a special joy in hearing a bunch of brilliant songwriters devote their talents to the furry little weirdos that run our households. These are songs about companionship, unconditional love, minor destruction, and the strange reality that many of us happily rearrange our lives around animals who contribute very little to the mortgage.

If you’ve ever had a cat refuse to move from your lap, a dog greet you like you’ve returned from war after a ten-minute trip to the supermarket, or found yourself talking to a pet as if it were a roommate, there is plenty here to recognize. The talksinging Under A Cat by Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires is worth the price of admission alone. Swansea Sound’s I Don’t Like Men In Uniform even lets a traumatized animal have its say.

This is not the kind of compilation where every track is exclusive to the compilation, but that’s hardly the point. What you get are 15 excellent songs about cats, dogs, and the humans they’ve successfully trained over the years.

Honestly, if you’re going to make a themed compilation, this is exactly how you do it. LP available for pre-order now, and go visit the release show on London on July 9th if you are in the vicinity.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Grapes of Grain || A Muted Hey

Understated charm in abundance

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Pop, Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

There’s something instantly appealing about the title A Muted Hey. Thankfully, it’s attached to a record that’s equally easy to like: Grapes of Grain deliver another finely crafted collection of bittersweet songs that comfortably mingle jangly indie pop with warm alt-country. On this fourth album (from their back catalogue, 2024’s Painted Windows stands out for me), the Dutch band embraces a more rustic palette than before, weaving banjo, mandolin, and lap steel through the arrangements.

The ten new, original tracks sound spacious and clear, leaving room for occasional offbeat flourishes, always centered around a heartfelt melody and engaging vocals. There Are Too Many Words in This World, states the opening tune from which the record derives its title, but I wouldn’t have wanted to miss any of it. This is an unhurried and rewarding listen full of detail.



A Muted Hey is out digitally via Drag Days. Featuring Alexis Vos (vocals, guitar, bass) and Berend Jan Ike (vocals, guitars, bass, drums, piano, lap steel), with Franc Timmerman (drums, guitar, bass, percussion), Harm van Sleen (pedal steel, violin), Stefan Breuer (keys, guitar, backing vocals), Lara Taska (backing vocals), and Allie Crummy (backing vocals).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Slippers || Slippers 08

A pocket-sized masterpiece of jangly charm

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

It was impossible not to fall for Slippers’ debut LP So You Like Slippers (yes, absolutely), and its follow-up is every bit as irresistible. Maybe even more so. Slippers 08 (does the album name refer to the band being the 8th band on Discogs by that name?) packs 22 minutes of jangly guitar-pop bliss into a package so effortlessly charming it feels like a mood-enhancing device.

Had a rough day? Minor existential crisis? Doomscrolled a little too hard? Slippers have a remedy for that. One song at a time, they sand down the rough edges, dust off the cobwebs, and gently remind you that life can still be pretty great. There is a kindness to these songs, a purity of purpose, and an infectious energy that makes spending time with this record feel genuinely restorative.

The funny thing is that Madeline Babuka Black (also of Yucky Duster and Le Pain) isn’t exactly reinventing indie pop here. Every chord, jangle, and beat has some distant ancestor in the genre’s long and glorious history. But that’s not really the point. What matters is that Black has an uncanny gift for turning familiar ingredients into something that feels fresh, personal, and completely impossible to resist.

The result is another excellent Slippers record and further proof that sometimes the sweetest sounds hit the hardest.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Love, Burns || Pavement Drawings

Jangling melodies greet bittersweet memories

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With Pavement Drawings, Phil Sutton (Comet Gain, Velocette, Pale Lights) returns with his third album as Love, Burns. Backed by a stellar cast of musicians, he delivers another twelve classic indie pop songs that will make sunshine radiate from your speakers. Beneath the melancholic melodies and summery arrangements lie poetic lyrics on the things we struggle to leave behind, like lost loves, old wounds, fading memories, and the versions of ourselves we can never quite escape: “She hopes that he will never see // The things she saw today // Some days are soon forgotten // But they don’t go away // She will feel the pain” (from the title track). It’s intriguing storytelling, caught between yesterday’s thoughts and tomorrow’s possibilities, but it works especially well in conjunction with the jangling guitars, smooth organ ornaments, and warm vocal harmonies.



Pavement Drawings is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Calico Cat records, Jigsaw Records, and Spinout Nuggets. Featuring Philip Sutton (vocals), Kyle Forester (guitars, bass, keyboards, saxophone), Hannes Mueller (drums), Jo Roman (vocals), and Alicia Hyman (violin).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Jigsaw || Spinout ||

New album: The Jack Cades || Fade In

Jangling guitars, soaring harmonies, and timeless pop craft

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

Three years and two days after their year-end list-worthy Something New LP, The Jack Cades return with their fourth full-length album, Fade In. The British garage pop band, led by Elsa and Mike Whittaker, features a refreshed rhythm section and has been expanded with keyboards, but it is still the characteristic jangly guitars and warm harmonies that take center stage.

The twelve new, original songs are packed with sun-drenched melodies and rich vintage textures, wrapped in effortless style and timeless charm. What keeps the record so compelling is its steady stream of fresh ideas, delivered with a familiar touch that’s tough and tender in equal measure.



Fade In—engineered by Ed Deegan—is out digitally and vinyl LP through Beluga Records and Dangerhouse Skylab. Featuring Mike Whittaker (vocals, lead guitar), Elsa Whittaker (vocals, rhythm guitar), Dan Rowe (bass), Hayden O’Dell (mellotron, organ), and Nathan Sandford (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

The Loose Ends || May 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / 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.

Above Me || Soften The Blows
Debut LP on Dandy Boy Records from this non average dream pop project by Rick Altieri (Blue Ocean, Aluminum).

Big Nothing || Big Nothing
The third album from this indie punk/alt country/guitar pop/classic rock a-bit-of-everything band from Philadelphia just dropped their third album (with a new lineup) on Dead Broke Records. It is another fine slice of warmblooded, bighearted basement pop.

Blitzer || The New Conspiracy
Ten fierce blasts of post-punk on this exciting debut LP from Berlin trio Blitzer. Urgent, tense, and full of forward momentum. Out now through Mangel Records.


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The Loose Ends || May 2026Read More »

New album: The Maureens || Don’t Give Up

Warm-hearted guitar pop from a band aging beautifully

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

If your appetite for quality guitar pop is endless, The Maureens should already be on your radar. Today the Dutch quartet release Don’t Give Up, album number five in a 15-year run built on craft, consistency, and a genuine love for the perfect pop song. The band remain true to their instincts, still chasing the magic of classic touchstones like The Byrds and later heirs to that tradition such as Nada Surf and Teenage Fanclub.

The Maureens sound more poised than ever here, and recording the album in a remote wooden cottage in the Belgian Ardennes clearly did something good for the atmosphere. Don’t Give Up feels calm, warm, and deeply considered, the kind of record that quietly pushes back against the permanently distracted state of modern life.

Because these songs go down so easily, it would be a mistake to overlook just how carefully constructed they are. Tracks like Oceans Apart and Never Learn reveal more detail with each spin, while the warm production from legendary Dutch producer Frans Hagenaars (Bettie Serveert, Darryll-Ann, Johan, Moss) suits the material perfectly.

Available now on Meritorio.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Meritorio

New album: The Laughing Chimes || Behind Your Blue Fields

Lo-fi archival gems capture the beauty of unfinished transformation

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

In time, Behind Your Blue Fields is the successor to last year’s sophomore full-length Whispers in the Speech Machine, but actually the latest from The Laughing Chimes is a collection of demos and stray recordings that preceded it, capturing the moment their bright-eyed jangle pop instincts began drifting toward murkier post-punk shadows. Band leader Evan Seurkamp explains that the concept of a “wow unreleased Chimes demo compilation!” developed quickly after dusting off his Tascam 4-track and digging through his desk drawer of old tapes (“It’s great to share them with you now as a glimpse into a “what could have been” second album that never fully came to fruition”), also considering the lo-fi rock resurgence among their peers.

There’s a bittersweet charm to hearing songs in this unfinished state: all tape hiss, bedroom melancholy, and unrealized possibility, as captivating as the one they eventually made. Whether Ohio’s prodigies show their light or dark side, whether they sound polished or raw, their knack for a good song with a good melody always wins.



Behind Your Blue Fields is out digitally and on cassette through Slumberland Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Slumberland

New album: Touch Girl Apple Blossom || Graceful

Austin quartet nail the sweet-and-scrappy balance

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

Now that I’ve spent some real time with Graceful, I fully stand by my initial assessment of Austin quartet Touch Girl Apple Blossom: this is heavenly indie pop nostalgia done right.

The band plays with an energy that is totally infectious, all looseness, momentum, and scrappy charm. There is sweetness here for sure, but it is balanced by a ragged edge that almost pushes things into punk territory at times (not in sonics, but in vibes). Touch Girl Apple Blossom sound like true believers, like the kind of band whose members genuinely love this stuff to death and grew up chasing down dusty compilations and obscure seven-inches.

C86, twee, jangly noise pop, the lines between those worlds get pleasantly blurry here. The songs tumble forward with enough hooks and heart to make Graceful feel like a classic in the making, while still carrying the excitement of a young band figuring out just how good they can become. There is a real warmth to this record, as well as fuzz and basement-show spirit. A debut absolutely worth repeated plays and aggressively recommending to your friends.

Graceful is out now on K and Perennial.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

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