Punk

New EP: Vista Blue || Batting Around

Baseball season means more Vista Blue goodness

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A new baseball season means new Vista Blue songs about baseball. On their new record, they sing about:

  • The joys of rolling out all of your players at bat in a single inning (Batting Around)
  • The respected player whose value lies in different aspects than the stat sheet (Good Reputation)
  • What your favorite lockout season is (What’s Your Favorite Lockout?)
  • Not wanting to be taken off the team’s roster (I Don’t Wanna Be DFA’d)

Vista Blue release music so often, one may ask why write about them at all. But I know at least one person who agrees that these people are writing some of the best and most enjoyable pop punk of the ’20s. At this point, they are deep into hot streak territory. You keep waiting for the dip, but it never shows up. Damn these songs are fun!


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of March 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, 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, 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.

Can’t Seem To Make You Mine (The Seeds) by Sky Saxon — from The King Of Garage Rock LP (Cleopatra Records)

Working Too Hard (Paul Collins’ Beat) by SOFTJAW — digital track (Dandy Boy Records)

Put the Message in the Box (World Party) by Mary Chapin Carpenter & the Mountain Goats — from Put the Message in the Box / Migrations 7″ (Cadmean Dawn)

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

The Loose Ends || March 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 1 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, and a link to add it to your shelves.

Aswan Dam || In the Playpen of the Damned
Cool new band featuring Harry Wohl of Uranium Club. Jangly guitars, post punk wireness and pop sensibilities complement each other well on their 10-song debut album.

Atlanter || Clock
The pioneers of “viddeblues” sound revitalized, blending their signature Norwegian folk-desert blues fusion with renewed chemistry, intuitive interplay, and a confident push into fresh sonic territory.

Bait Bag || Cut Fruit
Punky garage pop trio Bait Bag (North Haven, Carolina) can sing, really sing well, and while they play their songs with a punk urgency, it is the POP that lingers.

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The Loose Ends || March 2026Read More »

New album: Bleak Streak || Peak Bleak

In a Swedish trio deliver the week's most interesting release

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Punk / 1 Comment

In a release week with a whole lot of firepower from some of indie music’s bigger players (New Pornographers, Courtney Barnett, King Tuff, Uni Boys, Pretty Flowers), here’s a record I’d actually feel bad about letting bubble under. It’s Peak Bleak, the second album from Swedish trio Bleak Streak. One of the twelve songs is called Sad Cute Punk Rock, another called Loser Band Plays Rock n Roll, which pretty much sums up how Bleak Streak approach their music. By not taking themselves too seriously, and by carving their own niche where the appeal lies in its contradictions.

You see, these Swedes write extremely likeable melodies, but they don’t write peppy songs, nor do they polish the edges off. The scrappy nature of the band gives them a noise pop and slacker indie rock vibe (their cover of Snail Mail’s Thinning, for example—my word!), while some songs (like Imposter) have that angsty and artsy edge of early Arcade Fire, and others lean into a darker punk rock mood (The World is Your Boot). Still others sound like demos from your favorite power pop band (Loser Band Plays Rock N Roll).

Throughout it all, the boy-girl vocals are another strength of Bleak Streak. Add in surprise cameos of sax, trumpet, glockenspiel (and 12-string guitar), and you get a record that doesn’t strive for perfection but aims for something more interesting and different. Expect variation, expect to be entertained, expect to be touched. Bleak Streak may not be the biggest name to release new music this week, but they may be the most urgent.

LP available now on Svart Ljud Rekords.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New EP: Service Lights || A Couple Few

Service Lights intends to bring poppy punk rock back in style

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New band alert! And fans of poppy punk rock should particularly heed the call. Service Lights (Bloomington, Indiana) arrive fully formed on their debut EP A Couple Few, and they’re hinting at a full-length cassette later this year on Let’s Pretend Records. The band is comprised of Jeff Grant (Good Clean Fun, The Barbed Wires, Full Sun, and others) and Branch Clarke, both of whom used to play in Pink Razors. On the EP, Alex Mann handled bass.

A Couple Few delivers five concise and catchy punk rock tunes in the mold of Dear Landlord, Dillinger Four, and Banner Pilot, but with a ’90s edge that sets them apart. These are songs that hit fast, hit hard, and stick around long after they’re over. No fat, no filler, just perfectly executed poppy punk that sounds like it could’ve been written in 1997 or yesterday and would’ve killed either way.

File under “I haven’t heard a new band churn out this specific style of punk rock this well in a while.” Consider me an instant fan.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Plastic Tones || Can You Keep A Secret?

Plastic Tones (Helsinki) turn melancholy into restless, life-affirming urgency

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

“Hey, I hate the world today // I bet the world feels the same way about me… No matter how hard I try // Things fall apart and I don’t know why.” Plastic Tones lead vocalist Roto sings this on Just a Feeling from their second LP Can You Keep A Secret? But rest assured, this song (nor this record) is no downer drowning in self-pity. This Finnish five-piece plays mostly upbeat indie punk with an undercurrent of ’80s new wave and power pop. Sure, it has melancholic undertones, but even more so a restless urgency to break free from inertia. The vocals are a major asset of Plastic Tones, delivered with a sense of clarity and conviction that make you believe all the words. At their core, these songs ask one persistent question: in a world that feels broken beyond repair, what does it actually take to stop wasting time and start living?

Well, writing songs this life-affirming is a good start to providing a satisfying answer. And so, the record finishes on a high note with the hit You Can Do Whatever You Wanna Do: “You feel depleted // So defeated // I’m gonna tell you now // You can do whatever you wanna do // Wannado, wannado // Do it!”

Not a bad arc at all, and even better record!

LP available now through Kick Rock (France) and Vox Populi (Japan).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Kick Rock

New EP: Physicalist || Physicalist

The Night Court spin-off you did not know you were missing

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HELL YEAH! First words, no hesitation. The latest tape on Dirt Cult Records hits like a brick. Physicalist’s self-titled EP is five songs of scrappy, all-thrills, no-frills punk and hardcore that do not waste a second.

Physicalist started as a solo outlet for Dave of ATW favorites Night Court. The recordings on this EP are still mostly Dave’s work, but the project has mutated. He has roped in Night Court drummer Emilor on bass and Taylor of CELL and Unfun on drums, and now it actually feels like a band that could tear up a stage and leave a dent.

Dave is a killer guitarist, loose, unpredictable, never too clean. On these five tracks he goes all in on hardcore punk, ripping through riffs like he has been holding them back for years. Even with two-thirds of Night Court in the mix, this sounds nothing like that band. Same rush, different weapon. I am not saying they should tour together, but I am also not not saying it.

This thing sounds like it crawled out of the ’80s, but it hits harder because it is happening right now. Fast, aggressive, zero tough guy posturing. Just pure release. If the world is grinding you down, throw this on and let it shake something loose.

Damn right, this is good.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Poison Suckers || Charmer

It's a hefty load of noise, yet the title lives up to its promise

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

More than five years after their eponymous debut EP, Winnipeg, Canada-based garage punk duo Poison Suckers—Joanne Rodriguez and Joe Warkentin—are back with Charmer, a second batch of four deliciously trashy tracks. First and foremost, it’s lo-fi and loud (a recommendation in itself), but what really sticks is the character and undeniable catchiness (“Whoo-hoo-hoo!”) packed into these ten minutes. There’s a reckless charm to the way these songs crash and burn, yet every hook lands exactly where it should. The stripped-down production only amplifies the authenticity, giving each track a gritty, right-off-the-floor sound that’s hard to shake.

Charmer is out now digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Transistor 66 Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

EP review: Hedge || Freeze Frame High Five

The follow-up EP from this Worchester trio release is just as instant and addictive as their debut LP

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

Hedge are what happens when pop punk kids can’t stop listening to bands like Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., Hüsker Dü, and Lemonheads.

We were instant fans of their 2024 debut LP, and that also applies to the new EP Freeze Frame High Five. Five new bursts of alt-pop punk plus a pretty faithful but sped-up version of a Guided By Voices classic make for a quick listen you keep circling back to.

This is neither overly sugary nor overly raw. Expect fast, melodic punk with crunchy, slightly fuzzy guitars that lean into ’90s alternative rock energy. Hedge stick to a niche that clearly work for them, as it does for us listeners.

Out now on 12″ at Best Brother Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Dishes || Drama

When activism meets anthemic and melodic indie punk

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

Dishes (Amsterdam & Leiden, the Netherlands) are a deeply political punk band, yet sound surprisingly bright and melodic on their debut album Drama. Sure, there’s a sense of melancholy and weariness to the ten songs, and sure, they deal with heavy topics, both large (power, displacement, injustice, and solidarity) and small and deeply personal (mental health, sexual misconduct). These people are activists at heart, and their intentions are as real and honest as the songs on Drama.

Subroutine Records, who are releasing the record, dub the sound of Dishes as “driving, anthemic and wistful indie power pop punk,” and I can get behind that. Dishes are a deeply melodic band, with all of its members chiming in vocally and instrumentally. This is not a cut-and-paste ’90s throwback band, but a band that very much tries and succeeds in carving their own niche. And Shireen’s voice is the thread connecting it all, turning activism into songs that hit you in the gut and stick in your head.

LP out now on Subroutine Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Subroutine

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