Punk

New album: Les Mazoetans || Do Your Best

Experimental rock 'n' roll chaos from another dimension

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Garage Rock, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

Les Mazoetans are a gang of stubborn Dutch music scene veterans who are incapable of sitting still or playing anything straight. The five members have done time in bands like Geishas Of Doom, Okieson, Suit And Tie Johns, Bökkers, 16Down, and Prodigal Sons, but Les Mazoetans escape all comparison. This is a glorious mess of experimental rock ‘n’ roll, punk, and blues, a loose chaos of freakouts and rocking out that sounds like an extended jam session chopped into concise little explosions. It’s neither from this era (’70s and ’80s leaning) nor from this planet. It’s as weird and dissonant as it is exciting and freakin’ awesome.

Do Your Best was recorded, mixed, and mastered in a single day—the last day of February, to be exact—by Henny de Leeuw at Galloway Recording Studio in Nijmegen. The dust hasn’t even settled (Henny’s probably still recovering), but the record’s already out digitally on Forbidden Place Records and hitting vinyl in a limited run via Sounds Haarlem eventually.

Five Dutch weirdos walked into a studio, knocked out an album in 24 hours, and somehow it sounds like this. That alone should tell you everything you need to know. Strap in. Enjoy the trip.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Personal Style || Garbage Can

Buffalo band's rough edges are a feature, not a bug

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Personal Style, I was unfamiliar with your game, and honestly that’s on me. Turns out Garbage Can is the fifth 7″ in your discography since 2019, which means I’ve been sleeping on you for half a decade. My bad. From the opening title track, it’s abundantly clear that your take on garage punk rock is exactly the kind of scrappy, no-nonsense riffage I live for. The song is pretty proto, all raw energy and zero pretense, and it’s followed by the more modern pop punk leaning Don’t Turn It Down, the raw and rockin’ Double Downer, and the late ’70s inspired Poison Arrow.

The production is pretty rough and uneven, giving the whole thing an outtakes-from-the-vault feel, but honestly? That just makes it better. These songs don’t need polish to stand up.

Garbage Can is available on 7″ through Record Beach.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Savage Beat || Bright Lights, Tall Shadows

The new LP from Amsterdam's street boogie kings demands to be played LOUD

By / / Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Punk / 1 Comment

Amsterdam’s best street boogie band Savage Beat already hinted at a new record in their pipeline when releasing their singles compilation in the latter portion of 2024, and this week the Bright Lights, Tall Shadows LP finally dropped. If the opening instrumental Street Boogie Confidential is the mere warm-up, the remaining half hour is a raucous rock ‘n’ roll adventure from a band that cannot and will not settle on a single identity. They’re as much a street punk and oi band as they are a throwback ’70s hard rock ‘n’ roll outfit. But their vision and how to achieve it? No doubt: by kicking ass, being loud, and playing like their lives depend on it. Subtlety can wait in the van. This is all gas, no brakes.

This band has the riffs, the licks, the choruses, and the aggression to pull it off. This is the kind of rock ‘n’ roll that leaves sore throats, popping neck veins, and bloody fingers in its wake. Bright Lights, Tall Shadows sounds like the golden ticket to what I can only assume are their fantastic live shows. Play this one loud, it will sound even better.

Available now through Wap Shoo Wap Records, who clearly are up to mischief in 2026 with that fun Eskalatie single, this Savage Beat LP and the debut LP from Sick Shooters (out March 19th), which I’m sure will turn heads.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Goat Yoga || City Love Songs

Despicable wellness trend, excellent indie rock band

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

I am stating the obvious here, but goats are awesome. They are smart, curious, stubbornly independent. They break things, climb everything in sight, and eat whatever happens to be within reach. But goat yoga? I am fairly certain goats want no part of that urban wellness trend. On their personal dislike list it probably sits somewhere between getting hosed down and that annoying neighborhood kid who keeps stealing their carrots, though still comfortably above the slaughterhouse.

Should goat yoga be banned? Well, duh!

But can we keep Goat Yoga the band? We’ve covered this Brooklyn duo before and they have just released their debut full-length City Love Songs, and it is stacked with catchy indie rock that is hard to resist once you dip your toes in. The record sticks to a clear sonic lane, but critics will probably reach for different labels: alt-pop, jangly power pop, geek rock, indie punk. Any of those will do. Sounds a bit like a scrappier version of Hurry and Local Drags (or if you listen to Everything’s So Big: Pains of Being Pure at Heart). The takeaway is that the songs are hooky, punchy, and immediately likable.

So remember: Goat yoga: questionable lifestyle choice. Goat Yoga: great band.



Add to wantlist: bandcamp

New album: The Darts (US) || Halloween Love Songs

"It is a concept album, but not a themed gimmick"

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Seattle’s The Darts have spent the last decade turning sticky club floors across Europe and the US into late-night garage-punk revivals, and Halloween Love Songs feels like the band bottling that neon-lit electricity. What started as a little joke that the holiday deserved so much more than just Monster Mash, led to this concept album with thirteen spooky tunes.

Nicole Laurenne, The Darts’ bewitching lead singer and songwriter (also known for her Black Viiolet project), explains: ‘Side A is chock full of tasty, candy-colored Halloween kitsch, to be played while trick-or-treating as the sun sets, blasted over a school’s public address system, and headlining every seasonal sing-along. But Side B is the soundtrack for after dark, when the bonfire is raging. It’s for sweaty middle-of-the-night dancing, making out on a bed of empty candy wrappers, and spinning through an all-nighter apocalypse.’

Set to fuzzy guitars and gritty organs (actually, the music is the real hero here), B-movie horror imagery (vampires, ghosts, zombies, devils, the apocalypse) becomes a playful language where desire, darkness, and the thrill of the night blur together into supernatural intimacy (“Every night is Halloween // Some nights you kiss // Some nights you bite”). October 31st is still a while away, but anticipation has rarely been this loud, or this much fun.



Halloween Love Songs—recorded and mixed by Mark Rains—is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Adrenalin Fix Music (EU) and Meow Hiss Music (US). Featuring Nicole Laurenne (vocals, organ, piano, Mellotron, music box, glockenspiel), Rebecca Davidson (guitars), Lindsay Scarey (bass, screams, Mellotron, sound effects), and Rikki Styxx (drums, tambourine, percussion, screams, dog bowls).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Adrenalin Fix || Cobraside 

New EP: Ryan Allen || They’re Coming For Us

Great songwriting as a coping mechanism and survival strategy

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

The always active Ryan Allen is scared and angry and frustrated, yet unlike most of us, he has the talent to channel all those emotions into fuel for writing catchy rock tunes. It’s a coping mechanism masquerading as a creative habit that, honestly, we are jealous of and grateful for. His new three-song EP, They’re Coming For Us, is a solo outing with Robby Miller on board as producer, mixer, and masterer.

The title sums it all up, and it’s not even figurative. The title track is a punk rock anthem that still has that Ryan Allen spark but carries an amount of venom normally reserved for his other project Big Life. This Ugly meanwhile displays his ’90s jangle power pop tendencies, its edge lying more in its message: the struggle of not wanting to believe people can act this rotten. Allen channels his inner Billy Bragg on closer Hurry Up And Wait, no percussion, just a plugged-in guitar and his voice delivering unvarnished truth.

This EP comes unexpected, but its urgency hits hard. Digital EP out now on Setterwind records, with all proceeds going to Democracy Forward.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Geoff Palmer || Last Call At Mickey’s

Good things happen when Geoff Palmer and friends get together

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Geoff Palmer dropping surprise digital singles sounds like a New Year’s resolution for 2026 we can all get behind. Here’s the first one, and it’s a full band effort that feels loose, fun, and slightly unhinged in all the right ways. Last Call at Mickey’s is a tribute to one of Geoff’s favorite bars, which automatically makes it relatable to a solid portion of his fanbase. The gang used the Ramones’ Pet Sematary as their sonic compass, which is pretty random and entirely right for the song. I Ain’t No just oozes fun, the kind of song that sounds like it was recorded in one take because everyone was having too good a time to overthink it.

Geoff Palmer and friends tapping into a well of pop punk inspiration is exactly what it sounds like: fast, catchy, and joyful.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Latest God || Concrete Kids

Australian melodic hardcore punk with a clear heartbeat

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If you have been spinning Ignite, 7 Seconds, Swiz and Dag Nasty lately and wondering where the new bands are carrying that torch, Latest God might have your answer. Concrete Kids taps straight into that strain of passionate melodic hardcore that hits hard but never postures for the sake of it.

This is aggression with a conscience and a chorus. Fast, urgent, and fired up, but never meatheaded. The guitars race, the drums push everything forward, and the vocals cut through with the kind of conviction that makes you want to shout along by the second spin.

Latest God understand that this corner of hardcore lives and dies by hooks as much as velocity. Concrete Kids has both. It rekindles old memories while proving there is still life left in this sound when it is played with heart. Latest God has plenty of that, it shows.

Concrete Kids is out now on vinyl at Life Lair Regret and Shortfuse Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of February 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / 1 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.

California Sun (originally recorded by Joe Jones, popularized by the Ramones) by The Linda Lindas — digital track (Epitaph)

Vitamin C (Can) by Calibro 35 — from Mister Magic 7″ (Record Kicks)

Jump (Van Halen) by Sammy Kay — from Born To Run EP

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The Loose Ends || February 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, 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, and a link to add it to your shelves.

A Pile Fabric Primer || EP
This debut EP was released a couple of months ago. RIYL: a mix of Hüsker Dü, Leatherface, and early Goo Goo Dolls sounds like something you would be into. I am definitely putting this Norwich (UK) duo on my bands-to-watch list.

Michael Des Barres || Kiss or Kill Me b/w I Was Saved in ’64
Rock veteran Michael Des Barres released a glam rock-tinged 7″ single, Kiss or Kill Me, backed by the spoken word track I Was Saved in ’64, via Rum Bar Records, marking his latest return to raw, 70s-inspired rock ‘n’ roll.

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