10.10.2026-AIR WAVES The Dance (Fire,2022)

 

INDIE POP

   ‘The Dance’  is anything but an over-confected studio-sprawl -like all Air Waves music it’s at root beautifully simple, instantly accessible and entirely addictive. Nicole released their first independent album in 2009 under the Air Waves moniker, a name inspired by a Guided By Voices song -subsequent albums like 2010’s ‘Dungeon Dots’ (which featured a guest vocal from fellow Brooklynite Sharon Van Etten), 2015’s ‘Parting Glances’  and 2017’s stunning ‘Warrior’  crystallised Schneit’s vision of loose-but-focused, convivial but startling pop. ‘The Dance’ continues that trajectory but finds Schneit opening up their music to a more fluid sense of space and movement, while keeping their lyrical eye between the personal and the political, from the specific to the universal with a haiku-like directness and suggestion. ‘Wait’  explores issues with focusing, something rooted in their childhood alongside the need to not overdo anything and appreciating the simplicity within something.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/17zsarbl

07.10.2026-UNDERGROUND YOUTH Mademoiselle (Not On Label,2010)

 

POST-PUNK/SHOEGAZE

   The Underground Youth are something of a musical enigma. This Manchester four-piece have been collectively creating a heady blend of shoegaze, post-punk and psych-rock with ease since 2008 to produce an overall sound so hypnotically mesmerising that I'm constantly floored every single time that I hear them. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/if61noow

04.10.2026-DON DIABLO Future (Hexagon,2018)

 

ELECTRONIC

   It's a beautiful album with which to welcome the summer, and if you need a little sunshine in your life, this LP should do the trick.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/nknfq8bm

01.10.2026-ZHEANI The Spiritual Meat Grinder (Access,2023)

 

ELECTRONIC

   Born in the isolated town of Wallaville, Queensland, Zheani Sparkes debuted with the 2018 EP ‘Eight’, where she recounted stories of growing up in poverty and foster care – while also revisiting a formative experience in the confusing and shadowy world of Hollywood. Her music was dark and desolate, a showcase of her signature fairy-trap-rap screaming vocals and “post-human” aesthetic.

   And now, Zheani has reached a different space with ‘The Spiritual Meat Grinder’. It’s her first project released after her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis – which she says has been “empowering” – and is also her most intentional. Both the contents and the sonics of this 9-track EP are lighter and more fun, playing like a gratifying breakthrough moment in a therapy session. It’s a reprieve from the years of trials and adversity, as she describes it, and a moment of calm in the hero’s journey.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/j77hju0g

28.09.2026-GASLIGHT ANTHEM American Slang (SideOneDummy,2010)

 

HEARTLAND ROCK

   On American Slang, their third album proper, the sources they pull their sound from are clear enough. It's hearts on sleeves time, so the first shelf contains Tom Petty's guitar tones, the second the attitude and speed from The Clash, and the third holds the stoic earnest nature of Pearl Jam. It's a composite that works so well that it's almost eerie. 'American Slang' is a perfect single, beat-driven, with a crystal clear chiming riff. Brian Fallon's lyrics are heartfelt but satisfyingly vague. "They cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive"... if that doesn't summon up quasi-historical inner murmurings from men of a certain age, you should reach over and check their pulse. It's an opening track that few bands could exceed with a better song, and to be fair, it's best to start strong and let the others bask in the afterglow of a that might well be the 'Don't Stop Believin' of 2029. Even if it is all downhill from there, it's still a sweet ride.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/va4epj0l

25.09.2026-SMITH WESTERNS Soft Will (Mom+Pop Music, 2013)

 

INDIE ROCK

   What does a buzz band do when the buzz starts to burn off? On 2011’s breakout Dye It Blonde, Smith Westerns boned-up their loose-jointed garage pop into a dewy amalgamation of ’70s psych-rock and ’90s brit-pop. Siphoning from T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, Galaxie 500, and Oasis, the then-trio served up an easy-to-swallow helping of slacker glam. After a whirlwind of touring, recording, and generally being a band for the first time, Smith Westerns saw the opportunity to reposition themselves on their third LP Soft Will. They’ve returned to Chicago, where they now claim full-time residence. They’ve watched their friends move on from school to professional jobs. Maybe they’ve seen a few move out of their lives altogether. There’s nothing like extensive touring to highlight the fragility of human relationships. Dye It Blonde used snark and sheen to outline desire; Soft Will threads the fear of loss.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/x77x35pj

22.09.2026-FREDRIK Flora (The Kora Records,2011)

 

INDIE / ALTERNATIVE ROCK

   The third album by the Swedish band Fredrik is cut from same cloth as Trilogi, their beguiling second release. They like finely textured guitars and electronics, quasi-classical embellishments, miniature clockwork percussion, and windy vocals placed high in the mix. Flora definitely has that Fredrik feel, which is like a Scandinavian Radiohead, or the Notwist at their duskiest.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/783g9he5