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Nine Pound Hammer

Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country
Reptilian Records (2026)

For nearly forty years, Nine Pound Hammer have occupied a strange corner of American music that very few bands have ever managed to touch. They're too loud for traditional country, too country for most punk bands, too dirty for radio rock, and frankly too stubborn to care where anyone thinks they belong. That's exactly why Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country … Read more

Fuming Mouth

The Ringing Bell
Triple B (2026)

There are plenty of bands capable of writing crushing death metal. There are plenty of bands capable of writing punishing hardcore. Very few can occupy both worlds without sounding like they're simply alternating between genres. Fuming Mouth have spent years refining that balance, and The Ringing Bell feels like the moment where every piece of their identity locks together. Anyone … Read more

Time Thieves

Come Home/If You Survive Extended Edition
Independent (2026)

Time Thieves, of Chicago, IL, bill themselves as power pop in the vein of The Rentals or Fountains of Wayn or Weezer in their bio and they double down on that with the smooth as silk, uplifting melody of "Cover Your Eyes," the first song on their Come Home/If You Survive Extended Edition LP that arrived on my doorstep, literally … Read more

The Mekons

Horror & Horrorble (The Mekons Vs. Tony Maimone In Dub Conference)
Fire Records (2026)

When Horror dropped last year, it was well worth the privileged price of entering the collected world of The Mekons. I was lucky enough to find their first LP—"The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen"—in a thrift store many blood moons ago. This began my foray into the ever-changing world of The Mekons and their many ever-changing forays into the … Read more

Amy Bell

Want Me EP
Warren Records (2026)

Amy Bell is a singer songwriter from Yorkshire, England. A self-taught musician at 21 years old, she has begun to make a name for herself and often plays at charity events and local festivals. Known for her unusual voice, this indie artist released her second EP, titled Want Me, on June 26th, 2026 on Warren Records. This 4 song collection … Read more

House Of All

Inklings
Tiny Global Productions (2026)

Six blokes who survived the Mark E. Smith sausage-squeezing meat grinder, plus a beautiful Blue Orchid for good measure. But if you’re turning up to Inklings expecting some pathetic karaoke penny on the eyes wake, you’re completely barking up the wrong great Deku tree. Not a tribute act. It’s a cash-in-hand inheritance from a filthy-rich uncle… let's call him Uncle … Read more

If I Die Today

I Felt Nothing
Independent (2026)

Sometimes post-hardcore stops feeling emotional and just becomes noise for the sake of noise. If I Die Today understands that line better than most bands operating in this space. Their newest albume, I Felt Nothing is undeniably aggressive, messy, loud, and volatile, but underneath all the abrasion is a band with a very clear sense of purpose. This Northern Italian … Read more

Eddy Current Suppression Ring

In Light Of Recent Events
Suppression Records (2026)

Australian Neo-proto-punk garagerockers ECSR released 11 new songs in May without much, if any, fanfare and not as some marketing or PR stunt but because they seem to actually give zero fucks. If anything they are making a bit of effort to curb their success which includes multiple award nominations on their home turf including the Australian Music Prize for … Read more

Swell Maps

C21
Tiny Global Productions (2026)

This isn't a hologram dancing, marionette corpse, tap-dancing nostalgia trip. It’s a jagged pill, a necessary taser jolt. Jowe Head-- one of the sole surviving architects of the original Solihull Syndicate -- just dropped a record handling legacy like a hot, glowing BTU ember. An organ grinder’s monkey's comeback? Completely antithetical to reality, this is a well-orchestrated calculation of intelligent … Read more

Silver Proof

Even If It Hurts
Independent (2026)

Some pop punk records feel made for playlists and algorithms. They’re polished into oblivion, emotionally vague, and afraid to get messy. Silver Proof clearly didn’t get that memo. The Buffalo trio’s debut full length, Even If It Hurts, leans heavily into the emotional core of early 2010s emo pop and melody while still sounding energized rather than nostalgic. Across the … Read more

Lice (Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman)

Vol. 4: Miami Lice
Rhymesayers (2026)

This EP released kind of suddenly, back in March, right before a bunch of stuff hit the fan in my life outside of SPB. Which means the EP felt sudden, but this review has been stewing for nearly three months with a lot of repeat listening along the journey. At eight songs in length, it's short but sweet, and as … Read more

Various Artists

There Is No Sun - A Tribute To Jay Reatard
Sonic Church (2026)

The late, great Jay Reatard was a prolific master of rock n roll gems. Whether it be with his earlier budget-punk act of his namesake, Reatards, his synth-punk projects Lost Sounds and Angry Angles, or his solo material as Jay Reatard, Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. was an incredible songwriter. Those aforementioned bands are just a smattering of units he’s been … Read more

The Dwarves

Jenkem
Greedy, MVD (2026)

The Dwarves first cut me off on my path with their 1986 garage-rock debut, Horror Stories, on Voxx Records. Been a fan since. Over the forty years they've been around, some albums hit, some didn't connect as much. Their last main outing, Concept Album, bloated into a 26-song deluxe CD. Jenkem returns to familiar territory: 14 tracks screaming by in … Read more

David J

Tracks From the Attic Revisited
Independent Project Records (2026)

Sometimes musical circles take decades to close. Just ask Fleur De Lys and their catchy cover of The Who’s '60s freakbeat rarity, "Circles." For those of us digging through dusty crates at the margins of post-punk, a first introduction to mid-century mystic Eden Ahbez didn't come from a Nat King Cole hit. It came straight from the liner notes of … Read more

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