Sahan Jayasuriya
Don’t Say Please: The Oral History of Die Kreuzen
Feral House (2026)
For those of us who spent the mid-to-late 1980s navigating basement community halls, churches, and loveable, armpit-smelling dive bars, the name Die Kreuzen was a permanent fixture on the punk rock radar. They were the sound of the Midwest underground --too fast for the goths to do their spooky Bela Lugosi "shoo the bats away" interpretive dance, too technical for … Read more
Sealer
Sealer
The Ghost Is Clear Records (2026)
Some bands aim for controlled chaos. Sealer sound like they’re actively trying to lose control and then figuring out how to weaponize that moment right before everything collapses. Their self-titled debut lands somewhere between hardcore, noise rock, and something far less stable, pulling from each without settling into any one comfortably. From the opening seconds of “Seeing/Peeling,” Sealer makes their … Read more
Six Going on Seven
Human Tears
Spartan Records (2026)
Late 90s post hardcore and emo feels impossible to recreate now. That’s not because the sound itself is gone, but because the tension behind it was so specific to that era. Six Going on Seven’s Human Tears, their first full length in roughly twenty-four years, captures that feeling perfectly. Having a wonderful history by having done a split with Hot … Read more
Spillings
Spillings
The Garotte (2026)
Spillings is a minimalist reconfiguration undertaken by two artists whose careers have been about genre deconstruction. The paths of Mathieu Ball and Liam Andrews have been running on parallel tracks, but both have been aiming for a similar endpoint. That is to strip down the heavy, experimental rock form, while at the same time retaining its destabilizing core. With Big … Read more
Sunn 0)))
S/T
Southern Lord (2026)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! THE APEX: SONIC !! ! & EXPERIMENTAL ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! Droning !! Loud !! Slow !! Heavy !! !! Ominous !! Atmospheric !! Glacial !! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ___________ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! / \ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | ( @ ) | !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! \___________/ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! THE CENTER: "MEDITATIVE" & "VISCERAL" !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! EXPERIENCE—THE "EYE" THAT … Read more
Sweat
Tear it on Down
Vitriol (2026)
Tear It On Down is the third record from Sweat and it picks up where the last two left off. It's aggressive hardcore punk, but with a playful groove or swagger that really makes it feel uplifting, even when the content is not. Case in point: "Surveillance State," which rolls kind of like a call-and-response song, except that lead vocalist … Read more
The Arrivals
Payload
Recess (2026)
It's been a short lifetime since the last Arrivals record, Volatile Molotov, but in many ways the new Payload picks up exactly where the last one left off. It straddles the mid-tempo punk spectrum while drawing influence from seemingly all realms of the rock 'n' roll cannon. I'd state that mod, power-pop, Brit Invasion, and even R&B are some of … Read more
The Bug Club
Every Single Muscle
Sub Pop (2026)
I got kind of obsessed with reviewing this record after I heard the first single “Watching The Omnibus” which they released digitally earlier this year. I could probably just write a whole thing about how hard it was to get an advance download of it for review, but I try to keep my reviews positive so I will steer clear … Read more
The Cascadian Divide
To the Sky
Independent (2026)
The Cascadian Divide is a Washington state based melodic skate punk band that formed during the infamous COVID lockdown. Although it started as an experiment, it soon became a passion project for the band members. The band has seen its share of line up changes over the years, but the commitment to maintaining the sound and integrity of the band … Read more
The Crosses
Outlier
Rushmor Records, Spectragram Records, Triple Eye Industries (2026)
There’s always a risk when a band forms out of legacy. Especially one tied to something as influential as Die Kreuzen. Lean too hard on the past and it becomes nostalgia. Push too far away and you lose the thread entirely. On Outlier, The Crosses manage to thread that needle, delivering a debut EP that feels less like a revival … Read more
The Downstrokes
The Furious Hours
Independent (2026)
There is a specific kind of sultry, salty sweat that only happens in a room with low ceilings and a tube amp screaming a warm hum for forgiveness. You can smell the lingering kerosene and the stale beer on The Downstrokes’ latest LP, The Furious Hours, before the needle even hits the groove. It’s the sound of a band that … Read more
The Dumpies
Lub Dub
Dirt Cult (2026)
Ok full disclosure, I sung backups on (allegedly) three of these songs and one song is a cover (albeit a stretch lol) of a song I co-wrote. What can I say tho? I was a fan of The Dumpies from the get go, before we all became very close friends and constant tour mates! Dub music diehards might be a … Read more
The Flyboys
Complete Flyboys 1979-1980
Frontier Records (2026)
The archival hunt for the "missing links" of first-wave California punk usually leads through a trail of grainy handbill Xeroxes and tape traders' overdubbed copies. But with The Flyboys, the story has always been a bit more elegant—and a lot more colourful. Long before they were swept into the gravity of the Hollywood scene, frontman John Curry was already performing … Read more
The Heads
Yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell
Independent (2026)
This record is a sprawling, smoke-covered, raging slab of feedback. After decades of lurking in the Bristol shadows, The Heads haven’t just returned with Yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell; they’ve brought the sound of the walls closing in as fingernails scratch at brick. It’s a dense, suffocating, and majestic mess of a record—a jagged middle finger to the sanitized, algorithm-friendly "psych" scene. I like … Read more
The Library Is On Fire
Degeneration Elegies
The Abyss, Ltd. (2026)
There’s a certain kind of band that never quite fits the moment they arrive in. Sometimes too jagged for one scene, too melodic for another. The Library Is On Fire were one of those bands in the early 2000s, hovering somewhere between indie-punk urgency and power-pop instinct without fully settling into either. On Degeneration Elegies, their first full-length in over … Read more
The S.E.T.
Self Evident Truth
Flatspot Records (2026)
Hardcore doesn’t need reinventing; just needs conviction. On Self Evident Truth, Baltimore’s The S.E.T. come out swinging with a debut EP that’s built on exactly that. It’s got groove, urgency, and a clear sense of purpose. Clocking in at around fifteen minutes, the EP wastes no time establishing its identity. From the opening moments of “This Chain,” it’s all forward … Read more
The Sleeveens
National Anthem
Goner (2026)
National Anthem is the second album from The Sleeveens, a Nashville, TN band fronted by an Irishman. The band play that perfect mix of protopunk and classic rock 'n' roll that's built on a verse/chorus/verse structure and melody without any frills. It's leather jacket music for the common folk. The debut grabbed me by my collar and spun me around … Read more
The Went Wrongs
This Isn't What I Ordered
Transcendental Revolution (2026)
I'm not sure what's happening to me in middle age. I used to find samples clever and a nice change-of-pace technique on albums. But lately I feel like they interrupt instead of compliment what I'm hearing. This Isn't What I Ordered starts off really strong with fast, melodic and personalized punk over the first few songs. Then the sound clips … Read more
