Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs
Pigus Drunkus Maximus (Reissue)
Blind Owl Records (2026)
If rock ’n’ roll ever had a smoky, beer-soaked, throbbing heartbeat, it lives in Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs’ Pigus Drunkus Maximus. Recorded in 1981 but not released until 1987 on Restless Records, the album always felt like a document out of time — lightning caught like fireflies in clumsy hands, then bottled too long. This newly remastered reissue, … Read more
Toys That Kill
Triple Sabotage
Recess (2026)
If you were lucky enough to catch Toys That Kill live last year, you were maybe treated to a set that included classic F.Y.P bangers like “Come Home Smelly” and “Jerkoff”. I made the trip down to Seattle to see them with Off With Their Heads specifically for this reason and was in no way disappointed. I had somehow managed … Read more
Tyler Sonnichsen
The Dead Milkmen
J-Card Press (2026)
When I saw The Dead Milkmen at Toronto’s Diamond Club back in the late 1980s, the floor was a volatile, beautiful mess of colliding subcultures. It was like different species of house flies bumping into one another, wondering what the hell you were doing in the mason jar. You had suburban high school pocket-pen-protector pencil-neck nubile nerds, college radio snobs … Read more
Ultrabomb
The Bridges That We Burn
DC-Jam Records, Virgin (2026)
Ultrabomb just detonated. The Bridges That We Burn isn't some polite "heritage act" victory lap. It smells like a hand-rolled cigarette lit with a blowtorch in a damp Minneapolis alleyway. No reunion uranium glow here—just three lifers who’ve spent their lives in vans and aren’t interested in anything but the friction prediction. The DNA is legendary, but they aren’t coasting … Read more
Uncle Acid and the DeadBeats
Shapes of Midnight
Killer Candy Records (2026)
Stoner rock is one of the most astounding and incredible genres emerging in the rock scene today. It's a global phenomenon with countless bands across the world, plus various subgenres such as desert rock, stoner doom and psychedelic (heavily influenced by the original psychedelic bands of the '60s and '70s). At the forefront of this genre and in the vanguard … Read more
Various Artists
Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young & Pavement (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Independent (2026)
Gary Young wasn’t just a drummer; he was a beautiful, unpredictable glitch poking a hole in the sky where other lovable misfits could enter and leave this universe they’d grace with their presence. While Hendrix kissed the sky, Young merely bit a hole right through it. While Pavement was busy inventing the 1990s slacker blueprint for the masses, Gary was … 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
Various Artists
Tightwire / Canadian Rifle - Nietzsche
Red Scare Industries (2026)
Available in a black and white print gatefold sleeve, this is a 2-band, 6-song split 7". The gate fold is a nice touch to a classic split 7", complete with full lyric sheets. When the needle hits it's cleanly produced pop-punk in the vein of Lookout Records, built on crisp melodies and harmonies. While it's bright and sunny in sound, … Read more
Vial
Hellhound
Trout Hole Records (2026)
I was really into the last Vial record, a quick burst of peppy and pointed brat punk. The early singles off Hellhound lean way more grunge, so I was curious how the band had developed in the past couple of years. And while my very first impressions of "Infected" and "Scorpio Moon" had me thinking of L7 and Nirvana, by … Read more
Wine Lips
TV Dinner
Stomp Records (2026)
ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Leech”, “Semi Detached Furnished Home”, “Strip Club DJ”, “Static On The Radio” Toronto’s garage-psych punks Wine Lips bring us album number five. Aside from the awesomely colourful, off-the-wall humanoid artwork, TV Dinner takes a sharp turn from the sonically trippy toppings of previous entries – particularly 2024’s Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party. Tracks are punchy fuzz-bombs, as … Read more
