Lucy Dacus – Ankles a particularly beautiful song that expresses a carnal craving for intimacy beyond that which can be satisfied by the fantastical daydreams conjured by desire.

The track glimmers instrumentally in an almost cinematic way- the build-up of the particularly artful orchestration pairs directly with the cadence and development of the lyrics… the song is exceptionally strikingly narrative in that it doesn’t hold back from telling a story with just enough details to ensure its relatability. Each line is intentional and explicitly states Dacus’ ideal image of romance…

Dacus reveals her most dear desires and pines openly for simple intimacy with another person, through lyrics that paint beautifully familiar and comforting scenes of domesticity that one cannot be faulted for yearning for. The song is fundamentally a battle between desire and love. There seems to be a built-in conflict within the actual construction of the song that pits the two against each other. The verses stand in favor of fighting against love, while the chorus supports love…

But at its roots, the track is a beautiful testament to internal conflict over one of music’s favorite subjects, love. There are countless songs about love and even ones devoted to the concept of desire, but there is something distinctly honest about “Ankles” that takes it up a notch… an ode to the hopelessly hopeful, and a genius one at that atwoodmagazine

Pynch – The Supermarket  While it’s easy to hear the group as another lot jumping into the fray of traditional rock, they incorporate this natural sense of playfulness that gets the tune to the outskirts of the genre. Not sure which I adore more: the huge melodic hook that operates as the song’s core or the rhythmic bounce that keeps the liveliness in there. But, I do know I can’t stop pressing play, as this rips through and gives me a joyousness that I hope will kick start your day with a big grin austintownhall

Janus 4-14 – Modern Girl paints a vivid picture of a woman navigating the complexities of modern life, combining strength and vulnerability… With its catchy hooks and introspective lyrics, the song explores the inner struggles of a young woman who strives to succeed while grappling with external pressures tempostub

The Tubs – Strange Shortly before founding his jangle quartet the Tubs, Owen Williams poured himself into a very different passion project: a prickly novel inspired by the suicide of his mother, folk singer and writer Charlotte Greig….the market was not as ripe for his style of unsentimental grief as he’d anticipated. Every agent passed on the book, and he did not take the rejection well: “There’s a special kind of humiliation in failing to hawk your big tragedy.”

The light at the end of his spiral of sleepless, Xanax-addicted months came in part from the unexpected success of the Tubs, who were attracting interest beyond the niche corners that still get excited about a new jangle-pop album. After the warm reception to the band’s dourly tuneful 2023 debut Dead Meat, the idea nagged at Williams: Perhaps there might be a back door to repurpose a little bit of the novel that nobody wanted. He found that the songs for the Tubs’ follow-up Cotton Crown came quickly.

Cotton Crown doesn’t shy from the inherent discomfort of the subject matter. That’s the artist’s mother on the album cover, breastfeeding a newborn Williams in a graveyard in a black and white photo originally used for one of her 7″s. The closing song, “Strange,” includes an anecdote about a stranger grabbing Williams’ arm at his mother’s wake and suggesting he could write a song about it, an origin story he appendixes with an apology (“Well, whoever the hell you are/I’m sorry, I guess this is it”)…

The difference between a sad song and a sad novel, of course, is that given their in-and-out nature, sad songs aren’t nearly as suffocating—especially not the way the Tubs’ play them… guitarist George Nicholls and backing vocalist Lan McArdle serve as the sugar and creamer to Williams’ black coffee… It’s not often that sorrow goes down so easily pitchfork

The Laughing Chimes – Mudhouse Mansion  a brave transition… Gone is the fresh, invigorating jangle-pop that caressed the essences of Sarah Records and C86 acts… to be replaced by something more dank, dulcet, and cloying as they dive deep into the decidedly more murky waters of the 80s UK post-punk scene… perhaps the best of the album is heard in Cats Go Car Watching, A Promise To Keep, and the truly superlative standout of the closing Mudhouse Mansion. Here the post-punk clutter is partially diluted to offer the crisp jangle of acts such as The Wake and The Chameleons, who excelled in that mid- to late-80s era when UK post-punk was naturally transforming into the jangly world of guitar-led vibrancy janglepophub

Manic Street Preachers – People Ruin Paintings in which the very act of observation spoils the object being observed (artworks, landscapes, everyone Nicky Wire has ever looked, Medusa-like in the eyes), wraps its misanthropic heart in the melodic warmth of swooning 80s indie pop. It’s music as emotional currency, a transaction carried out through perfectly placed chord changes, subtle electronic textures and brilliant guitar solos…

Few bands get to make their 15th album. Fewer still arrive there with anything meaningful left to say. The Manics, though, have never let the rules apply to them. They’re such students of rock cliche that they’ve become deft at avoiding it — Instead they’re still questioning, searching, perpetually trying to resolve the contradictions in their own existence. Critical Thinking works because it understands exactly what it means to be the Manic Street Preachers in 2025. The dialogue it creates between past and present, between rage and resignation, between Wire’s arch commentary and the warmth of the music that carries it, feels totally vital. These are the conversations only this band can have, because only this band has lived this particular journey.

Back in the beginning (when they were winning), or as close to it as makes no odds at this far a remove, Melody Maker‘s Taylor Parkes noted that “the Manics’ triumph is that, when they could have been the full stop at the end of rock’n’roll, they chose to be a question mark.” Three decades later, they’re still asking questions, still pushing at the boundaries of what they can be, still finding new ways to articulate the experience of living through these strange, disconnected times… Even their despair feels energising.

That’s always been the Manics’ gift — the ability to take alienation, confusion and loss and transform them into something that connects, something that speaks to the heart of human experience and often, most skillfully of all, something that sounds exciting. Critical Thinking does that as well as anything they’ve ever done, shy of The Holy Bible itself. These are the songs of a band who understand exactly who they are, who their audience is, and what it means for us all to grow older while we rage, rage, rage. They remain in conversation with themselves, their history, their fans, and their critics, but most importantly they’re in conversation with the present moment. The Manics were never the full stop at the end of rock and roll. They weren’t even the question mark. They were the ellipsis. There’s more chapters to come superdeluxeedition

Jetstream Pony – Bubblegum Nothingness shambling, melodic indie-pop with an undercurrent of wistful longing… Their sprawling yet edgy guitars continually hit that sweet spot, with boy/girl octave harmonies floating effortlessly above. Lyrically, Bubblegum Nothingnessplays with those fleeting moments of happiness, wrapping its bittersweet sentiments in layers of warm, jangly guitars and a classic power-pop energy backseatmafia

Allo Darlin’ – Tricky Questions Allo Darlin’ are back… I couldn’t wait to get up this morning… hearing them is a refreshing reminder of how great the act were, and now are all over again. You’ll hear an immediate lightness to the song, almost with a muted bit of jangle, all waiting to unfold with the melodic notes of Elizabeth’s voice; I didn’t realize how much I had missed it. I love the way the tune lightly hops and skips its way along down the line, with just a hint of a little playful boogie, delivering a delightful earworm austintownhall

The Perfect English Weather – Caroline of Brunswick Square If there’s a more beautiful slice of indie pop released this year, we’ll eat our ill-fitting cardigan backseatmafia

The Blue Herons – Demon Slayer The Blue Herons does not stop churning out jangle-pop delights indieforbunnies

Destroyer – Hydroplaning of The Edge of The World “God is famous for punishing,” Dan Bejar declares… in a cacophonous assembly of synths, shakers and “ba-la-la-las.” With seconds to spare before reaching the five-minute mark, the song is a surreal aural and narrative banquet. In it, Bejar ponders religion, is mistaken for a Houston Rocket and a priest, expresses his love for the Gun Club and purchases a round of brandy pastemagazine

softsurf – Momentrail

Daydream Twins – Wanderlust sophomore album, unfolds like a fuzzy memory. It blurs the lines between lust and melancholy, devotion and detachment, wrapped in invigorating synths and pulsating bass austinchronicle

Cousines Like Shit – Boring “Boring is the worst word that I know… And if I call you boring…” which leaves the listener to fill the blank but is clearly something you don’t want to be the recipient of. Led by real life cousins Hannah and Laura Breitfuss, this Vienna, Austria duo specialize in detached, danceable post-punk that mixes drony keyboard washes with spiky guitars, disco drumming, pop choruses and heaps of sly, side-eyed attitude…. Musically they are somewhere between Ladytron and Broadcast, but thematically Cousines are much more playful and snarky, like a couple of partygoers who’d rather dissect every attendee than mingle. (In that respect they recall Munich’s Chicks on Speed.)… a record perfect for dancing at angles at inappropriate times. brooklynvegan

Count The Clock – Here Comes The End Multi-instrumentalist Michael Coe and filmmaker Zach Lorkiewicz’s mixed-media project draws from an unusually broad palette. Their fascination with horror films, vintage technology, and space exploration bleeds into the track’s atmosphere, but never overshadows its folk foundations. The production maintains a delicate balance between The Byrds’ melodic clarity and My Bloody Valentine’s textural experimentation bsideguys

Rocket Rules – Add Up All The Chances as poppy as shoegaze can get and has indie club crowd pleaser written all over it recordsilike

Persica 3 – Hold On a lo-fi release that is so beautiful and enchanting that the listening experience includes the occasional tingle ache… chanteuse pop… drifts wistfully within the apposite realms of Minnie Riperton’s 60s girl-pop and The Velvet Underground’s spectral under-production in a spurious mixture of aural textures and sounds that is likely to forever remain the unique realm of Persica 3 janglepophub

Dean Wareham – You Were The Ones I Had To Betray one of those special songs that resonates with us from the opening notes. What is it? The warm, jangling guitars, the lyrics, the weathered vocals, and perhaps the overall vibe. Of course we would like it no matter who the artist is, but we were not surprised that it is the work of Dean Wareham. He has thrilled us over the years in Galaxie 500, Luna, Dean and Britta, and his solo work whenyoumotoraway

The Gentle Spring – Looking Back At The World a lovely instant classic of achingly perfect bittersweet indie pop. We are mature enough (finally, and just barely) to appreciate the nuanced lyricism and deft phrasing, but our perennially adolescent hearts dwell shamelessly on the emotional highs and lows. Quiet, but vibrant, it is near flawless and will keep our spirits high until our own spring arrives whenyoumotoraway

Robert Forster – Strawberries Pondering the moral and ethical ramifications of greedily consuming the last strawberry in the bowl, Forster’s tone is light and playful, cheeky and jaunty in this little missive with more bounce than a beach ball. backseatmafia

The Pennys – Say Something brings together Mike Ramos (Flowertown, Tony Jay, Cindy) and Ray Serephin (R.E. Seraphin, Talkies, Glitz). The first single finds a middle ground between the two songwriters’ styles; soft, but not as lost in the haze as Ramos often finds himself, pop-strewn, but not as brightly hued as Seraphin’s usual gems. Detailing the slow dissolution of a relationship, the song pines, streaked with smudged tears and unhurried jangles ravensingstheblues

Sharp Pins – With A Girl Like Mine What kind of pin is not sharp? Bowling pins and clothespins, I guess. Usually, the point of a pin is the be sharp stereogum

Tugboat Captain – Dog Tale Drawing its title from the canine-themed cocktails at London’s Cavendish Arms, this serene song with a plaintive and comforting melody is primed with an ingenuous and witty rhyming of dog breeds. It’s a glorious ode to the venue where singer Sox previously worked and its influence on the band’s development. unfurling into an arms linking anthem godisinthetvzine

Mythical Motors – Finer Thrills It only takes two seconds for the swing of this track to immediately drop right into your lap, hitting you with these muted jangles; they have a sharpness but cling to their melodic center. For me, it’s the earnestness of the vocals throughout the chorus that’s absolutely charming; they have this feathered lightness, but still feel like they’re punching through the roof…save the moments when they’re pulled back to mix in swirls of warmth austintownhall

Laundromat Chicks – Secrets Indebted to the “Dunedin Sound” of the ‘80s – which was created and curated by bands like The Chills, The Clean, and The Dead C – Laundromat Chicks embody the shimmering jangle-pop aesthetic of that scene but inject their own swaggering humor and a sense of romanticism into the music.

“Secrets”, is a jangling, starry-eyed breeze of a song, guitars sparkling in the morning light and voices tumbling together in a cascade of sound. Sounding like a gem from some lost C-86 addendum, the track reflects the radiance of multiple sunbursts and offers a wistful look at the consequences of affection.

“‘Secrets’ is less about the things people keep from each other, more about the things we take for granted about another person,” explains songwriter and founder Tobias Hammermüller. “It’s very obviously a love song and very obviously inspired by the Field Mice.” beatsperminute

The Royal Landscaping Society – When There’s Nothing Left To Look Forward To Spanish band… sound as much like a Sarah Records band as legally allowed… Elegant? Yes. Robust and melodic? Yeah, that too apessimistisneverdisappointed

Ginnels – Like Johnny Thunders Said may not be punk in sound, but Mark Chester knows his classics. A melancholic wandering song… only gets better with the reference “Cause really, as Johnny Thunders said, you can’t put your arms around a memory” addtowantlist

Pale Lights – Girl On A Bridge a self-titled album that is purported to be their last… Cruising in luxurious fashion on the luscious, languid sophistication of Sutton’s vocals and the harmonies/backing vocals provided by Suzanne Nienaber… the Pale Lights sidle off our radars with typical grace, beauty and as little fuss as possible janglepophub

Moongazing And Her – We Pop Your Party elements of Sarah Records, Rock N Roll and Surf Pop…. resulting in a fun, riotous and poppy affair that could well be the anthem of gatecrashers everywhere. Now where is my invite? recordsilike

The Double Diamond Club – The Double Diamond Club Need something nifty and frisky to brighten the grey, snow sodden skies… Look no further. Double Diamond Club is a hook packed, sun drenched, toe tapping, instant electro punk pop classic repeatfanzine

The original Double Diamond Club were a renowned vocal duo that dominated the South Wales club scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hailed (or maybe that should be mythologised?) as the greatest club singing duo in Caerphilly and surrounding areas, they captivated audiences across the valleys and beyond, playing to sell-out crowds at working men’s and social clubs. Their unique blend of tight harmonies and high-energy performances made them household names in the local club circuit, earning them a loyal fanbase and a reputation for putting on electrifying shows.

After a decade of success and excess, the duo’s remarkable run came to a dramatic end. Personal and artistic differences led to their split, marking the close of a golden era in Welsh club entertainment. Thanks to an unlikely collaboration the legend of ‘the club’ has been revived by Welsh ‘Indie Pop royalty’, Helen Love, and the unofficial ‘voice of the Rhondda Valleys,’ John MOuse louderthanwar

Sam George – Age Is On My Side manages to artistically convey the experiences of working in a call centre and the hardships that come with the job tempomagazine

I Was A King – Lighthouse Norman Blake-produced reissue single… With two decades of collaboration and seven albums behind them, Anne Lise Frøkedal and Frode Strømstad compile I Was A King’s highlights onto new vinyl release clickrollboom

Sacred Paws – Turn Me Down melodic, rhythmically inventive, and emotionally resonant. It’s an album that feels effortless but is full of depth, each song revealing new textures with every listen. There’s a sense of maturity here, a feeling that they’ve refined their craft while holding onto the energy and charm that made them stand out in the first place. Five years was a long wait, but Jump Into Life proves it was time well spent backseatmafia

Stereolab – Aerial Troubles Who saw this one coming? Until a week ago, even though Stereolab have been touring together again for six years, I never thought new Stereolab music was a possibility. It seemed enough just to have Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier on stage together (albeit at complete opposite ends of the stage). But here we are and isn’t “Aerial Troubles” great! Maybe even more than Pulp, this is the Stereolab we remember, specifically the poppier version of the band that gave us “Miss Modular,” “Captain Easychord,” and “Percolator.” It’s tightly packed with hypnotic grooves, call-and-response vocals and harmonies, freeze-dried disco guitar riffs, and of course loads of vintage keyboards and bleepy-bloopy analogue synths brooklynvegan

Horsegirl – Frontrunner When Horsegirl released their debut album Versions of Modern Performance in 2022, they occupied a niche space in indie rock pioneered by bands like Sonic Youth… Over distorted riffs and half-bored melodies, Horsegirl put their own spin on the nineties rock revival, their DIY feel a result of their days as a garage band in Chicago… Phonetics On and On is a departure from the Horsegirl of 2022—the band has reduced its scale, forming a sound that’s intentionally stripped down. Experimenting with a “less is more” mindset, there’s so much they can accomplish with so much less… like trading their normal drumsticks for brushes on the track “Frontrunner.” The band plays around with a purposeful emptiness, reminiscent of their favorite minimalist groups like Young Marble Giants, and with the kind of whimsical quality of a Belle and Sebastian or Camera Obscura post-trash

Vein Blue – Brand New The Bandcamp release page for this Dandelion EP is earmarked by the typically un-surreptitious text: “last ep. 🙂 Thank you for the support—vein blue.” Now I cannot be certain, as bands tend to be everything but boringly neurotypical, but this could suggest that after nearly a decade of releasing wonderful EPs, this could be their last? If it is… this release simply typifies the classy beauty that their ever-changing sound has always been tethered to janglepophub

Voiden – Du är vad du äter This EP, which translates as Four Songs With Drum Machine, is the bands debut and it’s impressive to say the least. The band describe their music as “sounds like Bristol 1989 and lyrics like Östersund 2006”… The vocals are catchy being strong with it, whilst the translated words hint at tales of melancholia. I cannot wait to hear more recordsilike

Salt Lake Alley – Always Out Of Time The attention grabbing blurb accompanying Salt Lake Alley’s new single states that Always Out of Time “captures the band’s deep love for classic indie pop, drawing inspiration from the likes of Felt, Orange Juice, Teenage Fanclub, and The Wedding Present”. Well there’s a few bands there that don’t sound like each other but I do hear elements of a couple of them recordsilike

Comet Gain – Beat Of The Veins it’s been nearly 6 years since the last proper Comet Gain LP… and it’s got that same sort of ramshackle pop substance, albeit with the benefits of modern recording. You get the familiarity at the start, as the group have always flirted with found spoken samples, and as soon as it drops out the stomp begins, as overlapping vocals smash at your speakers austintownhall

Pearl Charles – Middle Of The Night sees Pearl drive her Chevy to the FM rock levy and confidently cast her net to land the sort of whopper that – in another time would be sitting next to Linda Ronstadt’s Spotify page with an eight figure number right beside it peterpaphides

Exploding Flowers – Across A Sea a song that checks all the boxes of a timeless guitar pop classic… Watermelon/Peacock won’t shatter the ground beneath your feet, but it will make you grateful to be around to experience it addtowantlist