Prism Shores – I Didn’t Mean To Change My Mind triangulates the midpoint between Pavement and Teenage Fanclub… It’s so rich with harmony and texture, and Jack MacKenzie sings with a half-spoken detachment that hits just right. No wheels reinvented here, but dang, this band does it right stereogum

Special Friend – Breakfast a simple yet utterly joyfully infectious track about “short attention spans, hungry cats, losing your keys, & forgetting why you walked into a store.” There’s a blend of acts like Stereolab with a more raw garage rock and jangle pop charm that doesn’t hide behind any tricks, instead, delivering devilish charm with wicked catchy hooks that feel readymade to be blasted all summer long. Over breakfast of course. weallwantsomeone.org

MEMORIALS – Dropped Down The Well Electrelane frontwoman Verity Susman and Wire guitarist Matthew Simms… twist their influences into their own unmistakable sound. Imagine Nico singing with Can, produced by David Axelrod, and you’re somewhere in the right ballpark. The record draws inspiration from a wide range of music, including folk, dub, post punk, experimental tape music, 60s soul, garage rock, 70s spiritual jazz, and Canterbury prog… “Dropped Down The Well” is the fourth single…a synth-drenched, pulsating, dark anthem primed for haunting dance parties and dimly-lit rooms. There is a sonic conflict at play between the haunting tones and danceability of this record, a battle between up-tempo swings and the eerie vocals glidemag

Lande Hekt – Lucky Now Her third long-player is loaded with shimmering janglepop indebted to Flying Nun kiwi pop, Heavenly, The Pastels, Dolly Mixture, and other music you could call “twee,” which also matches Lande’s cardigan-clad style on the album’s artwork. That word is generally used as a pejorative, but Lucky Now is the best kind of twee — full of fantastic songs and confident performances that are winsome and thensome. Lande made the album with producer Matthew Simms of MEMORIALS, who really nails the sound here — keeping her voice, harmonies, and melodies at the center, while the instrumentation remains appropriately sweet but not without muscle and moments of swirling atmosphere. It would be hard to make a bad record with songs like “Favourite Pair of Shoes,” “A Million Broken Hearts,” “My Imaginary Friend,” and the soaring title track. With Lucky Now, Lande is on par with The Beths and Alvvays

Heavenly – Skep Wax the first Heavenly album in 30 years, but the members have been busy with other projects — together and separately — for much of the intervening years. There is much that is amazing, even magical, in the album. Instead of a nostalgia trip or a tentative venture to shake of the rust, Highway to Heavenly is manifestly of a band hitting full stride as if several album into a career on a sharp ascent. The performances are energetic and assured, the vocals by Amelia and Cathy are sweet and sassy, and there is strong thematic sense of clear-eyed perspective and wry humor. This is a band that can laugh at you, and laugh at themselves and their foibles even harder. whenyoumotoraway

Then there’s “Skep Wax” — also the name of Amelia and Rob’s label — which celebrates the joy of music itself: “Songs take you unexpected ways / And break your heart on every single day… Tick tock, twelve o’clock / No time for sleep / When there is still more music to be heard.” Highway to Heavenly isn’t Remember When. It’s a brand-new, wonderful chapter. brooklynvegan

Natalie Jane Hill – I Thought Love Meant while there is an undoubted clarity within the lush yet understated arrangement and Natalie Jane Hill’s delivery, the insight here is that no such realisation could ever be reached. Love cannot be defined or explained away, even appears to actively resist such attempts. Like an apparition shimmering on the edge of your vision which shifts should you attempt to look at it directly. Love is a mystery. That’s the conclusion Hill offers with Hopeful Woman. It will grow bigger and smaller according to rules beyond your understanding. Accepting this fact is the only path to being okay varioussmallflames

Iron & Wine – In Your Ocean a reminder of Sam Beam’s stirring songwriting prowess and how he has always been capable of wringing new sentiments and ideas out of his tried-and-true indie-folk milieu… Across these ten songs, Beam explores romance’s well-documented dichotomy of pleasure and pain, but the act of listening to the music itself is pure pleasure pastemagazine

Voxtrot – Fighting Back Behold the 2000s, a wild time when just about anyone could post on Blogger and thrust a young band to sudden, often fleeting success… Voxtrot are an exemplary case: The Austin-based indie-pop band lived a whole life between 2005 and 2010. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ramesh Srivastava had gone off to college in Scotland and brought back UK influences that were still trendy in the wake of Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura: the Smiths, Orange Juice, the C86 tape, Sarah Records. They became blog-rock darlings for two self-released EPs that revved up the cuddles with dance-punk fun and sounded like they were recorded by homunculi inside a flannel-lined shoebox. The peak-twee EPs are redolent of their moment in micro-history but also transcend it, standing up as classics of their kind. I love them so much.

Then, Voxtrot was snapped up by a subsidiary of Beggars Group, a big professional label. They weren’t ready. Their 2007 self-titled debut album has a couple of great songs where they dare to be Coldplay, highlighting Srivastava’s modestly ravishing singing, but overall, it sounds tentative and uncertain. The record underperformed and the blogs moved on. In 2010, the band called it quits… The world that greets their second record, Dreamers in Exile, can be even crueler, with the human messiness of the 2000s mp3 blogs now replaced by data-driven, automated gatekeeping. But if we can briefly put aside the violent death throes of civil society, and speak only of music, there are ways that it’s a kinder world, too.

We live in times that are more relaxed about categories, for example—a change the band embraces on Dreamers in Exile, which mixes the old Smiths-y sound with more classic rock, contemporary pop, and country. Times when indie rock doesn’t shy away from politics, where a lyric like, “They judge the brown skin like birth was my sin,” as Srivastava sings on the dancefloor SOS of “Another Fire,” fits more comfortably within the genre. Times when a gay man from Texas needn’t rely on ambiguous pronouns and discreet interviews to court a broad audience.

Against this backdrop, the most striking thing about Dreamers in Exile is its liberated vitality. It’s a cathartic comeback, less coy than their first run, more convulsive and convicted… There’s something unfathomable about the idea of a fully grown-up Voxtrot, a world-collapsing paradox that these achingly ingenuous songs avoid. “I still wrestle with the vices of a teenage punk,” Srivastava admits on the anthemic disco-rock single “Fighting Back.” While the candor of the lyrics is new, the tone is the same: He still taps into the urgency and grandeur of a freshman-year diary. His long, spiraling sentences look unsingable on the page, but he can stretch them as tight as a trampoline and bounce lighter than air. Seldom does a mature comeback sound so much like a big-dreaming debut. But perhaps that’s what this is: their first album-length statement of what they want, not what they desperately hoped others wanted. pitchfork

Motorists – Frogman started as a real memory Fahner had about a scuba diver surfacing from the water on Vancouver Island to return a fishing lure he had snagged. From there it turned into something bigger about freedom, escape, and suddenly losing something without warning thefirenote

Fort Not – Stationary If we were to present a seminar on guitar pop, one of our featured bands would be Sweden’s Fort Not. We loved their two previous albums and still play them regularly… The song is about being stuck, but nothing about the execution says anything other than perfect, classic indie pop whenyoumotoraway

Salt Lake Alley – Still We Carry On Like Sheep addresses social passivity through a lens of driving, insistent pop bigtakeover

DayDream – Railcard a perfect indicator of the dreamy Bacharach pop that Railcard have embraced and reinvented. Rachel Love’s vocal sounds as pure as it did in Dolly Mixture. The long-overdue reassessment of that pioneering all-girl pop band is a welcome backdrop to this new work godisinthetvzine

Sugarbeets – Dreaming w/out you They describe their style as “pop essentialist”, seeking to “capture the essence of pop music via a timeless sound.” They’ve succeeded: The dreaminess of “Dreaming w/out You” could fit in with the hippie crowd of the 60s, the indie scene of the 90s, or the hipsters of the 2010s… while the sound of the new single feels bright, the lyrics are anything but, clapping back at a bad lover who has no place in the dream anymore. The vibe feels very Lesley Gore, “It’s My Party”, another timeless track. start-track

Rec Centre – Sadie If you keep up with music in Canada, specifically music media, you might have stumbled across Alex Hudson, who is the lovely editor-in-chief of Exclaim! Accordingly, Alex is an active part of music conversations across the country as a fellow Polaris Music Award juror. However, what many don’t realize is that he has been actively making music under the name Rec Centre for over a decade and half! 

If you take a look through Rec Centre’s catalogue, you will find plenty of growth and development in the project from the early bedroom recordings in Long Weekend! (2010) and Times a Billion (2013) to this latest album: Squash. As an album and in spite of its naming after the sport (not the vegetable!), Squash germinated out vulnerable reflections that came at time where Hudson experienced the death of someone who had been close to him. This kicked off the personal working-through the confusion and disorientation such an event brings about. Over time, the tone of the record shifted over to a celebration of life and all its delicate minutiae by embracing the most mundane of activities and experiences cupsncakespod

Hannah Lew – Another Twilight Lew’s self-titled debut is one of those albums that could easily be a greatest hits, with nine irresistible, single-worthy tracks all saturated with neon-lit heartbreak guardian

Darksoft – Constant Change Rarely can a person sympathize with a musician just by glancing at an album’s tracklist, but here we are, feeling touched by song titles from Darksoft’s new album. “Rinse and Repeat.” “Same Ol Same Ol.” “No News Is Good News.” Been there, pal.

These are the types of sentiments that comprise Everydayness, the Portland, Maine artist’s eighth record. “It’s rooted in physical reality, it’s nothing new, it’s repetitive, it’s more of the same, and it’s super day-to-day,” Darksoft says of the album. “I literally got the name from a shampoo bottle.”

In that search for the unremarkable, Darksoft strikes cathartic gold, casting cliches and a quickly waning rise-and-grind attitude against a backdrop of glimmering dream-rock. It’s a validation of perpetual exhaustion and numbness, but also a trail of breadcrumbs towards a more mindful existence…

But the strength of Everydayness is that it doesn’t preach. Instead, the album offers listeners whichever they need more: A heavy sigh, or a starting point for seeing their days differently. vanyaland

Sculpture Club – The Every Boy begins with a guitar daughter of the sounds of Johnny Marr and Roddy Frame to which the main melodic line is left while the voice of frontman Chaz Costello with suffering traces a fragile and introverted youthful figure, a kind of boy similar to “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side” by the Smiths confirming that certain moods persist generation after generation indieforbunnies

Kim Gordon – NOT TODAY Carried quickly along by a relentless, melodic beat and some blistering guitar, Gordon’s voice just oozes warmth, character, and confidence. This is the way to do it godisinthetvzine

rocket rules – Chapel St Jangly guitars, layered electronics, shimmering vocals, and elegant melodies make for a captivating and hypnotic listening experience addtowantlist

Makthavaskan – Pity Party It just keeps going like an unstoppable force and never ceases until it collapses, exhausted at the end, along with the band I’m guessing nordicmusicentral

Femcels – He Needs Me euphoric and depressive, sometimes ironic but mostly sincere, often high-tempo, and all delivered with wired, unvarnished vocals. In that sense, it is 80s and 90s twee reincarnate; move past their band’s shitposty name and you’ll find that Rowan Miles and Gabriella Turton have a lot to offer when it comes to exploring the chills and thrills of young womanhood in 2020s London guardian

The Blue Herons – Willow The transatlantic duo of Andy Jossi in Switzerland and Gretchen DeVault in the United States have been building their sound since 2020.Their work sits comfortably between jangle pop and dreampop, with lines of comparison being drawn between The Sundays and Alvvays among others…

Knowing that ‘Willow’ was written and recorded remotely across continents only adds to its appeal. There is a sense of conversation embedded in the arrangement, ideas passed back and forth until they settle into something cohesive and emotionally direct. As a first taste of Demon Slayer, it suggests an album built on trust and intuition, where atmosphere serves the song rather than swallowing it whole staticsoundsclub

Lande Hekt – My Imaginary Friend There’s a confidence across Lucky Now…‘My Imaginary Friend’ stands out narratively, its charm rooted in story rather than sonic shift, a nod towards Sarah Records lineage without slipping into pastiche.

Lucky Now won’t convert people who distrust this kind of music on principle. But for those attuned to indie pop’s frequencies, it offers something much better than merely adding to the collection. There’s a genuine ease here, and an honesty that doesn’t seek applause godisinthetvzine

The Loft – Campervan The Loft released their debut album, Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same, last year, which would be normal enough, if it hadn’t happened 40 years after the band infamously split up mid-set at the Hammersmith Palais. Back then the band were at the vanguard of the alternative-scene, defining the sound of the Creation label and arguably the entire genre we call indie. While forty years downtime will inevitably have an effect on a band’s momentum, Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same still felt like a breakout moment for The Loft, one which saw them out on the road, and lead naturally to them getting back into the studio once more, with guitarist and co-songwriter Andy Strickland noting, “it’s a real privilege to still be able to get together and do this”. The result is their upcoming second album Badges, recorded in Hackney with producer Sean Read and due out at the start of May.

A song writ large with wanderlust, Campervan seems to find vocalist Pete Astor daydreaming of a life on the road, planning a hypothetical escape from the drudge of the everyday, “when I’m dreaming of escape, you’re the perfect plan”. That sense of perceived freedom is married to a song that The Loft at their leanest and most direct, all bassy strut, and lithe meandering lead-guitar behind Pete’s wistful vocals. While initially the plans feel specific and relatively concrete, “we can go to Montenegro, whatever feels right, drive to the Highlands and get high”, as the song trundles on like the titular vehicle, the open road seems to fade from view, and the reality he doesn’t even have a van becomes clear, “van life for me, one day I’ll be free. Adventure calls, next year for sure“. Ultimately perhaps the song is about the dreams that we never follow through on, our tendency to romanticise the decisions we don’t take every day of our lives, maybe it’ll happen one year, The Loft will quit their jobs and hit the open road, for now it’s just a nice thought to keep them company when the office calls fortherabbits

Club 8 – Daydreams has nods to Belle and Sebastian, more noticeable if you’re feeling sinister, but also The Go-Betweens with that reference to Streets of Your Town – not just in the lyrics, but also the bright and breezy arrangement that looks to both C86 and jangle pop for its groove analogue trash

Carla J Easton – Oh Yeah There’s a shimmering jangle pop quality to the track, which was co-written with her Poster Paints bandmate Simon Liddell. It serves as the opening track of the album, kicking things off with a bright-minded sense of endless summer possibilities and an uplifting feeling of hope weallwantsomeone

Guided By Voices – We Outlast Them All Despite not performing in over two years, Guided by Voices continues to release albums at a fast pace, with their 44th set to come out in May. “We Outlast Them All” appears to respond to rumors of their breakup, presenting a challenge to others. “We refuse to fall,” Robert Pollard sings. “Standing firm and thick of skull / Knocking harder-headed pricks up against the bricks / Of the playground wall.” Pollard claims the song isn’t about them, but regardless of the subject, “We Outlast Them All” remains a memorable GBV rock song. brooklynvegan

Endearments – Marianne sees the band balancing introspective, heart worn on sleeve-driven lyrics and a cinematic sound. Seemingly nodding at some of the great 80s movie soundtrack tunes, like Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Think About Me” and Psychedelic Furs’ “Pretty In Pink,” An Always Open Door‘s latest single contends with long-distance longing, mixed messages and the possibility that your feelings and investment may be unfulfilled — or worse, unrequited joyofviolentmovement

Lana Del Rey – White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter pushes into decidedly murkier Gothic territory… it’s perhaps the creepiest song to feature a refrain centred around the words “whoopsie-daisy, yoo-hoo” thequietus

Cindy – Procession one of those bands that I occasionally forget about. That sounds horrible to say as I really like their music, leader Karina Gill is a fantastic songwriter, but the Bay Area is stuffed with so many excellent indie rock/pop bands that it’s really hard to keep up… this new single… is lovely. It has a beautiful swing to it, part doo wop and part fog pop (not my term but I like it) with a swaying piano and some light horns near the end daggerzine

Alan Sparhawk – JCMF I feel like the song has become a rebuke against the fascist/authoritarian streak that several world leaders have taken on and to the people who have been blinded into supporting them alansparhawk

Alan Sparhawk – No More Darkness Inspired by a David Lynch quote (“Don’t fight the darkness. Don’t even worry about the darkness. Turn on the light and the darkness goes. Turn up the light of pure consciousness. Negativity goes.”) This song reminds me to choose light in especially dark times. We were ending our set with this tune all year, and it is my wish for everyone, especially those who feel alone. alansparhawk

Sparhawk will also be donating a portion of the royalties from the pair of songs to the International Institute of Minnesota, an organisation which supports immigrants and refugees with resettlement, self-sufficiency, and integration through different programs, including English classes and workforce training

My Best Unbeaten Brother – Psychic Night At The Croydon Toby Carvery mixes sardonic humour with a rueful observationist take on human frailty. Part spoken word, part sung, it kicks off with a two-string bass riff before going into a kind of lo–fi Post-Punk influenced combination of guitar, bass and drums accompanying a lyric-led track. It has a sadness about it that is touching and relatable freshonthenet

European Sun – School Report  the 17 minute epic School Report wouldn’t fit on the vinyl so is a bonus CD, but that song makes it worth the price alone. This is an album like no other and is an angry, gentle, heartfelt plea for humanity in a bewildering world, says Ged Babey, full of songs that are radical, sardonic, sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce, always melodic.

This is a punk record… say the label

And it is, but punk as in ‘no rules’, complete freedom of expression, ‘truth’ rather than a style of music and a certain straight-jacket of sound.  What Skep Wax call the fearless phase of punk adventurism – TV Personalities, The Mekons, The Desperate Bicycles… Punk before it regressed to Rock…

As I said before, School Report is an epic. The War-and-Peace of Pop-songs. A fantastic-journey to the centre-of-a-mind… a self-study in neurodivergence, an over-share of one mans thoughts & anxieties…. an analysis of how the past manifests itself in the minutiae of everyday life…. Genius.

European Sun is Steve Miles, with support from Elin Miles (backing vox), Rob Pursey (bass) and Ian Button (drums).  The first two are one of Steve’s daughters and his best-mate from school (also a member of numerous bands and ‘label boss’ at the cottage-industry label who have released the album). This is an under the radar, independent release that won’t reach a lot of people who might well love it.  In the (so-called) Golden Age,  John Peel would have been telling the world about it via the BBC and the NME would have picked up on it…. it would’ve been a huge, important album. But it is 2026 and it will be heard and loved by ‘the few’ – but, to them, this will be the single most precious piece of artistic expression they have heard for a long time.  A work that has been a lifetime in the making. An album that covers so much – from school to today – from self-analysis to global issues and everything in-between – and the struggle to connect with the world and others.

If you finish reading the review, buy the album, love it… then do me a favour: contact your friend(s) who ‘don’t do social media’, who you think will like it too, and send them details of how to get hold of it.  Old-School, Word of Mouth. Ta.  (Oddly, these are probably the people who will really appreciate it the most….) louderthanwar