Forty years on, Psychocandy is still cool enough to make you lie about loving it
Covert art courtesy of Reprise Records
Good morning!
Today, we’re taking a quick look at the Jesus and Mary Chain’s seminal 1985 album, Psychocandy.
The Gospel According to the Reid Brothers
In 1985, The Jesus and Mary Chain kept things simple: take catchy pop hooks and slather them with enough distortion to shake your teeth loose. Whether you call it a wall of sound or a wall of noise depends on your taste.
The Velvet Underground comparisons are cheap and come easy. You can hear some similarities, but it’s not as simple as critics made it out to be. There are some exceptions, like “Never Understand” or “You Trip Me Up,” and those rare times are when the band lets the melodies reflect their pop leanings.
“Just Like Honey” is still a fan favorite. In another world, maybe one of the girl groups that inspired the Reid brothers would’ve taken it to number one. The opening beat comes right from the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” and the song has a kind of neat, naive feel hidden under all the fuzz.
At the other end of the spectrum lies “In A Hole,” my fave track on the record. Here, JAMC goes all-in on their haunting, otherworldly sound, finding something unique. “In a Hole” feels like the ground has fallen out from under your feet with swirling feedback and a melody desperate to get away from itself. I’m a champion of the relatively softer sounds of Darklands and the surf rock pastiche of Barbed Wire Kisses, but for my money, the band is at its best when they sound like what you’d overhear on the elevator to purgatory.
My Take on Psychocandy
Look, my relationship with Psychocandy has always been complicated. This is one of those records you’re supposed to love. And I get it. The noise is great. That it’s a one-of-a-kind record is also not up for debate, and its influence can be seen in the sounds of countless bands that followed in its wake. It is sui generis for noise rock- and if you squint and lean in toward the speakers, maybe shoegaze too.
The pop instincts are there, but aren’t as strong as people say….yet. This becomes especially apparent with the benefit of hindsight and hearing the band’s later work. If you take away the haze (and volume), there aren’t that many truly solid melodies. What remains is mostly a mood, and a dour one at that, with the band settling into hypnotic, almost ritual-like patterns. I’m mindful this is a minority opinion and heresy in some circles. That leaves the uncomfortable question of how justified that deep admiration really is..
To me, the album feels like a hipster relic: cool, distant, and overloaded with static. It reminds me of the impossibly cool kids at my school and how I liked their style more than anything else (do Ray Bans really ever go out of style?).
Don’t get me wrong; I like that static, and you can never have too much distortion. And I’ll listen to tracks like “In A Hole” “Sowing Seeds” and “Taste of Cindy” whenever, but really need to be in the mood for the rest of the record. I don’t buy the idea that the Jesus and Mary Chain were some sort of second coming of the Shangri-Las, Ronettes, etc, or that this record is the be-all end-all of their discography. That kind of pop magic only happens once.
Listen to Psychocandy via: Qobuz | Apple Music | Spotify (album not available on YouTube Music)
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the record! Did I get it right, or am I way off the mark?
Today we’re taking a quick look at the latest from Great Lakes, Mavis Staples, and Lush.
Longtime readers may recall that I reviewed 100 new (to me) records last year. Because I’m a glutton for punishment love music, I’m doing it again this year. This is the latest in the series.
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at the latest from Great Lakes mavis Staples, and Lush.
The boilerplate intro: Every year, I celebrate all the great music we’ve been gifted while worrying that next year will see the other shoe drop. I first did that in December 2020 and have been proven wrong every month since. Not only are there a ton of releases steadily coming out, but it also transcends genre or any other artificial guardrail we try to put up.
In other words, a ton of good stuff is still coming out, and there’s something for everyone. It’s almost overwhelming— but in all the best ways. These are another batch that caught my attention recently.
Hard to believe that it’s almost AOTY season, but here we are. I’ll be posting through it, discussing what’s on my list, what isn’t, how I try to winnow things down, etc., over the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the records keep coming. There are always a few that get in under the wire, and ones from earlier in the year that might’ve been missed. Below are a few quick field reports from right between the sound machine.
Let’s get into it!
Great Lakes- Don’t Swim Too Close
Cover art courtesy of Elephant 6/HHBTM Records
Fair warning: I’m gonna go full “suburban dad” here. I don’t know what it is about hitting middle age, but this brand of cynical Americana has really started resonating with me in the last 4–5 years. It’s a sound that feels as lived-in and comfy as my worn-out Sambas and favorite pair of cargo shorts (I know! I know!). I’m not quite in sad-dad territory, but I can see it on the horizon. Distilled down, it feels relatable.
Frontman Ben Crum is wrestling with a lot of the same things we all are right now, noting:
Releasing music right now feels a bit like fiddling while Rome burns. While my new Great Lakes album, ‘Don’t Swim Too Close,’ is a personal and inward-focused record, once it was finished I was surprised to realize it also feels like a slow-burn meditation on whatever it is America means.
Same, Ben. SAME.
Of course, it helps that the record is good. After eight records and 25 years, Crum knows his way around a lyric and writes the sort that tell entire stories in a paragraph. These are character-driven tales that make you wince and smirk in equal measure. And even when the words get heavy, the music is there to lighten things up. The title track will get you moving… and it’s about him suffering a concussion.
I wrote it while recovering from a severe concussion that left me depressed and questioning my future. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to come back from it, and it scared me. Luckily, I did get better, and the song ended up being an ironically uplifting country/rock toe-tapper, with heavy lyrics (“I was feeling hopeless, but also helpless and alone / and more than a little dangerous to my soul”) set to a groove reminiscent of Doug Sahm, Jerry Jeff Walker, or CCR.
It’s worth repeating that while it may be topically heavy, this isn’t a bleak record. On the contrary, the irony and dark humor make a good thing better. As a Gen Xer, being a fan of irony isn’t a learned behavior; it’s encoded in our DNA. More so, it makes for a compelling listen, whether he’s singing about klaxon horns (“Another Klaxon Sounds”), or regret and anxiety (“Like an Open Grave”), or sharing so much of your idea for a book that you no longer want to actually write it (“On the Way Back”).
Something tells me, though, that we’ll hear more writing from Crum. At least I hope so. The band seems to be only getting better with age. It probably won’t be anything about cargo shorts, though…
I’m not sure I could tell you when I first heard Mavis Staples, though the smart money says it was likely as a kid, hearing her perform something like “I’ll Take You There” with her dad and siblings in the Staple Singers. Her voice is unmistakable, but there’s always been a current of determination, resolve, and hope. Whether it was the lot of them singing “The Weight” along with The Band in the Last Waltz or her take on Talking Heads’ “Slippery People” (TK LINK), her raspy voice has been soothing and consistent in a world of constant change.
And that hasn’t changed on “Sad and Beautiful World,” Staples’ latest. The record is 10 tracks- 9 covers and 1 original. Of course, Staples takes the 9 and makes them all her own, as only she can. I mean, who else could cover Tom Waits’ “Chicago” and make it sound smoother without sanding off any of the edges? No one, that’s who. It doesn’t hurt that Derek Trucks is here, along with Buddy Guy. Waits’ purists may want to skip it, but I hope you don’t; it’s chugs right along and is worth every note.
The title track was penned by Mark Linkous (RIP), and I’ll bet it’s gonna sound incredible live. Other tracks include her take on Frank Ocean’s “God Speed,” Curtis Mayfield’s “We’ve Got to Have Peace,” and the Hozier and Allison Russell-penned “Human Mind.”
The guest list reads like a who’s who of in-demand talent: Kevin Morby, Nathaniel Rateliff, Patterson Hood, and Bonnie Raitt, among others. As per federal law, MJ Lenderman also makes a guest appearance.
Producer Brad Cook does well to bring—and keep—the focus on Staples’ voice. With a roster like this, it could’ve been easy for her to get crowded out. Instead, we get some of her best work (a high vbar to be sure!), and a gorgeous record that perfectly meets the moment from someone who’s been lighting the way for decades.
Lush is forever linked with cassette tapes in my mind—or, more specifically, J-cards. In 1990, if I wasn’t listening to this on the original, I was scrawling the titles on one of the many mixtapes I included tracks like “De-Luxe,” “Down,” and “Bitter” on. These were my faves- and the titles were mercifully short. Lush was a band I was eager to share with anyone who would listen. Even the record itself is a mixtape compilation comprising the mini-album Scar, and Mad Love and Sweetness and Light EPs.
A few lifetimes later, a lot has changed. For one thing, I’m streaming an advance copy of the record online for something called a “newsletter” on a website called “Substack.” 15-year-old me would not recognize a thing in that sentence.
50 year old me recognizes a few; in the early 90s, record label 4AD never missed. That still seems to be true. The three tracks I shared so many times in high school are still the ones I’d encourage you to check out today, and I’d add “Second Sight” to the list. The harmonies of Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi haven’t aged a day and sound better than ever here. This is a shoegaze record, but, with apologies to Kevin Shields, their sound is much sunnier and leans closer to pop than MBV. This is a genre that traffics in the abstract, but while MBV might be a blurred picture of red hues, Gala is one of yellows. It felt like a ray of sun in my teens and doubly so today.
Thankfully, no one will be subjected to my trying to squish some scrawl on a J-card, but there will be playlists. Many playlists. My handwriting may have gotten even worse, but somehow Gala has only improved.
Volume 9 | September 2025: Sam & I throw on hoodies and share some perfect records for fall listening.
Good morning!
Today Sam Colt and I are each sharing a few of our favorite fall records…ones that might’ve been overlooked or deserve more time in the spotlight.
Welcome to the ninth installment of our (not so) new series! For those of you who may have missed previous editions, here’s a bit of context:
In this monthly series, Sam Colt and I will each share our picks for artists and/or titles that haven’t received their due. You’ll recognize Sam’s name from our On Repeat and Friends Best of Series, and also our Top 100 of all-time serieslast fall. These posts will adopt the latter’s format; I will make my case for my three picks and my reaction to Sam’s. Sam’s page will do the reverse.
In the inaugural post, we noted that successive editions would narrow things down slightly. Maybe a specific genre…maybe a specific era…maybe a specific…well, who knows!
As many of you know, I live in a college town. It’s a big enough school that the city’s energy ebbs and flows in tune with the academic year. Spring is full of excitement about what’s to come. Summer is for the locals. Winter is… well, I live in the upper Midwest, so winter is usually for hunkering down and trying not to track salt everywhere. And hockey. Always hockey.
That leaves fall. As a card-carrying Gen Xer, it’s in my DNA to snicker at woo-woo things like “vibe shifts,” but there’s a palpable change that happens as soon as the first wave of students returns for the new academic year. The chaos usually kicks off with Hippie Christmas, followed by the steady arrival of new and returning students, and all the familiar events we associate with the collegiate experience: football games, drinks at the Memorial Union, and so on.
There’s a brief window before we lose the daylight and bearable temperatures where the dial turns down from “sweltering” to “this is kinda nice.” The dress code might call for a parka in the morning and a t-shirt in the afternoon. It’s a heady time for the shorts-and-hoodie crowd (of which I am also a card-carrying member). That’s the sweet spot we’re traveling to today.
This month, Sam and I are sharing a few fall records that for whatever reason might’ve been overlooked.
When you’re done here, remember to check out Sam’s take at This Is a Newsletter!
Let’s get to it!
KA—
Brothertiger- Fundamentals III
You have to dig deep to find a silver lining in the COVID lockdown, but if you’re struggling to come up with an example, I offer you Brothertiger’s Fundamentals series. Like many musicians, John Jagos was forced to stop public performances in 2020, but that didn’t mean he stopped performing. Jagos had previously made an album of Tears for Fears covers and later released a self-titled album that was one of my favorites of 2022. But in between, the pandemic forced him into pivoting to livestreams.
Each of these instrumental records was born and evolved in real time during those livestreams, while fans offered feedback to help shape them. There are four in total, but Vol. III is far and away my favorite, with Westerlies being a highlight. It’s a track a friend of the newsletter
Kiley Larsen once described as “the one with that never-ending Bruce Hornsby piano riff.” He’s right. And it’s awesome.
Likewise, the shimmering pianos of Pelée and the expansive quality of closing track Gran Canaria wrap the album in light—something I find myself desperately clinging to as the days grow increasingly shorter.
Each of the records is loosely built around an element, but I also think there’s an unintentional(?) emotional arc across the series. I might be reading too much into it, but for me Vol. I is moody and uncertain. Vol. II, even more so. In contrast, Vol. III feels like a release. It’s much more buoyant and joyful than the two that came before it.
Whenever I’m stuck writing a piece, I like to look out the window. In my field of vision is a tree that seems to operate on its own schedule. It’s the first to turn bright red while the others around it are still enamored with their lush green colors. It just does its own thing—looking forward to whatever’s coming next and ignoring everything else around it. That tree reminds me of this record, and vice versa.
Sam’s pick and my take: Cleo Sol- Rose in the Dark
The first thing I should tell you is that in my early research, I came across Cleo Sol’s name in a forum thread where someone described her music as “Erykah Badu meets Sade.” That got my attention. The second was that I was shocked to pull up this record on Spotify and see that she has over 3 million monthly listens. Another case of my being late to the party, I guess.
And that count makes more sense when you learn that Sol is a part of SAULT, but this records stand firmly on its own. Rose in the Dark may not carry the experimental edge of her group projects, but it thrives in its own constraints. The mood here is chilled out, and the sound is stripped down. IMO, that subtlety is a strength. Her singing is poised, and she‘s not overselling the emotion. The production mirrors that approach: pared back, easygoing, and full of nods to 1970s soul. You hear it in instruments like flutes and synths. It all makes for an unhurried groove and a pretty neo-soul record. I can see listening to this on a frosty Sunday morning or pairing it with a nice cozy dinner at home.
R.E.M.- Green
Okay, hear me out. I know this series is all about underrated records—or albums that might’ve flown under your radar. Green is not that. I’m also aware of the irony in choosing a record titled Green for a series on fall records. But perhaps more than any other here, this reminds me of autumn. That’s influenced in large part by the fact that I first heard this at the beginning of the school year. I was also lucky enough to see them in concert while they were on the road supporting this record. That show was in… October.
I’m the kind of listener who is long on association. There’s simply no way my brain can be rewired to tie this to the dog days of summer. Not to oversell it, but I really only listen to it in the fall and winter. By contrast, I regard Out of Time as a “summer record.” Even the pop brilliance of Pop Song ’89 takes me right back to those gray, rainy days and claustrophobic halls of junior high, where headphones were as much about body armor as they were about listening to music.
With its mandolin, You Are the Everything just feels like a fall evening.
Another (possible) hot take: Get Up is fantastic. I know it sets some listeners’ hair on fire, and the lyrics are… okay. But that rhythm? I’ll take all of that, you got! Turn You Inside Out is my vote for “R.E.M. song that should’ve been bigger.” It’s one fans know & love, but not a whole lot of casual listeners are familiar with. If that’s you, please check it out ASAP. The closest analog I can think of (it’s still early) is Push by The Cure.
Michael Stipe would spend a lot of the late ’80s and early ’90s in the political arena, and World Leader Pretend is one of the first times he writes an overtly political track—or at least one that unveils some of his political leanings. And hey, we have elections in the fall, right?
Orange Crush is about Agent Orange, which was used in Vietnam—a war we just happened to learn about in the fall of that same school year. It was all very timely, you see.
My on-ramp to the band was a 1-2 punch of Green and Eponymous. Some people say that it’s the band’s first bad record, but I’d argue the other way. I think it holds up well (yes, even Stand). I rate Green—and even Eponymous—higher than someone who came to the band earlier might. That raises some hackles every time it comes up, but I stand by it. I might be convinced to listen to this in the dog days of summer, but I’ll never be convinced that this is a poor studio outing for the group.
Sam’s pick and my take: Julia Holter- Have You In My Wilderness
Julia Holter’s fourth studio album is packaged with a distinctly sunlit, atmospheric sound, drawing clear inspiration from 1970s SoCal. The production evokes early mornings when the marine layer hasn’t quite yet lifted. It’s a backdrop well-suited to Holter’s strengths: carefully crafted songwriting and a precise sense of arrangement.
One of the record’s more striking qualities is its accessibility. Melodies are open and inviting, and the sounds are layered without ever feeling dense.
If there’s a fault here, it’s that, for as sunny and accessible as this record is, Holter occasionally overindexes on the ethereal. It’s almost as if that same marine layer will obscure her completely. That said, the storytelling is nothing if not vivid. Who else is going to work the line “sharp and high on the Balearic Promontory” into a song? A song about being seduced and then left to die on an island, by the way.
Like those early, misty mornings, this can be hard to get on the first listen, but once that burns off and the sky is clear and a million, you’re in for a treat.
Cleaners From Venus- Midnight Cleaners
This is lo-fi before any of us knew what lo-fi meant. Originally only available on tape, it was later reissued on CD and vinyl. I have a copy of the latter, and while it’s remastered and sounds great, many of the rougher qualities are still there—I hope that was by design, because in my opinion it’s a feature, not a bug.
Midnight Cleaners is at its strongest on more structured songs, like the fantastic “Only a Shadow.” The guitar is particularly sweet, and it’s something that wouldn’t be out of place on your favorite Smiths record. “Only a Shadow” also stands out because it uses real drums. I doubt anyone involved would have labeled this “lo-fi” at the time, but looking at it now, it’s tough to define it any other way. There are lots of easy GBV comparisons to make, though I can’t see Robert Pollard throwing a big block of sax on one of his records. What I can picture is this album being made in a drafty upstairs room or attic or a crisp fall evening. That aesthetic permeates the record. It too is a feature, not a bug.
Cassette recordings were never exactly high fidelity, and more than anything else, this feels like an album purpose-built for tape.
Sam’s pick and my take: Grouper-Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Ok, so my brain is clearly cooked from being terminally online, but this title had me thinking I was about to get into some sort of Swedish death metal. The closest this comes to connecting those dots is my saying that at first blush this feels like a witchy version of Cocteau Twins (not derogatory). Dragging is a record-long trip into dream pop and delicate vocals. Things get a bit gauzy, but never tip over into being too obscured to listen to. In other words, right up my alley. As for a fall record, the sounds certainly evoke this time of year, and a bunch of titles reference things like water and sleep, which aren’t exactly reminiscent of, say, July.
That’s a wrap! What are your thoughts on these records? Do you own any of them? Share your thoughts in the comments! Rants, raves, and spicy takes are all welcome. And if you have any ideas on future themes, please share those as well! Don’t forget to check out Sam’s thoughts over at This Is a Newsletter!
The flood of great records continues! Today we’re taking a quick look at the latest from Ivy, Dar Williams, Lail Arad, and more!
Longtime readers may recall that I reviewed 100 new (to me) records last year. Because I’m a glutton for punishment love music, I’m doing it again this year. This is the latest in the series.
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at the latest from Ivy, Dar Williams, Maia Sharp, and more!
The boilerplate intro:
Every year, I celebrate all the great music we’ve been gifted while worrying that next year will see the other shoe drop. I first did that in December 2020 and have been proven wrong every month since. Not only are there a ton of releases steadily coming out, but it also transcends genre or any other artificial guardrail we try and put up—
In other words, a ton of good stuff is coming out, and there’s something for everyone. It’s almost overwhelming— but in all the best ways. Below is another batch that caught my attention recently.
A lot of recent releases landed on my radar all at once, and I want to shine a light on them before too much more time passes. Not quite an 88 lines about 44 records kind of deal, but close. More of a clearing the decks, if you will.
Let’s get into it!
Ivy- Traces of You
Here are reunions, there are comebacks, and then there’s whatever Ivy just did.
Five years after losing creative engine Adam Schlesinger, and seemingly out of nowhere, Ivy is back with Traces of You.
The last time we heard new material from them was All Hours, a synth-forward pivot that left many fans blinking in confusion. Traces of You, by contrast, feels like Ivy returning to the house they built in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
What’s remarkable—at least to me—is that Schlesinger is everywhere. The band stitched his work back into the mix using fragments and demos tracked between 1995 and 2012. The result isn’t eerie or gimmicky. I’ve always disliked things like hologram performances, and wondered if this might feel similar. It doesn’t. Whatever they’ve done feels organic—authentic, not synthetic.
Dominique Durand still sounds like she’s whispering secrets from the other side of the door, while Andy Chase and longtime collaborator Bruce Driscoll know exactly how to frame that haze and shimmer.
Traces of You fits seamlessly into Ivy’s golden-era lineage. “The Midnight Hour” and “Say You Will” could easily sit on In the Clear, all velvet melancholy and zero wasted motion. “Heartbreak” flirts with bossa nova. “Lose It All” luxuriates in its own pace. And “Hate That It’s True” might be the most emotionally direct song they’ve ever recorded.
This record didn’t have to exist. No one expected it, and maybe that’s why it lands so powerfully. Traces of You feels like a gift, and it’s easily among their finest work. It’s a dreamy, deliberate, impossibly cool farewell…or perhaps just another pause. Either way, we’re lucky to have it.
Dar Williams-Hummingbird Highway
Though known for folk music, Williams knows her way around other genres. On her 13th release, she wastes no time doing just that. Put Coins On His Eyes is classic bluegrass. Tu Sais Le Printemps is a fun bit of bossa nova that will transport you to 1960s Paris, which makes for, as Williams puts it, “a light, flirty song amidst many gloomy news stories.” I’d submit that it’s just the sort of thing we can use right now.
The Way I Go is an uptempo track that will remind listeners of early Mary Chapin Carpenter work. I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight is an excellent take on the Richard Thompson classic, kicking everything up just enough to get you moving. Maryland, Maryland is both a love letter to her home state and a call to action.
The styles are disparate, yet matched by Williams’ knack for crafting intricate narratives with rich storytelling that give you plenty to contemplate without weighing you down. Like any recipe, adding the wrong ingredient or the wrong amount can end in disaster. On Hummingbird Highway, all of these elements blend together to make a cohesive, compelling whole.
As Williams notes, “As I’ve gotten older, I feel more comfortable holding a lot of different threads in my hand to create more complicated patterns. Time has given me a better ability to hold a bunch of colors and temperaments and see what happens, where they become interesting new stories and also where I need to stop and untangle the themes and characters. It’s daunting, and I’ve learned that, you know, daunting is fine, just keep going.” Amen.
Maia Sharp- Tomboy
Maia Sharp has always written with a steady hand—and written tracks for plenty of others. Tomboy, her newest record, sharpens that instinct into something leaner, tougher, and oddly freer. Sharp shows her cards with the title: this album is about stance, and owning space you might have been told not to take up.
The production is stripped down here. Guitars cut nice, clean lines, and the drums are in the backseat. There are some horns, but they, too, are in a supporting role. Sharp’s warm, husky voice carries the weight. There’s a steadiness to it, a real old soul vibe.
She’s not going it alone, though; plenty of people are along for the ride, including Terri Clark, who joins her on “Asking for a Friend,” one of the highlights on the record.
What stands out is how unforced these songs feel. You don’t get the sense of Sharp chasing relevance, clicks, or bending toward trends. Instead, Tomboy is fueled by direct melodies, emotions, and stakes. The writing is as tight as ever, less about clever turns and more about saying what matters.
It’s the kind of album that sneaks up on you (or did for me, anyway). One listen sets the mood; give it a couple of listens, and things start to pop out at you.
In the end, Tomboy is Sharp playing to her strengths.
Also awesome:
JF Robitaille & Lail Arad- Wild Moves:
One of the coolest things Substack used to do was host workshops for writers. These meet & greets were not only informative—you always came away having learned something—but also genuinely fun. Part of the charm was the surprise; you never knew who you’d be paired with. At one of these sessions, I was lucky enough to be put in a cohort with
Lail Arad. She’s been making fantastic music for a long time, as has her partner Robitaille. Now, with Wild Moves, they’ve joined forces, and the result is a delight from start to finish. The record opens with Swim Toward Your Troubles, a track whose infectious refrain will have you singing along in no time. It only gets better from there.
Bleary Eyed- Easy:
You want some shoegaze? You got it! On their latest record, Philly’s Bleary Eyed bring it all; sludgy guitar, ethereal vocals, and just enough pop to keep you coming back for more. Somewhere Kevin Shields is looking on and smiling. (Huge shoutout to
Good news for twee pop fans! Tullycraft is back with Shoot the Point, their first release since 2019’s The Railway Prince Hotel. This is a newer band for me, and if I’m honest, my capacity for twee is negligible. But in a case like this, it’s easy to get swept away on a wave of infectious hooks, back-and-forth vocals between Sean Tollefson and Jenny Mears, and tambourines… so many tambourines. A seriously enjoyable record from a band that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Also: I’m callin’ it now: “Jeanine’s Up Again and Blaring Faith by The Cure” is the wildest song title that’ll grace this page in 2025.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on these records! Did I get it right, or am I way off the mark?
Longtime readers may recall that I reviewed 100 new (to me) records last year. Because I’m a glutton for punishment love music, I’m doing it again this year. This is the latest in the series.
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at the latest from Horsegirl, CuVa Bimö, Immersion + SUSS, Brief Candles, and Drop Nineteens
Every year, I celebrate all the great music we’ve been gifted while worrying that next year will see the other shoe drop. I first did that in December 2020 and have been proven wrong every month since. Not only are there a ton of releases steadily coming out, but it also transcends genre, or any other artificial guardrail we try and put up—
In other words, there’s a ton of good stuff coming out, and there’s something for everyone. It’s almost overwhelming— but in all the best ways. Below are another batch that caught my attention recently.
Let’s get into it!
Brief Candles- Unfinished Nature (2024)
There is a clip around social media where a GenZ record store clerk shares her favorite shoegaze records. At one point—and I’m paraphrasing here– she notes that the line between dream pop and shoegaze is fluid, and no one really knows how to define it, other than you know it when you hear it. I mention this because Unfinished Nature from Milwaukee’s Brief Candles does a great shop bouncing between both.
With its skittish riffs, opener “Remote View Finder” manages to work in a little post-punk while we’re at it. Follow-up “Rewards” was featured on ORR playlist 283; it still hasn’t fallen out of heavy rotation. If you’re a fan of Drop Nineteens (more on them below), this will remind you of the band at its most wistful, with just enough feedback to keep you from floating too far off into space. On tracks like “Murky,” the music takes a much more sturdy tone.
The band–and record–are more than just a bunch of effects pedals and reverb, of course. There are elements of psych, Krautrock, and more here. Fans of Yo La Tengo might also see some similarities peeking through.
Call ’em what you want: On Unfinished Nature, the band is locked in. (Listen here)
Immersion + SUSS- Nanocluster, Vol. 3
My love for Wire is no secret, nor is my love for frontman Colin Newman’s solo work. Immersion is his project with partner Malka Spigel (Minimal Compact), and Vol. 3 is the latest in their Nanocluster series. For this release, the electronic duo has partnered with the ambient Americana trio SUSS, and the result is fantastic.
Both groups play off each other well here. Immersion’s electronic & post-punk influences complement Suss’ painting of expansive soundscapes and vice versa. Together, Nanocluster Vol 3 is, at times, the perfect soundtrack to a desert sunrise. Other times, tracks like State Of Motion channel the energy of a new (urban) day and compel you to move. The video also includes early morning footage from an airport, and I can confirm that it captures that feeling to a tee. Either way, this record is an incredible (I had to squeeze in one more superlative there) way to set the tone for your day. I’m not usually an “ambient guy,” but this one proves the exception to the rule. Being a Wire fanboy might skew things a bit, but don’t be surprised to see this on my OATY list at year’s end.(Listen here)
Drop Nineteens- 1991
Before Delaware…before 120 Minutes…there was…1991. First recorded before the band had a record label, this collection of demos was recorded, put to tape, and then largely forgotten for the next three decades.
The band’s now back, and was time to bring these recordings back to life. With only a light touch editing-wise, they’re as raw as you might imagine— these are demos made by 18/19-year-olds in their dorm rooms!—but are a great look at what the band would become just a short time later. In particular, “Shannon Waves” (also featured last week) is a standout. This one might be best described as a record for the fans, but listeners new to the band will also find a gem or two in here. (Listen here)
Horsegirl- Phonetics On and On
The follow-up to 2022’s Versions of Modern Performance sees the band embracing a much more stripped-down sound. In the ensuing three years, the band members finished high school, left Chicago for NYC, and started college. In many cases, that’s the first red flag that a record will be pretentious and insufferable. Not here, though. With Cate Le Bon on the boards, everything here serves a purpose, and there is no excess. The result is both familiar and new, almost as if the trio is insistent on not being pigeonholed into any given sound. There’s no shortage of jangle here, but there is plenty else to explore as well. They’re growing up but aren’t afraid to still embrace whimsy. (Listen here)
CuVa Bimö- CB Radio
We next travel to the Best Coast, or more specifically, the East Bay, and check out Oakland’s CuVa Bimö and their debut, CB Radio. Like any good post-punk/post-whatever record, this has jagged guitar riffs and frenetic vocals. There are new wave and goth elements here as well.
“Bad Jacket” and “Crank Wave” see the band at their snottiest, right down to the “I know a few things that are true / That new jacket makes you look like a tool” lyrics on the former. “Post/Wall” is twitchy in just the right amounts. With its furious chords and fast/slow/fast/slow cadence, Doonm Loop reminds me of all the 7″ records I used to pick up back in the day and served as a reminder that I should dust ’em off and share them with my neighbor.
There’s also the requisite fist-shaking at the state of affairs in 2025 America. Any more, those are table stakes, and this record clears the bar from start to finish. But I also want to highlight drummer Ricky Cunliffe’s work here. It feels like it could explode anytime, yet it never does. It’s more animated than one might usually see from a band swimming in these waters. Honestly, it feels like there are a couple of drummers back there. He and bassist Jake Bilich keep things chugging right along down the track.
CB Radio is a harder sound than just about everything else coming out of SF/Oakland these days, And I’m here for all of it. Hopefully, this is the first of many more records by the band. (Listen here)
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on these records! Did I get it right, or am I way off the mark?
Kevin Sent 
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