I really tried with Lost Weekend, but I just don’t recognise the masterpiece everyone else is hearing. It’s just ok—and a bit long? And to my ears, there are far too many people involved, all pulling in slightly different directions. I haven’t been a great fan of Jack Antonoff’s recent production work, and the decision to bring him on board feels like the thinking of an artist trying to chase the zeitgeist rather than defining it. Anyway, that was last week, and I’m here to talk about what’s new.

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For those new to Weekly Prescription, the format is simple. I highlight the three records I’ll be checking out first today. After those picks, I’ll share a few recent No Ripcord articles that I’ve written.

Westside Cowboy – It Goes On (Island)

Why should you listen? Because debut albums rarely come this full-formed. I posted my review of this one on No Ripcord today, so I may as well quote myself here:

“The band have used the slightly clumsy term ‘Britainicana,’ which I guess captures the duality of their sound. Opener “Kick Stones (The Boys)” definitely draws from the urgent riffing of the Velvet Underground, but it also brings to mind the early work of Arcade Fire and more recent offerings from Chicago’s Friko. Meanwhile, the very next track, “Paper Chains,” sounds distinctly British, with its choppy rhythms evoking Field Music.”

Denzel Curry & Kenneth Blume – ii (Loma Vista)

Why should you listen? After the wonderful Open Mike Eagle/Kenny Segal record, ii is the second essential Hip Hop collaboration in as many weeks. “DIFFERENCE” is just something else with its crisp beats, high energy samples, and a breathless performance from Curry, who sounds on top of his game.

Wild Pink – Still Coming Down (Island)

Why should you listen? I contemplated picking something a little more obscure, but the truth is I still feel bad for overlooking Wild Pink’s last record, Dulling the Horns. A quick skim through Still Coming Down suggests this one might be just as fun. They’ve really nailed that sweet spot between heartland rock and indie rock, and it should be a nice easy listen after a moderately stressful week.

More Music Writing Over at No Ripcord

Things have been very busy this week on the No Ripcord website. Here are our reviews from the last week. It’s quite a diverse selection:

WESTSIDE COWBOY – It Goes On
“Confident, varied, and unashamedly fun, It Goes On is an astonishing debut album that announces a bold new talent.”

AFGHAN WHIGS – Soft Control
“Deep into their second act, the veteran Cincinnati, Ohio rockers deliver another fiery set that aims for massive emotional payoffs.”

CARLY SIMON – Comes In Waves
“The songwriting titan’s first original album in 18 years emphasises her sixty-plus-year career with emotional depth and many high-water marks.”

OPEN MIKE EAGLE & KENNY SEGAL – DOOMED!
“Now this is a break-up album. Long-time friends Open Mike Eagle and Kenny Segal team up for a razor-sharp record that showcases their impressive skills.”

L’RAIN – fata morgana
“Caught between illusion and reality, the Brooklyn artist uses her self-doubt to push her songwriting into new, undiscovered territory.”

PHOEBE BRIDGERS – Lost Weekend
“Six years after her breakthrough moment, Phoebe Bridgers’ third album is a timely reminder that more is frequently less.”

Do you love new music but find it incredibly hard to keep up with what’s coming out?

Get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases with the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly.

No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Alternatively, subscribe to this newsletter and receive my weekly prescription for free!

If you haven’t, I’ll keep it short.

The popular music website, along with three other titles (Alternative Press, Goldmine, and Revolver), has been gutted by its parent company, Veeps. I hadn’t heard of Veeps before this, largely because I really have little interest in the soulless corporate side of the music business, but the Live Nation-affiliated company was, somewhat bizarrely, founded by Good Charlotte’s Madden brothers. And now they’ve trashed some pretty special music titles. So, until I hear of some heroic exploits to counter the narrative, I’m going to hold a pretty dim view of them. Also, Good Charlotte.

Firstly, my thoughts are with all the talented people who have lost their jobs. The personal cost of this obviously far outweighs the impact on end users like me. I hope they land on their feet and find an outlet for their skills. I’m sure we’ll see some of them popping up here on Substack.

Since I started No Ripcord in 1999, I’ve lost count of how many amazing music websites have disappeared (Stylus, The 405), exist only as archives (Cokemachineglow, Tiny Mix Tapes), or have shrunk in scale (Drowned in Sound). I’m a fan of music writing, and as much as I enjoy individual voices, I’ve always been a sucker for a magazine format with a distinct ethos—and Brooklyn Vegan had that in spades. It was a wonderful resource, yes, but it also oozed character and personality. If this is truly the end, it will be sorely missed. Especially Bill’s Indie Basement column, which really helped me out when life left me feeling less connected to new music.

It feels increasingly like the only viable business strategy is a supporter-led model. Corporate ownership doesn’t mesh well with the arts or niche interests in general. Supporter models allow publications to remain independent and build thriving communities. Defector has nailed this model in the broader sports/culture space, but there are more focused, niche examples. In cycling, Escape Collective has a huge, dedicated user community supporting its talented team of journalists. Like Defector, Escape is a phoenix publication, emerging from the ashes of the once-wonderful Cycling Tips when its workforce was gutted. Sound familiar?

In the music space, The Quietus has a healthy subscriber model with 2,382 members at the time of writing. I’m not sure how well Stereogum or Pitchfork are doing in terms of subscribers, but I’d be surprised if either has fewer than The Quietus, especially when you consider their more competitive pricing models.

And at No Ripcord, our supporter offer is relatively new, but thanks to the generosity and support from our readers, we are already able to cover our costs.

I’m not sure any of these are leveraging the community aspects as effectively as the aforementioned Escape Collective, and surely music has a bigger potential audience share than road cycling does?

I feel like music media is fragmented and struggling to adapt to the modern climate, but looking at the success of various Substacks—from Steven Hyden’s Evil Speakers to Gabbie’s New Bands for Old Heads—there is an audience happy to pay to support writing with purpose and personality. If only someone could successfully scale that up to publication level—not to replace individual voices, but to offer some complementary options. Because, as the early 2000s taught us, the more high-quality music outlets, the better, right?

Meanwhile, over at No Ripcord…

I reviewed Charli XCX’s Music, Fashion, Film:

“The guitars are effectively a sideshow. A filter of sorts. This isn’t rock music. Charli hasn’t abandoned the dance floor. It’s all just window dressing, and most of the time it sounds strikingly joyless and distinctly mediocre.”

Check out the full review here

I also wrote some shorter reviews of new records from Shearwater, Shannon Lay, Michigander, and She’s Green. Those can be found here.

And finally, I wrote a review of Tramlines:

“Tramlines needs more of this. Moments are one thing, but a three-day festival needs to balance its nostalgia with relevance”

Read that one here

Do you love new music but find it incredibly hard to keep up with what’s coming out?

Get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases with the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly.

No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Support No Ripcord

Alternatively, subscribe to this newsletter and receive my weekly prescription for free!

The reason? This weekend, Sheffield’s biggest festival rolls into Hillsborough Park—not the football ground, mercifully—and I’ll be there, sneering at Kaiser Chiefs and wondering how on Earth they’re occupying the chief support slot at a festival in 2026.

But I’m not just going to roll my eyes at the main stage line-up. Alongside Sleeper, Wolf Alice and Wet Leg, all of whom I’m looking forward to, there are a few artists lower down the bill that I’m genuinely excited about. You’ll find my Tramlines picks below, followed by three recommendations from this week’s new releases.

Westside Cowboy (Friday 16:00, The Leadmill Stage)

Buzzy Manchester four-piece Westside Cowboy seem like they’re being fast-tracked straight to the top. They’ve described their sound as ‘Britainicana’ and while I don’t love the term, I can see what they’re getting at. The recent So Much Country ‘Till We Get There reminded me of both Big Thief’s earlier work and Friko’s latest release, with a bit of Neil Young’s “After The Gold Rush” thrown in for good measure. Their debut album is out on 21 August, so this is a smart booking from the organisers.

Radio Free Alice (Friday 17:45, The Leadmill Stage)

It’s all happening at the Leadmill stage on Friday! Melbourne’s Radio Free Alice specialise in an accessible brand of new wave-y post-punk. While their swirling guitars evoke The Cure, singer Noah Learmouth reminds me of a peculiar cross between Brandon Flowers and Sam Prekop of The Sea and Cake. They’ve got the hooks to suggest a future playing arenas isn’t entirely out of the question.

FEMUR (Sunday 17:00, The Leadmill Stage)

I feel obliged to pick at least one local band. FEMUR’s brash psych-garage reminds me of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, which is kind of a good thing. They have fun live band written all over them.

Ok, that’s enough Tramlines. Let’s turn attention to the new releases!

1. Charli XCX – Music, Fashion, Film (Atlantic)

Why should you listen? Post BRAT, any new album from Charli is an event.

2. Ian Sweet – Shiverstruck (Polyvinyl)

Why should you listen? Shiverstruck is LA-based songwriter Jillian Medford’s fifth full-length, and third for Polyvinyl. The early previews hint at a refinement of her sound, suggesting this could be a rather pleasant highlight in a relatively thin month.

3. Pete Yorn – All The Beauty (Shelly Music)

Why should you listen? Dependable New Jersey singer-songwriter Pete Yorn seems unlikely to surprise on All The Beauty, but isn’t there something reassuringly satisfying about a veteran who nails the brief every single time?

Meanwhile, over at No Ripcord…

I reviewed the new record from South Australian slacker rockers Swapmeet.

I found Mount Zero to be a promising but flawed debut—like most debuts are.

Check it out here.

Do you love new music but find it incredibly hard to keep up with what’s coming out?

Get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases with the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly.

No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Alternatively, subscribe to this newsletter and receive my weekly prescription for free!

Well, as of Wednesday night, that is well and truly over. It turns out the joy was a myth, brutally extinguished along with the naïve hope that things might end differently this time. That is the cruel nature of football. But music is kinder. Today is a new release day, and to borrow a cliché from the beautiful game, we go again.

For those new to Weekly Prescription, the format is simple. I highlight the three records I’ll be checking out first today. After those picks, I’ll share a few recent No Ripcord articles that I’ve written.

Helado Tropical – Helado Tropical (Psychic Hotline)

Why should you listen? Because this collaboration between Helado Negro and Reyna Tropical feels like the perfect soundtrack to the endless European heatwave we’re currently enduring. Expect effortless, breezy beats, Latin influences, and just the right amount of warmth to fuel my love-hate relationship with this weather.

Nia Archives – Emotional Junglist (Hijinxx/Island)

Why should you listen? I’ve been following Nia Archives since her thrilling early track “Baianá” captured my attention in 2023, and I don’t think she’s put a foot wrong since. I’m really excited to see where she takes her considerable talent next on Emotional Junglist.

Yard Act – You’re Gonna Need a Little Music (Island)

Why should you listen? I really didn’t get on with Yard Act’s debut The Overload, finding their brash take on post-punk incredibly grating. But when the Leeds band changed things up for 2024’s Where’s My Utopia?, I found myself succumbing to their charms. I love it when a band forces me to eat humble pie, and You’re Gonna Need a Little Music sounds like a promising next step for the restless Yorkshire quartet.

A Solitary No Ripcord Review

It’s been a busy, stressful, sleep-deprived week for me. I won’t go into it here, but it’s been an all-time rubbish one.

But I still managed to write one review, at least. Check it out!

Review: Hurry – Zoned Out

“Philadelphia power pop stalwarts Hurry have delivered the goods on their consistently appealing sixth album.”

Do you love new music but find it incredibly hard to keep up with what’s coming out?

Get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases with the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly.

No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Alternatively, subscribe to this newsletter and receive my weekly prescription for free!

Helado Tropical – A ? of WHEN (Domino)

Why should you listen? It’s 2022’s Reset, was an absolute treat. A ? of WHEN won’t be on streaming services, but it is available on bio vinyl. Noah and Pete talked to Brooklyn Vegan about their reasoning. So, you’ll have to work a little harder to hear this one, you know, like the good old days.

Kelela – New Avatar (Warp)

Why should you listen? It’s the alt-R&B trailblazer’s first full-length since 2023’s Raven, and the early tracks—which include razor-sharp collaborations with PinkPantheress and A. K. Paul—are bursting with promise.

Hurry – Zoned Out (Lame-O)

Why should you listen? It’s a fusion of ’90s indie rock, jangle and power pop—what’s not to love? This is the sixth album from the Philly veterans and it feels like Hurry have earned a breakthrough of sorts by this point. If you like Teenage Fanclub, for example, you’re going to love Zoned Out.

A Pair of No Ripcord Features

Do you like football (soccer)?

Well, even if you despise the beautiful game, I think you might still enjoy my deep dive into the trend of football-themed artist merch.

Read it here: World Cup Fever: Where Music Meets Football and Fashion

I also wrote a feature about the Clash’s first ever show, which took place 50 years ago in Sheffield.

Read it here: The Clash’s Live Debut: Sheffield’s Punk Moment That Wasn’t

Do you love new music but find it incredibly hard to keep up with what’s coming out?

Get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases with the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly.

No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Become a Supporter

I’m not doing a Best Albums of 2026 So Far post myself, but I did contribute to Gabbie’s excellent post, which you can find here. You are absolutely certainly subscribed to Gabbie, but if you’re not—what are you waiting for?

New Bands for Old Heads

The 20 Best Albums of 2026 So Far

There’s some good news and there’s some bad news…

Read more

2 months ago · 118 likes · 47 comments · Gabbie

Madonna – Confessions II (Warner)

Why should you listen? Because, even at 67 years old, a new Madonna record is still an event. But more importantly, because Confessions II is her first project with producer Stuart Price since 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor—arguably the last time Madonna sounded essential.

Play Time – Magic Object (Balmat)

Why should you listen? One of the advantages of a relatively lean week is that it forces you to look beyond your comfort zone. Magic Object is a rather delightful concoction of sax, drums, and Moog. Minimalism at its best from Spanish label Balmat.

Mary In The Junkyard – Role Model Hermit (AMF)

Why should you listen? While I still have some reservations about Mary In The Junkyard, the London band’s polished debut will certainly warrant a listen. The trio’s classically trained roots and association with storied Brixton venue The Windmill bring to mind the likes of Last Dinner Party and Black Country, New Road, but there’s an element of Wolf Alice here too.

Introducing: The Magic Number

Do you like puzzles?

No Ripcord has launched a weekly music puzzle called The Magic Number.

The premise is simple. We provide three clues, you get three guesses. It’s simple, shareable, and we’d love you to get involved.

Have a go at the first puzzle here!

Do you love new music but find it incredibly hard to keep up with what’s coming out?

Get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases with the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly.

No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Become a Supporter

For those who missed last week’s post, the format of Weekly Prescription is simple. I highlight the 3 records I’ll be checking out first today. After the picks, I’ve included a few links to recent No Ripcord articles worth catching up on.

Pearl & The Oysters – Monkey Mind (Stones Throw)

Why should you listen? Because, with apologies to southern hemisphere readers, this is the sound of summer. French-American duo Pearl & the Oysters always sound like a warm weather project, and their latest effort promises more sun-baked soft rock with flashes of jazz, dream pop, and chamber (chambre?) pop. Think Beach House if they actually lived up to their name.

Change Life – Change Life (Meritorio)

Why should you listen? Because Meritorio releases are always worth listening to, and Change Life’s excellent opener “Smile” sounds like an American take on Field Music. And Field Music are pretty great, right? This one could be special.

Some Velvet Sidewalk – Critters Encore (K)

Why should you listen? Who doesn’t love a dirty slice of lo-fi indie rock? The DIY outfit from Olympia, WA are masters of their craft and this already sounds like a quintessential K Records release.

Meanwhile, over at NORIPCORD.COM…

Readers of last week’s newsletter hopefully remember me highlighting Zoon’s Happy Thought School. I had a lot to say about this record in my review, which is now up on No Ripcord.

We also posted a huge Weezer album ranking this week. Juan has been working on this one for weeks and while it’s understandably stirred up some debate in Weezer’s fanbase, I think it’s a really thoughtfully written feature. So much work goes into articles like this, so please do check it out and share it if you feel so inclined.

Do you love new music but find it incredibly hard to keep up with what’s coming out?

Get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases with the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly.

No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Become a Supporter

I know a lot of people already highlight new releases. My vision is to keep this short. These will typically consist of the 3 records I’ll be checking out first on New Music Fridays.

Zoon – Happy Thought School (Paper Bag)

Why should you listen? Toronto-based Anishinaabe musician Daniel Monkman, who records as Zoon, fuses traditional shoegaze textures with elements of traditional First Nation music. Monkman’s ability to manipulate guitar textures is truly majestic. Their last album, Bekka Ma’iingan, was one of the most invigorating releases to emerge from the shoegaze genre in the last decade, and given the interest in all things ’gazey, it’s frankly bizarre how overlooked that record was.

Office Dog – Prime Corner (Flying Nun)

Why should you listen? The Kane Strang-led trio deliver sharp indie rock anthems in the Flying Nun tradition. All three singles suggest Prime Corner will be a leap forward from their very respectable 2024 debut, Spiel.

The Hanging Stars – Just A Day (Loose)

Why should you listen? The sun is shining in Sheffield, and London power pop outfit The Hanging Stars have got the perfect soundtrack for a lazy weekend in the garden—in between World Cup matches, of course. In football terms, the Stars are the plucky underdog that scrapes through the group stages as a best third-placed team. They’re unlikely to eclipse the likes of Chime School or even Teenage Fanclub, whose Gerard Love produced Just A Day, but The Hanging Stars still know how to raise a smile, and that’ll do for me.

If you enjoyed this and want to see more of these release round-ups, please let me know in the comments.

And if you truly want to get ahead of the crowd when it comes to new releases, the No Ripcord Release Schedule—lovingly maintained by yours truly—has you covered. No Ripcord Supporters ($2 per month or $20 a year) can track releases several months in advance, and there are Bandcamp links, highlighted picks, and genre tags to help you find your way. Non-supporters get a restricted view, typically 2-3 weeks in advance.

Become a Supporter

Sport is so often used by questionable regimes or individuals, looking to cleanse their reputations. In this case, with the sport itself the problem, the organisers have made music their detergent of choice. Las Vegas’ hometown heroes The Killers have been drafted in to close the whole grubby affair and add a whiff of legitimacy to it.

In my latest piece for No Ripcord, I outline why this is an example of music-washing—and should be condemned as such.

Read the full article:
Are We Human? Why The Killers and the Enhanced Games Make an Unseemly Match

All No Ripcord reviews and features are free to read. For $2 per month, or $20 per year, you can support independent music criticism by becoming a No Ripcord supporter. Supporters gain access to our acclaimed release schedule, can comment on articles, and receive an exclusive members-only newsletter.

Become a Supporter

Earlier this month, Danish post-punks Iceage returned with a new single, “Star,” the first release since 2021’s Seek Shelter. Their return to the spotlight brought to mind the persistent allegations of flirting with fascist imagery that dogged the Copenhagen quintet in their early years. There was a time when every article on the band featured a new accusation—or a fresh denial. And looking back, while much of the criticism was sanctimonious and badly researched, it’s clear Iceage didn’t always help themselves.

The Danes were hardly the first artists to face such criticism. More than three decades earlier, Joy Division, who took their name from the sexual slavery wings of Nazi concentration camps, released their debut EP, An Ideal For Living. Its cover depicted a Hitler Youth drummer alongside the band’s name in a bold Gothic blackletter font. Compared to these provocations, Iceage’s choice of tattoos and pin badges, and the inclusion of hooded figures in a music video, seem comparatively ambiguous.

The world is a different place in 2026. Our polarised society feels much more prone to outrage—indeed, social media positively invites it—yet in the musical sphere, this outrage often seems to be selectively applied, with some questionable positions being roundly condemned and others being overlooked entirely.

The spark for this piece came when I reviewed the latest release from Chicago’s Brigitte Calls Me Baby. The origin of the band’s name is frequently mentioned, but never questioned.

Read the full piece on No Ripcord.

No Ripcord is an independent music magazine that remains free to read, and this Substack sits alongside it as part of the same broader project. One offers a home for the work itself; the other gives me space to reflect on music writing, share my work more directly, and sustain it. Subscribing to either—or both—genuinely helps.

Subscribe to No Ripcord

That said, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed writing about music more than I am right now.

When No Ripcord expanded from a solo venture into a more team-based entity in 2001, I stepped back from the writing side to focus on editing, website maintenance, and sourcing music for other writers. Important work, and rewarding too, but nowhere near as fun.

Since we relaunched last October, No Ripcord has effectively become a two-man affair. The website is maintained and everything just works. The glorious consequence? More time to write and the freedom to choose exactly what I want to cover.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing three significant new releases:

• Tyler Ballgame – For The First Time, Again

• Ratboys – Singin’ to an Empty Chair

• Mandy, Indiana – URGH

I’ve appreciated all three for entirely different reasons—and I’ve really enjoyed the task of writing about them. Rather than simply sharing the reviews here, I’m keen to discuss the process of listening a little more.

The more I write over at No Ripcord, the more I see The Perfect Prescription as a personal, reflective space, rather than a purely critical one. So that’s how I intend to use it.

The Perfect Prescription will always be free to read. If you’d like to support the wider work that makes it possible, you can do so via No Ripcord.

Support me at No Ripcord

Tyler Ballgame’s For The First Time, Again is a debut release, and these always require a slightly different approach to set the scene and build reader investment in a new name. I’d heard very little of Tyler’s music beforehand, and as much as I try to avoid reading other reviews, I’d seen a few lukewarm takes in advance. When confronted with Tyler’s voice, an effortlessly beautiful tenor, these immediately seemed incomprehensible. So I set out to explore why Ballgame was branded “a homage” and accused of “cosplaying,” while an artist like Father John Misty gets away with it.

The record made me think about Jeff Buckley’s Grace. It doesn’t sound anything like Grace, of course, but both records are debuts by outrageously talented singers, and both received mixed reviews. Neither resembled the prevailing trends at the time of their release—and both were compared to Tim Buckley, albeit for very different reasons. I sense music critics are generally a little distrustful of both great singers. They also have an alarm system for potential nepotism, inauthenticity, and industry hype. But forget that nonsense—Tyler Ballgame is a phenomenal talent and For The First Time, Again features consistently appealing and well-written songs, sumptuously committed to tape by Jonathan Rado of Foxygen.

Reviewing Ratboys’ Singin’ to an Empty Chair was an exercise in expectation management. The band seems so thoroughly likeable, and the general consensus is that Singin’ is their moment. And as much as I would love them to have a moment, I can’t bring myself to believe this is it. It’s a solid record of country-tinged indie rock, with a strong start, a wayward middle, and a rallying climax. Good, not great. The positivity around makes me wonder if the larger outlets are a little desperate to anoint a new breakout act solely because indie rock is a little stagnant right now. That’s not Ratboys’ problem, of course, but it’s a feeling I have.

Mandy, Indiana present an entirely different challenge. URGH is abrasive, jarring, loud, and overwhelming. At times it feels admirable rather than likeable. The Manchester quartet are doing some really fascinating things here, and rather than tread water, they’re surging forward at a rate of knots. URGH feels exciting because it doesn’t really feel like anything else right now—and that album cover has to be the best artwork I’ve seen in years. My dilemma here: how highly should I rate an album that I really respect, but am unlikely to have in heavy rotation? Because URGH is a record for a very particular mood and moment.

I touched on this in my closing lines:

Call it what you want, but in the hands of Mandy, Indiana words like ‘genre’ and ‘style’ feel utterly redundant. And sometimes, when the mood strikes, we all need a bit of unclassifiable dissonance in our lives.

I’m not sure you will love all three of these records, but I’d highly recommend exploring them. Ratboys and Tyler Ballgame are very accessible; Mandy, Indiana requires a more patient approach. If you’d like to read my original reviews they can all be found on the pages of No Ripcord.

But there it was, in paragraph six:

For non-subscribers, the News, Features, and Columns sections of the site will continue to be free. And casual readers can continue to read four free reviews per month. But to read unlimited reviews, see the reader scores, and comment yourself or read the comments of others, you’ll have to smash subscribe.

— A New Era for Pitchfork: Introducing Reader Scores and Commenting [link]

‘Smash subscribe’ is not a phrase you will ever see on the virtual pages of my online music magazine, No Ripcord. I’m 44, and I think my kids would disown me if those two words ever left my mouth in succession.

But, as of today, readers will need a subscription to read one monthly supporters-only article.

This is likely as far as No Ripcord will venture into the world of paywalls and we are committed to one core principle: all of our reviews will always be free to access.

Paywalls are a part of life now and for many publications are a necessary response to the realities of modern media economics. And we will see more of them. There is a divergence in media between free, low-quality content—often AI-generated or overwhelmed by intrusive advertising—and higher-quality work that now sits behind paywalls.

Our hope at No Ripcord is that we can offer the best of both worlds: high-quality, AI-free content that remains free to access. While this feels very much like a throwback concept, perhaps it is one that will become more desirable as other established outlets move behind paywalls?

Support No Ripcord here

Some January Highlights

Chances are you subscribed to The Perfect Prescription for some music recommendations, so I’d be remiss not to throw a couple of January picks your way.

Fazed on a Pony – Swan (Meritorio)

“Swan is an accomplished and brutally honest record that will resonate with fans of MJ Lenderman, Snocaps, and Greg Freeman. New Zealand has a great songwriting lineage and swan confirms Peter McCall’s place in its canon.”

Winged Wheel – Desert So Green (12XU)

“A sophisticated experimental rock jam that flirts with no wave, kosmische, and post-rock. Accordingly, I’m reminded of artists as diverse as Glenn Branca, Neu!, and even Slint. Elsewhere, the urgent, staccato guitars of “Speed Table” evoke the wiry post-punk of Mission of Burma.”

Westside Cowboy – So Much Country ‘Till We Get There (Adventure)

“Buzzy Manchester four-piece Westside Cowboy seem like they’re being fast-tracked straight to the top. They’ve described their sound as ‘Britainicana’ and while I don’t love the term, I can see what they’re getting at. There are definite shades of Big Thief and Friko evident here.”

I wanted to share the opening section here for subscribers. The full article is freely available on No Ripcord.

Full article:
https://www.noripcord.com/the-worst-albums-of-2025/

Last year, for a bit of end-of-year fun in my newsletter, I decided to explore the records that the critical community had deemed the very worst of 2024.

The resulting journey—from SOPHIE to Katy Perry, via Ice Spice, ZAYN, and more landfill indie bands than a mid-tier UK festival line-up—was a wild ride. Occasionally, the record in question seemed unfairly maligned (Personal Trainer); more often than not, however, it was egregiously bad (Eminem, Bleachers, Jennifer Lopez).

It was particularly fascinating to consider the wider selection, and what it said about the state and mindset of modern music criticism:

Today’s writers have almost become too kind. We celebrate new releases and tend to sidestep things we don’t like. Essentially, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

It’s a nice mantra, but the natural end-point of #bekind criticism is a situation where everything is ostensibly good or great, leaving the reader none the wiser. This leads us to a perfectly valid question: What’s the point of music critics?

Heavy stuff for an end-of-year post, but it’s equally valid this year. Let’s dig into the figures.

Popular music aggregator Album of the Year collates reviews from a large number of sources—No Ripcord included—and generates an average critic score (out of 100) for every album of note. Unlike the more widely known Metacritic, AOTY focuses exclusively on music and therefore covers a greater number of releases, making it the ideal choice for this exercise.

In 2025, AOTY has aggregated a total of 232 albums with 10 or more critic reviews.

212 of these have an average critic score of 70/100 or above, which means they’re off the hook.

As a side note, this means 91.3% of notable new releases bagged an average score of 7/10 or higher. At No Ripcord, where we pride ourselves on a more balanced grading system, that figure was considerably lower at 73.7%.

The more astute mathematicians among you will have deduced that this leaves us with a satisfyingly round selection of 20 albums—which can reasonably be described as the year’s worst, or at the very least, the 20 records critics felt comfortable branding as such. We’ll touch on that more as we work through the list.

20. Sleep Token
Even In Arcadia
(RCA)

Sleep Token’s jarring fusion of pop and progressive metal really divided the critics. While Pitchfork and Sputnikmusic seemed to revel in putting the boot in, Kerrang! and Metal Hammer deemed Even In Arcadia end-of-year list-worthy. I’m not a fan. It sounds like Bastille making an unwanted foray into the metal arena—overly polite, bland, and utterly unremarkable.

AOTY Critic Score: 69

19. Franz Ferdinand
The Human Fear
(Domino)

“Ultimately, the brutal truth is that three half-decent tracks represent a meagre return for a band that once seemed a few steps ahead of their contemporaries. Those days are clearly gone, never to return.”

Those were my initial thoughts on The Human Fear, and my views haven’t softened. God Is In The TV proclaimed it their #14 album of the year—one place ahead of Ash—but most other critics seem to have swiftly moved on.

AOTY Critic Score: 69

18. Melody’s Echo Chamber
Unclouded
(Domino)

Music writers don’t exactly love a December release, and Unclouded—Melody Prochet’s fourth album as Melody’s Echo Chamber—arrived bang in the middle of EOY season. To be fair, this rating feels fair for a solidly impressive dream-pop record that just lacks a change of gear. It certainly doesn’t belong on a list of worst albums.

AOTY Critic Score: 69

This excerpt is taken from a longer piece on No Ripcord.

The full article (not paywalled) continues here:
https://www.noripcord.com/the-worst-albums-of-2025/

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this list. What belongs here? And what were critics particularly unfair to this year?

If you crave more—and not the slightly disappointing Pulp comeback record—No Ripcord has you covered. Juan Edgardo Rodríguez and I covered 70 brilliant records across two end-of-year features, and the interest has been unprecedented.

The Best Albums of 2025: Bubbling Under
[Read Here]

The Best 50 Albums of 2025
[Read Here]

My ten favourite records of 2025 are posted below. As this will almost certainly be my last post of the year, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank you for subscribing to and reading The Perfect Prescription. See you soon in 2026!

10. Constant Follower
The Smile You Send Out Returns to You
(Last Night From Glasgow / Golden Hum Recordings)

Constant Follower, the Stirling folk collective led by Stephen McAll, almost certainly made the best new record that you didn’t hear this year. If you’re open to contemplative, gently experimental folk, you need this special album in your life.

9. Youth Lagoon
Rarely Do I Dream
(Fat Possum)

Inspired by a collection of home movies, Rarely Do I Dream is the sound of recently unearthed memories and snapshots of simpler times, washing over you in a way that rewards both active and passive/background listening.

8. Hilary Woods
Night CRIÚ
(Sacred Bones)

Hilary Woods is equally at home composing challenging avant-garde drone music and cerebral minimalist dream-pop tunes. On Night CRIÚ, she does a bit of both, executing it seamlessly. A majestic, sparse and beautiful record.

7. Greet Death
Die In Love
(Deathwish Inc.)

Every year, there’s a record that surges into my top ten at the last minute—and this year it was Greet Death’s oddly overlooked third album.

6. Sharp Pins
Radio DDR
(K / Perennial)

Kai Slater was everywhere in 2025, so it’s no surprise he finds himself here, too. Radio DDR was my favourite of his releases, although Lifeguard’s debut ran it very close. Power pop, British Invasion, scuzzy 90s lo-fi, a tinge of psychedelia—Radio DDR has it all.

5. Wednesday
Bleeds
(Dead Oceans)

What a run this band is on! Even a break-up couldn’t derail Wednesday’s steady progress, although it certainly dominates Bleeds in a thematic sense. “Elderberry Wine” is a perfect example of Karly Hartzman’s continued evolution as a songwriter, and one of my favourite songs of the year, too.

4. Viagra Boys
Viagr Aboys
(Shrimptech Enterprises)

Viagra Boys are always going to be an acquired taste, like a post-punk surströmming perhaps, but I love what this Swedish band does. Sebastian Murphy has a pretty much unique ability to write funny songs that don’t fall apart with repeat listening—the Chandler Bing line in “Man Made Of Meat,” for example, has had me chuckling all year long—but he can also do serious and even tender, as exhibited on the excellent “River King.” Viagr Aboys is a triumph.

3. Clipse
Let God Sort Em Out
(Self-released)

Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out is arguably the best Hip Hop comeback since A Tribe Called Quest’s masterful We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service. It’s also hands down the best Hip Hop record this year. “The Birds Don’t Sing” provides a heart-wrenching standout—a devastatingly powerful exploration of grief and guilt—while the menacing “Chains & Whips,” with its sharp Kendrick Lamar feature, also deserves a mention. More than any other record, Let God Sort Em Out feels like the one I’ll keep returning to in 2026 and beyond.

2. Foxwarren
2
(Anti-)

Andy Shauf and friends struck gold on Foxwarren’s 2, a record that takes orchestral indie-folk, stomping glam-rock, and even a disco number, and arranges it like a Hip Hop record, knitting everything together with classic cinematic samples. Shauf’s smooth vocal is easily identifiable, and of course his lyrics are on point, but sonically, this is the boldest move of his storied career, and it absolutely pays off.

1. Anna von Hausswolff
Iconoclasts
(Year0001)

Swedish pipe organ enthusiast Anna von Hausswolff made a bold artistic leap towards something resembling pop music on Iconoclasts, a joyous, life-affirming masterpiece featuring everything I look for in new music. Intelligent, thrilling, unique, and endlessly replayable—challenging, yes, but always worth the effort. Iconoclasts is a collection of experimental pop bangers, made up of the most unconventional raw ingredients. And that Iggy Pop duet is something else.

It’s been a while since I last posted here. I still haven’t quite figured out what the future of this newsletter is, but I’ve written a lot for the relaunched, new-look, glitch-free No Ripcord and I thought it would be fun to share a few pieces.

The first piece, which I’ll share in full, is a feature on the long-awaited return of Tobias Jesso Jr. I adored Goon, and had high hopes for s h i n e. After that, you’ll find links to every review I’ve posted on No Ripcord this month. Please do check those out if you get a chance.

Waiting for Jesso

Read the original article here

In Samuel Beckett’s widely acclaimed absurdist tragicomedy, Waiting for Godot, the titular character fails to materialise. The two lead characters are stuck, endlessly waiting, their very existence defined by the utter futility of it all.

Many of us have been waiting an exceedingly long time for Tobias Jesso Jr.’s second album. It’s been ten years and seven months since Goon, his spectacular 2015 debut, blew critics away. A masterclass in fragility, minimalist production, and the kind of compositional skills that would earn Jesso Jr. a Grammy for Songwriter of the Year in 2023, Goon exuded the quiet charm of the best 1970s singer-songwriters. Think Emitt Rhodes, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson (Goon even featured a song called “Without You”). Sonically, it even resembled a lost artefact from that golden era, while, at the same time, being simply too good to be written off as a pastiche. In terms of realistic musical comebacks, Jesso Jr. was right up at the top of my wish list.

The problem is, unlike Godot, Tobias Jesso Jr. turned up.

S h i n e is not Goon 2. Superficially, at least, you could be forgiven for making that assumption—it is, after all, Jesso Jr., his piano, and a bunch of minor key songs. After a decade writing for other people, however, Jesso Jr. seems to have lost his own sense of identity. The little idiosyncrasies that helped him to stand out in a genre dominated by schmaltz are now tantalisingly out of reach. Rather than Rhodes and Nilsson, I’m reminded of the cheesier side of Billy Joel, or a late-career Elton John. Jesso Jr.’s proficiency on the piano has undoubtedly increased, but it all sounds so calculated. Where Goon felt instinctive, S h i n e feels studied. Soulless, even.

Vocally, Jesso Jr. has regressed. He rarely sounded confident on Goon, but his voice sounds shakier throughout S h i n e, prompting a series of conservative melodic choices. The endearing croon of “How Could You Babe” feels entirely beyond the reach of 2025’s Jesso Jr. Worse still, his tentative approach only serves to draw attention to some of S h i n e’s clunkier lyrics. “You’s a jack rabbit, you run like there’s dogs abound, I’m chasing my tail, wanna leave this shit behind, goin’ nowhere fast,” he rambles on “Black Magic,” a shadow of the man who conjured up simple gut punches like “Marianne, I lost you in a dream…then, the dream came true.”

I listened to Goon immediately after S h i n e, desperate to make sure I hadn’t grossly overrated it. Thankfully, I can confirm that it remains a distinctive, emotionally charged masterpiece—one of the finest records of the mid-2010s. Throughout the ensuing decade, I often wondered if Jesso Jr. would deliver a follow-up and what a second solo record would sound like. Now I know—and it turns out some things really aren’t worth waiting for.

Reviews:

Lush: Gala (35th Anniversary Edition)
Gala compiles Lush’s early material—a mini-album and two EPs—and highlights a remarkable period of growth for the dream pop / shoegaze band. [Full review here]

Sorry: Cosplay
North London’s Sorry are back with their third full-length, Cosplay, a confident, genre-hopping beast that oozes ambition and frequently succeeds thanks to sharp songwriting and even sharper production. [Full review here]

Anna von Hausswolff: Iconoclasts
Swedish experimental musician (and pipe organ enthusiast) Anna von Hausswolff goes pop, in her own unique fashion. [Full review here]

Snocaps: Snocaps
The Crutchfield sisters, Katie (Waxahatchee) and Allison (Swearin’), are joined by guitarist MJ Lenderman and producer Brad Cook on this surprise project’s heartwarming debut. [Full review here]

Hilary Woods: Night CRIÚ
On Night CRIÚ, Irish polymath Hilary Woods has found the sweet spot between her two contrasting musical personas—the avant-garde drone architect and the cerebral dream-pop minimalist. [Full review here]

Adults: The Seeds We Sow Are Sprouting Buds Nonetheless
The latest full-length from South London indie-pop band adults sinks under the weight of its admirable ambition. [Full review here]

I will be back to share my personal Best Albums of 2025 list here soon, and No Ripcord will naturally be posting its own collaborative list in early-to-mid December.

Thanks again to everyone for sticking with me over this lean spell.

In that piece, I pondered the future of that ageing institution:

It’s been a fascinating journey, but the future for No Ripcord looks uncertain. The antiquated website poses one significant problem, but a more pressing existential concern is waning interest in the 800+ word album review (basically the one thing we do).

After a decade spent swimming against the tide, Juan and I are starting to fatigue. At some point in the near future we’ll have to choose whether to gracefully throw in the towel or to dust ourselves down and spearhead an evolution.

Well, I have an update: Juan and I chose evolution.

Today—on 10/10/2025, a fitting date for nerds who like to assign scores to record reviews—we are re-launching No Ripcord, with a clear goal to deliver honest music criticism.

Honest Music Criticism

What is that, I hear you ask? Are you calling other critics dishonest? Certainly not to their faces! But, seriously, no.

We mean:

• no gate-keeping

• no snobbery

• fair, proportionate opinions

There are some wonderful writers covering music and some superb curators—like the highly talented Gabbie—but we don’t see too many measured critics out there.

No Ripcord has always celebrated the best new music through the art of the long-form record review, and Juan and I plan to keep that tradition alive for the fans who appreciate the format as much as we do. It may be a niche audience, but we’re happy to write for our fellow music nerds, even if it means toiling away in relative obscurity.

Our plan is simply to be ourselves. That means you can expect honest, uncompromising takes on whatever new releases catch our eye (for better or worse). There will also be features, interviews, and coverage of older favourites. We even have plans for a podcast, but doesn’t everyone these days?

What does this mean for The Perfect Prescription?

Good question. I don’t fully know yet, but I do know that I want to keep this newsletter active. Writing freely and less formally has been truly reinvigorating. I think the connection and I like the engagement in this modest little community—and for all its faults, I kind of like music Substack, too. So this will continue in some form, even if it might be a little quieter. Watch this space for more details as I figure it all out.

But if you have enjoyed my writing here, please support our mission over at No Ripcord. It’s hard work for the little guys out there, and we really do feel we’re offering something that you can’t really find in too many other places. There are some membership options available if you like what you see and want to throw a little more support behind the project.

As thrilling as the iconic mountain stages can be, there are inevitably going to be some less engaging moments in a three-week-long race. 200km sprint stages, for example. Of course, these contribute to the ebb and flow, allowing space for narratives to develop — and also much-needed downtime to listen to some music.

As promised, I’m reverting to the traditional monthly round-up format after last month’s double header. There’s plenty to cover, so let’s get on with it. Allez!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

SELECTED PICKS

OPEN MIKE EAGLE
“Neighborhood Gods Unlimited”
(Auto Reverse)

Let’s start with some Hip Hop. It’s been a rewarding summer for fans of smart MCs and creative producers. McKinley Dixon and billy woods delivered standouts last month, and the latest opus from LA’s Open Mike Eagle is on a similar level. I hyped last year’s Previous Industries project — a collaboration with Video Dave and STILL RIFT — and Neighborhood Gods Unlimited is at the very least that record’s equal.

BLANKENBERGE
“Decisions”
(Automatic Entertainment)

I already included this track on my shoegaze mixtape last October, but it’s so good that I couldn’t pass up another opportunity to highlight it. The new album from the Saint Petersburg shoegazers will satisfy fans of genre heavyweights Slowdive in particular.

AUTOCAMPER
“What Do You Do All Day?”
(Safe Suburban Home / Slumberland)

Fans of Beat Happening, The Umbrellas, The Pastels, and all things C86, indie pop, and jangle will adore the debut album from Manchester’s Autocamper. What Do You Do All Day? is the type of statement that breaks through the noise and stands out above the rest. There is a lot of music in this sonic ballpark — I would know, as I listen to a lot of it — but very few releases scale these remarkable heights. Both Slumberland and Safe Suburban Home are on impressive streaks right now and might be the most reliable labels in indie music.

GWENNO
“Utopia”
(Heavenly)

After acclaimed solo albums in both Welsh and Cornish, Gwenno has returned to the English language (predominantly) for the first time since her days with The Pipettes. If you haven’t heard Saunders since “Pull Shapes”, you’re in for a treat; her arty brand of chamber pop is frequently mesmerising. Utopia naturally lacks the otherworldly feel of her wonderful Cornish-language albums, but that feels like a fair price to pay to be able to understand Gwenno’s autobiographical lyrics. A special piece of work from an underrated talent.

THE SLOW SUMMITS
“Every Intention”
(Subjangle)

Hailing from Linköping in southern Sweden, The Slow Summits specialise in the kind of melancholy jangle pop that immediately evokes The Smiths. I’m also reminded of the legendary Swedish indie pop band Happydeadmen, whose 1990 single “Silent Sigh City” is one of my all-time favourites in the genre. Every Intention is a breezy little record and The Slow Summits show some range, too.

ALBUM OF THE MONTH

CLIPSE
“Let God Sort Em Out”
(Roc Nation)

I had the pleasure of seeing Clipse at last summer’s Primavera Barcelona, and they were exceptional, but there’s a difference between nailing a greatest hits set and creating new material that adds to your legacy — or so I thought. Let God Sort Em Out is the best Hip Hop comeback since A Tribe Called Quest’s masterful We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service. It’s arguably the best Hip Hop record this year. There are a couple of forgettable tracks (the Auto-Tuned “All Things Considered” featuring The-Dream and Pharrell is probably the worst), but the highs are stratospheric. Kendrick’s verse on “Chains & Whips” is the best he’s sounded in years, but even he doesn’t overshadow Pusha T and Malice, both of whom are in fine form throughout. If you have even a passing interest in Hip Hop, you need to hear this one.

BONUS SELECTION (AND YES, IT’S A JUNE RELEASE)

STUBBLEMAN
“1:46:43 - The Ventoux Trilogy”
(Crammed Discs)

I learned about this beautiful project via Escape Collective, which is my cycling website of choice. They posted about it to coincide with the Tour de France’s visit to Mont Ventoux. Stubbleman is an electronic project from Belgian-British musician/songwriter/producer Pascal Gabriel, who incidentally had a UK #1 single with “Theme from S-Express”, which he co-produced. This is quite different. Based around drone tracks derived from data he obtained when riding up Ventoux himself, 1:46:43 is a captivating love letter to the ‘Giant of Provence’. You don’t need to know anything about cycling to enjoy this, but it probably helps to appreciate the layout of the climb and the mountain’s tragic history: the renowned British cyclist Tom Simpson died on the climb during the 1967 Tour.

THE FULL PLAYLIST

Here is my Best Albums of July 2025 playlist on Spotify (other streaming services are available). Please share your favourites in the comments.

As a 90s kid from the north of England, it’s no surprise that the first two Oasis albums and The Masterplan played an important role in my musical development. I burned through those records. Be Here Now, the band’s difficult third album, was one of the first releases I remember being truly excited about.

“D’You Know What I Mean?” came out in the summer of 1997, and expectations were at fever pitch. I was at an army cadet camp1 at the time and that song was everywhere. It was undoubtedly in my head when I managed to lose a magazine of blank rounds on a training exercise. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but it caused absolute chaos — scenes of hundreds of people combing the open countryside in search of my missing ammunition are inextricably linked to the “D’You What I Mean Video” in my head.

We all know what happened next. Everyone loved Be Here Now, until they decided they didn’t — and the age of Oasis was over. Or so it seemed.

Last summer, when Liam and Noel announced their live return, the feeling was one of scepticism. Having already seen the hollow shell of Oasis at Reading Festival in 2000, I decided to give it a miss.

Nearly twelve months on, I’m starting to experience pangs of jealousy and even a faint hint of regret, as friends post breathless tributes to “the best gig ever” and send me video clips that don’t seem entirely awful. Recent setlists, which focus almost entirely on the band’s 90s oeuvre, undoubtedly help make the reunion shows a more enticing proposition.

More than anything, the band’s startling return to prominence has prompted a re-evaluation of their place in my heart. I had sidelined Oasis, writing them off as a teenage gateway to better things — an embarrassing phase. Oasis themselves played a part in this. The band’s idiotic antics and diminishing returns musically tainted the Oasis brand, while overexposure dulled the potency of their biggest hits. I will never need to hear “Don’t Look Back In Anger” or “Wonderwall” ever again.

The band’s immediate impact on British guitar music also contributed to my perception of their legacy. A horde of increasingly obnoxious Liam-alikes filled the post-Gallagher void (think Kasabian, White Lies, The Enemy), polluting the airwaves with their turgid third-hand takes on laddish pub-rock.

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If you are prepared to push all of this to one side — forget the tabloid stories, discount their lacklustre 2000s output, and forgive them for fuelling the rise of Kasabian — the influence of Oasis starts to look a little different. It’s a big “if” though, as the following snippet from The Guardian last year highlights:

Lyrically, too, they’re dismal: the promisingly mischievous Elsa/Alka-Seltzer rhyme of debut single Supersonic soon gave way to dull platitudes that might as well have been written by AI. But the problem is the music. Oasis don’t do fast songs. Noel plays his guitar as if he’s scared it will break, and Oasis’s funkless, sexless plod is always carefully pitched below the velocity at which fluid dynamics dictate that you might spill your lager. Is there anything more useless than a rock band that doesn’t rock?

Simon Price, for The Guardian (2024) — he also called Oasis “the most damaging pop-cultural force in recent British history”

I can kind of see Price’s point, but it requires a certain contortion to make this argument. Many of Noel Gallagher’s lyrics are ridiculous, but they also work. “Maybe I don't really wanna know / How your garden grows / 'Cause I just wanna fly” — on the page it looks ridiculous, but enveloped in the magic of “Live Forever” it sounds transcendent. That’s a skill. How can ordinary lyrics, predictable chord progressions, and a plodding rhythm combine to such effect? And it isn’t just a one-off — Definitely Maybe is loaded with songs that far exceed the sum of their unremarkable parts.

My recent reflections on Oasis have led me to a hypothesis of sorts. While British bands tend to copy the tabloid caricature of Oasis — the attitude, the swagger, the Liam axis — overseas admirers, benefitting from the absence of The Sun and The Daily Mail in their lives, take cues from the music, the anthemic nature of the songs, the Noel axis. My evidence is gathered below in playlist form. It’s not scientific, but if you prefer simpler terms: Oasis influenced a lot of artists, many of whom are not outwardly “mad fer it”.

I’m not going to write at length about these picks, but I do want to offer a brief introduction and highlight a few picks. Firstly, not everything here sounds like Oasis. A few tracks do, but I wanted to highlight more surprising influences and compile a playlist I enjoy. It’s worth noting that every song presented is from the last five years, too.

The guitar solo in Alvvays’ “Belinda Says” and the whole Chime School track scream pure Noel to me. Stannington are an up-and-coming band from Newcastle — vocally, I’m reminded more of Morrissey, but those thudding guitars sound like early Oasis to me. If Alan Moulder had produced Definitely Maybe it would probably sound like Manchester’s Pastel. Elsewhere, American artists Enumclaw, Dazy, and Snail Mail have all talked about their affection for Oasis, while Norway’s Beachheads and New Zealand’s Best Bets suggest an even greater international reach.

A Spotify playlist is embedded below. If you don’t like Spotify, feel free to convert this so you can listen via the provider of your choice.

I’d really love to hear your thoughts on this playlist, on other bands you feel Oasis have inspired, and on the band in general. Did you go to a reunion show? Tell me about it — especially if you hated every minute.

Instead, you’ll have to make do with a playlist of recent under-the-radar songs, skewing heavily towards indie pop, jangle and power pop. The full playlist is linked at the bottom of the article, after a summary of the highlights.

FORCE MODEL
“How Can One Girl Be So Sad?”

Fans of early Teenage Fanclub, Fountains of Wayne, and 2nd Grade’s more polished moments will fall hard for this LA trio’s summery take on power pop. “How Can One Girl Be So Sad?” is an absolute delight and the rest of their recent Barricade EP (Bug Body) isn’t too shabby either.

COMMON HOLLY
“Aegean Blue”

Montreal’s Brigitte Naggar released a couple of pre-Covid records as Common Holly, but her third full-length Anything glass is a remarkable leap forward. The instrumentation is sparse, fragile even, but Naggar’s voice adds a sense of warmth, which underpins standouts like “Aegean Blue” and “Terrible Hands”.

WATER MACHINE
“Clouds”

Glasgow’s Water Machine are a difficult band to pin down. Their restless debut album God Park (FatCat Records) is a thrilling mash-up of arty punk, fractured pop, and warped country, but the spiky, frantic opener “Clouds” stands out — and who doesn’t love some cowbells!

JEANINES
“On And On”

Brooklyn’s Jeanines have delivered the goods again on How Long Can It Last, their latest collection of short but perfectly formed indie-pop songs for the wonderful Slumberland Records. 13 tracks in 21 minutes? If you like jangly guitars, sweet hooks, and perfect harmonies you’d be a fool not to check it out.

LIGHTHEADED
“Love Is Overrated”

It would be rude to ignore another recent Slumberland release. New Jersey’s Lightheaded provide a neat counterpoint to Jeanines with a more expansive take on the genre — and songs that pass the two-minute mark!

LOWMOON
“Won’t Change Your Mind”

Jangly guitars, moody synths, 80s drum machines, and reverb-drenched vocals lend LOWMOON’s Cathedrals a distinctly continental sound. It certainly doesn’t scream Yorkshire, but I’m happy to claim LOWMOON as one of our own. Safe Suburban Home Records (Stuart Pearce, Healees, Cowgirl) have struck gold again.

THE COMPLETE PLAYLIST

So here it is: 14 tracks and 42 minutes of under-the-radar bliss. I hope you find a new favourite (or two) from this selection.

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May’s Best New Releases

LE PAIN
“Dirge Technique”
(Slouch)

Le Pain’s Dirge Technique is a delightful little slice of Sarah-influenced twee pop, with a Francophile edge. Tracks like “Is That How You Want Me To Feel” are perfectly suited to the early summer vibe that my lack of reliability has forced on this round-up. I was a little disappointed to learn they’re based in LA as opposed to, I don’t know, La Rochelle — but it’s a minor quibble.

BILLY WOODS
“GOLLIWOG”
(Backwoodz Studioz / Rhymesayers)

Is there a safer bet in modern Hip Hop than billy woods? Whether with Armand Hammer, his solo work, or the endless stream of collaborations he somehow finds time for, the standard always seems to be impeccably high. The visionary is on a run like 1999 to 2005-era MF DOOM right now, and fans of any form of Hip Hop should make the time to enjoy it.

FOXWARREN
“2”
(Anti-)

I’ve been following the work of Canadian singer-songwriter and musical polymath Andy Shauf since 2016 when No Ripcord Editor-in-Chief Juan Rodríguez introduced me to The Party through a wonderful song called “The Magician”. Shauf’s career has gone from strength to strength since, and an increasingly compelling element of that is his work with Foxwarren, a separate full-band project. There have been few records as quietly ambitious as Foxwarren’s 2 this year. It’s a stunning technicolour creation, characterised by refined genre-hopping, bold sampling, and accomplished orchestration, all knitted together with Shauf’s superb sense of restraint. It also has one of the finest album covers of the year to date.

THESE NEW PURITANS
“Crooked Wing”
(Domino)

I missed 2019’s Inside The Rose altogether, so this is the first I’ve heard from Southend-on-Sea’s These New Puritans since 2013’s Field of Reeds, which I loved at the time. My first impression of Crooked Wing is that it is undoubtedly a special record, yet one that requires a certain mood and setting to approach. I think it demands calm. I haven’t had a lot of calm recently, but when the moment arises, I’ll be reaching for Crooked Wing and exploring its obvious charms further.

BEN KWELLER
“Cover The Mirrors”
(Noise Company)

Kweller has crafted a beautifully vulnerable collection of songs celebrating his son’s life and detailing the family’s struggles in the aftermath of his death. Cover The Mirrors is bold, uncompromising, and mighty. And sometimes, that’s all that needs to be said.

June’s Best New Releases

HOTLINE TNT
“Raspberry Moon”
(Third Man)

Raspberry Moon had me from the first chord. Like Cloakroom’s excellent Last Leg of the Human Table from earlier in the year, this one almost feels like a bespoke order, tailored carefully to my tastes and desires. Shoegaze, power pop and jangle haven’t meshed together this seamlessly since Teenage Fanclub’s landmark Bandwagonesque.

SUBSONIC EYE
“Singapore Dreaming”
(Topshelf)

Isn’t it great when a band quietly and consistently progresses on successive albums? Singapore’s Subsonic Eye are on their fifth full-length at this point, and they’ve never sounded better. Singapore Dreaming is sure to satisfy anyone craving fuzzy, off-kilter indie rock with C86 undertones.

LÙLÙ
“Lùlù”
(Howlin’ Banana)

Lùlù is arguably the most overtly fun pick in this whole round-up, a rip-roaring blast of bilingual (vocals come in both French and Italian) power pop bliss. Think The Nerves if they’d taken a gap year in Europe and never left. Joyful.

LIFEGUARD
“Ripped and Torn”
(Matador)

Did the surprise success of Kai Slater’s Sharp Pins side project overshadow his main gig? I feel like I should say no — but truthfully? I think it kind of did. Despite its scrappy aesthetic, Radio DDR has a broader appeal than Ripped and Torn. Both are excellent records, but Lifeguard’s feels like a relatively niche statement. It reminds me of early Iceage in many ways, where fleeting moments of softness were largely obscured by more oppressive sonics. It’s thrilling, edgy, and outright jarring at times, like all the best art punk music, but it’s not an easy listen. The beauty is we get to have both — and long may that continue.

MCKINLEY DIXON
“Magic, Alive!”
(City Slang)

McKinley Dixon already features on my favourite Hip Hop track of the year in Ghais Guevara’s “The Apple That Scarcely Fell”. With Magic, Alive! he’s put forward a solid argument for my favourite Hip Hop album of the year. I’m a sucker for jazz-inspired sampling, smart lyrics, superb flow, smart collaborations, and concise records — Magic, Alive! delivers on all fronts. Get on board.

PULP
“More”
(Rough Trade)

When I heard Sheffield’s beloved Pulp would be returning with their first album of new music in 24 years my first thought, accompanied by a rush of anxiety, was “What if it’s really shit?”

If the rather good lead single “Spike Island” quickly eased those fears, the rest of More extinguishes them altogether. It isn’t shit. If anything, it’s better than We Love Life. There is nothing here that holds a candle to their prime years, but it’s a joy to hear 61-year-old Jarvis Cocker singing quintessentially Pulp lines like “That's when I saw you, babe / In the car park of the Farmers Market backlit by the sunset”. It’s also refreshing to hear cerebral pop music from the perspective of a sexagenarian. This isn’t a voice we hear often, and it lends More an additional sense of vitality.

The Playlist

Here is my Best Albums of Early Summer playlist on Spotify. Please share your own favourites in the comments.