Even More Upcoming Releases to Get Excited About
All of those new 2025 albums I told you about back in January? Fuck 'em; utter garbage now that these upcoming record releases have been announced.
In today’s issue:
1) 4 upcoming albums I’m very invested in
2) The Tisburys’ listening party recap
3) This month’s record giveaway
Remember back in January when I told you about all the new records you should be looking forward to in 2025?
Forget those albums. They’re dead to you.
There are so many others that have been announced since then that are making me veritably buzz with excitement. I need to tell you about some of them immediately.
4 Upcoming Albums That Make Me Shiver With Antici…pation
1. Pulp - More
June 6th, Rough Trade
RIYL: meta-nostalgic Britpop, aging disgracefully
Fucking Pulp, you guys.
Look, I am usually turned all the way off when I see a heritage act reuniting and putting out new music.
This is probably heavily controversial, especially knowing my readership, but my reaction is generally “stand aside, pops! Let the kids have a turn at the mic for a change!”1
I’m wooed, however, by Emma Withers' recent article about this very subject (and not just because she referenced Twin Peaks in the title, I swear!):
“[A]s I get a bit older I find it almost a relief to hear the aches in a voice, that everything that makes up a life, all that experience, good and bad, can be turned into something so beautiful.”
I can’t disagree. I’m also a massive hypocrite, which we’ve already established time and again.
Pulp is one of my favorite bands. They haven’t actually made any new music for nearly a quarter of a century, but they have been touring in the last couple of years, and I’ve even been lucky enough to see them more than once2.
Jarvis Cocker was born for the stage. Pulp’s live shows are indescribable. But I didn’t really expect new music, and the one new song I heard during their concerts didn’t blow me away.
When I saw the album announcement, as excited as I was, it was with great trepidation and through gritted teeth that I listened to the new single, “Spike Island.”
But my god, the song is great. The chorus absolutely gutted me. The story behind its name is worth the price of admission (pun intended?) all on its own.
Even the (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) AI couldn’t ruin it for me. Please, treat yourself.
2. Wet Leg - Moisturizer
July 11th, Domino
RIYL: manic pixie dream girls gone feral
I fell in love with Wet Leg’s 2022 debut fast and hard.
I wrote about all the industry plant name-calling back then, too:
“With their wry charm and colorful style, it’s easy to think that they were cooked up in a lab for better photo ops than sound bytes. Even their origin story seems plucked from the Manic Pixie Dream Girl playbook: two college dropouts drunkenly sling guitars on a lark just to get free festival entry, then decide while sitting atop a Ferris wheel to form a band that could be written out in emojis.”
What I wasn’t so sure about was whether they were one trick ponies, whether they’d ever be able to match the energy and fire of their debut, or if they’d even come out with new music again.
Then I heard their new single, “Catch These Fists.” Angular guitars, soft voices against a wall-of-sound chorus, riot grrrl lyrics… just my brand of post-punk, in essence.
Predictably, the internet is just as divided in its reactions as it ever was. I love reading the insults all over Reddit: the album cover is ugly, the music is derivative, all their good ideas were used up on the first album, blah blah blah. Maybe so — I absolutely can’t wait to hear the rest so I can decide for myself.
3. Viagra Boys - viagr aboys
April 25th, Shrimptech Enterprises
RIYL: promethazine and a little 7UP
Alright, this wasn’t so recently announced, but I’ll sneak it in on a technicality. After obsessing over every one of the singles, I know I’ll be prying my foot from my mouth in two weeks if the rest of the album doesn’t live up to my own hype.
How to describe this band to the uninitiated? Post-punk, yes. But add layers of absurdity, insouciance, and unmatched lyrical cleverness until you get something approximating the Butthole Surfers, Devo, and Gang of Four (musically) and Tom Waits (lyrically).
I’ve always said that if I had a theme song, it would be Viagra Boys’ “Punk Rock Loser”. It’s easily my favorite song of the 2020s so far.
“The Bog Body” is my personal favorite of the new album’s singles, but it was a tough choice. Their videos are all really worth watching, too.
4. Lifeguard - Ripped and Torn
June 6th, Matador
RIYL: demo tapes
Now let’s do one that’s actually a bit under the radar.
This young Chicago trio will be releasing their debut this summer, and I can’t stop spinning the lead single.
I know you may think you’ve had your fill of all those kooky kids and their power pop revival, but if the rest of the album lives up to this, it will be an exciting twist: very lo-fi, punk-meets-sunshine-pop.
If nothing else, we get this incredibly fun track.
Will I actually end up loving any of these albums? Who knows! It’s immaterial, at least for now, because the anticipation is half the fun… isn’t it?
What upcoming album are you looking forward to the most? Derail me from my own tastes.
The Inaugural Discord Listening Party Was a Hit!
Our first-ever record listening party was a blast (glitches and all). Huge thanks to The Tisburys for trusting me with A Still Life Revisited in advance of its release, and to everyone who joined us for the chaotic fun.
I’m so grateful for all of you nerds.
The record will be out April 25th, and I cannot stress enough how incredible it is, especially after we all got to experience it in a cozy virtual living room together. It’s such a leap forward for the band, and you can hear their heart and soul in every track. Pre-order your copy here!
April’s Album Giveaway
The band has also been kind enough to offer up a copy of the album on CD to one winner this month.
Paid subscribers are all automatically entered to win. I’ll contact the winner on April 30th.
Next week, a very special treat — a first for the newsletter, and for me as a writer.
I’m kind of nervous! But I won’t spoil the surprise.
Until then! Ciao my babies.
xo
Gabbie
Lest anybody think this is 100% serious and that I actually ignore all new albums from legacy bands, I need to clarify it is in fact hyperbole for the sake of humor, something I do a lot of around here. I hate to footnote my jokes, but somebody told me yesterday that my attitude is what causes older artists to kill themselves. So footnote I must.
While we’re at it, I was also kidding when I said those other albums I shared at the start of the year are garbage/dead to you. CAN I GO NOW?
Once in their hometown of Sheffield — with our own David Coleman, no less!
pretty mad your poll made me choose between the cure and slowdive. I am also very excited about new Pulp and Stereolab (seeing the latter in Oct.)
New Pulp! New Stereolab! New Tisburys! things are lookin’ up.