The Best Albums of March 2026
Your favorite monthly roundup of (mostly) underrated new releases. No foolin'.
If you’re new here, you’re joining 19,000+ other people who are getting excited about new music again. Start here if you need to get oriented. You can also check out the playlist guide or the directory for way more.
🌟WHAT’S AHEAD🌟
-Best Albums of March 2026
-Monthly Playlist
Hopefully you didn’t notice, but I took a short break from posting last week. I needed a tiny breather.
While I was out, I finally relented and spent some time plugging the newsletter on (gulp) Facebook, the last remaining viable social medium I hadn’t already tapped, and also the least palatable.
Starting from scratch anywhere is humbling, but I had completely forgotten the kind of commentary that used to plague my videos when I first started New Bands for Old Heads on TikTok four years ago. Facebook reminded me. (And this time, people were using their real names to do it! Smart!1)
“This isn’t music, it’s noise.”
“Why would I listen to a band that sounds like another band? You’re literally saying they’re derivative.”
“How dare you compare this shit to [old untouchable rock band].”
Hot take, but people like this aren’t music lovers.
Tastes vary; you’re not required to like everything (or most things) that you hear. But loving music inherently requires an open mind. It presupposes an understanding that inspiration is intrinsic to the process of creation. It allows room for both imitation and experimentation. It is able to appreciate even when it can’t understand.
Music lovers are able to say “this isn’t for me, but that doesn’t make it fundamentally bad.”
Tell me what being a music lover means to you.
Now that I’m off my soapbox, let’s cool down with the best of last month.
As usual, I’d like to mention that while March was packed with huge releases, you won’t see them here, no matter how much I may have loved them.
Looking for Courtney Barnett, The New Pornographers, Kim Gordon, Haute & Freddy, The Twilight Sad, Snail Mail, Robyn, or other mega-hyped indie rock and pop that came out in March? That’s lucky for you, because you can read about them pretty much anywhere else. I don’t need to tell you about them, no matter what I thought of them.2
Since we’re so inundated with incredible new albums, I (usually) try to focus on the ones I loved that are a bit less frequently discussed.
All of the other month-by-month best of lists are here.
The Best Albums of March 2026
9 albums. 1 Playlist. No rankings.
Legend:
🎯 = if you only have time for one…
📼 = most nostalgic/accessible
🧩 = most challenging
Keep scrolling for the March playlist, which features a standout track from 44 albums (eep!). Something for everyone.
Cat Clyde - Mud Blood Bone
This is a different sort of roots rock record, where Clyde explores her Métis (that is, mixed indigenous Canadian and European) heritage. The album’s pacing and stylistic ebbs and flows — from heavier blues to gentler folk rock and even garage rock — reflect the very literal, physical journey she was on while she wrote it. Somewhere between Robert Johnson and Big Thief, you’ll find her.
Start with: “Man’s World”
Still to come — new adventures in post punk, a strange spin on slacker rock, jazz-forward hip hop, and three very different ways to get your groove on.
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