You've Got Great Taste

8 records you can't stop spinning lately

Back when I started New Bands for Old Heads, I made a music discovery guide for the chronically disengaged. One of my best tips was one I often used myself: pummel your streaming algorithm of choice into submission until it spits out exactly the kind of (new) music you want to hear.

I’m elated to report that I haven’t discovered music via any kind of algorithm for at least a year now. That’s entirely thanks to you guys. You’re my biggest feeder for music discovery now.

Not to brag, but my readers have the best taste. My own taste has grown exponentially in every direction thanks to everyone who has gathered here. I consider myself very fortunate.

I want to do a better job of putting your listening front and center, because it’s genuinely changing my life¹. We talk about community so much on “Musicstack” — how getting back into music can be as easy as finding other people to talk to about it, how musicians need to develop community instead of fans — but here we are, actually actively nurturing one. Well done, you.

Today’s recommendations are recent NBfOH community favorites, as collected through listening stats on our Discord server. I asked a few of our regulars to tell you what makes these records so special, so you’re getting the fan perspective today, but rest assured I would never include something in this newsletter that I don’t personally recommend.

If you want to influence these choices in the future (or write about your own favorites), you know what to do.

A few small notes about what you WON’T find here:

• July albums (that’s for next week!)

• Albums I’ve already recommended (you’re getting all new stuff today!)

That’s it!

Ratboys - Singin’ to an Empty Chair

New West Records, Feb 6th 🇺🇸

GENRE: Indie Rock/Alt-Country
RIYL: Wilco, Jenny Lewis, The Cardigans

It took me a while to warm up to this release over my beloved The Window from 2023, but peer pressure (and a live show) has gotten the better of me. It says a lot that of all their recent new music listening, the only pre-May release that the Discord crew is still spinning regularly is this one right here.

Jeff Van Dreason: "Confessional, thoughtful, and also fun, this album has everything from Ringo references, songs about loyal dogs, campfire sing-alongs and guitar-shredding desires to burn it all down and start over.”

Max Freedman: “The first four tracks are god-tier indie-rock songs, especially the ginormous guitar freakout with the appropriately tossed-off, say-it-in-one-breath title “Light Night Mountains All That.” I mean, the lyrics about family trauma are great too, but it’s really the fiery riot and stomping country edge to this indie rock album that sells me. It’s just a force of nature.”

Start with: “Penny in the Lake”

Slippers - Slippers 08

Perennial/K Records, June 5th 🇺🇸

GENRE: Twee/Power Pop
RIYL: The Beach Boys, Apples in Stereo, The Beatles

I’ve started and stopped writing about Slippers at least three times now (I really did Madeline Babuka Black dirty not including her on the twee post a little while back) but this album truly deserves more than just a passing mention on a genre playlist.

Jeff Van Dreason: “Wholly unique and perfectly crafted songs that will rattle around your skull for days. I dare you to listen to Slippers 08 in full and not get at least a couple stuck up there.”

Start with: “Wants for Everyone”

Soft Palms - In Echo

Everloving Records, June 19th 🇺🇸

GENRE: New Wave
RIYL: The Yardbirds, Bauhaus, The Shadows

Years ago I went gaga over a dark, vintage, surf-rock band called Death Valley Girls. This is more of that fuzzy haunted sock-hop sound.

@meandtimory... plus for everyone paying attention to the Cramps again now, this is clearly heavily influenced by them & other 70s era psych/punk (The Stooges) but with a unique spin that I'm really digging.@deathvalleygirls #newbandsforoldheads #musicrecommendations #psychrock #genxtiktokers #genxcrew #xennialsoftiktok #eldermillenialcheck #deathvalleygirls #siouxsieandthebanshees #thecramps

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Brandon Waybright: “A little bit punk, a lot bit soft goth with all the haze of a late night drive down the California coast. This album just feels good. Hard-driving, reverb-y, surf-adjacent rock that might be trying to cast a spell or might be starting an uprising. Either way, I’m in.”

Start with: “Radio”

Liz Lawrence - Vespers

Chrysalis Records, June 5th 🇬🇧

GENRE: Art Pop
RIYL: Aimee Mann

If you remember watching P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia, especially in theaters, and you had a lot of emotions seeing the cast pass around “Wise Up” from their respective lonely corners, then I can almost guarantee that Liz Lawrence’s new album will resonate.

Lou Tilsley: “Liz’s voice is pure and resonant. This album is deeply personal and I think that shines through. She wrote it after the death of her sister and, while that sounds like it could be depressing, it’s an incredible meditation on grief and loss and leaves me marveling at its beauty.”

Start with: “Black Ulysses”

Wiki - Ancient History

Wikset Enterprise, June 12th 🇺🇸

GENRE: Hip-Hop
RIYL: The Alchemist, Earl Sweatshirt, Mobb Deep

One of the most charming aspects of building a community of music nerds is when all of our highly specific specialties and archetypes start emerging. Nate (UPMAdvice) has become our go-to hip hop head. I treasure his input when the rest of us are getting a little predictable.

UPMAdvice: “After a series of collaborative projects starting back in 2019, Wiki is finally back with a solo record! Expect mellow, abstract, East Coast beats with introspective bars, rapping about his experiences living in New York. This album makes me want to put headphones on and just walk without a real destination. I can put it on to drown out the stress of everything around me, or decompress at the end of the day.”

Start with: “Right Away”

feeble little horse - bitknot

Saddle Creek, May 26th 🇺🇸

GENRE: Noise Pop/Shoegaze
RIYL: My Bloody Valentine, Helium, Swirlies

I’ve been avoiding direct recommendations of feeble little horse since their debut despite my intense love of their music for the simple reason that I can’t for the life of me think of who they remind me of. I mean, yes, My Bloody Valentine. Slowdive. Blah blah blah. But there’s something else on the tip of my tongue and it is KILLING ME.

Max Freedman: “This thing is loud and sticky like throwing bubblegum at a loudspeaker at 120mph… and also that bubblegum is a paring knife. It’s like if hyperpop was rock, and it’s so extreme it’s kinda hilarious. The songs that lean more dream pop than noise pop are gorgeous and equally sticky. An all-around treat.”

Kevin Alexander: “I don’t know what’s in the water in Pittsburgh, but I want some. Like fellow ‘Burghers (can I say Yinzers if I’m not from there?²) Ex-Pilots, the band squishes chaotic distortion, soothing melodies, and Lydia Slocum’s vocals into a package that somehow makes it all work. Crafting an ornate sound while sounding lo-fi is no easy feat. On bitknot, the band makes it look light work.”

Start with: “Doorway”

Paycheque - S/T

Mansions and Millions, June 12th 🇺🇸

GENRE: Synthpop
RIYL: italo disco, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure

This record is a blinking neon sign. Or a Lisa Frank trapper keeper, perhaps.

Brandon Waybright: “It’s like this: you’ve been sucked into a time vortex and transported to an ‘80s vision of the future. You stumble out of the back door of a club and start walking down a damp, August city street. Suddenly, you find yourself stuck in a trance staring through a bodega window at a stack of flickering TV sets that light up your silhouette. This is the album that’s been playing on your Walkman the entire time. It’s delightful, vampiric 80s dance club music with killer bass lines. I absolutely love it.”

Start with: “Temporary Love”

Olivia Rodrigo - yOu SeEm PrEtTy SaD fOr A gIrL sO iN lOvE

Geffen Records, June 12th 🇺🇸

GENRE: Pop/Rock
RIYL: The Cure, No Doubt, Lorde

I try not to highlight massive mainstream records here, but good music is good music, and today is all about what you are actually listening to. I resisted this album for about a week before succumbing to every inch of its well-deserved hype. She really makes being a generational talent seem oh so easy, doesn’t she?

Jeff Van Dreason: “Thesis: Rodrigo is the Beatles of this era. Evidence: extremely well written pop songs about love and heartbreak, a multi-generational fanbase, and a producer-collaborator who encourages her growth as a songwriter and musician (Dan Nigro is Olivia’s second Beatle). She’s leagues above the rest because she’s the best. Her most ambitious and confident album yet, with flawless sequencing and a sound equal parts idol worship and idiosyncratic.”

Max Freedman: “Olivia Rodrigo is the most distinct songwriter in the mainstream, and she’s a master at following an anticipation-building verse with a payoff-as-fuck chorus, plus she has actual bridges! And they work. The home stretch of “maggots for brains” that becomes mostly vocals is pure euphoria. Good-ass lyrics too for subject matter as well-trodden as breakups.”

Start with: “my way”

What new music is on repeat chez toi?

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1. God this is so corny and also REALLY sounds like an AI slop sentence??? But I’m sorry, I’m verklempt, I can’t help it.

2. As a native Pittsburgher… it’s better than saying ‘Burgher!