Needle Drop Friday 8.14.26

Mornin kids. Or afternoon depending on when you are reading this. I started writing it in the morning. Time for some more new music releases.

I was going to start renaming these posts to something along the lines of Needle Drop Friday #XXX….but I didn’t feel like figuring out how many of these I have done. I’ll do it another time when I’m feeling up to it. So for now it’s just the title and the date. Anyway, let’s get to some new music.

First up, is some punk rock from Lawrence, Kansas. This one comes from Sweeping Promises. They put out You Say I Romanticize via Sub Pop Records. This one has some Superchunk vibes to it. There are some other vibes in there that I can’t quite place but it is good stuff. More indie rock in some ways than punk but there is definitely a punk vibe on this album to it. Anyway, I like it and I think you should give it a listen.

The next one comes from alternative singer-songwriter Nina Winder-Lind. She is Swedish but based out of Brighton, UK. Wild Love is her debut solo album. It was released by Transgressive Records. Nina was in a band called The New Eves. There is a poetry to this album. This artist is someone to keep your eye on. Check out the song “Girls.” Well, check out the whole album of course.

This next one is actually just a single but I wanted to mention it anyway. I don’t typically mention single only releases but I really liked this one. It is from New York City based post-punk ghostbells. The song is called “Curses” and was released by Out of Line Music. This band released the EP Catacouture earlier this year (February) and I really enjoyed that one too. If you don’t go check this song out we can’t be friends. Just kidding. Or am I?

The next release is Confluence from Diveline. Diveline is a post-hardcore trio from Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was released via The Ghost is Clear Records. It is a mix of post-hardcore, punk, and noise rock and just flat out works. There is an aggressive intensity to it along with some ambient and atmospheric undertones. I get an early Helmet vibe at times during the listening of this album. I really like this album. It might wind up on my end of year favorites list.

I gotta admit that I’m really on the fence about this next one. The band is Radiator Hospital and the album is Distorting Time. The album was released by Lame-O Records. Radiator Hospital are kinda indie rock, kinda power pop, kinda….I don’t really know. Anyway, the band is from Philadelphia, PA. I’m only mentioning it on here because it is something that I think I could like after repeat listens but right now I guess I might just not be in the mood for this sort of thing. I think others will like it and, like I said, I might like it in time. We will see. There is a very slight Dinosaur Jr vibe with some of these songs I think.

Okay, this next one….you are always told to not judge a book by its cover but the album cover for this one is phenomenel. I was looking through the band’s previous releases and all of the album covers are vivid and incredible. If anyone knows who does the artwork for these records, let me know because I don’t feel like looking it up. Oh yeah! The band is called Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. They are an alternative rock band from Japan. The EP they released today is called Iwaou. The word Iwaou is a Japanese word that means Celebrate by the way. This band is a mix of shoegaze, indie rock, and punk. I have never heard of this band before but I am definitely going to check out the rest of their catalog because this one kicks ass. It doesn’t matter that I can’t understand a word that they are saying. LOL!

My final selection comes from an artist that I just recently started getting into. Well, not JUST but I’ve only been getting into her for about a year or so. Needless to say, I have been looking forward to this one. The album is Lost Weekend from LA-based indie rock singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers. Phoebe is one third of the indie rock supergroup Boygenius. Lost Weekend is Phoebe’s 3rd full length solo album and it is, not to wince words and not surprisingly, absolutely exquisite. Her voice is truly hypnotic. The album was released by Dead Oceans by the way. Actually, I think all of her solo work is through this label. Anyway, this album is just pure fucking gold. It hits me in a way, lyrically speaking, that I didn’t think I would realize until I started listening to it more closely but goddamn! So many emotions in these songs. Listening to this album legitimately is making me cry. This album is a MUST LISTEN! So fucking brilliant. This is 100% album of the year for me right now.

Okay kids, that’s that all I have for you this week. It was a pretty decent week for new releases. Hopefully, next week will be good too. So go out and give these tunes and listen and improve your weekend.

Remember to Be More Kind!