freight train coming down the track/and it almost gave me a heart attack

Unfortunately, we've emerged from the holiday season and we're in "I have to do that thing 8-hours a day every weekday to live again" part of the year. But! That means that the lull in new music is over and there were too many great songs that came out this week.

Song of the week

Joyce Manor - I Know Where Mark Chen Lives

I didn't think I liked this band--and I went back to their really early stuff and I turns out I was right--but I'm really glad that I've been keeping tabs on the singles for their upcoming LP, because I liked the first one and love "All My Friends Are So Depressed." This one might be my new favourite and goes hard enough that I bought tickets to see them in May (though Militarie Gun opening the show helped that decision too).

I Used to Go to This Bar is out January 30th on Epitaph.

Classic of the week

Songs: Ohia - Two Blue Lights

A PSA to let you know that this record is finally back in print on vinyl. This is very easily my second favourite Jason Molina release (after The Magnolia Electric Co. ofc)

More heat

Robyn - Talk to Me

So far from this record, we've got two Robyn dancefloor bangers and one Robyn weirdo pseudo-rap jam (the album's title track, Sexistential, also out this week), one of which is a Robyn heartbreak number and two of which are Robyn "damn, I'm horny as Hell" tracks. This thing's already tracking to be album of the year (this song is one of the horny as Hell ones).

Gladie - Future Spring

It feels like an affront against me, personally, that Gladie's upcoming tour skips Seattle completely. But maybe I'll go to Toronto at the beginning of May, even though I'm going back to Japan in the middle of May and spend all Summer living like a broke skid as a throwback to the last period of my life when I used to write this thing regularly.

Cave Dwellers - Bitter Branches

Nasty, brutish, and short (complimentary), which is appropriate for the lead off single from an album called Let's Give the Land Back to the Animals.

Angel Du$t - I'm the Outside

Thank you to Angel Du$t for letting me keep my "not-a-hardcore guy who loves hardcore bands that aren't hardcore enough for nerds" thing going into 2026.

Mirah - After the Rain

I liked the dance-y power pop of lead-off single "Catch My Breath," but this is what I think about when I think about Mirah. 25-years(!) after You Think It's Like This, but It's Really Like This, it's amazing to hear something that shows how much she's grown as a songwriter while still being instantaneously recognizable as Mirah.

now playing: Joyce Manor - Think I'm Still in Love With You