Bubble's Gonna Burst
Experimental Rock, Garage Punk, Bitpop, Hip Hop & Rap, Emo, Techstep, Egg Punk, Post-Hardcore and More!
Afternoon to y’all out there.
Before I get to the reviews, here’s some interesting things that I’ve been up to recently and/or enjoyed:
Various summer things; camping at Pinery over on Lake Huron, eatin’ ice cream and jumpin’ in lakes.
Got my first tattoo ever, a matching one with Emma.
Had some fun thrifting coincidences, like when one day I was looking up this old Hero Quest style board game called Dark World and then the next day I found it in a second hand shop. Hell yea.
Anywho… enjoy my capsule reviews, and let me know if anything here tickles your fancy, yeah?
Emoji legend:
⛏️ denotes picks of the week, my favs.
🌱 seedling denotes albums like a lot and expect could grow on me over the year.
✨ albums I would recommend to fans of the genre (i.e. it might not convert new listeners, but you should check it out.)
✂ denotes favourite tracks from a given record.
As always, feel free to reach out over on BlueSky or join the Rosy Overdrive Discord server where I can be found now and again.
You can also find me in the corners of Rate Your Music scrounging for obscure emo, hardcore, indie rock and pop punk.
Don’t forget: if you’re reading this in your email it will be cut off.
Read on the web for the full list of reviews!
⛏️ Water From Your Eyes - It's a Beautiful Place (2025)
Genres: Art Rock, Experimental Rock, Indie Rock, Noise Pop, Art Pop, Dance-Punk
Another great stack of hard-to-describe stuff from this band. The variety of genre and sub-genre tags should tip you off to what's going on here though as it sits somewhere in the realm of indie rock dabbling in hypnotic grooves and art/noise/dance/etc. textures. Been digging all the main-line LPs they've been putting out since All a Dance and this continues their streak for sure. And it doesn't over-stay its welcome either!
⛏️ Dark Thoughts - Highway to the End (2025)
Genres: Pop Punk, Garage Punk
6 years later and Dark Thoughts return with 16 minutes of short, snotty and hooky retro punk rock.
They're one of those bands I have appreciated over the years, but the three- or four-chord kind of Ramones thing isn't always my favourite and so I kind of wrote them off a little bit. Been listening to Must Be Nice a lot lately though and it's possible that seeing them live unlocked something for me. I also think they have enough modern punk in their sound that they end up reminding me less of 90s Ramonescore (even considering the cover art) which is appreciated.
This kicks a lot of ass, it's just a stack of 11 super fast, super short songs (OK one is partially acoustic) that make you wanna walk through a brick wall. Have been happily re-listening to this into the ground since it was released.
⛏️ Anamanaguchi - Anyway (2025)
Genres: Bitpop, Power Pop, Slacker Rock, Noise Pop, Pop Punk, Geek Rock, Chiptune
I'm all about the "full band plus chiptune adornments" set-up so I was stoked to hear the singles suggest Anamanaguchi had finally fully flipped the switch on having their chip stuff add texture to a guitar-focused approach. And... that's exactly what this is. Some of these songs feel a little underbaked or a little airy, but mostly this is just hooky indie rock power pop (cue the Rosenstock and Weezer comparisons).
Probably a bit of a singles album, as they gave people a fair amount of time to repeat "Rage (Kitchen Sink)", "Magnet" and "Darcie" into the ground, and the rest of the album is strong but maybe not quite as strong as the singles. "Sapphire" gives a nice impression on how they could expand this sound beyond just crunchy guitars and bleepy boops on its softer opening bars (even if it mostly becomes the former). They follow that one up with "Valley of Silence", more of a gloom-pop Cure-influenced song as well that functions almost like an extended interlude of sorts. "Nightlife" rounds out the album and does show that they are confident at executing the kind of churning, melodic emo-adjacent album closing barn burner.
All said, this is totally my kind of stuff so I was a bit pre-disposed to like it. Maybe it's not the strongest album in the world coming from an already established talent, but for their first attempt at a "rock" record, it's solid and I dug a whole lot of it.
🌱 Joey Valence & Brae - Hyperyouth (2025)
Genres: Hardcore Hip Hop, Pop Rap, Miami Bass, Electronic Dance Music, Hip House
No Hands was a good lark, but JV&B have always been a bit all over the map in terms of consistency (possibly by design?) On Hyperyouth they're definitely taking more swings into different territories regarding their beats - more club/dance ready stuff, Miami Bass is listed as a sub-genre, etc. - and though they retain their slight issue with consistency across 45 minutes, I'm partial to acts taking bigger swings and am more forgiving of the stuff that doesn't work when it's borne of experimentation. On No Hands they had songs that felt half-baked or glorified interludes, but here the stuff that doesn't work relatively feels fully formed or at least justify their inclusion by virtue of being interesting detours in concept ("The Party Song") or textures ("Is This Love," "Party's Over", "Live Right", "Disco Tomorrow").
Another situation where an album might not have quite as high-highs as the act is known for, but I admire what they are reaching for here a bit more to be honest. Good features too, TiaCorine kills it.
✂ Hyperyouth, Bust Down, See U Dance, Wassup, Live Right
🌱 Do It Later - Feeling Spent (2025)
Genres: Emo, Pop Punk, Post-Hardcore, Melodic Hardcore, Math Rock
Have spun this a couple times in hopes it would inspire me to have some more detailed insights, but I keep landing on appreciation and a solid level of enjoyment.
This is fast noise pop that skirts into pop punk territory by virtue of how fast a few of the songs can get ("Slow Ride") but sometimes avoids settling into (puts music snob hat on) ~actually~ being explicitly pop punk. Foundationally, I'd say this has a lot in common with bands like Woahnows, Doe or The Spills... though the way they jump from palm muted power chords and slashy octaves ("Booze Crooze" gets there, and "Lift & Push" has chugga chugga breakdowns even) does make me want to reconsider how committed I am to that take.
Has some genre tags I'm not entirely sure about - post-hardcore, math rock - but I guess I can understand why someone would put them there because songs like "Deadbeat" have enough anthemic emo in them to remind me of Survival Is for Cowards-era The Casket Lottery or maybe even some of the more melodic songs by Small Brown Bike.
If these songs were calculated juuuuuuuuust a bit more towards having more memorable choruses, I think this would almost be a home run. As it stands, they have the energy and the big riffs and the gang vocals and everything they're doing is right within my wheelhouse. I'm really torn and want to be a little generous so I'm rating at a 3.5 and giving it some more time to see where I ultimately land.
🌱 Kloke - Lucidity (2025)
Genres: Jungle, Techstep, Atmospheric Drum and Bass
My only problem with Kloke's brand of atmospheric jungle slash drum and bass seems to be that they have a little bit of a more is more problem. On Rhythm similarly ran about 70 minutes, and they're back again with a 12 song album clocking in at the same running length. I said on the review of On Rhythm that it might just be a pinch too much for me to take in one sitting, giving the relatively repetitive nature of the genre. But it's all of a certain quality, so I can't fault them there. As far as slabs of jungle/dnb go, this is more good stuff. I just can't help but wonder if this had a pinch more editing, maybe a 45 minute run time and a little more emphasis on pacing, that it might be more of a home run?
✨ Jobber - Jobber to the Stars (2025)
Genres: Indie Rock, Power Pop
I'm a complete broken record, but this is totally alright indie rock, themed around wrestling for whatever reason. If you like stuff along the lines of Bad Moves or Speedy Ortiz circa Major Arcana, then you will find stuff to like here. Finding it hard to get super excited about them, because it seems like it fits so snugly into an existing type of vibe without doing too much to distinguish themselves beyond the wrestling thing. Not bad, though.
✨ Dragnet - Dragnet Reigns! (2025)
Genres: Garage Punk, Post-Punk, Synth Punk, Egg Punk
Quirky and hooky post-punk that feels like it overlaps into that egg-punk kind of vibe a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit with its use of synths. Way less hyperactive than that might lead you to believe though. I wasn't totally sure about this for a song or two, and then the next time I looked up the album was already over. If the genre is your bag, this is pretty good all things considered, even if it's not incredibly memorable. I think they're best when the BPMs are turned up. They should throw more wild sax into their sound like they do on "Shadowboard" as well.
✂ Fail Army, Alta Vista, Shadowboard
Pile - Sunshine and Balance Beams (2025)
Genres: Post-Hardcore, Indie Rock, Post-Rock, Art Rock, Noise Rock
Bit of a return for Pile, or maybe more of a splitting the difference between where they have been headed lately (more percussive, experimental stuff) and where they have been (post-hardcore barnburners.) I think this is pretty strong all the way through—and to some degree Pile's music has always been something that takes time to grow—but 11 albums in (9 if you don't include the acoustic and drone diversions) and I wonder how often I'd be in the mood to reach for this one instead of Green and Gray, A Hairshirt of Purpose, Dripping, Magic Isn't Real etc.
Big Life - The Cost of Progress (2025)
Genres: Punk Rock, Post-Hardcore
Detroit band featuring Ryan Allen (Thunderbirds Are Now!, Friendly Foes) on guitar and backing vocals. This is 80s influenced indie style punk that isn't too bad a way to spend 22 minutes, but also isn't incredibly memorable. Definitely one of those bands looking to update the SST Records (and to a lesser degree Dischord Records) sound for 2025. Definitely some post-punk in there, and it's quite melodic so don't come expecting it to be hardcore through-and-through, but it's not too shabby if you're into this kind of thing.
✨ Dehuman Reign - Dawn of a Malefic Dominion (2025)
Genres: Death Metal
This feels like it sits right on the precipice of legitimately cool death metal, and corny death metal (even just based on the name and art alone tbh.)
It's not bad though, there's some pretty sick riffs going on in here. Vocalist isn't totally my speed, not sure what it is about them since I generally enjoy death metal vocals that sit on the legible side of things. Might be something I just need to adjust to. There's definitely a sprinkling of Bay Area style riffs ("Cursed to Feed on Flesh") in here, which I do enjoy, and there's some mid-paced pummeling stuff too ("Heretic")
This isn't the kind of album I feel like would end up on a year-end list or anything, and it's a bit too long, but it's worth a peek if you enjoy death metal that dips into classic thrash territory from time to time. If it were an EP I'd probably score this higher but by the end of the album it definitely tires a little.
✨ OK Cool - Chit Chat (2025)
Genres: Indie Rock, Midwest Emo
Hooky skewed emo-adjacent indie rock that peppers in a bunch of different textures and elements of power pop, but remains poppy enough to drop a few earworms throughout the 27 minute runtime despite being hard to pin down. Some of this has that noise-pop fuzzy riffy jangle ("Splitting") that reminds me of Doe or maybe Martha but it also has a lot of little mini detours in their sound (a little noodly emo bit in "Jeans") which adds a nice bit of unpredictability. Could use a more consistent dose of energy (it takes a dip on the B-side) but not bad regardless and they show some promise here.
✂ Safety Car, Splitting
✨ Fortitude Valley - Part of the Problem, Baby (2025)
In my memory Fortitude Valley was a little more scrappy and immediate, and on their second album this power-poppy indie band have definitely softened a little bit around the edges of their sound. Still retains a fair amount of energy though, so this goes down easy even if the band's sound has gotten a bit smudged in the conversion to having a bit slicker production values. Another one I will need to file under "time will tell" regarding how much I actually like it.
Superchunk - Songs in the Key of Yikes (2025)
Genres: Indie Rock, Power Pop, Indie Pop, Slacker Rock
Damn, Superchunk continues to be a band that I just can't muster much excitement for post-Majesty Shredding.
For a band that was hugely seminal in my tastes circa my 20s, I'm at least happy that they've never taken a jump off a cliff, quality wise. But at the same time, I Hate Music, What a Time to Be Alive, Wild Loneliness, and now this are all perfectly, acceptably cromulent indie rock albums that just do not grab me. It's not even that I need them to crank their energy levels back up to their younger days, either. Some of their knotted-up guitar work ("Climb the Walls") does nicely recall when their earlier albums would dip into mid-tempos. But when it comes to actually memorable songs... I don't know, these all drift through my ears and into the ether to some degree.
It's not like this is a total wash but I feel like I'm starting to get a bit drained keeping up with these "never better than pretty alright" albums from Superchunk.
⛏️ Waitresses - Bruiseology (1983)
Waitresses are a great example of the rare band who are at once very known and popular ("Christmas Wrapping" has 60M+ streams on Spotify across a few versions and "I Know What Boys Like" is approaching 8M) but still can be called underrated because people rarely look much deeper than their big hits. Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? has always been one of my fav examples of the fantastic album overshadowed by a band's reputation. It doesn't help that they are also one of those bands that fits into their genre (new wave-y power-pop) while adding enough sax and some light touches of funk, post-punk, and a tinge of reggae-esque bounce to stop them from sounding like just another also-ran new wave band.
Unsure why it has taken me so long to finally listen to their follow-up and only other full length album until now. Checking through the reviews and comments on RYM and beyond, you'll see a bit of a back-and-forth between people wanting to say this is a better album than Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? and people saying it's good but not great.
Totally understandable, because this is a consistently good-to-great album that doesn't quite hit the highs as their previous one. Sometimes, that leads people to prefer the consistency over the album with the high-highs, and sometimes it makes albums like this feel like a let-down.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I really dug this, and will listen to it again for sure, but not sure it can top an album I've listened to as much over the years as Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?. They do throw a few curveballs, like having bassist Tracy Wormworth take lead on the funk-focused "Spin" which I could see throwing some listeners off. In many ways it feels like a band trying to figure out where to go next, before they ultimately gave up on even going there. Maybe a bit of a pacing and track listing re-adjustment was all this album needed to feel a little fuller?
Would love to get it on vinyl, that's for sure. I feel like this is a comfortable one to sit with and would make for a good listen on that format.
⛏️ I Hate Sally - Don't Worry Lady (2006)
Genres: Metalcore, Post-Hardcore, Mathcore, Atmospheric Sludge Metal, Screamo
Member of a local discord reminded me of the existance of this Underground Operations band. They were one of those acts that fit into the relatively sassy overlap of metalcore, post-hardcore, mathcore, etc. Very all over the place, can't sit still stuff that revels in juxtaposing heavy and loud with more atmospheric and calm moments. Excellent drumming in particular, but also riff focused enough to keep my attention. Nice to hear them add a dose of sludge here an there too. Probably rooting for this album as I listen to it since they're an underrated Canadian act, but I think this is a bit unfairly overlooked for the genre.
Seeing Kurt Ballou credited as mixer makes sense for sure. This would definitely appeal to fans of Converge, Botch, Every Time I Die et al.
✂ Hannah Hannah, Martha Served, Eve, Be Dear to Him
✨ Bomb Threat - Bomb Threat (1995)
Genres: Hardcore Hip Hop
Very solid cassette-only (at the time) release which functioned as a collaboration of the 90s Portland-area Lifesavas and Frontline crews. This resembles the kind of stuff you might think of given that description, including Hieroglyphics. All around this doesn't totally stand out of the genre but it's good enough that I'm surprised it hasn't garnered more reviews/ratings on here.
✨ Mock Orange - First EP (2002)
Genres: Indie Rock
The ever-shape-shifting Mock Orange's official coming out as "indie rock" EP, sandwiched between the second-wave emo of The Record Play and the fully indie rock with shades of Pavement / Modest Mouse / etc. sound on Mind Is Not Brain. I have a vivid memory of listening to this in High School and being very taken aback at their pretty direct change in sound.
They'd go on to expand their sound in various ways (longer songs, maybe a bit more adventurous textures) on Mind Is Not Brain, but here they are very much doing simple and effective guitar-focused indie rock. There's a little variation—the acoustic plucks and sliding guitar on "Driving Day"—but mostly this is very solid 20 minutes of driving, hooky riffing. Remains enjoyable!
Mock Orange - Mock Orange (1997)
Actually very interesting to hear that Mock Orange had a lot of their sound nailed down right away. "Bad Things" is a punky kind of poppy emo-esque indie rock song that contains a lot of what they'd break out individually into different eras of their career.
Much of this is the sound of a young band trying to throw it all at the wall, and in that way it's endearing. Some of these songs would definitely fit right in on Nines & Sixes. And then some of them feel much more indebted to the 90s poppy skate punk genre ("Don't Feel a Thing", "The Hives", "Here Anymore" even seems to be referencing All-era Descendents to me) than where they'd go from here.
"She Turns Around" reveals that their indie rock era didn't come completely out of nowhere, as it starts with a clean jangly indie rock section before becoming a bubbling, surging emo rock tune. "Holly" reminds me so much of a different band, but I cannot for the life of me put my finger on it.
It doesn't nearly stand toe-to-toe with their other albums, but it's a neat thing to hear and confirms that they had something in them right from the start (including a really talented drummer.)
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
Hi Dan, checking in to see what the submission guidelines are for sending you tunes. I've got a new album out, and I'd love to share it. Also, very glad to see that Cheekface is on both of our lists. Saw them live and loved it.