Varieties on a Theme
Indie Pop, Slacker Rock, Power Pop, Post-Punk, Post-Hardcore, Art Punk, Deathgrind, New Wave, Sophisti-Pop and more!
Hello y’all!
Often times, I wish I had more to say here. I collect all these capsule reviews because I’m a sicko who is addicted to getting thoughts down about the things I’m listening to, but then I go blank when it comes to trying to write an introduction or, I dunno, talk about my life or whatever.
I’ll instead default to some bullet points of things that have been rattling around my brain:
Revisited Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) for the first time in probably 15+ years. Still incredibly funny.
It’s only barely music adjacent, but I watched the documentary Dream Tower (1994) as well, not a bad look at Toronto's Rochdale College (a co-op experimental education space of the late sixties) but felt a little surface. Worth a peek, though.
A co-worker tipped me off to these Humano Studios DJ sets on YouTube and they have been really great so far. Excellent stuff.
We have been playing some Crokinole here and there, which I really enjoy. Here’s Maple desperately trying to find a way to be involved in our game the other night:
AI thumbnails on a couple of the most recent uploads aside (ugh), this channel that creates “reimagined” uploads of specific Nick at Nite broadcasts (“Very Very Noir,” “Very Very Refurbished,” etc.) is also great watchin’:
Otherwise, here’s some music reviews. Hope you enjoy ‘em!
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!
⛏️ The Refraints - Badminton (2026)
Genres: Indie Rock, Pop Punk, Power Pop
Scrappy, buzzy mostly mid-tempo power-pop-punk that ranks high on the "singer isn’t great but it doesn't matter because they have a backup singer to join in on the melodies" scale ("Kissy Cam"). This took me a couple songs to warm up to, but once I did I dug it a whole lot. Sits between jangly indie rock and power pop with lightly fizzy punk-adjacent energy in the same way some early Lookout! Records bands did. There's some Dirtnap Records type energy in there as well. "Nacho Type" made me think of The Figgs, who I know I name drop way too much and promise I'm not just looking for reasons to compare bands to them, it really sounds like the kind of song they'd write! A couple times I also thought of them as a looser, more shambly Liquid Mike. Another reference point that came to mind was Queer Salutations, which is high praise for me.
⛏️ cootie catcher - Something We All Got (2026)
Genres: Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Twee Pop, Slacker Rock, Power Pop
On Shy at First, cootie catcher pretty cleanly split the difference between clattering electronic textures and straight-forward indie pop, using the former often as foundations to their songs. Here, they're going all-in as indie rock/pop first and electronic flourishes as additional features. It works for them, due in no small part to the strengths of their songs and melodies. This is big, jangly guitar-forward hook-laden twee pop, with off-kilter songs like "Lifestyle" or "Wrong choice" sprinkled in for good measure. "Puzzle Pop" ends up sounding like a mission statement around their cut and paste approach to driving indie pop.
Highly enjoyable stuff, and even with how much I liked this upon first listen, it feels like there's room for appreciation to grow even further. Year-end potential for sure.
🌱 Exhumed - Red Asphalt (2026)
Genres: Death Metal, Deathgrind, Goregrind
I don't know anything about Exhumed beyond "they're the deathgrind band with the bloody logo and gore/horror album covers" but I often check in with legacy bands releasing new music just to see what they sound like and this one actually connected right away. The comments box seems to agree that this isn't just another band whose best days are behind them, and if you handed this to me and told me it was a new band I'd have enjoyed it just as much. Very much "does what it says on the tin" kind of stuff, but effective in its own right.
🌱 Landowner - Assumption (2026)
Genres: Post-Punk, Post-Hardcore, Art Punk
I know I've heard this band in the past, but I feel like my memory of them isn't that they played very skewed post-punk kinda arty post-hardcore math rock type stuff as they do here. Maybe I'm just confusing them with a different band, though. I will say, I don't reach for records that sound like this very often these days, but Assumption held my attention well throughout. They play well with plucky post-punk repetition, weird jangly melodies, art punk chaos ("PRAY for the Environment") and even dabble in some slowcore adjacent indie rock texture ("Expensive Rent"). Nice stuff, if you're into these genres.
🌱 New Found Glory - Listen Up! (2026)
Genres: Pop Punk, Melodic Hardcore, Power Pop, Easycore, Skate Punk
A few of the singles for this sounded promising, and my first reaction is that this is the band doing a tight 35 minute "back to basics" album in a way that really suits them. After trying to expand their palette on Makes Me Sick and Forever and Ever x Infinity having a handful of good tunes in an overlong package, this strikes just the right balance for the most part. It's upbeat NFG bouncy, riffy pop punk with fun head-nodding breakdowns almost all the way. Distills their sound down to the basics so aggressively that it at times only narrowly avoids sounding like self-parody (including the mid-album mid-tempo song with "Medicine") but that's a problem I can deal with this deep into their career.
🌱 joyride! - joyride and friends! (2026)
Genres: Indie Rock, Indie Pop
Almost missed that this one came out earlier this month. Miracle Question was one of my favs from 2022, so I was excited to see a new release from the band.
As mentioned on their bandcamp, this is a "collection / collaboration / extension of the band" which just means: 5 of these songs are the core band, and 10 of them feature some variety of friends / collaborators / guest musicians etc. In practice, this still sounds like joyride!; fuzzy power-poppy mid-tempo indie rock. The kind of thing that gets called pop punk, even if there's not much speed or punk energy in their DNA.
First impressions is that this is strong but for a band who have been very consistent in the past, that consistency is starting to hollow out to familiarity and un-memorability to some degree. I still enjoyed this quite a bit, but need more time to see if a level of comfort and familiarity helps these songs bloom a little.
✨ Latest God - Concrete Kids (2026)
Genres: Punk Rock, Melodic Hardcore
Australian band playing revolution summer style melodic hardcore and punk rock, up-to and including the genre excursions like dipping into random outbursts of dub on "God Botherer". For my tastes this approaches hewing too closely to the original acts, as some of these songs end up sounding like a tribute act. That said, I can't deny they're doing it well.
✨ Templar - Conquering Swords (2026)
Genres: Heavy Metal
Well executed intentionally corny heavy metal from members of bands that seem to span the spectrum of other genres including thrash, death and speed metal. This is a hair better than the intentionally corny stuff of a similar ilk for a couple reasons: the production is nicely scuzzy without sacrificing quality, and the performances feel honest to me. Not sure how to articulate it, but this feels less like some band dudes playing dress up and more like an actual expression of appreciation for this type of metal.
When the other review on RYM says "Iron Maiden meets Mercyful Fate meets the Darkness meets Electric Wizard meets The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" it just makes a lot of sense. There's flecks of that over-the-top performative nature going on here, but it's... tasteful?... in comparison to other albums of this ilk that I've heard.
That said, it's time to roll out some of my over-used language like "a little faceless" and "unmemorable" because while I had a fine time doing some work to this the other day, it didn't exactly stick to my brain. Worth a look if you really like this type of thing, because it's not a bad example of the style.
✨ Fort Not - You on Repeat (2026)
Genres: Indie Rock, Indie Pop
Cromulent indie pop, mostly of the mid-tempo churningly melodic "slacker" type. Much of this is jangly and poppy ("Stationary", "Careless Love") bringing to mind 90s collegiate indie-pop, and other times it has that grey-day sad sack guitar rock thing going on ("Gymnast"). Totally enjoyable stuff, doesn't blow the roof off by design but I could see this growing on me in a sleeper kind of way.
✨ Scythe - Boiled Alive (2026)
Genres: Death Metal, Technical Thrash Metal
Well-balanced stuff out of Romania is foundationally death-thrash, but there's a whiff of technicality and restlessness that makes it a cut above your average death-thrash throwback act. This is totally in my wheelhouse, I really like a thrashy band throwing riff after riff my way and then diving headfirst into some steamroller death metal sections. Obviously, not the most innovative or groundbreaking music going on here, but it's well performed and executed so I'm mostly pretty happy. Could improve upon further listens as well.
Footballhead - Weight of the Truth (2026)
Genres: Alternative Rock, Emo-Pop
You look at the album cover for their latest album, you read the press kit which has the terms "unapologetically-buttrock-inspired" (and a RIYL section including Finch, The Story So Far, Trust Company) then you press play on "Peace of Mind" which has a verse that sounds a LOT like Linkin Park. Can't say they didn't warn ya, right?
Honestly, I'm not sure what to think here. Much like the press kit mentions, it feels like they are coming from a place of genuine love for this kind of music. Personally, I am all for bands reclaiming genres like like this that got written off when they reached the apex of their popularity. Sometimes this sounds like actual butt rock ("Used to Be", "Comforting") and other times it retains their approach to poppy punk and melodic hardcore ("Death to a Past Life").
All of it is executed slickly, and professionally. It didn't really make me feel much though, and the hooks aren't so bracingly cheat-code level hooky that I have to slam repeat on any of these songs. I'm sure this will make a certain type of listener incredibly happy and I like that about this record. I'm not sure I personally need to come back for repeats, but who knows? We'll see.
Voxtrot - Dreamers in Exile (2026)
Genres: Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Dream Pop, Jangle Pop
I dunno, I'm stoked to have Voxtrot back after all these years but honestly I don't think they're beating the "EP Band" allegations again here. It has gotta be hard to live down releases like Raised by Wolves or Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives, and while Voxtrot had a handful of great tunes on it, the general reception was that it was a step down in quality and so the band disappeared basically.
This new record is a bit of a similar story; it never dips into any outright bad tunes, but there's about an EPs worth of highlights alongside a bunch of cromulent but not great material. Maybe I need to be in a more subdued mood to really glom onto what they're putting down here.
Again, I'm happy they're back making music again, but I'll probably reach for a playlist of the best songs before listening to this or their self-titled record in full again.
⛏️ Flop - World of Today (1995)
Genres: Power Pop, Pop Punk, Post-Grunge
I noted it in a previous review, but like a lot of bands from this era, Flop needed an editor—and Kurt Bloch of Fastbacks (whose own albums were often uneven or a little overlong) wasn’t about to step up to the plate. Flop's debut and follow-up, Whenever You're Ready aren’t the longest albums in the world, but their tendency to toss in weirder songs that stray into other genres on the back half would always get the better of them.
They’re still up to those tricks, placing the outlier song with horns (“Vancouver Door Company”) and weird Beatles-esque tune (“Yellow Rainbow”) on the second side while front-loading most of their higher-energy, straight-to-the-point stuff. That’s tough, because it means the album feels like it’s running out of steam before they whip out “Two Martians Working” to leave you on an energetic note... well, before it turns into a partially acoustic, noisy closing number.
Regardless, the material here feels strong enough to leave you generally happy with the 37 minutes spent. It mostly stays in the post-grunge, alt-rock, power-pop territory, which works well if you’re just looking for more of that sound.
RIYL: The Figgs, Fastbacks, Triple Fast Action, Super Deluxe etc.
⛏️ Ween - The Pod (1991)
Genres: Experimental Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Slacker Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Noise Rock, Comedy Rock, Heavy Psych
When I was a teenager, I hated Ween. I thought they were stupid and annoying. I recall a friend trying to get me into them again and again, and eventually I found some songs I liked scattered across Chocolate and Cheese, The Mollusk and White Pepper. I started to say that I was a fan of "post-Pure Guava Ween". Around 2006 or so, I became an enormous pot head after graduating from College and moving to Toronto. My enjoyment of Ween skyrocketed and I was now a non-apologetic fan of the aforementioned records. I loved The Mollusk, and the most recently released Quebec seemed like the best of all of the band's worlds. Their masterpiece, maybe!?
I say all this, because even when I fully embraced the band, I felt like The Pod was a step too far. It was too annoying, too muddy and distant and fucked up. Sure, I enjoyed "Pork Roll Egg and Cheese" but 76 minutes of this shit? Fuck no. Didn't help that it starts with a song that feels like some kind of unending fake-out. Even if I was stoned, I'd put it on and feel uneasy and unsettled and like I needed to turn it off immediately.
Anyway, today I listened to it and realized actually? I love this. It's everything a detractor of the band could rightfully claim; feverish, sometimes unlistenable, annoying, repetitive, prankish, etc. And yet, it establishes the band as genuinely talented chameleonic genre-spoofers. I love the run from "Right to the Ways and the Rules of the World" to "Demon Sweat". Insane that any legitimate record label heard any of these songs and said "Let's put that out", but I'm happy they did.
Would not argue with anyone who hates this record, but somehow it has finally unlocked for me.
✨ Naked Eyes - Burning Bridges (1983)
Genres: Synthpop, New Wave, New Wave, Sophisti-Pop
Big fan of Tony Mansfield and New Musik so I figured why not take a peek at more stuff they produced? This is slick new wavey sophisti-synth-pop and if you dig what New Musik was doing, you'd likely find something to enjoy here. Songs like "A Very Hard Act to Follow" feel right in line with New Musik's vibe.
It's also a good example of a band with a major hit that feels fresh when re-framed with knowledge of the producers/musicians. In the context of the album, it stands out (both as a cover, and the poppiest thing on a pop record) but does feel like an extension of their sound. I forgot the textures of the rest of the song when all that sticks in your mind is the radio-ready hook.
✨ Christopher Cross - Christopher Cross (1979)
Genres: Yacht Rock , Soft Rock, Adult Contemporary , AOR
Dudes like me will listen to this and say "Hell yeah." A soft ass masterpiece. Doesn't matter that people think this stuff is incredibly uncool, the smooth atmosphere is off the charts and the melodies are like syrupy wine that goes down easy. More people could use embracing corny, unpretentiously effective music like this.
✨ Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying to Tell You (2021)
Genres: Downtempo, Ambient Pop, Plunderphonics, Ambient Dub, Trip Hop, Vaporwave
Lush and ethereal ambient pop. I came to Saint Etienne because someone in a comments box for Gran Turismo said "This is The Cardigans trying to do a Saint Etienne album the same year that Saint Etienne tried to make a The Cardigans album" and that made me want to check them out. I bounced around a bunch of their records, but a friend put me onto this one which really slotted into my ambient/progressive pop type mood I have found myself in the past few weeks. This is way more focused on mood and texture with some light vocal work that almost sounds more like samples, and I see in reviews on RYM that people almost seem to describe this as a side project record for the group. What makes this work for me is how these tracks feel at once long-form and progressive (to some degree) but are presented in relatively bite-sized formats; not much here is longer than around five and half minutes. That helps things move along even when you're getting lost in the lushness. Very nice indeed.
✨ Purelink - Signs (2023)
Genres: Ambient Dub, Ambient, Downtempo, Ambient Techno, Illbient, Glitch
Incredibly liquid ambient electronic with dub and minimal techno elements. I dug this the most when it had a scattered, flickering and unpredictable feel to the rhythms ("In Circuits") and less when it dips into overly hypnotic and repetitive stretches. Still, can't deny that there's something very nice going on here. Definitely makes me want to hear more from Peak Oil.
✨ The Movielife - This Time Next Year (2000)
Genres: Pop Punk, Melodic Hardcore
This was my entry point to the band, and it's where they really nail down their sound into a perfect meeting place between near-syrupy poppy punk and melodic hardcore with a sprinkling of emo. Remains a shining example of the "hardcore dudes playing pop punk" genre.
Elsewhere in the music world, New Found Glory were amping up the slick hooks that would lead to easycore being a thing, and Saves the Day were taking their Lifetime worship to new heights, but The Movielife had their own thing going on despite sitting on the shelf alongside those bands. Unlike them, I think a defining factor of The Movielife is that they took the finger-pointing sing-a-long energy of hardcore and softened it in a way that retained the crowd interaction without it just being "pop punk, sometimes with breakdowns" or "Lifetime, but softer/whinier".
Example: "Deal With It" inherits chugging riffs from hardcore but is never "actually heavy", despite being built upon a foundation that alternates between the "hardcore influence" section and pop punk melodies. And then, the bow on top is having that "It's over now / get used to it / burn my picture and go to sleep" stretch that you can guarantee would whip up a crowd.
And when they do have a heavier approach ("Pinky Swear", "How Can You Even Face Me?"), it's massaged so effortlessly into the song alongside incredibly poppy sections.
Even if I didn't have fond memories of learning "This Time Next Year" on guitar as a teenager, I still think this would hold up.
✨ The Movielife - It's Go Time (1999)
When I first got into The Movielife circa This Time Next Year, I had a bunch of these songs downloaded off Napster and burned to CD-Rs and so a good few of these songs are really burned into my brain. In that way, I can't dislike this and still find it incredibly endearing even if the last couple songs are a bit weak.
Youthful and scrappy in that "they haven't quite nailed it yet" type of way, as songs bounce between poppy punk, emo and Long Island style melodic hardcore. At this point, they're kind of slapping different chunks of song-types together, but honestly it works pretty well and (even though it slots into a sound other bands were doing at this time) they already sound like themselves. In particular, the one-two-three punch the album opens on is great.
✂ Barefood, Dead to the World, Champ
Wax - 13 Unlucky Numbers (1995)
Genres: Punk Rock, Pop Punk, Alternative Rock
I've bounced off this record a bunch over the years, as it always was coming up when I would look for 90s pop punk that I hadn't heard yet. Genre tags on here probably should be flipped, as this is firmly in the "major label alternative rock with poppy punk influences" rather than anything that retains any actual punk rock DNA. The big song here ("California", which I’m only now remembering was mainly known for that Spike Jonze video days after listening to it) is exactly one of those hooky, mid-tempo power-poppy alt-rockers that gets erroneously called pop punk. They do shake things up enough for this to be pop punk adjacent though ("Stop Sign", "Too Well"). In that way they bring to mind other bands that straddle those lines like Superdrag, The Magnolias, Fig Dish et al. even if they don't exactly sound the same. Regardless, it's 23 minutes and pretty inoffensive, and a couple of these songs stick well enough.
✂ Who Is Next, In Spite of Me, Stop Sign, California
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
thank you for sharing all of this new music. there is a lot here and it's all great! loved the more pop flavoured stuff but that's just me. it's amazing that you can present such a quantity of great new music with thoughtful ideas about all of it. kudos!