Amoeba Music

Pulp are back with another gift to fans. After the band released More , their first album in twenty-four years, they toured those new songs alongside their classic oeuvre. Live! captures the passion and excitement of those shows; it's a recording of the band's June 13, 2025 gig at The O2 in London. Listening to this album is a journey, from the sing-a-long-ready choruses of their biggest, boldest numbers to the surprisingly intimate tone of their more downbeat tracks. The energy coming through the speakers is undeniable. A testament to Pulp's artistry and legacy, and a darn good time. More

Nothing satisfies like Dinosaur Jr. and their latest, There Near , is a feast. J Mascis' lyrics are razor sharp, often timely (how often do you get to hear an alternative rock legend sing the word "edgelord"), and filled with crisp, undeniable imagery. The percussion is primal and the guitars as intense as ever – in fact, possibly even more intense than most of the band's contemporary outings, thanks to Mascis' use of a recently-acquired '70s era Mesa Boogie MK 1 amp, the same type of amp used on Dinosaur Jr's very first album. According to Mascis, someone told him this album seems more "upbeat" than their usual sound, and yeah, you can pick that up in the melodies...but then listen closer because the lyrics might be decidedly less so. There Near is another great album from a consistently great, legendary band. More

Rediscovering Mos Def's The Ecstatic is a gift. Jazz, soul, and traditional Middle Eastern musical influences create a layered tapestry that's compelling, forward-thinking and addictive. Now known as Yasiin Bey, the rapper's lyrical focus on Western imperialism and social inequality still hit just as hard and feel just as (unfortunately) timely as they did back in 2009 when the album was originally released. This new Rhymesayers reissue shines a well-deserved spotlight on this incisive, stunning, and essential hip-hop record. Absolutely fantastic stuff. More

Seventy or so years ago, sanctimonious old preachers and moral crusaders would've been tossing Frozen Charlotte onto bonfires. They would've been whispering that Jack White made a deal with the devil to sound this good. That's how thrilling, searing, and classically rock 'n' roll this album is. An undercurrent of danger, of unpredictability, roils beneath White's biting vocals, his fired up guitar, and the pounding percussion. Sure, his love for blues rock, garage rock, and punk has always been on display, but this release cranks up the ferocity times 1000. Frozen Charlotte is White at the peak of his powers. More

Beth Orton is one of our great talents. If you need a reminder, look no further than The Ground Above . Urgent, unflinching, and emotionally intense, these brilliant and sometimes brutal songs have a clear familiarity with grief and loss and survival. But that's not the whole story. There's a resilience, defiance, and joy embedded in these tracks. This is jazzy, folksy, slow burn indie rock with a downbeat bent and an eye toward the light. More

feeble little horse has to be one of the most exciting acts in contemporary indie rock. Their latest, bitknot , is out on Saddle Creek and indeed it does have some of that classic Saddle Creek sound, with an unexpected and exciting hyperpop twist. The ethos is experimental and DIY, the sound fuzzed out, glitchy, noisy and shoegazey...and very, very pretty. So many bops on here, so many moments of pure surprise and delight. This one will make you feel alive. More

Classic Blues From Smithsonian Folkways is a look back into history, a celebration, and an education. Out on vinyl for the first time, the album runs the gamut from ballads to boogies to saucy innuendo-laced songs. The Delta,St.Louis, Southwest, Piedmont, and Chicago styles of blues are all here, as are the legendary artists that came to call the Folkways label home in mid-century America. Lightnin' Hopkins, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Elizabeth Cotten, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Memphis Slim are just a handful of the powerhouses on this iconic release. Featuring notes by musician, professor, author and folklorist Dr. Barry Lee Pearson. More

Vince Staples' Cry Baby is smart, timely, and defiant. Staples goes rock 'n' roll for the tracks, each song infused with simmering unease. Lyrically, Staples has a handle on this American age like none other: the tracks are political and of the moment, whether he's tackling societal ills straight-on or putting the exhaustion we all feel under the microscope. Cry Baby is brilliant and incisive, a real evolution for an artist who was already a unique talent. More

Young the Giant is back with a big, bold, deeply rock 'n' roll album. Victory Garden is filled with sweeping choruses, epic alt-rock riffs, and Sameer Gadhia's honeyed vocals. The songs are eclectic and dynamic. You'll find lovelorn stadium-ready ballads and danceable indie rock numbers destined for crowd-wide sing-a-longs. Everything's filled with a lot of heart and soul, everything's ultra catchy. Victory Garden is Young the Giant doing what they do best. More

Smithsonian Folkways presents a very special album from poet and musician Joy Harjo, Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace . Produced by Esperanza Spalding, who also plays bass, the album is filled with wonder, beauty, and indelible images. Harjo weaves her poetry through atmospheric arrangements with elements of jazz, prog rock, grunge, and Native American traditional music. Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace is purposefully imbued with the power of love and beauty, a much-needed counterpoint to the ills of our age. More

Failure's Location Lost is bruising, moving, and fantastic. Each song is its own kind of slow burn. Melancholic indie rock crescendos into sludgy shoegaze-metal on "The Rising Skyline," a haunting duet with longtime friend of the band Hayley Williams. Urgent alt-rock guitars and insistent vocals open "The Air's on Fire" before it bursts into a hypnotic, driving heavy track. Compelling and cathartic, Location Lost is essential listening. More

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks have returned with their distinctive American roots sound, grinding together blues, soul, gospel, rock, jazz, and R&B on the new album Future Sou l. The funky opening track "Crazy Cryin'" moves unexpectedly into the rootsy, Eagles-sounding "I Got You." Elsewhere, "Devil Be Gone" is a down-and-dirty blues number with gritty vocals and a gospel-tinged chorus. Fittingly, the title track delivers searing blues/rock guitar and wailing vocals. More

Sisters Katie and Allison Crutchfield are Snocaps. Known for their work with Waxahatchee and Swearin', Snocaps' self-titled debut is a skillfully-constructed blend of folk and indie rock. The harmonies are delectable, the lyrics paint striking images, the melodies lively and emotional. The songs are warm and inviting, rollicking and questing. This one already feels like a classic. More

Former Moaning vocalist/guitarist Sean Solomon makes his solo album debut with the poignant The World Is Not Good Enough . The LA musician and cartoonist exudes a relatable vulnerability in these melodic indie rock songs. "Remember" is a gentle earworm about trying to come to terms with the changes in our lives. "Black Hole" is a sobering look at a disconnection with a parent, with the heart wrenching lyric "I love you, you don't have to love me too." The propulsive "Shooting Star" buoys its portrait of depression with a soaring, incongruously hopeful chorus. This one is for fans of smart, affecting indie like Death Cab For Cutie. More

Drain - is back with the unrelenting ...Is Your Friend . These hardcore tracks are totally searing, with scorching guitars, staccato drums, and ferocious vocals. This is the sound of pure adrenaline. More

Militarie Gun's God Save The Gun is a hardcore punk album that transcends the genre. It's brooding and heavy, yet deeply alive. The songs are hard-edged, replete with the heaviness of past decisions, yet ultimately cathartic and enjoyable. An album it's easy to fall in love with. More

Castle Rat's Bestiary is a mind-bending, beautiful metal album. Vocalist/guitar player The Rat Queen (aka Riley Pinkerton) has a spellbinding voice, equally suited for the ethereal folklore-influenced tracks and the heavier, more pounding tracks. Hypnotic, harsh, and steeped in a mythology and witchiness all the band's own, the album was recorded by Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Björk, Wolves in the Throne Room) and mixed by Jonathan Nuñez (Torche, Restless Spirit). Bestiary is simply stunning, a fierce and feverish album that stands out amongst this year's metal releases. More

Oakland’s Elujay returns, following up his 2024 collab with J. Robb, Gems in the Cornerstore II , with a fresh new album, A Constant Charade . Lo-fi breakbeats flow seamlessly into smooth, yacht-rock-inspired neo-soul, held together by Elujay’s sincere vocals and the lushly layered soundscapes behind him. Jams like “Hyundai” and “Jenny’s Lament” capture the ‘80s and ‘90s retro vibe while sounding perfectly modern, and the rest of the album dabbles in other genres like a mixed-media artist. More

After a five-year pause, Austin-born, now Asheville-based folk singer Natalie Jane Hill drops her third album, Hopeful Woman . Relocating from her native Texas to the mountains of North Carolina, tracks like “Blue is the Color of My Sun” musically convey the beauty and peace of her new Asheville home. Hill’s hauntingly tempered voice anchors the sound of Hopeful Woman’s ethereal indie folk, and the flourishes of collaborator Mat Davidson playing the pedal steel guitar, fiddle, piano, and more add a sublime depth to the album. More

Atmosphere's Jestures is contemplative and wildly creative. It's a twenty-six song album with songs in alphabetical order; the special guests even wind up on tracks that share their same alphabetical order. (For example, Evidence guests on "Effortless," Mike the Martyr, Musab, and Muja Messiah all contribute to "Mash.") As fun as the gimmick is, the real power of the album comes from its subject matter...and of course from Ant's lush, scene-setting production. Over the course of the album, Slug gets reflective, focusing on moments of day-to-day beauty and meaning, personal growth, and the effects of time. Jestures finds the indie hip-hop stalwarts evolving in interesting ways while delivering the singular sound fans know and love. More