Appropriately based in Washington D.C. we have Youth In Government, a space rock duo with a new collection called Silhouettes. This is the kind of album you both enjoy hearing, but also go a little nuts trying to figure out who they sound like. Before seeing their list of influences, I did guess Radiohead along with Bowie and Eno's "German era." The band also mentions the 4AD catalog, Slowdive, the Cure and a little combo called The Beatles. Within the indie community they also have tracks that reminded me of synth artist Kiffie.

Youth In Government consists of Chris Mathews-Larsen  (guitar/vocals) and Trae Tomko (drums/vocals/sampler) with assorted guests. They specifically describe their music as "expansive space rock that blends the psychedelic textures of the 1970's with the atmospheric haze of shoegaze and the emotional sweep of post-rock. Equal parts cosmic and cathartic, channeling shimmering guitars, immersive soundscapes and driving rhythms into songs that feel both nostalgic and forward-looking." Seven years in the making, this album began recording in earnest in the summer of 2023 mostly at Ramblewood Studios. Mixing was by Ben Green at Ivakota Studios, with mastering by Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering.

"Ad Astra" (Latin for "to the stars") is a song title that seems to pop up a lot. YIG's version is based on a deep drone with echo'd guitar notes and expansive reverb, like Lou Reed and the early Velvets.

Two minutes in, the vocals appear with a matter-of-fact quality like another Lou named Barlow. Guesting on this track are Erin Erin Snedecor​ (cello) and Annemarie Guske (backing vox). "Lost" is an epic psychedelic track that evokes both ex-Husker Bob Mould and lots of 60's garage bands with its Jefferson Airplane vocals and retro fuzz lead. "Riversong" has descending, shimmering Leslie guitars like the Beatles, which then moves into a solid dreamrock framework. Sam Cooper reappears on lead and tremolo guitar.  

"Satellites" has a long, magical fade-in a la early Genesis that fully explodes in wonder once you've cranked up the volume. I'm reaching way back to Syd Barrett Pink Floyd, but the mixture the guys have created also feels quite original, as the drums create an intricate, pulsing lattice into which the guitars comfortably lay, topped by some of the most impassioned vocals thus far (aided by Rachel Kline​). "Splintered" is an ear-splitting psych rocker in which Mathews-Larsen does almost everything except drums (that's Tomko) and backing vocals (Rachel Kline). This is the kind of song where the guitars are so loud that the vocals are like messages received at the mouth of a tunnel. But... sounds great!

"Returning" starts out practically acoustic, with Mellotron-like synth and shimmering guitars, but soon kicks into laid-back rock with clomping beats and bracing chorus assertions. This track goes so many directions at once that all I can do is marvel. Like, was it country for a second? Dreampop? Clearly the guest spots by Sam Cooper (slide guitar) and Erin Snedecor (cello) along with all those keys by Mathews-Larsen helps. "If You Need Someone" is a cover of a song by The Field Mice (active in the late 80's) and is the most straight-ahead rocker, though the heavy reverb returns as always. 

"Disseminate" is the sound of the band without vocals, sticking to a pretty simple, driving structure and using different instruments as the mood dictates. Jamie Darken guests on bass. "Heart" is the big 6.5-minute conclusion and the chords and beats are just as heavy and relentless as ever (not fast, just pounding!). The vocals are nearly lost in the heaviness, but at this point I've accepted that as part of their sound. The shimmering conclusion has a bit of Brian Wilson solo magic. 

This is the kind of album where every track currently playing becomes my favorite. See if you agree!

I stumbled upon this new single "Hell If I Know" by the Creatures of the Sun at a fortuitous time, not long after discovering the retro sounds of the Tom Hanks station "Boss Radio." The Hanks playlists not only cover my exact timeline, but reminds us of an infinite number of "garage band" tracks never included on the Nuggets sets or the endlessly recycled nostalgia streams (and shockingly, those Oldies Hits are highly monetized!). So I was more than ready for these guys!

Creatures of the Sun is a raucous trio that combines surf, garage and psychedelia in three-minute bites. As a huge fan of homegrown artists, I was excited to discover that creatures began as a bedroom project of guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Garrett Ballard, later adding Ben Fortenberry (bass/vocals) and James Mozina (drums). Among several honors, they were voted Best New Band of 2025 by the readers of Queen City Nerve. They're currently recording a full-length LP to be released in the Winter of 2026, of which this single is just a taste. Leader Garrett Ballard is also a graphic artist, handling the designs of the band's flyers, album art and merch.

The band's press release says that this single "...was written during a period of personal and creative frustration. Ballard sings of trying to get a clear look at something elusive, only to have it evade him every time. His lyrics touch on the universal search for meaning in a world that has stopped making sense. This is a song for questioning the gap between the life one is living and the life one wants to live." Recording and mixing took place at Fallen Trees Recording Studio in Mount Airy, NC and was mastered by Brad Sarno at Blue Jade Mastering.

The track begins with a blast of clean, bent-note surf licks on a twangy electric guitar, underlined by single bass notes and drum kicks. As the song proper begins, the guitar part drives forward playing the same licks while the bass provides a powerful counterpoint, almost a surf music and early Who hybrid. Ballard's lead vocals have the kind of laid-back, slightly conceited tone of Steve Miller, perfect for lyrics about looking askance at a current love affair: "If I had a crystal ball / And the devil's words ring true / It would come as no surprise / How you slipped right out of view." The band seems to generate its own unique reverb as the energy increases, a sort of "natural" LoFi sound.

The middle section is slightly muted as the vocals add a bit more sneer and attitude. I love the simple and catchy chorus of "How'd we end up here? Hell if I know, hell if I know!" The "middle eight" (as the Beatles would have called it) is almost the same as the verses, but with hooting instead of singing. By the end of the track my brain has failed to differentiate this track from the songs and styles I grew up on.

This is a foretaste that really has me excited for what's next! If you love retro, check them out!

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Freeze carries serious subject matter inside songs designed for immediate access. Adrielle Bow Belle draws from jazz, R&B, hip-hop, balladry, and contemporary pop, pairing memories of fear and violence with polished production and concise hooks. That contrast defines the album’s character. While the lyrics consider how anxiety travels between generations, the arrangements remain bright, direct, and grounded in recognizable musical forms. The nonchronological sequence reinforces the idea: past and present repeatedly cross paths, suggesting that public crisis and private fear are rarely confined to a single moment.

“Icey Roads” opens the record with a classic jazz groove before its larger production pushes the song toward pop. The arrangement grows flashier without losing its tight structure or steady rhythmic center. It introduces Bow Belle as a songwriter interested in accessibility, using a clean framework to carry material that could have become heavy-handed. The song’s immediate appeal also establishes the balance that guides much of Freeze, where difficult subjects are often delivered through approachable melodies.

“Come Home Tonight” follows with a bittersweet ballad shaped by R&B. Contemporary production gives the track a clean finish while keeping the emotional focus on the vocal. “Small Talk” introduces a slight hip-hop pulse, accompanied by solid singing and a hook that provides its main attraction. Neither song attempts to reinvent its genre, but both show how comfortably Bow Belle moves among familiar styles while maintaining the album’s pop center.

“Breaking News,” one of my personal favorites, brings piano into an upbeat arrangement that embraces pure pop without hesitation. Its lightness provides useful contrast to the record’s heavier concerns. “Bunker” then narrows the focus with a more intimate performance, punctuated by dramatic passages that give the song a sharper emotional edge. The transition between them captures the record’s larger method, placing brightness beside unease rather than separating them into distinct sections.

“Rockets” lullaby adjacent to me. Its soothing quality and relaxed pace make it one of the album’s gentlest moments, even as the title points toward violence beyond the song’s calm surface. That tension gives the track added force without requiring Bow Belle to overstate its meaning.

​I found the songwriting clear and direct, with each track following an easily recognizable form. Each works within an established genre rather than trying to dismantle it, though I would place Freeze beneath the broad umbrella of pop. The lyrics are equally direct, communicating their ideas in language that listeners of many ages can understand. With recognizable styles, polished arrangements, and memorable hooks, Bow Belle makes an album about fear and collective memory easy to enter without reducing the seriousness of its subject.

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Trilogy finds Soul Rash following every promising idea, even when it leads somewhere unexpected. Across the album, the Laramie, Wyoming group moves from desert rock swagger to cosmic prog, then veers into country without pausing to explain the route. That restlessness gives the record its charm, though it also makes the band’s identity difficult to pin down. 

Formed during the pandemic, Soul Rash brings together Christopher Smith, Billy McKee, Jim Roberts, Chris Rybitski, and Brett Roberts. The five musicians work primarily as a studio project, drawing openly from Black Sabbath, Kansas, Pink Floyd, and Gov’t Mule. Since commercial touring is not part of the equation, recording has become the center of the band’s creative life.

Their third album, Trilogy, took three years to complete. Production paused for nearly two years while Roberts built Timber Canyon Studios in Wyoming, where most of the record was eventually made. Additional sessions took place at Carriage House Studios in Connecticut and other locations. The finished album sounds appropriately large, with towering drums, dense guitars, and little interest in restraint.

Opener “Divided We Stand” arrives with the thick guitars and crooked confidence of Queens of the Stone Age. Its construction is straightforward, but the band attacks it with enough volume and urgency to keep the familiar moves effective. A blaring solo provides the expected release. Anyone won over by this track will probably find plenty to enjoy across the album, even if the songs that follow refuse to remain in the same lane.

“Perfect Time” could almost be the work of another band. Its spacious reverb and patient atmosphere lean heavily toward Pink Floyd, replacing the opener’s blunt force with something more distant and dreamlike. The title track favors polished grandeur, while “Drink With the Devil” returns to the album’s cosmic tendencies. “Whiskey Town,” meanwhile, introduces a clear country influence.
As the album progresses "Breeze", "Hold Out Your Hand" and "Have a Cigar" were highlights. 

Soul Rash changes styles often enough that its reference points sometimes come into sharper focus than its own personality. That variety keeps Trilogy moving, but it also leaves the group’s signature somewhat elusive.

​That said I found plenty to appreciate here and thought the songs were well written, the production was great and liked the performances. Soul Rash direct riffs, prominent solos, and choruses designed to register quickly. That familiarity makes the album immediately accessible, while the band’s enthusiasm prevents it from feeling purely academic. I suspect many listeners will respond to that  combination of craftsmanship, volume, and unabashed affection for great and timeless genres. Check this out!

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Anya Mia is the performing persona for a terrific vocalist-songwriter from Ontario named Anya Wassenberg. With four Bandcamp releases since 2021, she's back with a 4-song EP titled Cold + Blue. Though superficially jazz-pop, each track is presented in a different style, while all being connected by Mia's powerful, spotlight-worthy voice. 

​Mia explains her circuitous musical journey: "I've gathered many influences along the way, from the classical music my family listened to, and the RnB, funk and pop on the radio as I was growing up; exposure to multiple genres as an adult (and a unique perspective as a lyricist) to my music. These four tracks range from the personal to the existential, each with its own eclectic style." Recording took place at Boxcar Sound Recording in Hamilton, Ontario, with mixing and mastering by Matt Montour.

"Cold + Blue" perfectly matches the song title, with minor-key strings and heartbroken piano. Mia plays all instruments and commands the song with a powerful solo vocal, filled with regrets as she describes being "lied to my heart... it's like poison to a heart that's true." You could almost call it a dirge, except that it's so sadly beautiful. "Corporate Jive" follows with a more upbeat title and actual beats courtesy of drummer Rawle Ski and bass player Justin Bontje. Mia plays Rhodes piano and takes a jazzy lead vocal not far from Bonnie Raitt or Susan Tedeschi. No heartache here; just the sad reality that we're all "cogs in the wheel (until) the next one's already hired, and your name's been forgotten." Just a quick note that I would have enjoyed more time with each track so far. 

"Time Is It Our Enemy?" is the longest song at over four minutes and again features the rhythm section of Bontje and Ski with Mia on Rhodes, with the addition of shimmering backing vox by Pamela Blackwood Marques & Emily K Bolyea-Kyere. The question the song poses is serious, but this track grabbed me the hardest thus far as Mia really takes the reins of the music and my heart. Her vocals especially shine complemented by her backing singers.

​The closing "Lost In The Water" is a baroque, classically-influenced reverie with acoustic guitar by Louis Kirstein and Mia on vocals, keys and even flute (which I was expecting, since she's holding a flute in her photos). This track reminds me how, any time my own music flirts with medieval tropes, my sister says it sounds like Jethro Tull... but that's the kind of deep forest, Elven-queen vibe we have here and I love it.

Well! This is a lovely EP, if a bit too hasty to wrap things up. Mia's got a lovely voice and writes great music. Have a listen!

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Fixation rarely develops in a straight line. It repeats, retreats, and returns with greater force, which is also how Michellar’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” unfolds. Beginning in a subdued acoustic setting, the song gradually adds weight until its restrained confession becomes something louder and more difficult to dismiss.

Michellar is a San Francisco artist who turns private emotions into vivid psychedelia. Influenced by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Doors, she writes about desire, obsession, and the thoughts people often struggle to express. Michelle Bond wrote the lyrics and melodies, while Nashville producer Michael Beckheart handled the production with Michellar’s artistic and visual identity in mind. The two developed the material through sessions in San Francisco and Nashville.

“Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” is the first single from Michellar’s forthcoming psychedelic album. The song came from feelings of obsession that had become impossible to contain, framing attraction as consuming and irrational. Michellar and Beckheart revised the arrangement several times before settling on its hazy, unsettled sound.

The opening melody reminded me of the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” It has a similarly somber, contemplative quality, and the lyrics follow that mood. Acoustic guitar leads the first section before the bass and drums arrive. I liked the groove, and I thought the change in the arrangement was pretty cool.

The hook consists of Michellar repeating “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind.” I have to say that it reminded me of Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” although Michellar places the idea in a classic-rock setting rather than a dance-pop one. A guitar solo pushes that influence further, and the final hook is the song’s most expressive section, supported by its fullest instrumentation.

​Overall, I thought this was a cool and catchy song with some interesting transitions. Take a listen.

Rough Grind approach four decades of guitar music as if they were rummaging through an overstuffed record collection: traditional metal theatrics sit beside pop punk momentum and glossy hard rock. On their third album, Neverending Night, the Finnish band rarely stays in one lane for long. The stylistic turns can be exciting, occasionally puzzling, and sometimes more revealing than the songs themselves.

Formed in 2011, Rough Grind have refined their sound across three EPs and the full length albums Pieces of Resistanceand Hardened. Neverending Night retains the physical force of those earlier records, but its arrangements are broader and more carefully considered. Melody carries more weight, the production gives each instrument room to breathe, and even the album’s heaviest passages arrive with a polished sense of scale.

“Waiting for the Night to Be Over” revolves around a cinematic atmosphere and a driving hard rock sound. The vocals sounded familiar to me, and I immediately noticed the singer’s accent, which gives the performance a distinct character. The lyrics embrace the grand gestures and nocturnal imagery associated with the era so completely that the song could have slipped onto a metal compilation several decades ago. I love that!

“The Great Divide” brings heavier riffs but periodically veers toward pop punk, creating a strange yet engaging collision of styles. Its guitar work lands somewhere between Satriani’s instrumental precision and the brisk immediacy of a pop punk anthem. “Shotgun Bride” favors accessible hard rock and pop hooks, while “All the Time” returns to metal with the scale and emotional sweep of a grand power ballad. “Ocean of Dying Dreams” is more aggressive, using abrupt transitions and demonic vocal effects to heighten its intensity. “Crazy Rodeo” and “Shining Scar” are both really string songs.

Then comes “Quietus,” a song built from New Age inspired textures that seems to belong to an entirely different project. I enjoyed it, and while it shares the album’s adventurous spirit, its placement feels random rather than like a natural extension of the record’s other songs because of the different palette of sounds.“Everything Must End” restores some order with a solid, appropriately weighty conclusion. Great closer!

​Rough Grind flirt with several styles beyond metal and hard rock, but I found the album most convincing when the band stayed close to those foundations. I was impressed by the musicianship, particularly the guitar solos, which frequently recall Satriani’s fluid and technically exacting approach. I also liked the production, which is clean and substantial without draining the riffs of their impact. I wouldn’t argue that Neverending Night redraws metal’s boundaries, but its affection for the genre, especially for the sounds of the 1980s and ’90s, is never in doubt. Metal and hard rock fans should find plenty here to enjoy.

There's several unique things about this new folk-country album Restraint by Fayetteville singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan Lester. This is not just Lester's latest release, but a marker on a remarkable journey of eight year's sobriety and weight loss, and a new marriage and Fatherhood.

Lester is a multi-instrumentalist who wrote, produced and mixed this album while performing all guitars and lead vocals in his home studio. He was assisted by his wife Aubrey Lester on violin and backing vocals, alongside Chad Bell, Graham Hopkins, Hugo Iglesis, Marco Pescosolido and Ciara Moser. His music is said to "mix the dark gloom and lyrical dexterity of Leonard Cohen with the weathered twang of Townes Van Zandt and Jason Isbell." Yet another unique aspect to this album is Lester's commitment to authentic sound: he uses real mics and instruments with no digital shortcuts. 

Full disclosure: Lester doesn't mention country anywhere, but "Midnight Drive" and the other tracks can't help sounding country, with shimmering lap steel and tons of reverb. Lester's template is to sing with unadorned earnestness, easy to listen to while hinting at the broiling tensions beneath. To this he adds a ghostly band sound and even ghostlier harmony vocals by his wife Aubrey. 

"My Brother" continues Lester's sound with the addition of more prominent keys, quieter lead vocals (there wasn't room to go TOO far down!) and some tortured-soul background wailing. Here we also have our first guitar solo, controlled but powerful. This leads without pause to "The Cost of Chaos" where Lester introduces a crystalline acoustic guitar and a compelling setup: "I'm always waiting for the day when I can smell it on his breath / Somebody told me that the journey only takes a thousand steps." However we got here, this track is the most clearly mixed thus far, with the drummer seemingly sitting in the room with us and the other instruments clearly delineated.

"Love Led Me Here" continues the "clean mix" trend, as if clouds had parted and the breeze died down. This track has a superficial resemblance to the Rickie Lee Jones song "Running From Mercy." Like that song, Lester's vocal seems recorded from inside his mouth. Don't miss the charming Easter Egg! 

​"Far Away" brings in yet another sound, with a Mariachi-like horn section (it's gotta be real, right?) that makes this feel like a 60's Hit in the Herb Alpert or Sergio Mendez vein. "Lovesick and Lonely" is another country-like lament thanks to the tremolo-bathed guitars, the bent notes and the 7th chords, with a deliberate, world-weary beat. Though I miss Aubrey singing along, Lester takes this one solo and you can really luxuriate in his tone and commitment. The crying slide guitars underline sad refrains like "He don't deserve you / We both know that it's true..." This is one of the longer tracks thanks to a haunting instrumental coda, which crosses directly into "Lullaby For Leaving" which is more of a minor-key James Bond rocker with a unique, horn-driven chorus. The middle section goes through some dramatic changes in tempo and arrangement, and for a moment Lester sounds like Phil Collins. "Restraint" is the suitably reverent finale, with a lovely acoustic-and-strings arrangement.

Lester's songs started good and got great... what more can I say?

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You might think you've heard the name French Inhaler before, and indeed it's the title of a great song by Warren Zevon. However, this Chicago synth-pop trio who've adopted that name don't sound anything like Zevon (and they're not even French!). They've just released a new single called Plastic Ocean, and more than anything it takes us back to classic 80's dance pop.

The band confirms my impression by noting the "bouncing basslines, lush synthesizers and atmospheric guitars, evoking the nostalgic glow of early '80s alternative music while exploring themes of environmental anxiety, digital overstimulation and modern isolation. It's a sound that feels equally suited for late-night drives and crowded dance floors." 

The trio is comprised of Ashvin Prakash (singer/keys), Adam O'Leary (bass) and Zen Choa (drums). Musically I found the group to be an interesting blend of Pretenders-like vocals and Berlin or Billy Idol synths and beats. The band themselves mention Nation of Language, New Order, The Cure and Drab Majesty. Now to the single itself, which has a great bit of cover art that's both retro and surreal. 

With the very first beats and synth notes, you feel you've been here before and it's a warm, comforting experience. The bass is lively and feels real, like a Rickenbacker. As mentioned, the lead vocals by Ashvin Prakash strongly recall Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders. What at first sounds like the chorus actually feels like another whole song, with the true chorus just a couple bars before we return to the verse. For the final third, Prakash limits her vocals to half-lines with lots of tremors in the reverb, which adds unexpected drama.

There was a "flip side" track on Spotify called "TV Love" which was more of a New Wave callback, but with a similar jumpy energy (love the line "I found love on television tonight!"). The two tracks together make this a fun journey to the past while very much in the here and now. Great stuff!

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SIREN/SECTION// just released Separation Team, a sprawling and heavy record that goes all in on world building. The Los Angeles duo, James Cumberland and John Dowling, works broadly within electronic post punk, some shoe gaze and like mined genres. As someone who grew up in the 1990s, a lot of this register felt immediately familiar to me in a nostalgic way but also in how it channels the era’s seriousness and fixation on dread, control, and technology. Take for example albums like OK Computer or Pretty Hate Machine.

At nineteen tracks and roughly seventy five minutes long, Separation Team plays like a double album in both scale and ambition. The record commits fully to dramatic intensity, carrying the kind of severity and theatrical weight associated with artists like Trent Reznor. Many of the songs seem preoccupied with digital identity and technological transformation, circling ideas of artificial intelligence, synthetic emotion, and the uneasy sense that the human voice is being filtered through something mechanical.

“CONSTRUCT” opens that conversation directly, using synth textures that resemble imagined computer circuitry paired with heavily processed, nearly unintelligible vocals. It leans hard into science fiction imagery, and when the robotic voice recedes, the track shifts through multiple vocal approaches. The drama escalates quickly, and at moments the confrontational tone reminded me of Marilyn Manson in his most theatrical phase. “BULLET TRAIN” moves into a more aggressive space, echoing the contours of nu metal from the early 2000s. It is blunt, rhythmic, and forceful.

“SOLIDARITY” pivots sharply. The mood softens, and the vocals take on a distant, almost shoegaze adjacent quality that caught me off guard. There is something understated and melodic here that brought to mind The Magnetic Fields which I really enjoyed. “GLASS CANNON” follows as a fuzzy, restrained ballad, while “EQUILIBRIUM” snaps back into industrial territory with a punishing kick drum and rigid 4/4 tempo on the beat. “SOME OF THIS MEANS EVERYTHING” strips things down to emotive piano lines layered with subtle sci fi textures, offering one of the album’s most vulnerable moments.

As the record continues, it starts to resemble a curated compilation of intersecting styles. High octave industrial tracks sit alongside intimate ballads but the mechanical sci-fi vibes tie it together. Separation Team presents a future facing emotional landscape where identity fragments across genres and voices. It is a dense, dramatic release that rewards listeners willing to sit with its intensity.

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