Indie Basement: Best Albums of 2026 So Far (Mid-Year)

Indie Basement is a weekly column on BrooklynVegan focusing on classic indie and alternative artists, “college rock,” and new and current acts who follow a similar path. There are reviews of new albums, reissues, box sets, books and sometimes movies and television shows. In this case a list of 2026’s best albums to date.

Another year is flying by and it’s one of the weirdest yet; every day things get more surreal. Irony has all but been stamped out, which I guess is kind of ironic itself. Anyway, thank goodness for music and the constant release of new albums. We’re at the halfway point of 2026 and I’ve picked my favorites from the first six months.

I kept the list at 30 so a few things from my Q1 list have dropped off and many others have been added. I put them in alphabetical order by artists — I’m not really ready to rank yet, though I do have a running top five or so — and this is very much a fluid list. There’s at least a couple albums here I didn’t bestow Album of the Week status to but have grown in stature, and who knows, records that either fell off the first list or were never on this one could end up on the year-end Indie Basement Rankings. We’ll see in December.

As I always say, this is not a definitive list of the best albums, just one guy’s favorites from January – June (stay tuned for our full-staff BrooklynVegan mid-year list coming soon!) . Some of these you may know already and if not hopefully you’ll find something new on this list. I love them all. Head below for my picks as well as a playlist featuring two songs from each album.

INDIE BASEMENT: BEST ALBUMS OF 2026 SO FAR (MID-YEAR)

Aldous Harding – Train on the Island (4AD)
Aldous Harding’s most understated album reveals its charms slowly and strangely

“I was nine when I left my body.” Aldous Harding is one of those songwriters whose lyrics I love to pore over even when, most of the time, I have no idea what she’s actually on about. Train of the Island, the New Zealand singer’s fifth album, is full of evocative imagery while also being her most understated record yet. Like her previous three releases, Train of the Island was made with producer John Parish at Rockfield Studios in Wales, alongside regular collaborators including H. Hawkline. It doesn’t quite have the cohesion of 2019’s wonderful Designer, but its many quirky charms shine through on repeat listens and closer inspection. Stick with Train on the Island and it blossoms.

—

Alexis Taylor – Paris in the Spring (Night Time Stories)

“Sometimes an audience wants to be told, what is this?” says Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor. “Be ready to be surprised, to find something new in music, and let the music resonate with you.” That’s good advice in general and also a perfect preface to Taylor’s sixth solo album and first in five years. Most of his previous five have very much been “solo albums,” sounding like one man working on his own — often with just a guitar, piano, or synthesizer — and decidedly far from the clubby pop he makes with Hot Chip. Paris in the Spring is a little different, though: heavy on collaborations, often richly produced, and not afraid to get dancey, while never fencing itself into one style or sound. It is, however, quite good. Still more chill than any Hot Chip album, Paris in the Spring is powered by beats, grooves, and some very affecting songwriting. Taylor has always been an extremely empathetic artist, and he’s in very fine form here. Who else could title a thematically complex ballad “MP3s Can Make You Cry” and be sincere about it? “No good at streaming ’less the tears stream down my face,” he sings, wrapped in swirling strings and effervescent vocoder harmonies courtesy of Air’s Nicolas Godin. “Stream of consciousness is still my favourite place.” Paris in the Spring also has a number of first-class pop songs, as well as a number that will move you. Paris in the Spring is full of wonderful surprises that move both your body and your heart.

—

Beth Orton – The Ground Above (Partisan)

Beth Orton’s Weather Alive was one of my favorite albums of 2022, and she’s now back with many of the same collaborators (Shahzad Ismaily, The Smile’s Tom Skinner, and more) for an album that feels like the natural continuation down that luminous path. The Ground Above opens with its stunning title track; set against Vishal Nayak’s skittering drum pattern and a swirl of sound design-heavy production recalling late-period Talk Talk even more than her last album. Beth sits at the center with chiming Fender Rhodes and her fragile vocal delivery. It not only gets better as it goes, it deepens with repeat listens. The whole album is another subtle stunner. Orton’s voice forever sits on the verge of shattering, even at the quietest moments, and you hang on every word as they float in the center of mesmerizing arrangements that are jazzier, more enveloping, and more woozily romantic this time around. Put on your headphones for this one.

—

Bibi Club – Amaro (Secret City)

Montreal’s Bibi Club — Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque (Plants & Animals) — made one of 2024’s best albums with their second longplayer, Feu De Garde, but they may have bettered it with Amaro. It’s an evolution of that album’s signature sultry, melancholic sound — a windswept mix of shoegaze, jazzy tropicalia, and vintage synths and drum machines — that this time leans into dancier grooves inspired by early-’80s minimal wave. It’s a tantalizing combination that makes them feel even more singular. The template is set on opener “Infinité,” built on a ticking rhythm box and rolling, arpeggiated bassline before Adèle’s breathy, mysterious vocals enter the scene. Then comes Nicolas’ distinctive guitarwork, spinning delicate, interlocking spiderweb patterns, hazy atmospherics, and occasional bursts of noise. Amaro’s title track leads with guitar before that electronic rhythm section kicks in, turning it into an undeniable hazy banger complete with a festival-worthy drop. There are also heady, krautrock-leaning songs like “A Different Light” (featuring Helena Deland) and “Les Vagues,” the skronky, urgent “George Sand,” the sinister “Washing Machine,” and the spooky, ethereal “Cérémonie” and “Le château.” Thematically, grief and loss thread through the album, but Nicolas told Melt FM that ultimately the vibe they were aiming for was release and liberation: “You’re in ancient ruins and you can dance your life away, with people dancing all strange, every generation mixed.” Welcome to Club Catharsis.

—

Bill Callahan – My Days of 58 (Drag City)

“Lou Reed was waiting for me, all dressed in white,” Bill Callahan sings about a death dream that opens his new album. “I said Lou Lou Lou / What is this place that you took me to… He looked me deep in the eye / Gave me that warm handshake / And said, It’s cool / Baby you just got to let it ride / Into a dwarf star or a black hole or someone else’s soul.” Thank goodness for Bill Callahan, who has been making wonderful, poignant, and often very funny music for three decades. His latest album, My Days of 58, is another gem — a laid-back, loose rumination on mortality and grief (there’s a lot of that going around) spurred by the death of his father, a cancer scare, and his 60th birthday looming on the horizon. As usual, he approaches it with his warm, empathetic style, an ear for dialogue, an eye for telling details, and a knack for slipping in non sequitur zingers — like that Lou Reed cameo in “Why Do Men Sing?” Gentle horns enrich the album’s appealing arrangements, and the production offers plenty of headroom in the stereo field so you can fully chew on his words, which land whether you’re in his demographic or not. “And now my biggest fear is not the dying,” he sings later. “My biggest fear is that I’ll stop trying to be the man I’m supposed to be.” It’s a simple line, but in Callahan’s hands it feels profound — clear-eyed about the inevitable, but still invested in the ride.

—

Boards of Canada – Inferno (Warp Records)

Inferno is Boards of Canada’s first album in 13 years — and only their second in 21 — and the nostalgia vibes of their early classics seem to have been replaced by repressed bad memories. This is their heaviest, bleakest album to date, turning the dial from Eerie fully into Creepy. Still compelling, though. They dive deep into dark waters in a way that feels in tune with our bad-vibes, apocalyptic times while maintaining Boards of Canada’s hazy, sample-heavy, downtempo style. There are plenty of highlights: first single “Prophecy at 1420 MHz” drops a little rock grandeur into their sound; “Naraka” is one of many tracks to dabble in spiritual music from around the world; “Father and Son” turns the sliced-and-diced dialogue samples they’re known for into something decidedly sinister; and penultimate track “You Retreat in Time and Space” opens the shades, lets the sunshine in, and beckons you through the window into another time and place. Thirteen years is a long time to wait, and your mileage may vary on Inferno, but I think of Boards of Canada like a comet — they’re not here very often, but I’m always glad when they make an appearance in a galaxy near me.

—

Buck Meek – The Mirror (4AD)

We are in dark times, but on The Mirror, Buck Meek is finding joy and hope. It’s a treacherous route to take — one filled with potential treacle and empty calories — but he hits the right note more often than not, whether it’s an intimate love song or capturing a magic moment while caregiving for a family member with dementia. It’s a brave album in many ways, one that somehow makes you feel better about the world without ever sounding forced or cheap. These songs come from the heart and land in the same place. What makes The Mirror especially compelling, beyond Buck’s wonderful songwriting, is the production by his Big Thief bandmate James Krivchenia, who brings his interest in synthesizers, ambient music, and sound design into the arrangements. Modular synths were set up to be triggered by the organic instruments — drums and guitar — as they were played live, which in turn triggered even more synthesizers. That may not be the most elegant explanation of what’s happening, but the result is a richly layered, deeply rewarding listen.

MORE: I talked to Buck on the February 23 episode of BV Interviews.

—

The Bug Club – Every Single Muscle (Sub Pop)

Sam Willmett and Tilly Harris have a mordant sense of humor, not to mention a way with words and a knack for a well-placed pop culture reference, that makes nearly any depressing or potentially humiliating subject fun. Or at least catchy. The Bug Club take the best bits of guitar-forward indie from the last 40 years — The Wedding Present, The Mekons, Pavement, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Pastels, Television Personalities, and more — and put what they’ve learned toward their own brand of melodic, hooky, pitch-black, hilarious, and heartfelt songs. Songs about awkward sex (“Make It Count”), murder pacts (“Cut to Black”), loneliness (“How Can We Be Friends,” “Watching the Omnibus”), being in a band (“Our Manager David”), and self-loathing (“When You Look Like Me,” and, really, most of the album). You probably need a bit of a dark sense of humor yourself, but The Bug Club handle all this in such a charming, tuneful way on Every Single Muscle that it becomes all the more empathetic and endearing. You may even find yourself singing along to “I’ve never seen your penis, so how can we be friends?”

—

Cardinals – Masquerade (So Young Records)

Hailing from Cork, Cardinals are not the first band to mix post-punk and alt-rock with traditional Celtic elements, but rarely does it feel as natural as it does on their debut album. Singer-guitarist Euan Manning says they purposefully avoided “diddly eye” music but otherwise had no restrictions on their style. Despite being a very young band — both in time together and in age — Cardinals seem to have their sound fully cemented on Masquerade, an extremely assured album that’s miles ahead of their already terrific 2024 self-titled EP. The strongest Irish element on Masquerade is swagger — an unfakeable quality that’s in abundance, whether it’s on their swoonier, poppier material like “St Agnes,” “She Makes Me Real,” or the title track, or their darker, angstier songs like “Barbed Wire,” “Anhedonia,” or “The Burning of Cork,” which owes a little to Nirvana. Those sides of the band are neatly divided across the two sides of Masquerade — envisioned as a vinyl album — which has been expertly sequenced. Finn Manning’s accordion and brother Euan’s character-filled lyrics and impassioned delivery tie it all together. Ireland has been a hotbed of talent recently; Cardinals are not the “next” anything — they’ve already carved out their own unique and compelling path.

MORE: I talked to Cardinals’ Finn Manning on the February 16 episode of BV Interviews.

—

Fcukers – ‘Ö’ (Ninja Tune)

Trigger warning: “Indie Sleaze.” While the duo of Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis have embraced their party-forward image since emerging from the post-pandemic NYC Dimes Square scene, the touchstones in their music lie on the other side of the millennium, before skinny jeans and coke dens like The Darkroom opened their doors. Fcukers have more in common with Fatboy Slim and Basement Jaxx than LCD Soundsystem or Hot Chip, building songs around a single hook that burrows into your ear canal like a Ceti eel and takes over your nervous system. “Play Me,” with its nagging “I just wanna rock right now,” is their “Rockafeller Skank.” The album features a lot of producers — Kenny Beats, 100 gecs’ Dylan Brady, and Ice Spice collaborator Lily Kaplan — but apart from the lush, downtempo closer “Feel the Real,” you don’t really feel much outside influence. Which is better than a record that feels like it was made by disparate producers with their own idea of what the album should be. ‘Ö’ is slight but never less than fun, occasionally awesome, but never sleazy. And at just 28 minutes, it flies by so fast you may end up letting it loop a few times.

—

Hannah Lew – Hannah Lew (Night School)

One of the most underrated bands of the 2010s, Cold Beat were led by onetime Grass Widow bassist Hannah Lew, who explored her love of early synthpop and post-punk while never forgetting to write a great song. With each album, Cold Beat got prettier, more human, and more empathetic, while musically heading further into pure vintage electronic territory. Following 2022’s excellent War Garden, Lew has now gone solo — a natural progression — with what might be her most fully realized album to date. Like War Garden, songcraft is front and center on Lew’s eponymous debut, and these nine songs would sound fantastic on acoustic guitar, but here they’re presented as an electronic meadow overflowing with flora that blooms as you listen. The vocal arrangements are especially inspired: the descending countermelody harmonies on “Another Twilight,” the understated delivery of “Move in Silence,” and the gorgeous chorus of “Sunday.” That’s not to discount the rest of the sound — hooks stack on hooks as you’re enveloped in a swirling mass of arpeggiations, ethereal guitar washes, and Lew’s ever-present, driving basslines. There are bangers, too: “Replica” is ABBA by way of Gary Numan, “Damaged Melody” recalls Book of Love, and the aforementioned “Another Twilight” is ethereal disco bliss. Then there are perfect pop songs like “Distance of the Moon” and “The Clock,” which close out this wonderful album on a high.

—

Heavenly – Highway to Heavenly (Skep Wax)

Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey are British indiepop royalty, having made music together for 40 years across various cultishly loved groups. But they’re best known for their ’90s-era band Heavenly, whose mix of sweet janglepop melodies and often serious lyrics was dismissively labeled “twee” by UK journalists, but embraced in the US by both the riot grrrl scene and what Beat Happening/K Records founder Calvin Johnson dubbed “The International Pop Underground.” Heavenly came to a sudden end in 1996 when drummer — and Amelia’s brother — Matthew Fletcher took his own life. The surviving members carried on as the also-great Marine Research, but there was something uniquely special about Heavenly’s four albums and run of singles. During the pandemic, the band found a whole new audience when “P.U.N.K. Girl” and “Me and My Madness” became viral hits on TikTok, and the singles compilation A Bout de Heavenly further fueled interest. Heavenly reunited for a London show, which snowballed into sold-out dates in the UK and US…and a new album. Highway to Heavenly is as lively and pointed as their ’90s material, standing confidently beside their previous albums while feeling neither like a manufactured antique nor a “hello, fellow kids” play to new fans. Highway to Heavenly isn’t Remember When. It’s a brand-new, wonderful chapter.

MORE: I talked to Amelia and Rob on the February 9 episode of BV Interviews.

—

Horse Lords – Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! (RVNG Intl)

The great Baltimore experimental indie rock combo are exploring new territory on their seventh album — for the first time in their 15+ year history, there are vocals. Those come via Nina Guo and Evelyn Saylor, who are the first thing you hear on Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!, and their ethereal style fits perfectly with the group’s knotty, precision-engineered sound. Their eerie harmonies bring an almost Celtic vibe to the record, which also finds the quartet of guitarist Owen Gardner, bassist Max Eilbacher, drummer Sam Haberman, and alto saxophonist/percussionist Andrew Bernstein augmented by bass clarinetist Madison Greenstone and trombonist Weston Olencki. It’s almost as if Guo and Saylor are otherworldly spirits who come down to Earth to jam with a group of scientists, and the results are not unlike the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It’s skronky, groovy, and at times very beautiful as one track leads into the next, culminating in Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!‘s title track, which is both funky and lithe despite sounding like some of the musicians are playing in different time signatures. It is hypnotic and wonderful, and if you’ve played out Angine de Poitrine’s two albums, you might want to give this a spin. If we ever do get contacted by aliens, I hope Horse Lords get the call.

—

Iceage – For Love of Grace & the Hereafter (Mexican Summer)

Once known for glowering, druggy post-punk, Danish band Iceage lightened up considerably on 2021’s Seek Shelter, and that evolution continues here, even if it might not seem that way at first. “At a moment’s notice, you wrecked the ship,” Elias Rønnenfelt sings. “One error, then you’re fucking dead, boy.” That’s the opening couplet of “Ember,” the first song on Iceage’s sixth album, which turns out to be a love song. “I love you in an ominous way,” he sings in the chorus. It’s gushy, but in an Iceage way, cut through with doubt. Still, they’ve found the light at the end of the tunnel. For Love of Grace & the Hereafter is also a lot of fun, with a swaggering, danceable energy that recalls The Pogues, The Replacements, and The Libertines. “Lifetime” bounces like The Smiths’ “Handsome Devil,” “No Fear” is a jangly earworm, and there’s even an infectious “la la la” chorus on “1835.” Yet it all remains distinctly Iceage. There’s real life here, not a mediocre song in sight, and they too are sunlike in the battered sky. Nearly 20 years into their career, they have made their best album by a mile.

—

​​

Jessie Ware – Superbloom (Interscope)

Jessie Ware is the reigning queen of lush, sophisticated, and unapologetically horny disco, but after two albums of tasteful hedonism, she dials things back slightly on Superbloom. She expands on the sound and themes of What’s Your Pleasure? and That! Feels Good!, keeping things lively, fun, and firmly on the dancefloor while moving past crushes and the blush of attraction toward something more meaningful. The sound deepens, too. Floral imagery abounds on “I Could Get Used to This,” as Ware settles into the comfort of a fulfilling relationship. The flutes and strings recall Minnie Riperton, even as the track is a full-on banger. Leading with a four-on-the-floor 134 BPM beat, “Mr Valentine” could initially be mistaken for a DFA single from 2003, but then it blooms into a ’70s disco wonderland, with Jessie belting, “Show me the magic, dozen red roses surround me.” It’s the most immediate song on Superbloom, but really it’s just a matter of degrees: there’s not a bum track on this seamless rock-solid endorphin rush of a disco record.

—

ALBUM OF THE WEEK #2: Kneecap – FENIAN (Heavenly)

Irish rap trio Kneecap have been no strangers to controversy since Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí formed the group in 2017, but the last year has been one firestorm after another. With a constant stream of headlines, you may have forgotten that Kneecap make music, but there’s no denying their talent on their fierce, fantastic second album. Troubles have long fueled the Irish spirit, and Kneecap pour everything that’s happened to them into FENIAN. They take no prisoners, addressing those who look to silence them head-on, mixing invective sloganeering, strident, informed politics, their signature humor, and newfound maturity into their dizzying blend of Irish and English. They set it all to a storming mix of ’90s dance influences and more modern hip hop production, courtesy of DJ Próvaí and producer Dan Carey. There are techno/acid house bangers (“Liar’s Tale,” “Big Bad Mo”), trip-hop mood pieces (“Carnival,” “Palestine,” which features Palestinian rapper FAWZI), drum & bass (“Headcase”), and even a little bloghouse via the album’s shoutalong title track, which samples, of all things, Norwegian indie band Casiokids’ early single “Fot i hose.” The album closes with “Irish Goodbye,” Móglaí Bap’s moving tribute to his mother, who died by suicide in 2020. Featuring an empathetic verse from Kae Tempest, it’s also a song about remembering the good amidst something terrible — which you could say about all of FENIAN.

—

Lande Hekt – Lucky Now (Tapete)

Former Muncie Girls singer/guitarist Lande Hekt just keeps getting better with each solo album. Her third long-player is loaded with shimmering janglepop indebted to Flying Nun kiwi pop, Heavenly, The Pastels, Dolly Mixture, and other music you could call “twee,” which also matches Lande’s cardigan-clad style on the album’s artwork. That word is generally used as a pejorative, but Lucky Now is the best kind of twee — full of fantastic songs and confident performances that are winsome and thensome. Lande made the album with producer Matthew Simms of MEMORIALS (see elsewhere on this list), who really nails the sound here — keeping her voice, harmonies, and melodies at the center, while the instrumentation remains appropriately sweet but not without muscle and moments of swirling atmosphere. It would be hard to make a bad record with songs like “Favourite Pair of Shoes,” “A Million Broken Hearts,” “My Imaginary Friend,” and the soaring title track. With Lucky Now, Lande is on par with The Beths and Alvvays.

—

Lee “Scratch” Perry & Mouse on Mars – Spatial No Problem (Domino)

Reggae and dub icon Lee “Scratch” Perry died in 2021 and was prolific till the end. Not unlike Tupac, there have been a lot of posthumous albums claiming to be the “final” one, and who knows which will actually be the last, but this one will be hard to top. Made with experimental German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, the bulk of the record was recorded during a whirlwind four-day session in 2019 involving a dozen musicians. It took a while for MoM’s Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma to complete the album, thanks first to the pandemic and then Perry’s death. Some things just need time to marinate and simmer, and what they’ve created is a delicious concoction with an intoxicating aroma and a complex broth with lots to sink your teeth into. Musically, many of these tracks are built on krautrock rhythms, and then things go global with horns, backing singers, flutes, a variety of synthesizers, and other instrumentation. These songs ride grooves more than they follow traditional pop structures, but St. Werner and Toma keep things engaging with inventive, trippy arrangements that feel like a tribute to Perry while moving things forward.

—

MEMORIALS – All Clouds Bring Not Rain (Fire Records)

“We have a wide palette between us, our ‘sound world,’” Matthew Simms says of what he and Verity Susman had in mind for MEMORIALS’ second album. “We knew we wanted harpsichord and vibraphone.” Instead of opting for computer plug-ins to mimic those instruments, they sought out studios that actually had them on hand, which led them to rural southwestern France and London, in addition to their own studio in Kent, England. Can you hear the difference? On All Clouds Bring Not Rain, you can feel it. While still very much within that well-defined “sound world” — a mix of ’60s psych by way of ’70s Düsseldorf and Cologne, verdant folk, dub, and their own previous groups (Susman led Electrelane; Simms was in Wire and It Hugs Back) — MEMORIALS have expanded their reach. Not just harpsichord and vibraphone, but also rich vocal harmonies, tape-loop delay, and a wide array of vintage instruments that don’t get dusted off much anymore. All Clouds Bring Not Rain is an amazing headphone album, but it sounds even better on a proper stereo, with some distance between your speakers and, ideally, a room lit only by lava lamps. But even on earbuds, the grooves, vintage textures, melodies, drones, and voices on this wonderful album will transport you there.

MORE: Listen to my conversation with MEMORIALS on the March 16 episode of BV Interviews.

—

My New Band Believe – My New Band Believe (Rough Trade)

Many were sad when mathy Londoners black midi broke up two years ago, but I’m enjoying the burning embers more than the original fire. At first, most of the attention focused on Geordie Greep, who burst out of the gate with his impressively wigged-out The New Sound. The band’s other singer/guitarist, Cameron Picton, kept a lower profile but emerged last year with a solo project that has since evolved into My New Band Believe. Picton has gone even further afield than Greep with MNBB, but in a more grounded way. Acoustic guitars are at the center of this pretty, lushly arranged record that at times recalls the string-laden, wildly romantic sophistipop of the ’80s. Songs flow into one another, swooping daringly with the melodrama of a film score, as Picton moves the action from Paris to Seville and then to London for a little English prog. You can’t take all the math out of him after all. Interestingly, the same day as the album, My New Band Believe released a non-LP single, “Numerology,” which was perhaps too singular a pop song to squeeze onto the album.  Picton is moving fast and it’s exciting to think where he’ll land next.

—

The New Pornographers – The Former Site Of (Merge)

Carl Newman has always been the kind of lyricist who seemed to go more by feel than meaning — like clever refrigerator-magnet poetry or, in his own words, “non-representational art.” On The New Pornographers’ 10th album, however, Newman has put a lot more care into his words, which are still clever and cool. “Now I’m trying to paint landscapes,” he tells us. “I’m trying to be like the Flemish Masters.” When Newman sings “First comes love, then comes pity / Then it’s terminal velocity” on “Ballad of the Last Payphone,” you know just what he means. When he’s singing about a satellite circling Saturn on “Spooky Action,” you know what he means. When he’s having “Bonus Mai Tais” with a friend who’s dying of cancer, you know what he means. “This time I wanted every lyric to count,” he says. The lyrical step up is not the only thing that makes The Former Site Of such a treat, but it’s a big part of it. Sonically, it’s unlike any record the Canadian group have made before, letting synthesizers drive the songs instead of just adding accents and hooks. When more traditional instruments do appear, they’re often used in unusual ways — like the mandolin all over “Votive,” played closer to post-punk, almost New Order, than its folk origins. This could be The New Pornographers’ mellowest album, but it’s not listless or dull. Whatever it is — a new wave of creativity or something to prove — Newman has his mojo back, and The Former Site Of is the best New Pornographers album since Brill Bruisers.

MORE: I talked to Carl Newman on the March 30 episode of BV Interviews.

—

Nine Inch Nails – Nine Inch Noize (Interscope)

Anyone who went to see Nine Inch Nails’ Peel It Back tour has wanted studio versions of their collaborations with opening act Boys Noize. Performed from the “B-stage,” those purely electronic reworks of Nine Inch Nails songs were highlights of what was already an awesome show. They did too, it turns out. “Careful what you wish for,” joked Trent Reznor about their full-length collaboration, dubbed Nine Inch Noize, at Coachella. There is now a Nine Inch Noize album as well, which features the exact same songs, in the exact same order, as their Coachella set. But this is not a live album. Not exactly, anyway. “We recorded this album all over the place,” says Trent. “Some of it’s live, some in studios, hotels, planes, etc. We had a lot of fun revisiting these songs and hope you enjoy.” The best moments on Nine Inch Noize are the ones that push furthest from the original recordings. “She’s Gone Away” gets a significant overhaul, shifting from brooding haze to a pulsing slow jam. How to Destroy Angels’ “Parasite” goes through an even more extreme makeover, turning the sinister white-noise original into a throbbing techno banger. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” from the TRON: Ares soundtrack, gets a dub treatment, and the killer rework of “Closer” pulls a somewhat buried hook to the forefront, effectively making one of NIN’s most-played songs feel brand new. Much like the album as a whole, which is no mere remix record and stands as a worthy new addition to the Nine Inch Nails catalog.

—

Plantoid – FLARE (Bella Union)

Brighton trio Plantoid made a strong impression with their 2024 debut album Terrapath, which mixed genres with wild abandon and refused to be constrained by labels. Well, maybe one genre united them all: “prog.” It was the kind of record where fans of Primus, Yes, Porcupine Tree, and Faith No More could find common ground. They’re now back with their second album which, at first glance, looks like more of the same — complete with a Stonehenge-esque rock formation and ancient runes on the cover. But the proggiest thing about this one is the album art. FLARE finds Plantoid focusing their sound into something less gangly. “While making FLARE, we did knowingly acknowledge that our sound had been very erratic,” says drummer Louis Bradshaw. “We never stayed on anything for too long. Before going into writing this album we wanted to slightly redefine what we were doing — it’s less directly proggy. It strays from that sound a bit, while retaining that character.” Make no mistake, Plantoid’s dazzling musicianship and love of unusual time signatures are still very much on display, but these nine songs feel like tentacles working in tandem, mixing skronky math rock with passages of jazzy, ethereal beauty. FLARE is somehow both further out and more grounded than their debut. Where you once had to give them credit for their chops — even if it was giving you whiplash — this album is a genuinely impressive, enjoyable listen.

—

Robber Robber – Two Wheels Move the Soul (Fire Talk)

Nominee for Best Album Opening of 2026: Robber Robber’s Two Wheels Move the Soul blasts into the room unannounced, like Kramer, with a squall of feedback, distorted bass, and a crash cymbal that immediately gives way to a ticking hi-hat, lighting the fuse for the action sequence to come. “The Sound It Made” is a high-speed chase — part Prodigy maximalism, part Sonic Youth Kim Gordon cool — that shouldn’t work, but their custom chassis, including dynamite drummer Zack James, makes all the swerves and explosions feel balletic. Two Wheels Move the Soul, the second album from this Burlington, VT band, is full of unexpected, electrifying moments like that. Not all are quite so showy, but their confidence and creativity shine throughout. It all hinges on the creative partnership between James and singer/guitarist Nina Cates, who pull elements from the past and make them sound like the future — not Jetsons-style, but a tangible glimpse of what’s ahead: shiny and grungy, melodic and dissonant, overstimulated yet chill. Not to overhype: Robber Robber make indie rock with elements of post-punk, pop, and electronic music, but they rearrange those familiar building blocks into something you’ve never quite heard before, with savvy musicianship and plenty of swagger. Cates’ vocal delivery — full of attitude but never breaking a sweat — keeps those wheels on the road through hairpin turns and rain-slicked curves. Robber Robber are one of those groups with a real alchemy, making this album even more exciting than their assured debut.

—

Slippers – Slippers 08 (K)

Madeline Babuka Black’s second full-length album as Slippers is overflowing with hooky delights and quirky charm. Like with Lande Hekt’s equally great Lucky Now from earlier this year, it’s hard not to use the word “winsome” here, but Madeline embodies the best aspects of it: sweet and just a little sad, and never saccharine. Also: memorable song after memorable song. “Castaways” has already cast its spell on you before the twin leads enter the scene, and when it goes full George Harrison, resistance is futile. Then there’s “Wants for Everyone” that grabs you from its opening seconds: the jazzy, lightly distorted chording is an instant endorphin rush, recalling those Swedish groups from the mid-’90s (The Cardigans, Eggstone). That’s before the chorus, before the part where she sings along with the lightly gnarly guitar solo, and definitely before the “ooooooohweeoooohs” that take it into the stratosphere. The delights keep coming: “Wasted Tonight” has 12-string arpeggios, a “Bah Bah” refrain, more twin leads, and an irresistible key change; “Until You Can’t Give Up On Me” layers in perfectly spacey keyboards; and “Fool In Your Room” is a 1:40 earworm about a post-one-night-stand escape. Who knew you could squeeze so much into such little packages? Slippers 08 is a real treat.

—

Station Model Violence – Station Model Violence (Anti Fade / Static Shock)

Daniel Stewart (Total Control who are currently inactive) formed Station Model Violence in 2024 with Buz Clatworthy, who also records as R.M.F.C. Clatworthy’s guitar style goes a long way toward making the band — and their self-titled debut — not just a Total Control clone, even if there’s plenty of shared DNA. Along with the incendiary, angular shredding, he leans heavily on 12-string guitar, adding a chiming, jangly shimmer to these hard-hitting songs. In that sense, he recalls Daniel Ash, and there’s more than a little Bauhaus here; Stewart’s voice can easily slip into that same menacing, melodramatic mode. Station Model Violence is heavy, darkly glam, melodic, psychedelic, punishing, and hypnotic. It’s the kind of record where you put it on and immediately think, “Oh yeah, this is the stuff.” It absolutely rips. You might want to head straight to “Heat,” the band’s first single, built on a descending riff and tom-heavy drumming that just keeps building, adding hooks along the way. It’s eight minutes long, but the groove is so strong it could go on for 80 and you wouldn’t get bored. The whole album is different shades of grey — sometimes nearing black, sometimes shining bright and white-hot — with enough textural variety (hello, saxophone) to captivate across its perfect 38-minute runtime. Sure, a new Total Control album would be nice, but having Station Model Violence instead is no compromise.

—

Ulrika Spacek – EXPO (Full Time Hobby)

London art-psych band Ulrika Spacek have always had a collage-like approach to their music, taking ideas from jam sessions and using them as raw materials for fully formed songs. On their fourth album, however, they’ve taken that concept one step further, sampling themselves to create a personal “sound bank” from which they built beats and skeleton ideas that the band then fleshed out by playing overtop. Ulrika Spacek aren’t the first rock band to use a method like this, but in their skilled, creative hands, it resulted in their best album yet — full of memorable songs while paving all manner of new side streets on their unique roadmap. One way to describe what they’re doing on EXPO is to “Build a Box and Break It,” which also happens to be the title of one of the album’s most striking, immediate tracks. The beat is a little reminiscent of Portishead’s “Strangers,” but the band soon pushes it into rock territory while keeping things surreal and cinematic. Bandleader Rhys Edwards’ wavering falsetto only adds to the song’s eerie charm. There are moments on EXPO where they incorporate drum-and-bass, jungle, and other electronic styles in ways that recall Dummy-era Portishead, Björk’s Homogenic, and Kid A-era Radiohead — but it’s all made by the same band on the same album. That said, it still sounds undeniably like Ulrika Spacek, with their distinctive swagger, swooning melodies, and interlocking guitar lines. Ulrika Spacek remain one of the most unique rock bands of the current era, and EXPO is a stunning showcase of what they’re capable of.

—

Weird Nightmare – Hoopla (Sub Pop)

“The intention is to get straight to that endorphin rush that comes with a hook or a chorus, and just not overcomplicate the songs,” says Alex Edkins, who spent 17 years getting his angst and aggression out while blowing eardrums in Toronto’s METZ. During COVID, he explored his more melodic side on a homemade lo-fi solo album released as Weird Nightmare. With METZ ceasing operations in 2024, Weird Nightmare became a full band, and with Hoopla Edkins shows what he can really do in a pop format. Taking cues from Pixies, Cheap Trick, The Beatles, Buzzcocks, and Teenage Fanclub, Hoopla is a precision-engineered hook delivery device, overflowing with fist-pump choruses, soaring harmonies, killer riffs, twin leads, and other pleasure-center button pushers. It’s a natural progression from METZ’s final album, Up on Gravity Hill, which was in turn influenced by the first Weird Nightmare album. For those who loved Edkins’ former band, he hasn’t turned things down much. Hoopla was made with Spoon’s Jim Eno in the producer’s chair at Seth Manchester’s Machines With Magnets studio and recorded mostly live, so it’s still got that buzzsaw roar — just this time kept a notch shy of ear-bleeding. It’s a sugar rush and a smack to the face all in one.

—

Whitelands – Sunlight Echoes (Sonic Cathedral)

“A few people on Reddit have been complaining about the state of shoegaze singers,” says Etienne Quartey-Papafio of London band Whitelands, “but I think that’s where Whitelands shines.” It’s hard to argue with that. Etienne says listening to Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter changed the way he sang after releasing the band’s 2024 debut, and he’s definitely not your average shoegaze frontperson. Born in Ghana before moving to the UK and discovering Slowdive, Etienne notes that people often assume he’s in a reggae band — but his powerful vocals are one of the most striking things about Whitelands and their excellent second album. While initially lumped in with the new shoegaze scene — and still signed to Sonic Cathedral, a label that focuses heavily on the genre — Sunlight Echoes finds them taking flight into pillowy dreampop territory. Some use “shoegaze” and “dreampop” interchangeably, but no one would confuse the gossamer beauty of “Songbird (Forever),” resplendent in swirling strings, with My Bloody Valentine or even Slowdive. Whitelands still pull off a loud-quiet-loud trick, though, via Etienne’s vocals: beautifully breathy in the verses, then going full-throated technicolor in a knockout chorus that practically demands you close your eyes and sway as it envelops you. Alongside Deary, Whitelands are the most exciting thing to happen to shoegaze in a while — even if they’ve already escaped its confines.

—

Winged Wheel – Desert So Green (12XU)

This “experimental super-band,” featuring members of Tyvek, Spray Paint, Matchess, plus Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and more, were born out of the pandemic, with songs made long-distance as members added parts almost Exquisite Corpse–style before eventually becoming a formidable live band. New album No Island (their third) was also recorded remotely by the core quartet of Fred Thomas, Whitney Johnson, Cory Plump, and Matthew J. Rolin, but you can feel their symbiosis as if it were hammered out live after a six-week tour in a rehearsal space. Heavy on dark vibes and smoldering, drony jams, Winged Wheel ride a storm cloud formation across the horizon, churning up a gothy choogle that could appeal to fans of Joy Division, The Grateful Dead, Neu!, and Cocteau Twins. These creations allow the members to stretch out and explore, world-building as they play off one another — equal parts creepy, alluring, and dissonant.

—

The full-staff BrooklynVegan mid-year list is coming soon, so stay tuned for that too. Here’s a playlist featuring two songs from all 30 albums on my list, available on TIDAL, Apple Music and Spotify. Also in alphabetical order but feel free to listen on shuffle!

—

Looking for more? Browse the Indie Basement archives.

And check out what’s new in our shop.