Notable Releases of the Week (4/2)

As faithful BrooklynVegan readers and podcast listeners may know, Andrew is currently taking some time away to take care of his new baby, who he and his wife recently welcomed into the world. He wasn’t able to write his usual reviews for most of the albums in this week’s edition of Notable Releases, but we did our best to fill you in on what you need to know about them so you can check them out for yourself. Stay tuned for his return, and…

This week, we got some shocking news about former Turnstile guitarist Brady Ebert, and some very sad news about Bo Lueders of Harm’s Way and HardLore, and Ross the Boss of The Dictators and Manowar. We also got the lineup for Darker Waves festival (which somehow led to Morrissey calling for people to boycott us). Hear us talk about all those topics and more on today’s episode of BV Weekly.

We highlight ten albums below, and Bill discusses eight more in Indie Basement, including Angine de Poitrine, Arlo Parks, and Billy Fuller (of Beak>). In addition to those, this week’s honorable mentions include Bruce Hornsby (ft. Bob Weir, Ezra Koenig, Blake Mills, Bonnie Raitt & more), Poison Ruin, Maria Taylor, Corrosion of Conformity, ps goner (Homeshake), Katie Alice Greer, Grade 2, Omah Lay, Los Thuthanaka, the Population II EP, the live Bon Iver album, the live Trey Anastasio album, and the A Place to Bury Stranger rarities/b-sides collection

Read on for our picks, and listen to the new episode of BV Weekly for more of this week’s new music and music news. What’s your favorite release of the week?

Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE & Surf Gang – POMPEII // UTILITY (10k / Tan Cressida / Surf Gang Records)
The beloved rappers and prolific production collective join forces for a double album that “came from having fun.”

Rappers Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE are longtime friends and collaborators, and they teamed up with evilgiane-led production collective Surf Gang (who both have worked with before) for a new double album. A few more friends and collaborators join them on POMPEII // UTILITY too, including Jadasea, Anysia Kym, Niontay, Nal-Kel Smith, Cahuilla, and Lerado Khalil. Earl told The FACE that the album “came from having fun,” adding, “Both of our stuff gets categorised in a pretty sombre lane. There’s still heavy stuff. Surf Gang doesn’t spare heaviness. But when you change the drums, it changes everything.” [BrooklynVegan Staff]

Thundercat – Distracted (Brainfeeder)
Tame Impala, A$AP Rocky, Lil Yachty, WILLOW & more contribute to the first album in six years from the bassist, songwriter, and producer great.

Thundercat has been busy working with artists like A$AP Rocky, Tame Impala, Gorillaz, Silk Sonic, Kaytranada, and Justice in the years since his last album, 2020’s It Is What It Is, and Distracted is also a highly collaborative affair, with Tame Impala and A$AP Rocky also joining him on it, as well as Lil Yachty, Channel Tres, WILLOW, and the late Mac Miller (another frequent collaborator). Greg Kurstin contributed production work, and Thundercat told The FADER, “He’s a legend. We took to each other really quickly. Greg is an astounding musician and an amazing producer and would become a good friend also through the process. He probably thinks I’m crazy as hell. But I’m probably not the craziest he’s ever seen. This is sober Steve. A big difference. I would hope there was a notable difference.” He says he’d like listeners to “Just enjoy it and have fun and just know that the struggle is real and changes shape, but just to keep pushing forward,” adding “Sometimes you need to be distracted to focus in a different way,” about the title. [BrooklynVegan Staff]

Sunn O))) – sunn O))) (Sub Pop)
Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley look to the woods on their first album in seven years.

Drone metal giants Sunn O)))’s tenth album and first LP since 2019 is their first for Sub Pop, who they signed to last year. The self-titled album is also their first not to feature any artists other than Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley. “What’s been happening with our performances over the last couple years with the two of us and no other collaborators has been really fresh and exciting,” Anderson said. They found inspiration in the Woodinville, Washington studio where they tracked with co-producer Brad Wood; O’Malley says, “The vast tracking room had big windows looking out on trees. We could go hiking and be out in the woods, spend time outdoors. That became a big part of it.” [BrooklynVegan Staff]

Lantlôs – Nowhere In Between Forever (Prophecy)
The shoegazy black metal pioneer delivers one of his most unpredictable records yet, a patchwork quilt of sludge-pop, indie-synth, shoegaze, and more.

Alongside bands like Deafheaven and Alcest, Germany musician Markus Skye’s Lantlôs project helped pioneer the wave of shoegazy black metal that came to prominence in the early 2010s, but he’s been far too restless to stay in one place for long, and Nowhere In Between Forever is one of his most unpredictably, musically-diverse records yet. It varies between Torche/Baroness-style sludge-pop, glitchy indie-synth with a generous amount of electronic vocal manipulation, some straight-up ’90s-style shoegaze, some brushes with ’90s alternative rock, and a few musical bridges and tunnels that connect those various destinations. At a time in which it feels like more bands are tapping the well of ’90s indie/alt rock and shoegaze than ever, Nowhere In Between Forever is one of the most unique examples of it that you’ll hear all year. [Andrew Sacher]

Knumears – Directions (Run for Cover / Summer Shade)
Jack Shirley recorded the debut LP from the LA screamo trio, which features Jeromes Dream’s Jeff Smith.

After a series of singles and splits (including 2024’s great split with Catalyst, Vs Self, and Party Hats) and a killer set at Best Friends Forever that we caught back in October, Los Angeles screamo band Knumears signed to Run for Cover and Summer Shade (the RFC imprint helmed by Fury’s Madison Woodward). Their debut full-length pairs them with Jack Shirley, known for his work with artists like Deafheaven, Loma Prieta, and Touché Amoré, and has a guest appearance from Jeromes Dream’s Jeff Smith. “I think what draws us to this type of music, just like everyone else, is the absolute raw emotion,” guitarist and vocalist Matthew Cole says. “We all grew up listening to hardcore, and I think that allows you to see the world in a completely different light—both more creatively and intellectually. Not being raised on music that had nothing real to say was the best thing that happened to us.” [BrooklynVegan Staff]

Wendy Eisenberg – Wendy Eisenberg (Joyful Noise)
A collection of folk songs from the prolific improvisational guitarist and songwriter.

Guitarist and singer-songwriter Wendy Eisenberg (Editrix, Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, etc) has been busy as a prolific collaborator and improvisor over many years, and their new self-titled album represents a shift in direction, influenced in part by a change of scenery. They began working on it after moving to Brooklyn from Western Massachusetts, finding inspiration in the work of classic songwriters (Michael Hurley, Gillian Welch, John Prine, and Willie Nelson) and “weirdo country interpreters” (Richard Dawson, the Mekons, Joanna Newsom). “The songs are genuinely folk songs,” they say. “The production is less about seeing what the guitar might be capable of and more accepting the inherent strangeness of the languages it has spoken for the last century and a half.” They worked with regular collaborators Trevor Dunn, Ryan Sawyer, and Mari Rubio, saying “I was finally around people who accepted me. Many of the songs on this record were written in that new feeling. I wanted it to be incredibly comforting as it describes some massive changes in self-understanding and self-regard. It’s about relief.” [BrooklynVegan Staff]

Commitment – Fear Of (Get Better)
Ferocious hardcore from a newcomer to the scene, and some familiar Philly faces.

We’ve been psyched for Philly hardcore band Commitment’s debut LP Fear Of since the first single, “Hellraiser,” dropped in December. Here’s what Andrew wrote about “Dog Pound” in January: Commitment has some familiar faces from the Philly hardcore scene, including Soul Glo vocalist Pierce Jordan on drums and Eye Flys’ Jake Smith on guitar, but their vocalist Tati Salazar is new to hardcore, having previously made indie singer/songwriter type material as Le Siren and The Childlike Empress. As it turns out, Tati has a ferocious scream, and the two songs we’ve heard from Commitment’s upcoming debut LP Fear Of are both ragers. The latest and fiercest is “Dog Pound,” an 87-second whiplash in which Tati “[divulges] in my violent fantasies towards men that deserve such treatment.” The video has snuff film vibes, and the song is just as merciless.

Charley Crockett – Age of the Ram (Lone Star Rider / Island / UMG)
The third part of the tale of Billy McClane, told in rustic songs from the prolific outlaw country hero.

Prolific outlaw country hero Charley Crockett released the first two parts of his The Sagebrush Trilogy in 2025, Lonesome Drifter and Dollar a Day, and he completes the series with Age of the Ram, his first release of 2026. Shooter Jennings contributed production to all three, and they tell the story of Billy McClane, who Crockett calls “a small-time cattle rustler who finds himself in the crosshairs of the Santa Fe ring, pursued by bounty killers working for the shadow syndicate. Billy McLane escapes into the crazy mountains where the outlaw will become a legend.” Expect more of his rustic country songs that stand apart from current trends in the genre. [BrooklynVegan Staff]

Division of Mind – Exoterror (Triple B)
The Richmond metalcore band’s first new music since 2019.

The last time we had new music from Richmond band Division of Mind, who share members with Enforced, Red Death, Bent Life, and Noseleed, was with their 2019 album self-titled album. They’ve continued playing shows and festivals in the years since then, and now we have the follow-up, Exoterror, which delivers more of their heavy ’90s metalcore sound.

Makthaverskan – Glass and Bones (Welfare Sounds & Records)
More sublime indie pop and post-punk from the Swedish band.

Swedish post-punks Makthaverskan have been releasing gorgeous, addictive music since their 2009 self-titled, and since then they’ve never really strayed from what makes their sound so compelling. Glass and Bones is their fifth album and first and five years, and it’s a very welcome return. “It feels like the aim with this album was to lean even further into who we are,” they said. “A fully distilled version of the Makthaverskan sound.” They’re still distinctly themselves, and it still sounds sublime. [Amanda Hatfield]

Read Indie Basement for more new album reviews, including The Bevis Frond, Joe Pernice, and Robber Robber.

Looking for more recent releases? Browse the Notable Releases and Indie Basement archives.

Looking for a podcast to listen to? Check out the latest episodes of our weekly music news podcast BV Weekly and the BV interviews podcast.

Pick up the BrooklynVegan x Alexisonfire special edition 80-page magazine, which tells the career-spanning story of Alexisonfire and comes on its own or paired with our new exclusive AOF box set and/or individual reissues, in the BV shop. Also pick up the new Glassjaw box set & book, created in part with BrooklynVegan, and browse the BrooklynVegan shop for more exclusive vinyl.