Snooping the Bandcamp

7/19/26.

Another record that I almost went right by. If you click through to the full Bandcamp page and see the full cover, you might see why I was ready to skip this on the new releases page. I'm glad I didn't. While there is only one song currently streaming from Ring Ring "It's For You" it's great, and it is, after all, from an Australian supergroup.

That's right - Ring Ring is an Australian supergroup. Seriously. This group is made up of main members who have played in The Cannanes, The Ocean Party/Pop Filter and School Damage. Guests are from Boyracer, The Cannanes, The Ancients and Alluvial Nuggets. I think we've posted/mentioned each of those bands except Alluvial Nuggets.

7/18/26.

theCatherines (Hamburg, Germany) have been very busy for the past couple of months. "Nuff Said EP" is the 5th release in 2026, the 3rd physical. Heiko Schneider's long running project has always been a pop project, but has shifted its style of pop often over the past 8 years - our first post was in December 2018.

I love "Nuff Said EP" because Heiko let us in on his inspiration: "The idea for this EP sparked when we were listening to some albums from Heiko‘s youth...Buzzcocks, Joy Division, firehose, Joe Jackson… and some more… so we thought: why not make some songs in the tradition, style, sound of these? And this is what we did!"

7/17/26.

"Hard Life" won't be fully released until early September 2026, but I still let out an audible gasp a couple of weeks ago when I learned that a new release was coming.

The Tubs are based in London, but its core members are originally from Cardiff, Wales. They originally released a 7" on Prefect Records, then moved to Trouble in Mind, and have now found a home on Merge Records.

7/16/26.

I'll gladly admit that I still read Pitchfork reviews. I'll also state for the record that I find more new music that I like from Maximum Rock N' Roll than I do from Pitchfork. But, Pitchfork is still a great source of discovery for me.

"Distant Lands" from zzzahara (Zahara Jaime/Los Angeles) does recall another great Pitchfork "find" from a few years back- fantasy of a broken heart.

I'm always partial to musicians who make music because they almost have to. Jaime, in a recent interview said, "Honestly, if no one heard my music, I guess I'd be cool with it, because it's the only art form I know how to do. I don't know how to draw or anything else."

In that same interview, Jaime stated that Phil Elverum/Microphones, Sparklehorse, Neutral Milk Hotel and Sun Kil Moon were all influences on this release. Zzzahara also is 1/2 of the group The Simps.

7/15/26.

Here we are in July of 2026 and this is Diät's first post. They've been hashtagged 14 times over the years, but I bought their LP "Positive Energy" about 6 months before I started this blog in December 2014, so I guess I never really went back to give them their own post.

To me they have an Aussie post-punk/Total Control kind of sound. I've compared bands like Rank/Xerox, Marbled Eye, Soft Shoulder and Trauma Harness to DIÄT over the years if that helps paint a picture of their sound. Member Josh Newton has also been in The Lewers, Itchy Bugger and Bobby Would.

7/14/26.

One letter and two numbers. Amazing how so little can say so much: C86. One of the hashtags at the bottom of "The Original Rock 'N' Roll Chair" Bandcamp page is "C86", and with that simple hashtag The Passmore Sisters guaranteed a listen from me. This CD is compilation of singles and b-sides from 1985 to 1987, and while it absolutely fits the C86 tag, they don't appear on the exhaustive 3 CD "NME C86" compilation from Cherry Red.

Originally from Bradford, England, The Passmore Sisters relocated to Manchester. They recorded three sessions with BBC - two with John Peel and one with Janice Long. My ear hears three bands - Aztec Camera (Roddy Frame's vocals), The Housemartins, and The Smiths.

7/13/26.

Well, that escalated quickly. A great line from Anchorman, seems appropriate here when discussing Twisted Teens. The New Orleans, Louisiana band rose rather quickly to prominence when their S/T LP was pressed onto vinyl (we first mentioned them in December 2024). Their star rose more when Pitchfork reviewed "Blame The Clown" in February 2026 (we covered this release back in October 2025), and now they've released another LP, "Florida Water Blues".

This album retains the sound of earlier Twisted Teens albums - that is it focuses on the vocals of CPN Hollywell. There is a definite swampiness to them, but he's a great songwriter too. I know I've said this a million times, but for my money CPNPC "XLEP" is his best work. It's still available on cassette.

7/12/26.

I'm not sure how something as "up my alley" as Spice World escaped a post when their debut LP, "There Is No I In Spice World" was released in early 2023 by Tenth Court/Meritorio Records. This is classic Aussie pop in the dolewave vein of Dick Diver/Boomgates.

Now, Rough Skies - the label run by Julian Teakle in Hobart, Tasmania is releasing the follow up LP from the Fremantle, WA based band. The Bandcamp page promises a vinyl version is coming. The two songs currently available are a bit less "dolewavy" than the debut.

Heads up, I received an email from Meritorio (many of you probably did) announcing a €10 sale on many titles, including the "There Is No I In Spice World" LP. In keeping with the Aussie theme, Girlatones, Go Get Mum, and Monnone Alone are available for the €10 price.

7/11/26.

The last Maston (Los Angeles, California) post came over 4 years ago. He's been making music since then, but the flood of music that is the reality of this blog sometimes makes beloved musicians fall to the temporary wayside.

I actually thought about Maston because I was listening to French musician Initials MB (Maxime Baderspach) and thinking, "Hey, this reminds me of Maston."

So, while we're at it, a little love for Initials MB:

7/10/26.

As I've said many times, I don't receive very many messages. Unfortunately, most of the ones I get are from bands that have no physical release, so right off the bat the rule-follower in me knows he won't be able to post about their music. And that's before I listen to the music. So when I received the following message, I was heartened to see there was a physical release:

Hey, last month BBC Introducing played my music and said ‘if you’re a fan of David Bowie you’ll love this artist’. You wouldn’t believe how angry that made some men on Facebook. Anyway, my new album's now on Bandcamp – the artist is Gurry Wurry, and the album is called Glue. Cheers!

7/9/26.

I'm not at all surprised that I like this. I am a little surprised this is out of Oakland, California.

Edith's Head "My Back Wages" is a 9 track cassette lo-fi indie rock album that starts with a sound reminiscent of Le Villejuif Underground, TH da Freak, and early Primal Scream.

The eighth song, , is without a doubt the most experimental. The two person band () employs a certain "Spat" on the following instruments: paint roller, hand drum, saddle soap tin, bellydancing sash, suction cup, and guitar.

Then the album closes with one of the strongest songs (and appropriately titled) "Screed".

7/8/26.

Ruth Garbus' new LP "Profound" has been getting some well deserved accolades of late, including an 8.0 from Pitchfork. Garbus is a veteran musician of the Brattleboro, Vermont music scene. She's been a member of both Happy Birthday and Feathers (both with King Tuff, aka Kyle Thomas. Happy Birthday also has her parter, Chris Weisman and Feathers has Kurt Weisman - all have been covered at one point on this blog).

"Profound" is sparse, and gorgeous. This has an El Perro del Mar and at times an Eleanor Friedberger feel to it.

7/7/26.

Spectralate were a band formed in the early 2010s by Alan Holmes and Annie Muriel on the island of Anglesey in Northern Wales. Holmes has been in many bands, most notably Fflaps (1987-1992) and Ectogram (1996-2012).

Spectralate is beautifully orchestrated and hues closer to Would-Be-Goods, Tele Novella, and Jens Lekman than either of the above mentioned bands. And while both Holmes and Muriel are Welsh musicians, I can't say that this has the classic signs of Welsh indie music. In other words, while Holmes may have played with Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, this doesn't necessarily tend to that sound.

7/6/26.

My "in" to The Thermals was the album "The Body, The Blood, The Machine". I fell in love with Hutch Harris' vocal style, his melodies and of course the accompanying music courtesy of Kathy Foster and Jordan Hudson.

It looks like we are getting a new Thermals (Portland, Oregon) record. While I'm pretty stoked, I'm tempering expectations as from the sound of it, this is mostly a Hutch Harris solo effort. Kathy Foster helped play, but it doesn't really seem like she had a hand in writing any of the songs. But, in one "interview" Hutch assured us that "SHE'S RIGHT HERE, sitting next to me working hard on the layout for the LP, as I write this. Not only did I have Kathy’s blessing to make a Thermals LP, I had her help as well."

"Good Morning Fellow Scavengers" certainly sounds like The Thermals, who disbanded back in 2018. But apparently Harris missed, "the noise, the nerves and the chaos that the band always embodied. The exuberance, the raw power, and the punctuality!"

We posted "The Body, The Blood, The Machine" back in 2020. I mentioned Ted Leo & The Pharmacists back then as a band that put me in a similar mood. I might add Titus Andronicus to that.

7/5/26.

I can't believe a release as good as Deadbeat Beat "How Far" has led to only 4 total mentions since 2019. Seems odd for how much I've listened to that release. But, it's true.

"From Here to Ohio" is the follow up, seven years in the making. The sound is similar, although the Bandcamp write up mentions that vocally, Deadbeat Beat (Detroit, Michigan), owes a debt to Turtles, the Beach Boys, and the Cowsills. Musically, there is still a Flying Nun feel, but on the notes for this release the band doesn't name drop The Clean like they did on the last release.

7/4/26.

I recently learned of the Floating Eels project. It's made up of three people: David Mitchell, Paul Jones, Björn Magnusson and is described as an album of improvised music that "was recorded live to 4 tracks during a couple of long sessions in London [where Mitchell currently lives] late summer 2025".

I got pretty excited by the name David Mitchell - yes, it is THAT David Mitchell: The Exploding Budgies, Plagal Grind, Goblin Mix, 3Ds, and Ghost Club are just some of the bands he's been a key member of.

There is no physical release of "Get Down With the Floating Eels" yet, but David Mitchell is all over the release-iverse so I hardly feel like I'm breaking my "release-must-exist" rule. If you want to hear David Mitchell on vinyl, cassette or CD, you have many options (including Leather Apron, another Mitchell band I'd never heard of).

7/3/26.

About 3 weeks ago, I said that angels should have announced the release of The Clog's debut LP. Break the angelic chorus out again - Charlie Ivan Band are back with their 2nd LP, "Of Nothing".

"Where The Dogs Go To Die" was my #2 album of 2024 (#1 was CPNPC "XLEP"), and it has continued to shine in my record collection. So, I was pretty excited to hear about the new album, even if it's only two songs (for now). Currently "Of Nothing" is the more upbeat while "I'm Tired" lives up to its name. Both songs build upon the sound established on "Where The Dogs Go To Die".

Dylan Young (Way Dynamic) produced most of this (and he played on quite a bit), but Michael Beach produced and played on the last song. The Charlie Ivan Band is made up of same three regulars as the first LP and then an extensive list of collaborators.