Anything On Your Mind?
As the year rounds into the final quarter, the music writer’s thoughts turn towards year-end lists. And I’ll for sure write a roundup of records from this year, and it won’t be a list because I can’t do that kind of thing. Ranking is for people more disciplined than me! Anyway, if I’m going to do a proper job of this, I’m going to have to start getting my shit together about records this year. According to my Plex, there’s nearly 7 days of music in my collection from 2026 so far. I’m probably not going to be able to re-review all of that before I assemble any year-end blogging. Let’s see, 87 days before the end of the year, divide things…I have to listen to two hours of 2026 music every day just to re-listen to everything once.
Actually, that doesn’t seem that crazy? I guess it requires some discipline on my part, which means…probably not. Well, anyhoo, there will still certainly be more music released this year. I have eleven records still on pre-order as of this writing! So: my year-end stuff is going to be pretty impressionistic, in the end. I’ll write about some records that I liked, the ones that have really stuck around for repeat spins, and I guess that’ll have to be good enough. I’ll probably do some genre examinations leading up to it. Maybe I’ll do a series of year-end things.
What Are You Listening To, Josh?
A sampling of albums that I’m playing regularly, whether older ones or newer ones. Just the things that I think are worth highlighting, and maybe you’d enjoy.
Well, I just wrote about it the other day, so I won’t mention it again, but London 0 Hull 4 is still very much in my local rotation. In fact, the “recently played” list on the ol’ Plex is looking pretty influenced by the last several blog posts, which is a bit gratifying I suppose (I’m influencing myself!), but is kind of circular in terms of writing about records for other people. This is going to be a short blog post if I just say “go read the last few posts”.
The Ghost of Fashion, Clem Snide
The other day, I was playing A Beautiful EP in the kitchen as people were coming over, and a friend couldn’t identify Clem Snide. Apparently he just hadn’t heard them, which is surprising to me, if for no other reason than I would have expected that I’ve played them around him. Anyway, I threw on this record and remembered how much I liked it. I first encountered Clem Snide after reading a good review of Your Favorite Music back in the day. It wasn’t really the type of thing I was listening to at the time, but I was working at home and, frankly, not in a great head space so it really clicked for me. When this record came out and leavened in some more hopeful sounding stuff among the downbeat songs, I thought it was a great mix. Your Favorite Music, this album, and Soft Spot sound to me like Eef Barzelay is slowly adjusting the dial from “bummer” to “hopeful” and looking at the audience for approval. I really like all three records a ton but I think if you start somewhere, the midpoint is the right spot.
Prophylaxis, J Church
I was just in San Francisco for a couple days, and so, you know. I saw the J Church muni train while I was there! I’m not made of stone. I know, I know, I’ve written about J Church too much around here, but this section is “what I’m listening to” not “what you all want me to write about”. Anyway, there are records we encounter as teenagers and they stick with us forever, and this is one of them for me. Still hits, still a perfect punk record.
(NB: the record linked below is a comp with a bunch of records, including this one. Such a deal!)
Whorn, Cows
The most prolific of the Amphetamine Reptile bands, the Cows were excellent right up to the end. But I don’t ever see mentions of this album anywhere, even though I think I would put it third on my list (behind Cunning Stunts and Sexy Pee Story). It kicks off with five minutes of total racket with “Divorcee’ Moore” and follows with the bugle-punctuated “A Oven”, a one-two punch that is one of the best starts to any noise rock record. If you haven’t spent any time with this record, I recommend it quite highly.
Let’s Talk New Releases
Records come out every week, and there’s no way to stay on top of them. This isn’t a comprehensive look at everything, just a few things that have caught my ears out of recent releases. Any impressions here are very early!
It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these! Thanks to that long stretch where Five Songs was pre-recorded, I’ve got some catching up to do here. Or, alternatively, I’ve restocked my supply of new records to write about.
Two Ton Grudge, Bluto
Pure bludgeoning. This is noise rock, but from the Unsane school of things. Just big fat riffs and distorted yelling. There’s no subtlety here, no nuance, just pounding. But it is noise rock season, and this was exactly what I wanted in my ears when I was moving around heavy objects recently. So I recommend it for that use case!
Pugnello, Gilla Band
I will spare you all the discussion of how noise rock this is, I just chewed on that plenty the other day. If for some reason you want to read that, there you go. So instead, I’ll confine myself here by saying that I get a lot of industrial tasting notes from this record, especially in the clattering rhythms and some of the use of repetition in a bunch of places, along with some of the particular kinds of noises they are working with. The palette of sounds that a band uses can help identify a genre as much as anything else. Anyway, lots of buzz around this record, and it’s deserved.
Violent Winter, Early Grave
I haven’t seen anybody describing it this way, but this reads to me as blackened hardcore. Like, it’s mostly hardcore, but the vocals are in more of a blackened style. Anyway, it rips, don’t overthink this sort of record.
Sojourn, CAVS
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“glamour shots”, Daddy’s Boy
I wrote up this album a little while ago, and it still rules. Blown out hardcore with lots of fun touches. This is how the album opens and it just keeps running from here.
“My Machine”, Boris
Another album with a recent-ish writeup, so you can look at that. But, Pink is probably the easiest entry point into Boris’s extensive and sometimes confounding discography, although don’t expect all of their records to sound like this.
“Never Was Then Again”, Dysrhythmia
Instrumental prog/mathcore/metal project featuring heavyweights Kevin Hufnagel (Gorguts) and Colin Marston (Krallice along with a zillion other bands, plus he produces a ton of records), this is the sort of thing I feel in my head and not my heart. If I pay attention, I can be impressed with the musical pyrotechnics involved, but it isn’t truthfully something that I love.
“Mercy”, Planes Mistaken For Stars
Hello, I’m Josh, and I can’t really define emo. I’m not even going to try. Anyway, title track of their third record, their final before the hiatus, and the only one of their albums I’ve really spent much time with.
“Karma”, Lucky Daye
I’m going to level with you, I don’t remember picking this record up. But it’s a 2019 release, and 2019 is a year I really do not remember much at all.
Josh, What Are You Doing Here?
I’m just writing about music. A structure like this blog helps me get my thoughts out, and it’s a way for me to explore my own music collection through various lenses. My sincere hope is that some folks out there find some new music they love. That’s all I’m up to. Sincere thanks to everybody who sends me feedback, with news that they’ve found a new favorite especially fun for me. There’s no monetization, no metrics, no ads, no promos, no nothing. Just some static web pages, some links, and my scribbling. If you want to support it, just shoot me a note! Thanks for reading.
Some Better Places To Learn About Music
Check these folks out, you’ll learn more for sure. In no particular order: To The Teeth, Wolf’s Week/Plague Rages, The Devil’s Mouth, Burning Ambulance, Lamniformes Cuneiform, Hex Records, See/Saw, Starkweather, Treble Magazine, The Quietus, Stereogum.