*INTERESTING* NEW MUSIC RELEASES: FRIDAY JULY 11TH, 2025
Man, it sure is hot out...
Still a little jet-lagged after a week in Alaska. Came home a year older only to get smacked in the face repeatedly by the oppressive southern humidity. Come on fall.
Anyway, here’s our evergreen reminder that each week we will be adding all the releases highlighted on these pages to Spotify playlists - divided up by each month. Smash the little ⨁ sign next to the shuffle icon of each playlist if you want to save it to your library (recommended). We’re in the month of July now, so a new playlist link for July 2025 is included below.
January 2025 Spotify Playlist - 2025 - 01
February 2025 Spotify Playlist - 2025 - 02
March 2025 Spotify Playlist - 2025 - 03
April 2025 Spotify Playlist - 2025 - 04
May 2025 Spotify Playlist - 2025 - 05
June 2025 Spotify Playlist - 2025 - 06
July 2025 Spotify Playlist - 2025 - 07
If you haven’t been here in a minute, have a look at a couple of new features we’ve implemented:
Since some folks who read these weekly rundowns do not use Spotify, each hyperlinked artist/release on the lists below will take you to that release’s “Songlink.” - which is a link aggregator to all the places online where you can find this record (i.e., spotify, apple music, bandcamp and more). Hopefully this will be more inclusive despite us being spotify stans here at TSA.
We’ve also added some “file under” tags to each release to help folks scan for genres that fit with what you normally listen to (or that will help you branch out). Please note that whatever genre we claim a record fits into should be the ultimate decision henceforth. There will be zero room for discussion and/or nuance here (and if you’re not fluent in sarcasm, you’re probably going to be in the dark quite a bit reading these pages). Also, we’re probably going to consult musicmap just to be safe.
In the meantime, let’s get into some select new releases from FRIDAY, JULY 4th, 2025, and let us know if we missed anything worth hearing!
::THE KNOWNS::
Allo Darlin’ ::BRIGHT NIGHTS:: It’s been 11 years since the band last released a record - and it’s their first since hanging it up back in 2016. This outfit got a lot of Postcard From Hell love circa 2010-2014, so it’ll be interesting to see how this fares with that lot.
File Under: Indie pop
Brent Cobb & the Fixins ::AIN’T ROCKED IN A WHILE:: It seems rare that an artist who spends most of their time *behind* the board has something good to offer on the other side of it. Brent Cobb is one of those exceptions. The bio for Cobb on this record reads “Sometimes it rocks, sometimes it rolls, sometimes country, sometimes soul” and that pretty much sums it up. This is a producer/guitarist’s wet dream of a record.
File Under: Singer-Songwriter/twangy rock n soul
Half Japanese ::ADVENTURE:: The DIY punk band has had a resurgence in recent years. I’d say this record pulls from recent DIY influences, when in reality, Half Japanese likely wrote the syllabus that those more recent DIY staples initially followed. This sounds like my college radio station back in 1991.
File Under: DIY Punk/College Rock
The Swell Season ::FORWARD:: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s voices are like a warm, weighted blanket at this point.
File Under: Singer-songwriter/folk
Wet Leg ::MOISTURIZER:: The opening cut (“CPR”) scores a 13/10 as song titles go (iykyk).
File Under: indie/pop
::THE NEWS::
Mal Blum ::THE VILLAIN:: A mix of textured indie rock, alt-rock and pop influences shaped heavily by a new collaboration with breakout producer Jessica Boudreaux, and featuring several contributions by longtime bandmates Audrey Zee Whitesides (Speedy Ortiz) and Ricardo Lagomasino (Lucy Dacus). Blum feels like one of those Kweller-esque songwriters who combines witty/campy lyrics over simply, catchy pop rock tunes. Lots to love here.
File Under: Indie/Alt-rock, pop
Murry Hammond ::TRAIL SONGS OF THE DEEP:: I mean, to the Old 97s fan, Murry Hammond should be a household name - but usually when we think of solo record by Old 97s members, we’re talking Rhett Miller. Hammond’s latest is like an album’s worth of the couple songs he gets on any given 97s record - and these songs are filled with the same dusty, old Texas ruffians he’s been writing about for decades. And lots of whistling.