Indie Rock Reviews
29 Indie Rock records in the Certified Archive. Every one of them earned five rainbow thumbs-up, because we only publish reviews of records we think are great — so treat this page as a listening list rather than a ranking. Newest first.
The Klittens' 'Have A Heart' Is a Bracing, Big-Hearted Masterpiece of a Debut
After years of EPs and EU touring, the Amsterdam five-piece finally make an album — thirteen tracks of '90s-indebted guitar interplay and five-way vocals, recorded by Yulya Divakova and mastered by Mikey Young.
Blondshell's 'Violins' Is the Sound of a Songwriter Who Stopped Apologizing for the Volume
Sabrina Teitelbaum's third record, eleven songs in thirty-nine minutes for Partisan. Yves Rothman produced, Beatriz Artola mixed, Emily Lazar mastered. Metacritic has it at 80 across nine reviews, Album of the Year at 80 across thirteen, with Clash and Under the Radar both landing in the nineties.
Slow Pulp's 'Melodie' Is a Shape-Shifting Triumph of Second-Gear Songcraft
Slow Pulp hand the wheel to an outside producer for the first time — Elliott Kozel — and come back sounding like four bands at once: shoegaze, power-pop, a go-go beat, a piano-and-banjo ballad. The Line of Best Fit says it hums with the confidence of a band coming into their own.
Team Dresch's 'Furthermore' Is a Thirty-Years-Later Masterpiece of Queercore Fire
The queercore legends' first full-length since 1996's Captain My Captain, out on Jealous Butcher. Produced with Greg Griffith in Bristol, Connecticut, mixed by John Goodmanson. AllMusic says it sounds remarkably like they never left.
Unity's 'Comes Back To You/Was There Ever Unity?' Is a Gloriously Fuzzy Masterpiece of Second Thoughts
Sixteen songs assembled from years of sessions by Jeffrey Cheung's Oakland band, out on the tiny Smoking Room label. Two titles, two halves, one enormous pile of guitar fuzz. The Fire Note gave it four out of five; Stereogum clocked the single on the way past.
The Tubs' 'Hard Life' Is an Exhilarating Masterpiece of Jangle and Spite
The London band's third album and first for Merge — twelve songs of fiddle-flecked jangle-pop sung by two warring personas. It's sitting at an 85 critic average across seven reviews, with Mojo handing it a perfect score.
Arab Strap's 'Half-Told Tales' Is a Widescreen Masterpiece of Late-Career Nerve
Ninth album, out on Rock Action, fourteen tracks, recorded again with longtime collaborator Paul Savage. Metacritic has it at 84 across seven reviews — universal acclaim. The Quietus says the arrangements are the most far-reaching of the band's thirty-year career.
Convinced Friend's 'Nowhere Songs' Is a Sun-Warped Masterpiece of Hometown Reckoning
Eight songs from a Providence band, tracked largely live in a single day at Big Nice Studio with Bradford Krieger producing. Bandcamp Daily's Ben Salmon put it in his August country roundup; Under the Radar called the chemistry swampy and heat-drenched. This is what a self-released record sounds like when nobody is hedging.
Lily Seabird's 'Lightspheres On Their Way' Is a Woodstove-Warm Level-Up
Nine songs cut in the first days of 2026 in Garrett Linck's woodstove-heated house in rural Maine, out on Lame-O. Cello, trumpet, harmonium and lap steel around some of the sharpest songwriting of Seabird's career. Stereogum's Album Of The Week, and a Paste Pick at A-.
Dinosaur Jr.'s 'There Near' Is a Loud, Melodic Reminder That the Original Lineup Still Has Gears Left
The reunited original trio's newest, out August 28th on Jagjaguwar, cut at their own Bisquiteen Studio in Amherst. Eleven songs, two Lou Barlow contributions, and a Metacritic average of 82. Pitchfork called it the most energized they've sounded since Beyond.
Maripool's 'Rotten Luck' Is a Debut That Sounds Bigger Than One Person
Natacha Simões' debut as Maripool, written on a Lisbon residency in a building with a broken window and no Wi-Fi, recorded in South London with Joseph Futak. Out on Smoking Room. Stereogum made it Album of the Week.
Westside Cowboy's 'It Goes On' Is the Loudest Argument for Guitar Bands All Year
The Manchester four-piece's debut, recorded with Geese producer Loren Humphry. Eleven tracks, all four members sing. Stereogum's Album of the Week, Paste called it the most brilliant rock release of the year, Beats Per Minute gave it 83.
Ok Cowgirl's 'Rhinestone Cowgirl' Is a Big-Sky Indie Rock Record With Slide Guitar in Its Teeth
Leah Lavigne's project decamps to Asheville, hands the board to Alex Farrar, and comes back with ten tracks of wide-open dream-rock that borrows alt-country's horizon without cosplaying the genre. Bandcamp Daily made it Album of the Day. Slide guitars wail. Nobody apologizes.
Primate House Turn Jagged Angles Into a Debut That Never Lets You Get Comfortable
A self-released Brooklyn debut that trades comfort for constant surprise — jagged guitar lines, unresolved melodies, and not a single moment that lets you settle in. This is exactly the kind of record Bandcamp Daily's weekly digging exists to find.
Wild Pink's Still Coming Down Is a Towering, Hopeful Rock Record
John Ross's sixth Wild Pink album follows his cancer-recovery record with one shaped by new fatherhood, and it sounds like it — anthemic sprawl, scratchy grooves, and Ross's most confident songwriting yet. 'I feel like I've found my voice on this record,' he told FLOOD.
L'Rain's 'fata morgana' Is a Mirage You Never Want to Wake Up From
L'Rain keeps proving that 'experimental' doesn't have to mean 'unlistenable' — fata morgana swings from ambient hush to speed-metal wall-of-sound without ever losing the thread. It's disorienting in the best way, like waking up in a dream you don't want to leave.
Kiwi Jr.'s 'Blowin' Up' Is Jangle-Pop With Something on Its Mind
The Toronto/Montreal four-piece's latest on Perennial refines their jangly, R.E.M.-indebted sound into something sharper and more assured, with frontman Jeremy Gaudet's clever-yet-rambling lyricism front and center.
The Mountain Goats Turn Nostalgia Into a Weapon on 'Days'
John Darnielle and company dress up mortality in horns and major-key harmonies, name-checking Layne Staley and Charlie Sheen along the way. It's the Mountain Goats doing what the Mountain Goats do — just with better arrangements than ever.
This Is Lorelei's 'Oh No Now My' Is a Climactic, Career-Best Hook Machine
Nate Amos signs to Matador and immediately writes one of the biggest hooks of his career. A pounding, primitive drum part turns a classic chord cycle into something that feels enormous.
venturing's 'Nowhere' EP Is Jane Remover's Most Devastatingly Catchy Detour Yet
Jane Remover's rock-band alias venturing trades hyperpop chaos for big hooks and bigger feelings on a three-song EP for deadAir. Retro-futurist heartbreak rock that earns every second.
IAN SWEET's 'Shiverstruck' Is Jilian Medford's Most Confident Record Yet
Jilian Medford's fourth IAN SWEET album trades studio experimentation for analog warmth and her most unguarded vocals yet, produced alongside Ben H. Allen. Northern Transmissions called it her 'most confident, whole album to date.'
Little Gold's 'Public Dog' Is a 15-Year Project Still Getting Better
Christian DeRoeck has been running Little Gold since 2009, and this Tall Texan Records release — recorded a day or two at a time over two years — is his most confident record yet, folding Dinosaur Jr. fuzz and lo-fi country twang into songs about rooting for the underdog.
Mallory Hawk's 'Chinook' Refuses to Sit Still, and That's the Whole Point
The Philly songwriter's self-released new record refuses to pick a lane — noisy indie, dance-punk, acoustic rock, and country twang all show up inside ten tracks — and somehow every turn still sounds like the same person talking to you. Stereogum made it Album of the Week.
Swapmeet's 'Mount Zero' is a Hooks-for-Days Marvel of Alt-Rock Craft
Adelaide high school friends turned touring quartet record their debut LP at a beach house and come out sounding like Pavement, Sonic Youth, and Big Thief all at once. The Line of Best Fit gave it 8/10, Paste a B+.
Houndmouth's 'Lordy' is a Big-Hearted Triumph of Stripped-Back Songcraft
Five years away, then this: Houndmouth's fifth album trades polish for pulse. Brad Cook production, MJ Lenderman guitar, a Sam Beam duet. Naked, honest, immediate — and certified.
Styrofoam Winos' 'Any River' is a Warm, Shapeshifting Wonder of Slacker Indie Rock
Three Nashville songwriters swap instruments and pass the mic, and the whole thing floats by on humble optimism. Talkbox, pedal steel, marimba, and jokes. Downbeat, generous, quietly brilliant.
Death Cab for Cutie Find Blunt Force and Seductive Darkness on 'I Built You a Tower'
Recorded in a rapid three-week sprint, this is the leanest, darkest Death Cab in years — synth-streaked, urgent, and emotionally unguarded in a way legacy bands rarely risk.
Ratboys Find the Beauty Inside Grief on Singin' To An Empty Chair
Fuzzed-out rock, tender folk, and gloriously indulgent jams, all refined into one cohesive statement. Julia Steiner explores living inside grief rather than transcending it, and the honesty is stunning.
Friko Earn Every Explosion on 'Something Worth Waiting For'
Strangled major chords one second, full noise-rock walls the next. Friko's dynamics are a rollercoaster with the safety bar removed, and the chamber-pop melodrama makes every drop hit harder.