Sasha Renn
51 reviews and 11 musings for Only Great Music. Usually found somewhere near Post-Punk, Jazz, Shoegaze, Indie Rock.
Reviews
Space Jaguar's 'Command Post' Is a Bright, Bittersweet Masterpiece of Jangle
Ten songs of hook-first UK guitar pop, written by Mark Grassick, produced by bandmate Andrew Taylor, mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air. No label, no fuss, no filler.
Trá Pháidín's 'Cloch 's Claí' Builds an Irish-Language Record Out of Jazz, Afrobeat and Two Drummers
Ten tracks, sung and spoken largely in Irish, out on the tiny London label World of Echo. Six players, funded by the DEIS Recording Grant and Ealaín na Gaeltachta. The Line of Best Fit and Klof Mag both reviewed it in release week and both came away impressed by the same thing: the playing.
Julia Jacklin's 'The Gem' Took a Year Instead of Two Weeks and You Can Hear the Patience
Ten songs for 4AD, co-produced by Jacklin and Robert Muinos and recorded across a full year — December 2024 to December 2025 — at Rat Shack in Melbourne. Metacritic has it at 81 with nothing below a 70. The Guardian, Uncut and Slant all gave it four stars; Record Collector's review was two words long.
Protomartyr's 'Hotel Usona' Is a Baroque, Horn-Haunted Triumph of American Dread
The Detroit band's seventh album, made with Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road, imagines America as a decaying hotel and gives every room its own haunting. Nine tracks, an 86 critic average, and the best reviews of their career since Relatives In Descent.
C.O.F.F.I.N's 'Out In Oslo' Is 33 Minutes of Australian Rock'n'Roll With the Dirt Left In
Eleven tracks, thirty-three minutes, produced by Declan Mehrtens for King Gizzard's p(doom) Records — the Sydney band's sixth LP after twenty-one years of grinding. Post-Trash: 'The pretense is practically non-existent. The fun? Abundant.' The Fire Note gave it 4 out of 5.
Whelpwisher's '777' Is a Fuzz-Drenched Masterpiece of the Song-a-Day Grind
Chicago's Ben Grigg (Babe Report, Fckr Jr, Geronimo!) wrote a song a day for three separate two-week stretches, then kept the best thirteen. Post-Trash heard static bliss, syrupy shoegaze density and sing-a-long joy.
Perennial's 'Modernism' Is Twenty Glorious Minutes of Organ-Powered Mod Fury
A Connecticut trio with an electric organ where the bass should be, ten songs in about twenty minutes, cut with longtime producer Chris Teti. Bandcamp Daily made it Album of the Day and summed it up in six words: punk has never sounded so stylish.
Ezra Collective's 'Here Because of Hope' Is a Triumphant, Generous Masterpiece of Grown-Up Joy
Seventeen tracks on Partisan, structured in three chapters introduced by Letitia Wright, with Pa Salieu, Lila Iké, Leona Lewis and Libianca along for it. Clash gave it 9/10 and called it 'a band at the peak of their powers'; it sits at 85 on Album of the Year.
Sairie's 'Beneath the Spreading Tree' Is a Starkly Beautiful Debut of Shadowed British Folk
The Brighton band's debut LP, out on Hollow Hill Records. Nine songs written by Emma Morton and Jon Griffin, recorded and mixed by Griffin in Newhaven and mastered by Simon Scott. The Guardian called it 'exquisite 70s-inflected folk'; KLOF called it 'starkly beautiful and richly rewarding.'
Nate Mercereau's 'Fantastic Thoughts' Is a Blazing Masterpiece of One-Man Maximalism
Ten tracks on Leaving Records from the guitarist André 3000 called 'a magician' on New Blue Sun. He plays every instrument here — guitars, flutes, drums, electronics, synths — and The Quietus calls it 'a vibrant shredder's paradise.'
Crying Laughing's 'Talking' Is a Sweat-Soaked Masterpiece of One-Day Recording
The debut album from a Baltimore quintet built around two alto saxophones, cut live in a single day in a basement studio and released on Hausu Mountain. Eight instrumentals that swing like a band and build like a post-rock record.
Hannah Cole's 'Switchbacks' Is a Debut With a Fourth-Album Sense of Space
Two years of home-studio work with collaborator Josef Kuhn, mixed by Sonny Diperri, out on Tight Knit. Paste says Cole 'explores every space with the practiced maturity of someone who's been at it far longer than she actually has.'
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.
Thorn Wych's 'Aesthesis' Is Folk Music Played on Instruments She Grew Herself
The Lancashire artist builds her own bowed strings, flutes and percussion out of tree branches from her own backyard, then loops them alone in her living room. Tompkins Square has given her debut LP a proper vinyl release, and Bandcamp Daily made it an Essential Release.
Ty Segall's 'Chrome' Is the Sound of a Band Actually Hanging Out
Segall's eighteenth album, out on Drag City with Cooper Crain co-producing, is the one where he stops arranging the room and just lets the room play. Nine tracks, roughly thirty-two minutes, and the working band — Ben Boye, Evan Burrows, Mikal Cronin, Emmett Kelly — writes half the songs with him.
Lusine's 'Melting Days' Is an Ambient Record That Lets Itself Get Lost on Purpose
The latest from Seattle producer Jeff McIlwain, out August 21st on Ghostly International. Ten tracks built around grief, with saxophone from Bryan Manzo and percussion from longtime collaborator Trent Moorman. Bandcamp Daily made it Album of the Day.
Asher White's 'Love Aggregates' Is a Breakup Record That Sounds Like Getting Out
White's second album of 2026 on Joyful Noise, composed, recorded, performed and mixed entirely by her across fifteen months in Providence and Brooklyn. Eleven tracks, four guest players. Bandcamp Daily called it quite possibly her best collection to date.
Marci's 'Mask Lady and Late Night Girl' Is a Synth-Pop Record With Two People Living In It
Marta Cikojevic's second album as Marci, co-written and produced with her TOPS bandmate David Carriere, out on Arbutus. A semi-autobiographical split between two characters. Bandcamp Daily made it Album of the Day and called it a masterclass in sharp songwriting.
Ismatic Guru's 'Hell on Earth' Packs a Whole Nightmare Into Eight Minutes
Five songs, under eight minutes, the sixth EP from the Buffalo duo of Bran Schlia and John Toohill and their second release of 2026. Out on Toohill's own Swimming Faith Records. Post-Trash premiered the single and called it exactly that good.
Defcee & steel tipped dove's 'We Will Be Brief' Is Twenty-Seven Minutes With Zero Slack In It
Twelve tracks, roughly twenty-seven minutes, every beat by steel tipped dove and every bar by Defcee. Guest verses from billy woods, Fatboi Sharif, Curly Castro, PremRock, Nappy Nina and SKECH185. Stereogum called it a truly impressive new album, and the title is a promise the record actually keeps.
Lambchop Turn 1800s Scottish Hymnals Into Nashville Gospel on 'Punching the Clown'
Kurt Wagner's long-running Nashville institution returns after four years with a stripped-back record built around 'lined out singing,' a centuries-old call-and-response tradition — and brings Bon Iver's Justin Vernon along on banjo. Understated, gorgeous, unmistakably Lambchop.
Squirrel Flower Finds the Cure for Everything on the Open Road
Ella O'Connor Williams' sixth album, cut with producer Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios, treats the open road as both subject and cure. Paste singled out 'Cleveland' as one of the best songs she's ever written, and it's hard to argue.
Beacon's 'How drie a Cinder' Turns Heartbreak Into Quiet Storm Perfection
Beacon self-released what critics are already calling a career best, and it's easy to hear why. This is a breakup album that says almost nothing directly and communicates everything anyway, through space, restraint, and rhythm that never raises its voice.
Hovvdy's 'Big World' Makes Small Feelings Sound Enormous
Charlie Martin and Will Taylor's move from Austin to Nashville sharpens everything about Hovvdy's sound without losing an ounce of its warmth. Their most colorful, melodically confident record yet.
Slow Fiction's 'dollhouse' Is a Shoegaze Debut With Real Teeth
The NYC quartet's debut splits the difference between hazy dream-pop and '90s noise-rock grit, shifting from gauzy shimmer to abrasive fuzz without ever losing its emotional throughline. dollhouse is a wonderful, lived-in first record.
Nora Stanley's 'Glass' Is a Debut That Doesn't Sound Like One
The Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist behind other people's records — Cassandra Jenkins, Beth Orton, Fred Frith — steps up front for the first time, poetry-inspired and fully formed. This is what happens when the utility player finally takes the mic.
god of war's 'molly picture' Is a Wall of Noise Built From Beautiful Parts
A trio featuring members of They Are Gutting a Body of Water and Hooky layers metallic textures and twisted riffs over melancholy pop songwriting. Ten tracks that reward every repeat listen.
Hana Stretton's 'tiarn' Turns Field Recordings Into Something Sacred
Released on the tiny Brierfield Flood Press, Stretton's new record wraps eleven folk songs in field recordings of birds, wind, and waves, with voices layered into rounds and unison hums. Bandcamp Daily called it a portrait of ecological grief that never loses its warmth.
Patrick Belaga's 'Solar Calf' Turns Video Game Nostalgia Into Gorgeous Minimalism
The LA cellist and composer behind 2021's 'Blutt' goes self-released and self-directed, fusing American minimalism with the restless wandering feeling of an open-world soundtrack. Gorgeous, strange, and completely his own.
Helen's 'Dead Shark II' Proves Some Reunions Are Worth the Decade-Long Wait
Grouper's Liz Harris reunites her shoegaze trio Helen for the first time since 2015. 'Dead Shark II' sounds like no time was lost at all — hazy, melodic, and quietly enormous.
Opus Kink's 'The Sweet Goodbye' is a Riotous Masterpiece of Genre-Scrambling Brass
A Brighton sextet spends its long-awaited debut LP throwing ska, Ethio-jazz brass, Gregorian chant, and sea-shanty call-and-response into the same pot and somehow makes it cohere. Gloriously indulgent.
The Black Drumset's 'Friends In Dark Places' Is Seven Years of Bedroom Psychedelia Paying Off
Austin solo artist Brian Wiley spent seven years building this seven-track self-released psych odyssey of droning keyboards, mesmerizingly monotone vocals, and existential reassurance. Bandcamp Daily made it an Album of the Day pick and called Wiley a composer who 'welcomes all to join him for the ride.'
MESH's 'No Fun At All' Is a Jangle-Punk Debut That Earns Its Sharpened Edge
The Philadelphia quartet's debut full-length arrives on Feel It Records after a five-year gap since their 2021 cassette, eleven tracks of dual-guitar interplay recorded by Ian Norris. The Fire Note gave it four out of five headphones.
Mock Media's 'Rat Bastard' Is a Power-Pop Riot That Refuses to Pick a Lane
The Vancouver-via-Vernon band's most cohesive record yet sounds like The Cars, DEVO, and Talking Heads arguing in the same room and somehow all winning. Small label, huge hooks.
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+.
snag.'s 'All The Cages Holding Us Will One Day Turn To Dust' is a Cathartic Triumph of DIY Screamo
Milwaukee's DIY screamo lifers sign to Deathwish and lose none of the basement. Recorded live to tape in three days. Pedal steel and horns show up. It rips and it weeps.
Violet Cowboy's 'Ramraid at the Wiggly Worm' is a Shape-Shifting Gem of Electronic Storytelling
Brighton's Stephen Maskell splices spaghetti-western twang, elastic dub, and classical minimalism into a macabre little travelogue. Kit Records strikes again. Weirdest great record of the month.
Kelela's 'new avatar' is a Jagged, Tender Triumph of Distorted Alt-R&B
Kelela drags her liquid-mercury voice through fuzz, grit, and industrial distortion — and finds tenderness on the other side. Too jagged for R&B, too fluid for rock. Utterly her own.
Tremolo Fields Paint Four Perfect Pictures on 'red birds on a branch'
A Portland, Maine professor who came up in Iowa City basement shows, produced by Wild Pink's John Ross. Four songs, thirteen minutes, zero press. The richest small thing you'll hear this month.
Chanel Beads Rewire the Pop Song on Your Day Will Come
Standard pop songwriting fed through an arcane, intoxicating machine. You'll hum the melodies for days while the undertones quietly rearrange your furniture. Gorgeously unsettling in the best way.
Navy Blue Turns Inward and Finds a Whole World on 'Sir Render'
Sage Elsesser's densest, most psychologically searching record yet — rap world-building where the world being built is the self. Possibly his best work, and that bar was high.
SML Bottle Lightning to Tape on Spontaneous Music Live
Improvised jazz captured direct to a Nagra tape machine at Zebulon in Los Angeles. Hypnotic, human, and gloriously unquantized — the moments of imperfection are the whole point.
Nirosta Steel's 'MY SKYSCRAPER' Is Forty Years of Disco, Poured Like Velvet
Velvety disco assembled from four decades of recordings — works forever-in-progress, reworked until time stops mattering. It shouldn't cohere. It glides.
Loraine James Hits With Monstrous Impact on Detached From The Rest of You
Intricate electronic production elevated by excellent vocal features, Tirzah among them. When 'Ending Us All' unleashes its writhing percussion and shearing synths, the impact is genuinely monstrous.
Kevin Morby Writes Kansas City a Love Letter on Little Wide Open
A love letter to his Kansas City heartland, and his most feature-heavy album yet. Morby meditates on time and new beginnings while an ensemble cast lifts every song.
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet Bottle Pure Joy on Happy Today
A live recording that plays like a statement of joy. Guitar melodies rise through open space while the rhythm section builds something quietly transcendent.
Cola Get Loose and Lethal on Cost of Living Adjustment
Cola's loosest, noisiest record is also their most deliberate. Wage inequality gets the gallows-humor treatment over post-punk that sounds gloriously frayed on purpose. Every squall earns its place.
Kim Gordon Rewires the Machine on PLAY ME
Sly humor meets technocratic dread over some of the gnarliest rhythms of the year. Gordon builds songs from beats and attitude, not melodies. It works spectacularly.
Tinariwen Map the Infinite on Hoggar
The legendary Tuareg collective does what nobody else on Earth can: hypnotic guitar cycles, call-and-response vocals, and groove as landscape. Hoggar is a horizon you can listen to.
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.
Sideshow Goes Long and Loose on 'TIGRAY FUNK'
Sixty-three minutes, 32 tracks, one continuous stream of consciousness. Sideshow's mack rap opus is deliberately muddy, defiantly loose, and completely magnetic.
Musings
- The Setlist Is the Band's Only EssaySep 29, 2026
- The Gig Poster Is the Last Great Underground Art FormAug 16, 2026
- The Fade-In Is an InvitationAug 15, 2026
- The Pit Is a PromiseAug 11, 2026
- The B-Side Was Never FillerAug 7, 2026
- The Surprise Release Is Music's Last Great Plot TwistAug 5, 2026
- The Hidden Track Is Still Music's Best-Kept SecretJul 28, 2026
- The Merch Table Is the Last Honest Transaction in MusicJul 24, 2026
- Give It Three Listens: In Praise of the GrowerJul 14, 2026
- Playlists Are Just Mixtapes With Better PostageJan 20, 2026
- The 200-Cap Room Is Music's Greatest InventionSep 16, 2025