Tag: new album reviews
Fresh Fridays – New Releases from Basement, Drake, and Social Distortion
Danny Ryan
May 15, 2026
Happy Fresh Friday- May 15th, 2026! This week we feature the UK alternative emo group Basement with their first new release in 8 years. Fresh off of playing a free show at Los Angeles’s brand new DIY venue Milky’s, Basement just announced a massive tour featuring the modern “who’s who” in the alternative side of hardcore music. This newest release aims to reinvent their sound in a noticeable way, expanding into new territories of rock music that were far less common to explore in 2018. Considering how much of a pinnacle role that Basement’s influence had on the recent explosions of alternative rock in the hardcore scene, they’re finally receiving their deserved roses on this newest release – a must-listen for fans of really any genre of rock, something very rare to find in the fragmented streaming era. related: Fresh Fridays – Newest Releases by Lip Critic, Broken Social Scene, Frozen Soul, Koyo This week also has Drake surprising us with 3 new releases (too many) and the hype from Social Distortion’s newest album is still riding high. Let’s jump into it! Basement- WIRED (May 8th 2026) Run For Cover Records Although Basement is a band almost exclusively associated with
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Fresh Fridays- New Releases by Lip Critic, Broken Social Scene, Frozen Soul, Koyo
Danny Baraz
May 8, 2026
Happy Fresh Friday! This week we feature the sophomore full length album “Theft World” by New York dance punks- Lip Critic- a band we highlighted as one to watch in 2026. As we trudge deeper into unfamiliar territory in our society, it’s important to have something consistent in our lives. For Janky Smooth and most of our readers that consistency comes from new music. related: Top 10 Artists To Watch in 2026 This week also sees new music from Broken Social Scene, Frozen Soul and Koyo. But let’s start with Lip Critic Lip Critic- Theft World (May 1st 2026) Partisan Records There is something that made me feel warm inside when I saw there was a machine behind Lip Critic that’s been warming up the human race for their new album- Theft World. A concerted effort of eye catching promo and staggered singles released throughout the year that all led up to the May 1st, 2026 release on Partisan Records. Because you have to make people understand what this is to sell it and that’s no easy task. If you listen to any Lip Critic recording, they could be a divisive band to normies- that Lip Critic may seem to
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Fresh Friday’s- Thundercat, Sunn 0))) and Arlo Parks
Danny Baraz
April 3, 2026
Happy Fresh Friday! Today we focus on Thundercat- a grammy award winning, musical prodigy that has never let his music education get in the way of writing a good song. His most recent 15 tracks have come packaged in a full length album called Distracted and it may be Thundercat’s most focused work to date. This is definitely a Friday kind of album and I have not been able to stop listening to it all week. This Fresh Friday also see’s new releases by Arlo Parks and feedback wizards, Sunn 0))). Let’s get into it. Thundercat- Distracted (Released April 3rd 2026)- Brainfeeder Thundercat (Stephen Lee Bruner) live shows are displays of intense virtuosity- violent rhythms that would abuse and waterboard most uninitiated players and leaves listeners shell shocked with gaping jaws and wide eyes. I cannot over state this. There is no one in contemporary music playing their instruments and pushing them into uncharted waters like Thundercat and his collaborators- keyboardist Dennis Hamm and an alien drummer named Justin Brown who left me in awe after their most recent Camp Flog Gnaw performance. related: Tyler’s Camp Flog Gnaw Year 10 Intersects w/ Chromakopia Number 1 We can mention Kamasi Washington
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Janky Fresh Friday: New Dropkick Murphys/Haywire split ep and more
Danny Ryan
March 20, 2026
Happy Janky Fresh Friday! This week we had an incredibly festive St. Patrick’s Day release of Dropkick Murphys and Haywire’s split EP, bringing two different generations of the Boston hardcore punk scene together for an experience that really exposes how many of the struggles and core ethics of the 90’s scene are still present today. Similarly, we have the debut release of SoCal DIY darlings Start Today’s first album and the anticipated reunion album of Poison The Well’s first release in 16 years. Whether you’re an oldhead from the 90’s hardcore punk scene or a Gen Z crowd-killer who just got into the genre during its recent post-Covid explosion, we have you covered with new releases that will have you more hopeful than ever for the state of the scene. related: Janky Fresh Friday – Kim Gordon, HEALTH, Lamb Of God, and James Blake Dropkick Murphys & Haywire: New England Forever split (released March 17, 2026)- Dummy Luck Music related: Saint Patrick’s Day w/ Flogging Molly at The Hollywood Palladium Dropkick Murphys are no strangers to releasing surprise split EP’s that rival their full-length studio albums, with their 2006 “Mob Mentality” split featuring The Business (RIP Micky Fitz) being one
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Janky Fresh Friday: Kim Gordon, Health, Lamb Of God, and James Blake
Danny Ryan
March 13, 2026
Happy Janky Fresh Friday! Today we have impactful new releases from Kim Gordon, Health, Lamb Of God and James Blake- four incredibly experimental albums that represent a shift in sound and soul for these artists. In a constantly changing world that becomes more and more confusing to understand sometimes, it’s only appropriate that legendary artists such as these are constantly changing as well. The future landscape of music in an algorithm run world may look bleak, so it’s more important than ever that we have artists pushing boundaries and fighting for art to once again belong to humanity. related: Janky Fresh Friday – Peaches, Gorillaz, Rob Zombie, and Nothing Kim Gordon: PLAY ME (released March 13, 2026): Matador Records related: Tonic Trouble And Collective Consciousness – Kim Gordon at Ventura Music Hall Kim Gordon is easily one of the most influential figures in all of alternative music in the past 50 years, with her previous works in Sonic Youth marking a clear shift in the way that audiences engaged with experimental music. Rather than being a part of the more drug-addled psychedelic avant-garde of the past like The Velvet Underground or Patti Smith, Sonic Youth took a more punk rock
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