Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
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The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format: albums, singles, videos, live sets. Check back every other Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Anna Shoemaker – “Landmine”
If you’re a fan of Cassandra Jenkins, Katie Gavin’s solo album, day trips to Philly, and eating your feelings in your underwear, then you should give Anna Shoemaker a listen. The Brooklyn-based Philly songwriter released her aptly-titled album Back to Pennsylvania last Friday and I have already been running songs like “Landmine” into the ground (sorry about the pun). Somewhere between Phoebe Bridgers, Kacey Musgraves, and Jess Williamson, Shoemaker’s brand of country-tinged indie rock is hitting the spot as this year comes to a close.
Connor Gilroy | @g1lr0yy
JER – “Make It Make Sense”
JER—also known as Skatune Network—has signed to Get Better Records and released their first single for the label, “Make It Make Sense,” produced by Jack Shirley (Jeff Rosenstock, Deafheaven). It’s the kind of the indie-ska banger JER has always excelled at, and it’s a call to arms about how easy it is to villainize people when they do something wrong—but not when it’s our own friends and family. I saw JER perform this song live opening for Jeff Rosenstock in September, and it hit just as hard then as it does on the recorded version. It’s always cool to hear JER call out these issues so brilliantly!
Matthew D’iorio | @loveisworry14
Oscar Lindsey – “Metal Through Her Lips”
Nashville songwriter Oscar Lindsey recently released his second album, Sunshine, his first for Mom+Pop. It was led by the single “Metal Through Her Lips,” a lush arrangement of finger-picked guitar and heart wrenching keys that sounds like a sunbeam just breaking through the clouds on a fall day. It’s been on heavy rotation for me as it’s been getting colder and rainier.
Connor Gilroy | @g1lr0yy
They Are Gutting a Body of Water – “yellow dolphins” (ft. Cooking, RXKNephew, FearDorian, and Izzy Camina)
Philly shoegaze band They Are Gutting a Body of Water are back with a great 75-minute mixtape of collaborations with a stacked guest list ranging from Greg Mendez and SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE to Horse Jumper of Love and Total Wife. And while KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II is chock-full of fantastic moments, this oddball posse cut is the project’s highlight. The opening guitar riff from TAGABOW lead Doug Dulgarian mixes with zany, syncopated drum machines from producer Izzy Camina for a striking, off-kilter mix before it explodes into distorted guitars courtesy of slowcore outfit Cooking. This tapestry is simultaneously a perfect backdrop for FearDorian’s restrained verse and RXKNephew’s memetic riffing (“Where you at, Neph? / I got kidnapped by dolphins / Where you at, Neph? / I’m having a party with the dolphins / Kick you off the team like Ricky Williams from the Dolphins / Baby I’m getting higher than Ricky Williams from the Dolphins”).
E.L. Suarez-Thomas | @insomniblvck
Moviestar –demo
Michigan upstarts Moviestar has a foot in all the waves of emo, melding raw screamo with hooky post-hardcore with stuttering, melodic emo on their new tape. 2026 has been a great year for the genre, and demo is another winner.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Cloud Nothings – “Death Keeps Me Alive”
Cloud Nothings are always at their best when they’re at their most heavy, and their new song “Death Keeps Me Alive” scratches that itch perfectly. It brings me right back to when I first discovered Attack on Memory (the best emo album of the 2010s imo), and they cite Queens of The Stone Age, Earth, Motörhead and Electric Wizard as influences for the new direction they’re headed in. Dylan Baldi is in screamy mode for the entirety of the song (a first). His voice sounds fantastically raw and visceral, and the lyrics—about the evil powers benefitting from death, war, and hate—fit the tone awesomely. Their new album What Kind of Hell Did You Deserve? comes out on January 29th, and it’s the album I’m looking forward to the most in an otherwise dry month.
Matthew D’iorio | @loveisworry14
Emma Ogier – “Hands Tied”
Emma Ogier’s new album is coming in scalding hot if new single “Hands Tied” is any indication. The Houston, TX, native finally announced her anticipated debut album Fly 1111 (out Nov. 11) and with it released her loudest and fuzziest song yet.
Connor Gilroy | @g1lr0yy
Sour Widows – “Lullaby”
The best song on Bay Area indie rockers Sour Widows’ amazing new album Sigil is the grungy, climactic “Lullaby,” about the genocide in Gaza. Singer Maia Sinako is Assyrian and came from an immigrant family themselves, so they easily lay down the evils of this destruction with unbridled rage and bile, especially on the soaring finish (“I hope you lose your first born son / And you remember what it’s like to run / Past bodies rotting in the sun”). Deafheaven singer George Clarke and HIDE singer Heather Hannoura lend their screams during this part, making it even more sinister than it already was, and the result is a caustic rager that expresses the horrors of the terror in the Middle East perfectly. It’s the centerpiece of an incredible album.
Matthew D’iorio | @loveisworry14
Penny Loafer – Fixer
Penny Loafer from Athens, GA, absolutely blew my mind in a Richmond backyard and hopefully they’ll be playing bigger stages very soon. The band released their first album Fixer at the beginning of this month and it strikes a perfect balance between polish and loud, hazy feedback. If you wind up putting this on loop through the end of the year, you’re welcome.
Connor Gilroy | @g1lr0yy
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week we compile a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
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