If It's Too Loud: First Listen for 6 and 13 March 2026
Album: Mosquito
Quick Thoughts: In a March where there have been a number of good, but not great, albums, there are three standouts likely to at least make my 2026 longlist, Hater's Mosquito being one of them. We've liked what we've heard up to this point, but Mosquito feels like a polished leveling up for the band. "This Guy?" has an indie sensibility with an accessible entrypoint, and "Landslide" has all the markings of a breakthrough song. A favorite for sure, so check it out.
Songs of Note: "This Guy?" "Landslide," "Brighter," "Guts," "Still Thinking of You," "Last Summer I'll Spill"
Album: Dead City
Quick Thoughts: This album very much came out of nowhere for me and feels like that sort of super-underground indie record that you tripped up over in the mid-2000s and were convinced it was kept secret from you for no reason. I know nothing about this band and hope to know more over time, but I challenge you to find a more addictive song than "We All Live Our Lives in Constant Pain." Make time for this.
Songs of Note: "If I Could Go Back," "Record to Tape," "Bitrot," "We All Live Our Lives in Constant Pain," "Paper and Pens"
Album: I've Got Nothing to Lose, and I'm Losing It
Quick Thoughts: Morgan Nagler comes to us this week with a fair amount of buzz around her debut album, and for good reason. The former actress has pivoted to music in her mid-20s as a songwriter for a number of favorite acts, and her debut gets an assist from artists like Bethany Cosentino and Courtney Barnett. It's a great record! Songs like "Grassoline" are catchy as hell, and the album is peppered with so much great highlights that it's really impossible to ignore. This is an early album of the year candidate for me, and is setting the bar super high for the year.
Songs of Note: "Cradle the Pain," "Hurt," "Orange Wine," "Hammer and Nail," "Grassoline," "Another Mona Lisa"
Album: Big Disgrace
Quick Thoughts: There are two very similar records this week, and both of them are excellent. Haute & Freddy feels like a 1980s pastiche, with bright colors and brighter melodies across the board. I fell in love with so much of ths so quickly, it's definitely an underrated record this week.
Songs of Note: "Anti-Superstar," "Scantily Clad," "Shy Girl," "Dance the Pain Away"
Album: Hyperphantasia
Quick Thoughts: The other similar record is Child Seat, which is less 1980s new wave and more industrial-tinged early Nine Inch Nails by way of The Gossip. There is a lot to love here, but I especially like the vocal delivery here, which moves near-effortlessly from the sort of anthemic chanting style to more soaring choruses like in the title track. Make some time for this one.
Songs of Note: "Hyperphantasia," "Stress," "Killing Energy," "Green Light"
Album: You're Free to Go
Quick Thoughts: Anjimile has given us two pretty great folk-ish records in recent years, but somehow You're Free to Go feels like a true leveling up. Songs like "You're Free to Go" and "Ready or Not" feel a lot more immediate and fully-formed, and his approach gives a more refined and polished air. I loved this record, and it's one I definitely look forward to coming back to, and one hopes that this could be a breakthrough.
Songs of Note: "You're Free to Go," "Rust & Wire," "Ready or Not," "Point of View," "Destroying You," "Waits for You"
Album: Going Postal
Quick Thoughts: Wanted to highlight this album in particular in as much as it's a fairly heavy shoegaze record that absolutely wears its influences on its sleeve. It doesn't feel like a Deftones copy-paste, though, it's absolutely its own thing. Some grungy moments, some bass-forward instrumentation, just kind of a prototypical back-to-basics approach that just grabbed me within seconds. Don't miss out.
Songs of Note: "Nerium," "Going Postal"
Of Note:
* Kim Gordon - Play Me (Another surprising success from the former Sonic Youth member.)
* Dagmar Zuniga - in filth your mystery is kingdom / far smile peasant in yellow music
* Anthea - Mount Pleasant
* Sweet Petunia - Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown
* Tinariwen - Hoggar
* The Orielles - Only You Left
* Paperclip Minimizer - II
* E L U C I D and Sebb Bash - I Guess U Had To Be There
* Crack Cloud - Peace and Purpose
* Art School Girlfriend - Lean In
* Morrissey - Make-up is a Lie
* Henry Jamison - Big Flower Light Go Boom
* charlie's poolhouse - charlie's poolhouse
* Simo Cell & Abdullah Miniawy - Dying is the Internet
* Squirrel Nut Zippers - Squirrel Nut Zippers Starring in Fat City (The Ballad of Lil' Tony)
* Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple
* Mise en Scene - Drive-Thru Confessional
* Bonnie "Prince" Billy - We Are Together Again
* Ora Cogan - Hard Hearted Woman
* thanks for coming - Taking My Computer to Temporary Places
* Nova One - How to Kiss
* Jackie West - Silent Century
* BRUECKEN - Years That Answer
* Tanya Tagaq - Saputijiji
* Laurel Halo - Midnight Zone
* WAAX - Angel's Mess
* Izzy and the Black Tres - Kisses to Chaos
* Sweet Pill - Still There's a Glow
* Natalie Jane Hill - Hopeful Woman
* Katherine Priddy - These Frightening Machines
* Kira McSpice - Saturnism
* Reese McHenry - Forever
* los frankies - D.E.D. City
* The Monochrome Set - Lotus Bridge
* Ages and Ages - Fine Thanks and You
* VIAL - HELLLHOUND
* Kiss Facility - KHAZNA
* Bassvictim - ?
* Bitter Branches - Let's Give the Land Back to the Animals
* The Darts - Halloween Love Songs
* Spirit Assembly - Sun Faded Things
* Cat Clyde - Mud Blood Bone
* Chaos Chaos - Earth Girls
* WMD - We Never Seem to Have Enough Time
* New Age Doom - Angels Against Angels
* How I Became Invisible - Dead World Building
* Charlotte Sands - Satellite
* Adima Ederra - A Rush to Nowhere
* Crooked Fingers - Swet Deth
* Mute Swan - Skin Slip
* Surfbort - Reality Star
* Denzel Curry - Strictly 4 The Scythe
* Scout Gillett - Tough Touch
* Malummi - Damaged By Their Silence
* bobbie - Lessons
* The Notwist - News from Planet Zombie
* Endearments - An Always Open Door
* snake eyes - cash rich
* Cut Worms - Transmitter
* Chad Crouch - Nature Trail
* a Lesser Version - 0.2 Flesh Etc
EPs:
* LICE - Miami Lice: Season Four (Collab between Homeboy Sandman and Aesop Rock.)
* Dialup Ghost - Donkey Howdy
* The Sh-Booms - This is a Test
* DJ Smokey - Nuclear Winter: BurrBerry Blizzard
* LaRussell - Something's In the Water
* Cashier - The Weight
* Dutch Interior - It's Glass
* Jillette Johnson - The Pain, My Friend
* AntBPM - The Ant Epoch: Act I
* Laura Fell - All the Work to Keep At Bay
* Anna Tivel - Animal Poem b-sides
* The New Cut - Sleepers, Mourners
* Airling - Retrieve
* Midori Jaeger - (Un)planted
* Gregory Uhlmann - Extra Stars
* The Third Mind - Spellbinder!
* googly eyes - paint me like one of your fav american girls
* Our Fi - Crystal Habitat
* Clark - Modal Stims
* i26connector - i26connector
* David Bay - Jeopardy EP
* Ana Tijoux - 97
Live Albums / Compilations / Reissues:
* HELP(2) (Charity compilation with lots of high-profile artists.)
* Snooper - Worldwide on Tape (Alternate takes / demos from their excellent album from last year.)
* LP Giobbi Presents Femme House Vol. 3
Also Out:
* Anna Altman - Annatomic
