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Panic Shack - "grin & bear it"

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Photo by Panic Shack Roughly a year ago we discovered Panic Shack and became fairly obsessed, and now the Welch punks are back with new music. "grin & bear it" lands somewhere between classic punk and the newfangled, pop oriented punk. It's undeniably catchy, with guitars that both bite and crunch. There are elements of noise punk and pop within the song, making it almost mainstream while still being underground, especially in attitude. "grin & bear it" also grooves just as hard as it rocks, and is surprisingly danceable for something this noisy. Panic Shack are quickly becoming a favorite around here. Panic Shack says of their latest single: “This song has had many iterations, seen many a practice room and taken many forms.  It’s a song that we’ve felt really passionate about getting right, but the music was never fully hitting. We reworked it from the start of the year in any spare time we had around working our jobs and gigging (as we almost always do...
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Girl with a Hawk - "Wasn't It Just Yesterday"

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Photo by Kelly Davidson Photography Girl with a Hawk are set to release their debut album next month, and the latest single from that album is one of the best songs out there about aging. There's a feeling that being in a band is something you do in your teens and twenties, and then grow out of by your thirties. Same thing with going to concerts, listening to new music, having music journalism as a hobby, etc. "Wasn't It Just Yesterday" is about aging in rock 'n' roll. It's a 70's style Americana/rock song with some tweaks to make it sound more modern. You know how we're supposed to say "They don't make music like that anymore?" This is the music that's supposedly not made anymore. Besides just being a killer rock song, it's the kind of song those of us right up front at a rock show well into our forties and beyond will appreciate the message of.  Frontperson Linda S. Veins says of the band's upcoming album: “At least four...
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Josaleigh Pollett - "The Witness"

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Photo by PJ Guinto For her latest single, Josaleigh Pollett is going about as mainstream as we've heard from them. "The Witness" could be considered folk music if it wasn't as synth heavy as it is. It's a dreamy singer-songwriter track that sucked me in almost instantly. The song feels warm and cozy, which is rare for a track involving synthesizers. A lot of the warmth comes from Pollett's vocals, and the music feels like it's swirling around you throughout the song. There is also a huge crossover possibility for "The Witness," and I could easily see this song breaking through if it were to end up in some popular TV show. A song like "The Witness" could put Pollett on the list of artists like Madi Diaz who should be breaking through at any moment. Josaleigh Pollett says of her latest single: “The Witness is a song about knowing that to be seen and held and understood, you must first see and hold and understand. It’s about love, beyond l...
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mary in the junkyard - "New Muscles"

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Photo by Xander Lewis The latest from mary in the junkyard sees the trio moving in a new musical direction while still sounding like themselves. "New Muscles" is a hypnotic track focused on vocal harmonies and percussion. It's like a psychedelic version of alt-pop-rock. The song is relatively stripped down and feels quite raw. Saya Barbaglia's viola and/or violin truly has a chance to shine in the song, and the song will lull you despite its quiet intensity. It may feel like mary in the junkyard have been morphing and playing with their sound quite a bit in the past two years, but not as much as they are in "New Muscles." Their upcoming album is promising to be an interesting one. mary in the junkyard say of their latest single: "’New Muscles’ was originally composed on the accordion, we wrote it about [drummer] David joining a gym." You can watch the video for "New Muscles" below. Role Model Hermit is due out July 3 on AMF Records, and i...
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Sam Mulligan - Pizza Forever

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A strange thing happened while listening to Sam Mulligan's new album Pizza Forever. I expected a pizza themed chiptune/VGM/nerdcore album to be fun, and this album certainly is. It's a genuinely funny release, with songs about ordering so much pizza that you lose all your money ("Broke"), and another about getting a pizza and not being able to recognize the toppings ("Weird Pizza"). Pizza Forever should be a novelty release that you listen to once, chuckle, and then move on. But the songs on Pizza Forever are great. Turns out they are ridiculously catchy and well put together. You'll put this on once out of curiosity, but you'll end up going back to the album repeatedly because it turns out to be great. You can listen to Pizza Forever below. The album can be purchased via Bandcamp . For more on Sam Mulligan, check out the artist's website . Pizza Forever by Sam Mulligan
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Blondshell - "Heart Has to Work So Hard"

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Photo by Reese Layton Blondshell, aka the musical project of Sabrina Teitelbaum, has a brand new single out, and it might be her best yet. "Heart Has to Work So Hard" continues Blondshell's mixture of pop and indie rock, with this one leaning deeper into indie rock territory. This new song is intense, and it's just as melodic as it is noisy. It feels like a mixture of PJ Harvey and Boygenius, and it's deserving of that level of praise. Teitelbaum has always let all of her emotions out in her music, but not on the level that she does on "Heart Has to Work So Hard." It feels urgent, like she needed to get this song out of her soul.  Sabrina Teitelbaum says of her latest single: “This song is really about friendship and betrayal, getting stuck in a dynamic and letting things fester. It’s about pain and confusion — no one trains you for the ups and downs of a friendship between two women — but it’s also about a love so enduring that you find compassion no ma...
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First Listen: New Releases for 8 and 15 May 2026

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Artist : Social Distortion Album : Born to Kill Quick Thoughts : Often, when an old or longtime wrestler comes out and does well, the crowd starts a "you still got it!" chant. While I don't know if that implies Social Distortion ever lost it, never mind needing to qualify "it" with "still," the reality is that Born to Kill is exactly what I wanted from a Social Distortion album in 2026. We're coming up on 50 years of Social Distortion and they're still consistent and interesting, and still unafraid to drop an unexpected cover song. Sure, it took 15 years to get here, but Born to Kill was ultimately worth the wait for me. Songs of Note : "No Way Out," "Tonight," "Wicked Game," "Never Goin' Back Again" Artist : India Ramey Album : Villain Era Quick Thoughts : There are plenty of women doing the classic country thing, and some are more successful than others. I place India Ramey fully...
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Good June - "Something Beautiful"

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We haven't heard from Boston's Good June since their collaboration with Cape Crush last January. Now the alt-rock/emo band are back with a new single and an expanded sound. "Something Beautiful" is still an alt-rock/emo song, but it's somehow even more melodic and lovely than you'd expect from that genre. Despite it's three and a half minute length, the song is an absolute epic. It changes tempo and styles repeatedly throughout, and is overflowing with vocal melodies. There are still screamy parts, but "Something Beautiful" is... well... beautiful. You don't typically get a song this fast paced while being this lovely, but that's the magic of Good June.  You can listen to "Something Beautiful" below. Afterimage is due out June 5. For more on Good June, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook . Something Beautiful by Good June
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Grey DeLisle and Les Greene - "I'm Gonna Let You Call Me Baby"

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Voice actress/singer-songwriter/comedian Grey Delisle and soul singer Les Greene have a collaborative album coming out next month (titled Grey & Greene , naturally), and the duo just released a single from that album. "I'm Gonna Let You Call Me Baby" was written by Delisle and sung by Greene, and it's a masterclass in soul. Greene is the greatest soul singer that isn't a household name, and I say that after only hearing "I'm Gonna Let You Call Me Baby." As with many of our neo-soul favorites, it's rooted in classic soul but still sounds modern. This is simply a great song, sung by an absolute powerhouse. Grey Delisle says of her new single with Les Greene: “I had just hosted the Ameripolitan Awards where I saw Les perform for the very first time. I couldn’t get his voice out of my head. I wanted to write the perfect song for him. He’s the kind of performer that really inspires a songwriter. It really pushes the boundaries of my mind when I’m ...
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Prisoner - "La femme qui s'était toute seule"

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Prisoner are a French garage psych band with a brand new single out. "La femme qui s'était toute seule" is perfect if you have a fondness for early garage rock. As vintage as the song is, it's not a complete 1960's throwback. Prisoner inject a ton of early punk and New Wave into the song, making it a mixture of ? and the Mysterians, X-Ray Specs, and The B-52's. The keyboards in the song somehow capture both garage rock and New Wave, and they also have a killer trombone and guitars that live between surf rock and spy theme songs. This might be the most fun party ready rock song we've brought you all year. You can watch the video for "La femme qui s' é tait toute seule" below. Prisoner's self-titled album is due out August 7 on Wicked Cool Records, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Prisoner, check out the band's website .
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Live Shows: Blvck Hippie, Grocer, and Little Hag, The Lilypad, Cambridge, MA 5/15/26

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Ever since I stumbled on the music of Little Hag back in 2020 or so, I've made it my mission to see the Jersey Shore band any time they roll through New England. Friday night they swung through The Lilypad in Cambridge, which let me see them for the third time, and let me discover two new favorites: Blvck Hippie and Grocer! Little Hag took the stage a little before the listed 8:00 start time, and started just as I walked in the door. They played a fun and energetic set focusing on their newer music (and leaving off 2020's "Tetris!"), but luckily they keep releasing killer songs. Their sound is a pop-ish blend of indie rock, and they shone with favorites like "Blood" and "The Machine." Avery Mandeville is the perfect frontperson for this style of music, and has an awkward charm that is irresistible and just adds to the fun of their live show. They included the just released this week "Watchlist Rock," which is a companion piece to last yea...
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