Soda Pops - Sweet Nothing

I don't often quote band bios in full, but get a load of this one from Helsinki duo Soda Pops:
"Bubbling with bright riffs and bittersweet vibes, Soda Pops bring a sugar-coated chaos with their garage pop tunes with distorted guitars, tongue-in-cheek lyrics about serious issues like substance abuse & mental health problems, sing-along hooks, and enough sweet nothings to keep your heart warm while it breaks."

Hot damn! Where do I sign up? Leave it to Finland to bless the world with a band this delightful. On the four-song EP Sweet Nothing, Cherry Twist and Candy Crash deliver four tracks of exuberant budget garage punk by way of '60s girl groups with pop hooks galore. What's not to love? I always enjoy a band that can write songs about serious topics in a way that's fun to listen to. All four of these tunes are legit, and producer Ville Valavuo does an excellent job of preserving this band's raw edges without downplaying its undeniable pop charm. This is a band that's gonna be pretty special, so stay tuned, kids!

-L.R.

https://sodapopsgogo.bandcamp.com/album/sweet-nothing
https://www.instagram.com/sodapopsgogo/#

The Hallingtons - No Plan

On their new album, Oslo-based trio The Hallingtons deliver something that's very underrated in this world: high-quality pop-punk straight out of the textbook. I always love a band that can take me back to the classic pop-punk sounds of the '90s without coming off like pale imitators. No Plan, out on Monster Zero, reminds me why I fell in love with this sort of music in the first place. These guys aren't asking to be awarded any points for originality, but they get high marks for execution and enthusiasm. This is how you do it: three chords, catchy melodies, and lyrics that cover everything from love to hate to science fiction to social commentary. And within the general realm of pop-punk sounds, they cover a lot of ground. Songs like "Valerie" and "Dance to the Radio" lean to the bubblegum/super-poppy side of pop-punk, which is always a sweet spot for me. "Love Song for You (My Baby Blue)" splits the difference between pop-punk and power pop. "Highjacked" could almost be The Riverdales. "Little Love Lock" and "Wanna Be An Intellectual" bring to mind the Ramones circa Rocket To Russia/Road to Ruin. Songs about King Kong and The Mothman are certainly on brand for these guys, and "Planet B" is your pop-punk anthem for the climate crisis. 

I often talk about those bands that aren't going to turn you to the dark side if pop-punk isn't your thing but will check off all the boxes if pop-punk is your thing. The Hallingtons are one such band. They make pop-punk for people who love pop-punk, and they do it well. No Plan is a fun record and a reminder that sometimes this kind of music is most enjoyable when it knows what it's supposed to be and just delivers the goods. "Valerie" alone justifies the purchase of this album! 

-L.R.

https://thehallingtons.bandcamp.com/album/no-plan
https://monsterzerorecords.bandcamp.com/album/no-plan
https://monsterzerorecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hallingtons/
https://www.instagram.com/thehallingtons/

Pig Rides - These People Are Not Your Friends

How about some hardcore punk, kids? You know I don't write about this sort of stuff very often, so when I do, you can be sure I'm really feeling it. Pig Rides hail from Cleveland, Ohio and feature members of a couple bands I've written about before, Kill the Hippies and Wild Wings, as well as Sockeye, Muzzle, Pill Time, TV Drugs, and many more that cannot be listed for legal reasons. These People Are Not Your Friends is the band's new EP/tape, and it freaking rips. This is my kind of hardcore: fast, ferocious, and pissed, but it still feels like it came from rock 'n' roll. These songs sound like the product of breathing the Rust Belt air while rolling around in the gutter. The drums and bass hit like a ton of bricks. The guitars have just the right amount of heaviness to them while still being built for speed. The vocals are properly demented and delivered from a genuine place of rage. Each song vehemently punches you in the mouth. This is your soundtrack to the world falling apart and you insisting on going down fighting. Pink is the new black, so get yourself a cassette while supplies last.

-L.R.

https://pigrides.bandcamp.com/album/these-people-are-not-your-friends
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wJxwFw26RRIqBQO1rSGaC

Lone Wolf - Dark Thoughts

Back with its fourth album, the Rotterdam-based foursome Lone Wolf is doing its thing like only it can. Out on Stardumb Records, Dark Thoughts is an album that lives up to its title. It explores themes of depression and anxiety along with the unrelenting pressures and distractions that define modern life. But the album is by no means a downer — it's more a reminder that if you deal with this heavy stuff in your life, you're not alone. Ox, Merel, Damien, and Ivo deliver their usual mix of indie rock and poppy punk rock, and as always they bring a sound that's anthemic and infectious. "We wanted to make an album that captures the way our darkest thoughts seem to consume us, but with an energy that makes you want to move and let it all out," says Ox. So if you're looking for songs that are real and relatable but also uplifting and fun to listen to, Lone Wolf has got you covered. This is a fantastic album. It comes out swinging with "High All the Time" and closes with "Take Me Outta Here," perhaps THE anthem for life in 2025. In between are one killer tune after another. Dark thoughts? We all have 'em, and that's why we need to lean on each other. Without needing to reinvent itself as a band, Lone Wolf has managed to up its game and produce a new album that almost no human will be able to resist.

-L.R.

https://wearelonewolf.bandcamp.com/album/dark-thoughts
https://open.spotify.com/album/37jAkmX1K6ZRhRvdYMejAY
https://readymag.website/wearelonewolf/5779129/
https://www.facebook.com/wearelonewolf
https://www.instagram.com/wearelonewolf/
https://www.stardumbrecords.com/products/lone-wolf-dark-thoughts-lp
https://www.facebook.com/stardumbrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/stardumbrecords/

Andresa Nugraha - "Nothing Lasts Forever"

Andresa Nugraha, the artist behind the one-man garage punk phenomenon The Battlebeats, has released something very different under his own name. The new single "Nothing Lasts Forever" was created in loving memory of his mother, Suryati. I have to say this single has absolutely blown me away. 

Stylistically, this is a big shift for Andresa — from budget punk to noisy indie rock. It's also a big shift in tone. These songs represent part of his grief cycle. The title track was written a couple months before Suryati's passing. "I never knew the meaning of the song by then," says Andresa, "but I do now, as if my future self in the past writes songs for me in the present time." What an incredibly profound thing to say! Andresa wrote "The Time Machine" after his mother's passing as he was cleaning up her room and viewing old photographs of when she was young and full of life. This caused him to reflect on his own days as a young adult, realizing that his mother was once just like him, and that if he's lucky, he'll live to be as old as she was when she passed. These reflections have changed the way he views life. He's found himself wanting to live in the present, spending time with the people he loves, "not thinking too much about the future or regretting past." Again, that's remarkably profound. 

Doing a punk/garage/power pop type blog, I don't often write about music that brings me to tears. But holy cow, Andresa has really hit all the right notes here. And the thing is that this isn't him doing something different just for the sake of experimentation. This is true personal inspiration. It's as if the songs came to him, and he pulls off this more indie pop style remarkably well. He fills these songs with genuine feeling and remarkable wisdom for such a young man. The reason why music (along with all art) exists is to create something that speaks to the human experience, to reflect on the things that are most important in life. What could be more important in life than the love of a parent — someone who brought us into this world and helped mold us into who we are? And lately as I've been thinking a lot about how much I'm like my mother, these songs have me wanting to cherish the time I still have with her. Andresa may have created this music to help process his grief, but I'm so happy that he realized these songs needed to be shared with the world. If you're a fan of his, you absolutely need to have this single.

-L.R.

https://andresa.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-lasts-forever
http://andresanugraha.com/
http://facebook.com/andresanugraha
http://instagram.com/andresanugraha
http://thebattlebeats.bandcamp.com/
http://twitter.com/andresanugraha

Linear Television - Sandy Beach

Well here's something that couldn't be any more up my alley! From Münster, Germany, Linear Television hits a sweet spot for me: old school, spirit of 1977 pop-punk. Sandy Beach, the band's new EP, delivers four tracks of catchy three-chord poppy punk that ought to appeal to fans of both first wave punk and '90s pop-punk. As soon as I heard the title track was about the simple glory of drinking beer in the sun, I knew this was my kind of band! "Sedated By Television" is not social commentary but rather a relatable breakup song (I would be lying if I said I never had to turn to reruns of Knight Rider or The A-Team to soothe my soul in times of despair). "Stay Strong" could almost be Cock Sparrer, and I sure can't complain about that. If you like your punk music with a lot of melodic lead guitar but also plenty of bite to it, Linear Television is a band well worth your further inspection.

-L.R.

https://linear-television.bandcamp.com/album/sandy-beach
https://open.spotify.com/album/0oYFz1J8RXu7xJQqDSIbJk

The Dahlmanns - "Dark Side with You"

Having promised a new album that won't necessarily conform to the classic power pop style they're so well known for, The Dahlmanns are here to give us another taste of what's soon to come. "Dark Side with You," the band's new single, is certainly the least "Dahlmanns-like" song it has ever released. But again, that's by no means a bad thing. As the title suggests, this is a darker (yet still powerful) pop sound — something not out of a character for a Scandinavian rock band. Line's vocal is dynamite and perfectly in tune with the emotion of the song. The hooks are undeniable, and how about that guitar solo! When Andre remarked, "Those expecting more of the same as our previous records may turn up their noses" in reference to the new album, he probably wasn't wrong. But I'm not so sure that most fans will insist on more of the same. The Dahlmanns did power pop by the book for a decade. Now they're writing a whole new book, and they are poised to surprise a lot of people — in an entirely good way. A band so many of us love is back and making excellent music. That's something to be excited about!

-L.R.

https://thedahlmanns.bandcamp.com/track/dark-side-with-you
https://open.spotify.com/album/6n9xZHhlaEjnoqrdNlNwiT
https://www.facebook.com/thedahlmanns/