British Birds: Murmurate, Oscillate

English quartet British Birds have come up with a loveable mix of psychedelic garage rock, XTC-flavoured New Wave and the Kinks in their late '60s early '70s vaudeville leanings. Murmurate, Oscillate is an album that is bursting at the seams with musical ideas, a true cornucopia of twists and turns, plus it will have listener reaching for the dictionary more than once.

They face life's relational stumble blocks with a wry smile and the occasional snide remark (Blame Game), but they don't a turn a blind eye to the world's more pressing problems as well. Some of their friends joined the army and came back with a bad case of PTSD (Polka Dot Eyes). The insightful lyrics deserve undivided attention. The darkness is never far away, but throwing a joyous blanket over it will offer a bit of reprieve.

Jordan Galland: "You Killed My Saturday" video

Jordan Galland created a hand drawn animated video for You Killed My Saturday, a track from his No Rockstars album: "He has taken a scalpel to his current life, cut out all the bullshit, and ended up with a bunch of carefully crafted songs. His sense of humour ensures that he is quite content about where he is right now: trying to be a father of a girl. Raising her means that he had reshuffle his priorities, but once he had the diapers thing under control, music made a comeback with a vengeance."

» jordangalland.com

HCTF review of No Rockstars

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: in-studio performance @ KEXP radio

Watch the video of the in-studio performance by country musicians Gillian Welch and David Rawlings with Paul Kowert on bass on The Afternoon Show @ KEXP radio in Seattle, recorded on August 18, 2026.

Low Horizon: Weak

Houston, TX lo-fi rock trio Low Horizon are back with Weak, their new single as a taster for their forthcoming full-length A Hundred Times The Same Way. The foundation of the track is a growling and unrelenting guitar riff propping up singer John Gottlieb celebrating coming out of his shell now that he has found love, but also slightly worried that it might not last.

Alex O'Toole & Simeon Bartholomew (n000000000): n000000000.1

Australian noise duo Alex O'Toole (drums) and Simeon Bartholomew (guitar) are about creating music on the spot n000000000 project, as an outlet besides their usual forays into math rock and post-rock in various bands in the Sydney underground. After performing all improvised live shows they decided to lock themselves for an album, so that a wider audience can find out what they are all about.

Careful listening to each other when embarking on such a journey is key, because it would all fall apart if they wandered off into different directions. O'Toole and Bartholomew have developed an instant rapport, enabling them to lock into a groove and make a sharp turn that they did not know was coming until it presented itself as a logical step for the piece.