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Q's Compilations
Vol #163 – August to
September 2025
It has been a busy couple of months, with 9 shows in September (including Nine Inch Nails, Rilo Kiley (twice), Unwound, Supergrass and The Beaches), plus trips to Vermont and Boston. As usual this mix is mostly new releases, I think everything is from this year apart from a couple of tracks. Hopefully there’s something for everyone!
01) Beauty - Acid Baby Girl: New Jersey powerpop trio Beauty released their debut album, I’d Do Almost Anything For You, on the 1st of August, and it’s got some bangers on it, with this track being the pick of the bunch.
02) Lapeche - Autotelic Nosebleed: This track is from Lapeche’s upcoming record, Autotelic, which is coming out in January 2026, which is their second full length album, having released their debut EP in 2016 and debut album in 2021 (Blood in the Water, which was recorded and produced by J Robbins).
03) Lawn – Davie: I first used Lawn back on Q#143 (May 2022) from their EP Bigger Sprout, they’re now back with new album God Made the Highway via Exploding In Sound Records. This song has a such a classic jangle tone to it, it never fails to brighten my mood whenever I hear it.
04) Former Champ - Crooked Little Line: I Saw You in Paradise is the debut album by Glasgow’s Former Champ, and just came out on the 19th of September. It’s not going to reinvent the wheel but it’s another delightful slice of indie rock that probably wouldn’t have been out of place in the mid-90s.
05) Entrez Vous - Dream City, 1963: I think this was a cheap bandcamp Friday purchase, I can’t quite remember… but this two-piece are from Carrboro, North Carolina, with Kelly Reidy on vocals and guitar, and Clak A. Blombquist credited with Drums, Bass, Synth, Piano, Guitars, Melodica, Glockenspeil, Vocals.
06) Superchunk - Stuck in a Dream: 35 years into their career at this point (albeit with a break in the mid-aughts), Superchunk continue to release great records, with the latest being Songs In the Key of Yikes, their 13th album, released on the 22nd of August. Their first since drummer Jon Wurster left the band, more than ably replaced by Laura King.
07) Weakened Friends – NPC: This song features guest guitar from Buckethead but aside from that oddity, the Portland (Maine) trio sound like their catchy selves on upcoming third record, Feels Like Hell, which will be released by Don Giovanni records on the 9th of October.
08) Great Lake Swimmers - One More Dance Around the Sun: I used a track by Great Lake Swimmers long enough ago that it was before I started uploading the mixes, so I don’t even know which one that would have been, but I do recall the track was Palmistry from their 2009 album Lost Channels. Fast forward to 2025 (and many albums later), and this track opens their upcoming album Caught Light which is coming out on the 10th of October. They’re playing Mercury Lounge in December and I should probably go.
09) Maura Weaver – Prince: Maura Weaver’s 2023 album I Was Due for a Heartbreak was one of the most understated, and underrated, records of that year and she’s just returned with the follow up Strange Devotion, this time on Feel It Records. I need to spend more time with the album but I suspect that just like the previous album, it will creep up on you how good it is.
10) Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band - Better If You Make Me: New Threats From the Soul was released this July and is the second album from Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, it’s a sprawling folk/country-tinged opus, with some relatively epic tracks that somehow don’t feel long at all (this track is the joint shortest clocking in at 6 minutes). It’s one of those pieces of work that shouldn’t really make a whole lot of sense but the more I listen to it the more I fall in love with it.
11) Hannah Frances - Falling From and Further: Hannah Frances’ second album for Fire Talk Records, Nester In Tangles, just came out on the 10th of October (and you can tell how late these notes are given that statement). I haven’t listened to the rest of it yet but this lead single has so much personality it really pulls you in. The intro and some of the guitar parts sometimes make me do a double-take thinking it’s Mark Kozelek (when he was good, at least).
12) The Beths – Mosquitoes: New Zealand’s finest, The Beths, put out Straight Line Was a Lie at the end of August, their fourth record, and probably their lowest-key effort to date. Their signature moves are still there, the harmonies, irresistible melodies, etc, it’s mostly the production is a bit more subtle, a little more acoustic.
13) The Reds, Pinks & Purples - I Only Ever Wanted To See You Fail: It wouldn’t be a q-comp without a Reds, Pinks and Purples song, would it. This is from Glenn Donaldson’s most recent physical release, The Past Is a Garden I Never Fed, which in itself is part compilation of previously released digital tracks and some new compositions.
14) Gum – Infection: I used Gum on Q#148 and they just released their second album, The Second Gumming, noted as their first release as a full band and it’s a fun indie-rock record with a little slacker thrown in for good measure.
15) Joyer – Cure: I’ve used Joyer on three separate mixes to date (Q#146, 154 and 159), their next album, On the End of the Line… comes out at the end of October, they get a little more polished with each release (this is neither good nor bad) and their slowcore days seem mostly behind them these days (this is also neither good nor bad).
16) Babe City - Envy Adams Goes Insane: I can’t remember how I heard of this band but their record, I Love You Forever from 2024 had been in my bandcamp wishlist for some time so I bought it on a bandcamp Friday. They’re a trio from NYC and this is a great dose of fuzzy bubblegum pop.
17) Rocket - Wide Awake: I used a track from Rocket’s debut album back on Q#152 in 2023 and they’ve just released their follow-up, R is for Rocket, for which they’re refining their heavy-shoegaze sound but also bringing some lighter elements to a good number of the tracks.
18) Vago Sagrado - The Scroll: My Chilean intake feels like it’s slowing down lately but Vago Sagrado have been putting out consistently good psychedelic rock for almost a decade, with their most recent being Vermin, released in August
19) Material Objects - Working On My Act: I still need to listen to this album (In Revision, released in June) in full but I heard this song on a blog and immediately just bought the vinyl (it happened to be a bandcamp Friday deal that included their debut EP on vinyl for free too). The band are from Ithaca, New York
20) Screen Frogs - Hearth II: Ending this mix with a little more psych, Screen Frogs are a Seattle quartet and this record, Subterranean Wreckage Amidst Stolen Hues, is their first physical release, though they have other albums and Eps in their bandcamp profile. The record was released in March 2024, so ancient by the normal standards of these mixes. It closes the record and it felt like a fun one to close the mix with too given that I normally close with a downer, so this is a change of pace!
As
always, Peace and Love - Q
