Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format: albums, singles, videos, live sets. Check back every other Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Bodyshot – “IT’S ON SIGHT”
“IT’S ON SIGHT” by Bodyshot is fucking crazy. The Washington hardcore band’s latest single shoves the grimiest, nastiest, most horrific noises imaginable into the loudest mechanical blender on Earth to create one of the greatest metal tracks of the year. From the guttural, frog-like vocals to what sounds like the lead singer hocking a loogie directly into the mic, you can almost feel the shoe of a man three times your size slamming the back of your head with every listen. The track starting with “You wanna see some Steven Segal shit?” is not nearly a strong enough preparation for anything heard on “IT’S ON SIGHT.”
Jules Kelly | @snaiImaiI
Rozemary – the lies they made me believe
Liverpool metalcore band Rozemary released their debut EP the lies they made me believe this September, following a string of promising singles throughout 2024 and early 2025. Rozemary provides a unique take on metalcore, combining somber interludes and catchy clean vocal choruses with heavy breakdowns that set them apart from their peers. A personal highlight of the record is “starlit ballroom,” simulatenously intense and beautiful. Lyrics such as “can’t see what is right in front of me / so open my fucking eyes / and show me what’s inside / before it gets late” are vulnerable and relatable, perfectly setting up the breakdown. Fans of bands like Spiritbox and Dying Wish should definitely give the lies they made me believe a spin ASAP.
Daniella Pasquarelli | @lady_0f_shallot
Orchid Mantis – In Airports
Orchid Mantis’ second studio album of 2025 was inspired in part by Thomas Howard’s experience getting “stuck in an airport for about a week,” giving into “the transient feeling of temporary spaces like that.” In Airports mimics this sort of feeling, blending four-track demos with warped samples to give Howard’s ambient slowcore sound a feeling of weightlessness and rootlessness. Every moment could be a path to a new terminal, landing somewhere totally foreign—like he sings just before closer and single “Strange Heaven” swells and fully takes off, “we could keep drifting.” On In Airports, the journey never ends.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Makthaverskan – “Pity Party”
After a four-year hiatus, Swedish post-punk band Makthaverskan returns with the dream pop song “Pity Party.” The first single off their upcoming Glass and Bones, “Pity Party” puts vocalist Maja Milner front and center as she sings–and squeaks–over a heavy guitar riff about a doomed relationship (“and all the life and love turned into ashes / nothing really matters”). Milner beautifully comes to terms with the death of this relationship on a track that signals new life within Makthaverskan’s sound.
Jules Kelly | @snaiImaiI
Codex County Line – Never Stop Hanging Out
Codex County Line has all the makings of another entry into the Philly Emo Hall of Fame. Their take on the city of brotherly love’s basement emo is both a snapshot of a special moment in the city’s punk history and also a showcase of a penchant for snappy pop hooks, layered howls, and off-key croons. Nothing feels dated or aged, but a lot of it may ring nostalgic for survivors of the city’s raucous and beloved DIY scene in the late aughts and early 2010s. Tracks like opener “House of Leaves” and “Twice As Many Stars” feel so perfectly colored by their influences but still come across as fresh and incredibly fun. They run it back a couple times with a demo and acoustic version of songs on the EP, but for a first real offering I’m of the mind that they can kinda just do whatever they want. This too feels like heat from a kept flame of doing it yourself means doing what you want, and right now I feel like no other band is carrying this sound and energy quite as well as Codex County Line. Never Stop Hanging Out is EP for your loud lonesome drives or your late nights amongst friends, and I’m pretty excited to see what the band turns out next.
Elias Amini | @listentohyakkei
Flycatcher – Wrench
There are shades of all your favorite bands on Flycatcher’s Wrench—a little Jimmy Eat World here, a bit of Pinegrove there, some Strokes vibes—making for a thrilling listen. All these pieces cohere neatly on Wrench, which takes the scraggly alt rock of 2023’s promising Stunt EP and polishes it until it shines.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week we compile a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
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