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, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Fontaines D.C. – “It’s Amazing to Be Young”
The latest from Fontaines D.C. is all about childlike wonder and how precious it is to be young and curious before the brutal reality of the world tries to beat you down. “It’s Amazing to be Young” is a bit of a cheesy name, but I think extreme positivity could be beneficial to a lot of people right about now. This is the band’s first new song after 2024’s Romance, which earned two Grammy nominations, among other plaudits.
Ryleigh Wann | @wannderfullll
EKGs – EKGs
The kind of punk that makes you want to go out and find the nearest nazi to headbutt, the new EKGs tape is an assault on your senses that also feels oddly soothing. The barrage of noise is almost so much that it cuts off your thoughts and just allows you to be pummeled by the drums while the vocals attack so hard that for a second you imagine the singer’s spit might actually shoot though your speakers. Most of the songs here are so lightning quick that, when the final two tracks “indulgently” stretch past two minutes, you feel as if your transported to a jam band show in comparison to the first half of the tape where songs refuse to pass the sixty-second mark. If you like your punk loud, fast, and quick, tap into EKGs.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Jules Reidy – Ghost/Spirit
Berlin sonic engineer Jules Reidy’s Ghost/Spirit is a breathtaking exploration of transformation, love, and mysticism, weaving microtonal guitar work, ethereal vocals, and smudged pop melodics into a singular sonic journey. Conceived during a period of personal dissolution and rebirth, the album charts Reidy’s shifting understanding of earthly and divine love, with field recordings, sampling, and alternate tunings adding to its astral textures. Contributions from artists like Andreas Dzialocha, Judith Hamann, and Sara Neidorf deepen the album’s emotional and sonic resonance, mirroring its themes of destruction and reconstruction. Ghost/Spirit is a luminous meditation on letting go, ego death, and transcendence—an album that expands and dissolves in equal measure.
Mol White | @molemanmedia | @holymoleman.bsky.social
Caroline Rose – year of the slug
As if Caroline Rose’s lyrics, voice, and attitude weren’t enough incentive to listen to year of the slug, then maybe knowing that this album was created to make something that AI can’t reproduce will draw you in. “Sometimes it’s nice to have a pearl before it’s polished,” Rose says of the straightforward recording that feels as if you’re in the studio watching for the first time.
Ryleigh Wann | @wannderfullll
Superheaven – “Cruel Times”
We’ve got a date and a name now–Superheaven’s comeback album is called Superheaven, and it’s out April 18th. Superheaven’s ten songs, including last year’s excellent “Long Gone” and “Numb to What Is Real,” and now we’ve got a third single. “Cruel Times” would be right at home on Jar, a song that should allay absolutely any remaining fear about what the Doylestown alt rockers have been cooking up.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Fime – “Better Half of a Dollar”
From the opening drum hits, jagged bass pattern, and laser beam guitars, Fime create a smoky, neon-lit atmosphere on “Better Half of a Dollar.” The raw vocals add a bit of attitude this feeling, and it is easy to picture the tune sounding just massive in a live setting. More simply put, everything on this song just works.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Saya Gray – SAYA
Toronto-born, London-based multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Saya Gray returns with her debut full-length album SAYA through Dirty Hit. After a rough breakup and a solo trip across Japan, she pulls the raw emotion of transcendence into something more melodic and intentional. SAYA features intricate folk roots layered with electronic and rock/experimental inspiration—this album is one to sit with.
Mol White | @molemanmedia | @holymoleman.bsky.social
Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On
Horsegirl’s Phonetics On and On was released on Valentine’s Day and it’s a fun, surprising, and bright record that feels more honed in than their first. I especially love the end of “Rock City” which is faster and more jerky than the rest of the song, and then leads into “In Twos” with a steady bass hum. I can’t wait to blast this in the car when the first sip of spring makes itself known.
Ryleigh Wann | @wannderfullll
Swimming – Old
One of the many things that irks me about music Twitter is the overuse of “AOTY” (kind of how a large portion of people on YouTube seem to encounter the world in a way that causes them to declare any new bit of information to be “unhinged”). Every time a record people like a little bit comes out, you start seeing the superlative acronym as if that is both something that 1) matters and 2) could be apparent in February. However, if I allow myself to get down in the muck, Swimming’s Old is certainly the first emo/punk record that should be getting premature “AOTY” accolades. A mosaic of emo and punk sub-genres, the record is packed with poppy choruses, rad instrumental runs, and impressive work from the rhythm section (check out the seven-plus minute closer “Charlie” to see the band at the height of their powers). While an opening title like “You Smell Like Phys Ed” might make emo fans who are many years removed from attending any kind of class balk, fortunately Swimming manages to drench the record in nostalgia, but with such a forward momentum to the songs that it never once feels stuck in the past.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
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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