Indiecast - New Music From The Strokes and WU LYF, plus: The 2026 Q2 Fantasy Albums Draft

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

Our first episode since December of 2025 opens with a quick conversation about "Mad Men" star Christina Hendricks' viral indie-music DJ set in San Diego (1:09). The guys then talk about the return of the show (5:00) and muse on topics they missed while they were away (12:13). After that, they discuss the announcement of the first new Strokes album in six years (24:31) and review the first WU LYF record in 15 years (33:42). From there, they conduct a Fantasy Albums Draft for the year's Q2 (44:46). Finally, in Recommendation Corner they discuss new music from Underscores and Wendy Eisenberg (1:09:20). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Amazon Music. Hello everyone and welcome to Indycast on the show we talk about the biggest indie news of the week, review albums, and we hash out trends. In this episode, we talk about new music from The Strokes and Woo Life. Who would have thought it? We also discuss what we missed in the first quarter of 2026 and we do our fantasy album draft for the second quarter of the year. My name is Stephen Hayden and I'm joined by my friend and co-host.

He was the one who programmed Christina Hendricks indie DJ set. Ian Cohen. Ian, how are you? I mean, I had some downtime during the Indycast hiatus. And yes, that was me getting my fingers dusty digging in the crates for those broken bells and war paint rarities. I do apologize for her going rogue. We have at least 10 confirmed casualties in San Diego, all bearded males, age 42 to 48, who suffered immediate cardiac arrest when Joan from Mad Men spun bright eyes lover.

I don't have to love on vinyl. Yeah, so for those who don't know, there was a viral story this week about Christina Hendricks, the beautiful and glamorous star of Mad Men, starred as Joan on that show. She was photographed at a bar in San Diego, Ian's Neck of the Woods, a bar called Part-Time Lover.

I want to ask about this here in a minute because this is your neck of the woods. But anyway, she was photographed and videoed at this bar doing a DJ set that I think went on for four hours. Yeah. And it was a mix of shoegaze songs, Dream Pop, as well as some more middle-of-the-road indie artist. And people just went insane. They're like, wow, Christina Hendrix knows Beach House.

This is incredible. People are flipping out, as you said, the middle-aged, bearded indie fan population, a core part of our demographic, of course, having heart attacks left in Roe. right, you know, anytime a beautiful, glamorous woman seems to know indie rock, it's like such a incredible thing, I think, for a certain population of people. Like I said, this was in San Diego, and I looked up this place. It's described as a high-end audio bar. Now, I'm a Midwesterner, so you'd have to explain this to me, Ian, on the coast. You guys apparently have this thing called high-end audio bars. Here in the Midwest, we just have bars that play

music on a jukebox. What exactly is a high-end audio bar? This is where I admit I've never actually been to part-time lover. Maybe my wife will fact-check me on this, but I really don't remember ever having gone there. Are you familiar with it? Oh, I totally know what it is. Like, her friends go there a lot. I know a lot about it. Because it's named after a Stevie Wonder song from the 80s. Unless there's a shoegaze or dream pop song called Part-Time Lover that I'm not familiar with. But what I'd When I hear a part-time lover, I think of, you know, Stevie Wonder on the Cosby show in the mid-80s, having hits with that, and I just called to say, I love you. So kind of a dorky era of Stevie Wonder, even though I like that song. A strange name for a hit place, an audio bar.

But anyway, I'm sorry, I interrupted you. You were explaining to me what a high-end audio bar is. No, I mean, I think high-end audio bar is a pretty accurate way to describe it. I know people who are responsible for doing some of the sound. tracks that play in part-time lover when it's not a DJ night. And by the way, this is not the first time Christina Hendricks has done this. There was one a couple of months ago maybe, but this is the one that she posts on her Instagram.

Does she live in San Diego? I have no idea. I have no idea why she's coming here. I mean, presumably she lives in Los Angeles being an actor. And I would think that there's a lot of high-end audio bars in L.A. That would be my guess. Like San Diego, no shots at San Diego, but I would think L.A. would be the headquarters of high-end audio bars.

But she just must have some homies at this place or something that brings her down, what is it, like 100 miles to San Diego? Yeah, it's about a two-hour drive. And look, a lot of bands on their tour like to play San Diego first. Like, that will be the first show of the tour, and then they'll do L.A. because, you know, it's kind of like, you know, minor leagues. But, yeah, yeah, I have no idea why she's coming down to San Diego. but it's super cool that she is.

Maybe if she comes out next time, we can have Amazon hook us up, be doing an interview, may create the Mad Men's set, drink fake whiskey like the guys on the show. We can do that now. Yeah, that's the stratosphere that we're in. And that is a good segue, I guess,

into just formally saying that, hey, we're back. Indiecast is back. If you heard the trailer that posted earlier this week, We talked about how we're now affiliated with Amazon Music. We have the new logo. We're blue now. You made a funny joke about how we went from the green Weezer era to the blue Weezer era.

We're pulling a reverse Weezer, I guess, with our logo. So hopefully that portends good things that we are now going from hash pipe to Buddy Holly. You know, our songwriting is going to improve in this new era. But yeah, I mean, the show, if you can't already tell, it's the same show. We're doing the same thing. There's no real, I mean, there is sports going on. We didn't do a sports cast at the top. Sportscast will be back, I'm sure, at some point.

It's the same show. Amazon, they've been really cool. They basically are just like, just do what you do. We're not going to give you any notes. We're not going to dictate anything. So it's the exact same show. So we are going to be doing some bonus content in the near future that will be exclusive to Amazon music, and that will be interviews with artists, which we haven't done in the past. We've always had offers to do interviews, and I've been adamant against it because my old podcast, Celebration Rock, that's all I did was artist interviews.

And it's really hard to schedule that logistically. Also, sometimes you end up with an artist who frankly has nothing to say, kind of a boring episode. So, Ian, you were a guest on my old podcast a lot. It's like, I'll just do it with Ian. I know we can do a good show. But it's great. And we just heard this yesterday. This is a wild thing.

You know, one of the things that we wanted to do when we came to Amazon, one of the advantages that we saw was that this would give us maybe a bit bigger of a platform help get the word out to more people. people about the show. Because really up until now, it's just been you and I tweeting about this show. That's been the sum total of the PR. No other advertising campaign has happened. So we've gone from just you and I tweeting to apparently the morning that this post, there's going to be a billboard in Times Square advertising the show. This is no joke. Our guy at Amazon sent Ian and I a video that they're going to be posting on one of those video screens in Times Square, advertising Indicast in like the heartbeat of America here in New York. So that's pretty wild to go from you and I tweeting to Times Square like that.

Like we're already blowing up, I feel like. This is already paying dividends. Yeah. Perhaps you've noticed if you're an Indycast listener that I've been locked out of my main Twitter account for like a month. These are like one of the many things that has happened in 2026 that has made it much, much, much, much harder for me to interface with music. But, you know, I guess like my Twitter account, Time Square, they're pretty equal. So Amazon's, you know, they're- How's your Blue Sky account, though? Your Blue Sky account is pristine, right? Yeah. Business as usual over at Blue Sky. Yeah, I think I made one skeet about the curse of album, The Ugly Oregon there. That's like my sum total of Blue Sky engagement in 2026. But I got that. email yesterday and I'm like, does this like me what I really think it means? Because, look, you know, I'm always extremely proud of the work we've done here on Indycast, but that's never stopped me from recoiling

just a bit whenever someone at work would say, like, I heard you have a podcast because, you know, like, no matter how much I can explain that, you know, it's a professional podcast, we get paid, there's an editor, people listen to us. It always felt like I was trying to justify some weird, vaguely embarrassing hobby, but, you know, now, hey, we're big time. So I can just go back to focusing on finding a non-embarrassing way to explain that I'm writing a book about emo, you know, not that kind of emo. Yeah, this is now a vaguely embarrassing part-time job, like viable for you. So that's very exciting. I just want to say quick, too, that I think the only reason why Amazon was interested in the show is that we have such a loyal listener base of fans. And so many of you

spoke out in the last several months, reaching out to me and Ian, posting about it, just saying how much you love the show, how much you miss the show. And I just want to say thank you to all those people. We would not exist, if not for our audience. The reason why Ian and I do this show, in addition to just enjoying talking to each other while also talking into a microphone, is because we have such a great audience that has been with us now. Going on, it's going to be six years in 2026. So I just want to say off the bat, thank you all for your support. And, you know, we are, it was really important for us to bring back the show as it was, bring back the show that you love. And also to bring it back, uh, free without a paywall. Uh, we talked about maybe doing a Patreon. Um, but, you know, I started doing a substack this year that people have been incredibly generous and supporting. And I, for me personally, I, I, for me personally, I, just didn't want to ask people for another subscription fee. I feel like there's so many things people are paying for now, not just indie rock podcasts. Apparently, streaming video is popular

these days. There's a new site called Netflix people pay for. There's Apple TV, all those things. And people, you know, they're paying for my substack. They're paying for your substackian. And it was just like, can we figure out a way that we can do the show, but not ask people for more money. And luckily for us, Amazon stepped in and they were like, yeah, we'll give you some money and we'll let you just do the show as you've always done it. So it just seemed like the best option for everybody. So I'm really thrilled with how it turned out. But yeah, thank you everyone for your support. It's been amazing.

Yeah, I'm curious if we have a name for our fan base. You know, like who, like what's the hive? What's the indie cast hive name? Like, what's our stand base called? Do they self-identify as, I don't know, Indycast heads, hashers? Oh, that's a good one, Hashers? That's a pretty good one. That might be it.

The Wu Lifers, maybe? I don't know. Well, okay, let us know, I guess. We want to hear from you. What do you want to be called? The Indicast Hive, the Indycasties out there. But I think Hashers might be the name. I like that one a lot.

I do like that one. Maybe just like maybe you just like, seeded that one by bringing up hash pipe, which I was about to, like, correct you. It's like, oh, no, that's from Malladroit, but I was thinking of dope nose. No, I'm pretty confident in making references to at least the first four Weezer albums and knowing for certain which album they're on, even down to the B-sides. I think I could do that pretty well. But, well, you mentioned hashing. And that's a good segue into our next segment here, because we've missed a lot of hashing in the first quarter of the year.

It's interesting how our comeback date is pretty cleanly in the second quarter of 2026. It's just like we took the first quarter off. And a lot of things happened, of course, that we missed. And I'm sure you were like me, Ian. There were times where I was like, really wish I had the podcast right now. This would be fun to talk about.

Like when Muse announced a new album, I was like, the world needed Indycast at that moment. We weren't there, like, to talk about the new Muse album. Maybe when it comes out, oh, yeah. We'll have to talk about the new Muse album. But, you know, I was thinking about things that we missed,

and I had this in the outline. Is there a topic you wish you were around for? And I feel like I have to start up by addressing something that I wasn't sure if I was going to talk about on the show. But I feel like there's an expectation that we talk about this. And when people expect us to talk about something and we don't do it, I feel like we're letting our people down. So especially on our first episode back, I feel like we need to talk about this.

You might remember Ian, this was a long time ago, or it feels like a long time ago, but we reviewed an album by this band called Cheek Face, who I believe is from Los Angeles, right? They're from L.A. And when we reviewed the album, I said something. This might not be an exact quote, but it was something like this. I called them the most irritating band in indie rock right. now. And I think you agreed with me. Maybe not, yeah, you basically agreed with me on that. And we reviewed the album. And one of the things about our conversation was that there had been a lot written about

cheekface or a fair amount written about cheekface. And it was all positive. You know, I think stereo gummet talked about them. There were a couple features written about them. All positive. And yet in my conversations with other music writers over DM or texts, It seemed like they were always making fun of this band. They were always saying, like, I don't really like this band. So there was a disconnect between the coverage and what maybe people were saying behind the scenes. So we did this episode, and we reviewed the album, and as you do as a critic sometimes, you say, I don't really care for this sort of thing.

But doing it in maybe harsher language than that, certainly. Flash forward a little bit. Our show was canceled. and the lead singer of Cheekface, who I think his name is Chaz, Cheekface. Is that true? Is that true? His name is, I think it's like a Santana Van Halen situation. His name is Chas Cheekface, I believe. Anyway, he danced on our graves a little bit when we got canceled.

I thought his name was like Greg or something. I'm pretty sure it's Chaz Cheekface is his name. He danced on our graves a little bit, which fair play. You know, we had criticized his band, and I'm sure that annoyed him. And so he danced on our graves a little bit when we, got canceled. And then they have a new record coming out and they actually referenced what I said in a press release. I don't know if you saw the press release. Oh, I did. They quoted me, but they didn't say my name. They said some podcaster said this, some guy in a podcast, which, you know, for me,

I would have preferred they said acclaimed author slash some guy on a podcast. That's how I normally like to be introduced. But anyway, flash forward to like this month. And Cheekface, I don't if you've seen this Ian, they've gone viral. In the past, like, week or two, people are dunking on this band left and right. Like, there's a performance that they did on K-E-X-P,

the great Seattle indie rock station, and there's, it's like a 30-second clip, which I think the band themselves posted. Yes. So it wasn't someone just clipping this and then posting it. The band themselves posted this clip. People are dunking on this band left and right, saying way meaner things

than either you or I ever said about cheekface. And I have to say that I actually feel bad for this band now. And because the thing about this band, and I think we even said this when we reviewed the album, is that they are a band that I have, like the guy, the main guy in the band, he seems like a pretty self-aware guy. And I'm sure he knows on some level that what he's doing is not going to be for everybody. It's not everybody's cup of tea. The sense of humor, the sensibility of it, it is in its own way pretty provocative.

Like, in a very sort of like love it or hate it kind of way. Like, there is definitely a form of music that you can make that's more milk toast, middle of the road that, you know, no one would hate. But maybe no one would love it either. It's very kind of down the middle. Like, we hear a lot of music like that all the time. Cheekface is not that. They are like, you are going to be on this band's wavelength or you're not. and, you know, I just feel like the dunking that's been happening with this band.

I feel bad for them. It seems a little extreme. And I say this as a person who probably agrees with the dunkers, because I'm not a fan of this band at all. But I just want to say that I think people have been piling on this band too much. And just to keep it positive here, I actually like the bass player in this band. I don't know if I said that in the last time we reviewed the record. The bass player used to play in Stella Star, right? That's awesome. Yeah. And you can tell, like, and this is going to be a backhanded compliment maybe, but she's like way too glamorous to be in that band.

Like, she's way too cool looking. And she's obviously a really good musician, too. Like, the bass parts are usually really cool or not cool, but good, like, well-performed in those songs. So just as a sign of goodwill, I just want to say, cheekface, I like your bass player. and I don't think you should be dunked on quite as much as you've been dunked on in the past couple weeks. I don't know if you have anything to add to that, Ian.

Yeah, our first bonus episode will be us talking to cheekface. It airs next week. That would be a great summit. We might have to do that summit at some point. Yeah. But I mean, like full disclosure, the reason they said some guy on a podcast and not some guys is because I'm the guy who was a full-on cheek freak until they turn down the 18th. T&T ad.

I'll take the L on that one. Love their assertive post-ironic take on modern life. But what I assumed was a hard right border protectionist philosophy. I'm feeling like Paul Ryan with Rage Against the Machine right now. Yeah, yeah. I totally saw that. I certainly saw that because, like, I started my new Twitter account. It's Ian L. Cohen.

And I get like the weirdest trending news now. It'll say like for two straight days, cheekface inspires viral take or something like that. Or fans debating. Is Maroon 5's songs about Jane a masterpiece or just like a greatest hits? That's insane. Yeah. That's insane. I mean, I think those trends are very directed.

So it'll be a trend, but maybe only like 10 people are talking about it. But it tends to be like 10 people that you know. Yeah. Because I'm only following like 70 people. Like I'm still trying to build back up to where I was. And I maybe like follow 65 people now. Is there anything else that you wish that we could have talked about that we were around for the last several months.

Yeah, I mean, talking about trends, yeah, we did take the first quarter off. We're like Kauai Leonard. We're taking on the trend of load management in terms of hashing out trends. But, you know, there were a lot of things that I wish we were around for and a lot of things I'm glad we weren't around for because I remember so many times, like the turnstile story from this week is a great example of something that you and I would text about. I kind of think we do. I don't want to.

Well, we should say, you know, that that involves their ex-gatar player, basically trying to run over the... The elderly father of the lead singer, which is... That's just a sad story. It's obviously... It's really terrible. Mental illness going on there in some way. I mean, I feel terrible. I mean, I can't imagine your ex-bandmate trying to run over your father.

I mean, that... So, I mean, best wishes to... Brendan Yates of turnstile. I mean, that's just a horrible story all around. And now they're like playing Coachella this weekend. Yeah. I don't have to go to that.

I guess, you know, you chase away the blues with the good news, I have no idea. But yeah, and also like that band Echo Astral having the closest thing to a power bottom situation that we've seen in the past decade

where this like really hyped album now just kind of doesn't exist. because of some like extracurricular quasi-canceling. So I want to turn things around and like be positive now. And what we miss, like almost immediately after we went dormant is the Wolf Parade Renaissance. Like it was only six months ago that I wrote a 20th anniversary piece on Apologies the Queen Mary that called it maybe the most, the most 2005 indie rock album of 2005, like kind of a retroactive indie casty. you know, the sounds, like the arcade fire and modest mouse connections, the wolf, the wolf in the band's name, the pitchfork hype, all very definitive of that time. And I never really noticed in the past, I don't know, five, 10 years, like any sort of imprint.

I didn't really see anyone aside from my mutual follows talking about Wolf Parade. Like Dan Bockner's had kind of this cool second career as a dirtbag left podcaster. But fast forward to late 2025. I think weeks after we went off the air and I'll believe anything is now a huge viral hit thanks to the gay hockey show. That's sort of like high-end audio bar that is a... What is the actual name of that show?

Heated rivalry. That's it. I knew Heat was in the title. Yeah. No, that's exactly what the show is in the same way that part-time lover is a high-end audio bar. And, you know, it's being played in random NHL arenas, like really heartwarming stuff. And kind of similarly, I did not do. a 20th anniversary piece on Ladytron's witching hour because I didn't have much to say beyond

hey this is the best Depeche Mode out of the past 35 years but you know thanks to TikTok and Saltburn they're now apparently a generational band so it's cool to see that all these bands that I loved in 2005 and presumably went away forever can have a moment sometimes the TikTok algorithm of it all does good so if uh you know rogue wave or Patrick wolf gets put in some 2005 period peace movie. I'm here to be interviewed about my perspective on that time. Yeah, and just to add to the Wolf Parade point there, yeah, I'm really happy about that too. Spencer Krug has an album coming out this quarter, so maybe we'll talk more about that when that album comes out. But it's really interesting to me, this is another example, I think,

of a phenomenon we see over and over again, where bands of the past that maybe weren't at the total top of the scene, certainly Wolf Parade has. had a lot of fans in 2005, and apologies to the Queen Mary as a record that people cherish from that year. But in 2005, if you were going to look at the hierarchy of Canadian indie rock bands, you know, it was like Arcade Fire at the top. They had broken social scene in there somewhere, and then Wolf Parade would be like maybe the second or third tier in that hierarchy. And you see this over and over about how bands maybe that are in the second or third tier get elevated to the first tier because the next generation comes along and they say,

we really like this and we're going to elevate it and in a way maybe even like rewrite indie history a little bit. Of course it also is related to Arcade Fire and their whole thing. Everything they have going on there. Again, that's a whole other episode if we're going to get into that. But yeah, we'll parade. Love hearing the kids get into that record. It's good stuff. So definitely heartwarming to see. Speaking of bands from the 2000s, Ian, there's a band you might have heard of from that era called The Strokes. They have a new album that they announced this week.

It's called Reality Awaits. It's out June 26th. And it's produced by Rick Rubin, just like the last Strokes album was, The New Abnormal, which came out six years ago. people I feel like I don't if you remember this but like that album dropped

it was like right after COVID happened and it actually I saw someone say this online I thought it was a funny a funny phrase they called the strokes emergency rock because

the new abnormal drops like a month after COVID just like is this it dropped a month after September 11th I mean it was supposed to come out earlier, but then that whole thing happened. This album actually has been teased for several years.

I don't know if you remember this, but Rick Rubin was on Joe Rogan back in 2022, and he talked about how he had recently recorded the strokes in Costa Rica in a house on the side of a mountain. And it was just like, wow, what is the strokes album going to sound like that is recorded in Costa Rica on the side of a mountain? and now we know there's a single that came out this week called Gone Shopping, which I have opinions about, but I want to kick it to you, Ian, because you're a more casual strokes follower than I am.

I have a book coming out about the strokes in September, which I will be talking more about, I'm sure, as we come along here, hopefully have maybe some pre-sale deals for Indycast listeners. Just to tease that, hopefully my publisher comes through with that. but anyway, what do you think of the strokes coming back? What do you think of the song? Just the strokes in general. Do you have any opinions in 2026?

I mean, you kicked it off assuming that I had heard of this band called The Strokes. And I'm like, no, I haven't, but I would love to read 350 to 400 pages about them, you know, perhaps within the name. That's good. They're kind of like, the band that inspired the stills. Yes. Sold. I know I'm speaking your language when I say that. But anyway, you were saying.

Yeah, so I'm going to be real. I do not remember Rick Rubin going on the Joe Roken podcast. I'm sure it happened. But yeah, my big question is that, like, where does the new abnormal sit in the Strokes power rankings? Because, like, it does not feel like that album is six years old, if only because, you know, maybe it's the fact that it won a Grammy. It feels like there's been like a longer half-life for that album than there was for

angles or cum-down machine, which, by the way, like, I remembered this week that I reviewed Comdown Machine for Pitchfork. Like, is New Abnormal one of those, I guess, late career legacy band albums that's weirdly popular, sort of like how, like the new Tame and Pala album, even though it's like a flop to you and I, it's triple platinum with my coworkers? Yeah, yeah, New Abnormal definitely has a high approval rating, I would say, among people that care about the strokes. You have the first two albums, which are on their own tier.

obviously. But I really think the new abnormal would be put, if not quite in that company, it would be like right below it. And look, if there are any serious strokes heads out there, I'm not dismissing the albums in between. I actually have a lot of love for those albums. And I think for strokes heads, there's a lot of love for like first impressions of earth and angles and come down machine. But in terms of like their major statements, I think new abnormal definitely is looked at. As a big album. And in a weird way, it almost feels like a perfect last album in the way that, like, Abbey Road was for the Beatles, where there's even, like, songs that seem to comment on the

state of their career. Like, the last song on the record is called Ode to the Mets. And kind of like the end at the end of Abbey Road, it feels like if they were going to end their career, that would have been a good song to end on. But now, you know, like, the Beatles had Let It Bees come out after Abby Road. Now, this album comes six years after, I mean, Let It Be came out like the year after Abbey Road, not even a full year. And it was recorded before Abbey Road.

But anyway, yeah, I think that record, yeah, to answer your question, New Abnormal definitely has a lot of love. It's interesting, too, with the strokes, because I almost feel like their cue rating is higher among people in their early 20s than people are age. That's absolutely true. I see so many young people wearing Strokes T-shirts. shirts. Yeah, I think for, you know, yeah, someone in their 20s, they're looked at almost like, like one of the great rock bands. And I look at them that way too. But I think people our age tend to think, oh, the strokes are still together. Like, they're still making records. Like,

didn't they break up after Room on Fire or whatever? So that's an interesting, in a way, that's what you want as a band, really. I mean, you want the younger people versus the older people. But This new song, I think, is all right. It didn't blow me away. It feels a lot like a song that would have been on Come Down Machine or Angles, which, again, I don't mean as a criticism. I think those albums actually get a lot better the more time you spend with them. And I am excited to hear that song in the context of the record. You know, the thing with the strokes, you know, you've got this weird thing with Julian

Casablancus where it just seems like he's either overtly crapping on the on the strokes or like implicitly crapping on the strokes like in every interview he does and he seems to treat the band like a cash cow and the voids his side project as like the real creative outlet and yet he does also feel invested in making new strokes albums unique and weird and good like he could go on autopilot and just do the thing that every musician his age does, which is make a song that sounds just like last night. You know, they could make that record. Like, we're bringing back is this it?

Like, we're rocking again. And people, I think, would love it. And I think critics would love it too, actually. They would probably love it more than the kind of music that he prefers to make, which is not as straightforward. But so as a fan, I respect. that. But it is an interesting thing with the strokes where by not doing the obvious thing, which would actually be maybe less artistically credible, they take more crap, if that makes

sense. Yeah. And ever since you dropped the, hey, the new abnormal is kind of their Abbey Road. I've been trying to picture in my mind's eye their version of Maxwell Silverhammer and thinking of like a Strokes documentary where like Rick Rubin is like just passed out on the couch and like which which member of the band would be would be the most likely to make a Maxwell silver hammer? Um, well, it's funny because Nick Valencia, uh, who is, has a, I mean, speaking of weirdness in the strokes, it's like a weird thing with him and Julian right now where they're supposedly not talking.

And I don't think, I don't think Nick Valencia was at the shows that they just played in San Francisco, but I think he is going to be, because I think they're doing Coachella. They are. They are. They are. And Interpol. and Interpol. And Valencia, I've heard, is going to be at the Coachella shows.

But Nick Valencia's on like the, he was like on a Ringo star EP recently. So, you know. The connection is made. There's a Biel's connection there. And, you know, Maxwell Silverhammer isn't a Ringo song. But just by him jamming with Ringo, maybe it'd be Nick Valencia. I don't know. But yeah, it's an interesting.

It's an interesting question to ponder. Who would write the Maxwell Silverhammer of the strokes in the stroke? I mean, it would probably be Julian Casablanca. Yeah, that's the thing. Like, I've heard those Voids albums. Like, I would love to see, like, what, like, the get back or whatever it is of, like, also, I don't think the strokes would spend that much time. It would be really, it would be pretty similar because if they're not talking to each other

and, like, the lead singers kind of, like, over the project. That's bet you for 20 years, though. I mean, this is not a recent phenomenon. I mean, there was the album Angles where they were promoting the record, and Julian Casablancus was like, yeah, I was emailing my vocals to the band, and I didn't really like everything on the record. So there's been a long history of that with Strokes albums. It's one of the many fascinating things about them that I write about in my book

that you can get in September. Well, that was the thing that I care about more than you. Let's talk about the thing that you care about more than me, which is a new Woo Life album. And I joked about this in our trailer, but I do think it's amazing that after all of the Wu Life references that you've made on our show, that our first show back coincides with the release of the first Wu Life album in 15 years. Is this just the universe smiling on us, Ian? Like, well, how do it?

Because, look, we obviously pick this return date. so we had some say in the matter I didn't necessarily pick it knowing that Wu Life was putting on a record that was a happy accident but how mad would you have been if we maybe started the week after the Wu Life album?

Would you have had a hard time getting through that episode like with the missed opportunity? I guess we could have still talked about it but still. Yeah we could have talked about it or I could have like strong armed Amazon to allowing me to do like a reaction like that would be another piece of bonus content

is just me doing a reaction video to the Woo Life album. It's like Amazon HQ is like, Ian, yeah, we're not sure if we need a three-hour bonus episode on this Woo Life album. Just for people who maybe aren't familiar with Lou Life, this is a band that originated in the 2000. They started in 2008. They're from Manchester, England. Their name is short for World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation.

So obviously, that's much easier to say. Wu life than it is to say that whole thing. They put up their first and for a while only record, go tell fire to the mountain in 2011. Did you review that for Pitchfork? I did. Wow. Boy, like, I respect how you will say so, like,

I don't get embarrassed about like old things I write. Like, reviews-wise, I do. And you know what? I went over the top with that one. But at the same time, I think that just goes to show how exciting it was, hear that. Yeah, when that review gets, like, quote, I'm like, I cannot believe I said that.

Like, what in particular embarrasses you about that review? Oh, just like how, there's one line where I'm like, I talk about how, like, kind of, this is 2011, mind you, like, kind of similar to Ice Age and Odd Future. I am excited to see what impact this has on, like, the youth. Like, it's an album that people could believe in, and I could, you know, I compared it to, you know what was like the bigger records of the time like james blake and bony ver it's like this album gives you that like real kind of embarrassing teen i'll follow this band to the ends of the earth uh sort of deal um and i mean look i both like the record rules i i will stand by that as an album it sounds like

you know the apple seed cast if it was if the singer was replaced by like a rabbit dog um awesome record, but like the fact that like we talk about Wu life as much as we do, it's definitely a bit based on the fact that like, you know, they broke up like a year after. They were a band that took themselves so seriously. We're also just so ridiculous. Yeah, they wore disguises and like they never did interviews. So there was like a mystery about them. They were also called Woo Life.

So the name is funny. But they were, you know, we talked about this often, that long tale. of aughts era indie that extended into the early 2010s and how we were around to see that slowly run out of gas and get subsumed by a more sort of pop music-oriented indie scene that was predominant for a long time. In a way, I don't know if it's still predominant. I don't know if that's still the center.

I don't know what the center would be, though, if that's not the center. But anyway, first album in 50s, 15 years, it's called a wave that will never break. And I'm just going to let you cook on this one. What do you think of this record? The big buildup for this, do you think it lives up to your expectations or what you love about the first record? What I love about the first record, like more than any of the songs, my favorite memory of Wu life of that time was seeing them at Coachella, but more importantly afterwards seeing the lead singer Ellery Roberts walk around the

Coachella grounds with a denim jacket with the Wu Life patch on the back. Just completely alone kind of day. Like that is to me, Wu, I mean, it's 90 degrees. That to me is like Woo Life. It's like they don't,

I think they're self-aware, but it is when like seriousness and absurdity are in equal proportions and it just can't last. Like I didn't want, I never listened to the first Wu Life album thinking, man, I would love to hear what they do by record for. They had to break up.

But I think it helps them that if they were to make a pretty good follow-up album, which this is, it happens 15 years later because there is nothing. Like, I mean, it's a pretty unique sound to begin with. But even if they take away a lot of the reverb and you can actually understand what the singer is saying nowadays and it's produced by Sonic Boom, it sounds like nothing. It is like, it sounds like nothing else happening right now, which kind of makes it like makes me think like you might like it because I would make it. comparisons to like let's say you two or spiritualize or even like presence era led zeppelin or like the verb if they got sober and found jesus uh you know the lead singer still sounds like poochy if tom waits did the voice um but i think that i know you and i know that you have an intrinsic need for big smart dumb guy rock about the meaning of life yeah that's what this album is

for sure for sure and you know the thing you know one band you didn't mention which I've already said on the show is Arcade Fire. To me, this was a very post-funeral, post-the-suburbs type album where it was that big-time sounding shout from the Raptor style of indie rock made at a time where it actually felt possible for a band like that to get into arenas, you know, that it wasn't just doing that as an aesthetic, but that you could actually be a big-time band if you made that kind of music. and I do like this record.

I mean, I don't have the connection to the first album that you do. I remember that album when it came out, the song Wee Bros, all that stuff. And I remember liking it at the time. It is, though, as you say, it's different listening to this record versus the 2011 record, because in 2011 it felt like they were part of an ecosystem where there were a lot of bands like that. It felt like there were a lot of people doing this similar thing, and maybe it didn't stand out as much for that reason. whereas this record, it is amazing because they've done nothing to update their sound.

This record might as well have come out in 2013, you know, or whatever. It might as well have been the record that was like a normal follow-up to a critically acclaimed debut. And if it had come out in 2013, I'm sure it would have been totally ignored. Because by then, this type of record was really passe. Like people were, certainly music critics were not. lining up to praise music that sounded like this by that time. It was all about

Haim and Lord and 1975. Or am I wrong? Do you think they would have... I think it would have made... There's a possibility where they might have had like a Foles-type career because this reminds...

But they weren't critically acclaimed, though. Is Foles critically acclaimed? It depends who you're asking because like I think back in like 2010, the NME called Spanish Sahara maybe like the best song of the entire decade. Wow.

They're like the type of band like Wolf Alice where, and I don't think this is the case anymore with Foles. Like Holy Fire era, I mean, the name of the record's Holy Fire. And they're produced, I can't remember who produced it, but it's like one of those guys that you, you know, that produces like U2 albums. Flood?

Yeah, it might have been a flood album. But like if we're talking about Total Life Forever, Holy Fire era Foles. Like, yeah, it was like, that would be a band that you would pick in the fantasy drafts hoping for like the 10 from NME and the skinny or what have you. So there is a lane,

there was kind of sort of a lane for Wu Life to be there, but I think there was like the load-bearing part of that band was they're going to break up all these gimmicks, like they can't last, and then and you want to talk about like a guy who sort of hates his band. I think what happened in 2012 is that the lead singer, like, posted something.

Like, this band's over, and, like, none of the other guys knew that. So it was a pretty explosive breakup, but now they're back. Shout to Lost Under Heaven. They made some good music, Los Puercos. Yes, I do know the side projects of Wu Life. Also, I love the fact that the band is named Wu Life, and they have a song called Triumph on here, like, for the people who confuse them in Wu-Tang. Yeah, I'm like, I'm a fan of this record.

It'll be fun to write about. I might have to flex that muscle again. So I'm glad we're unified on this one. Well, and when you were talking about the gimmicks around this band and made me think about the gimmicky band of 2026, which maybe we'll talk about more in depth at some point. Have you listened to that band, Angine de Poitrine? I think I'm saying that.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Like the math rock band that like wears the Pocodot suits and they're in disguise and. apparently, you know, the big viral band. They have like two albums, volume one and volume two. Have you listened? I've dabbled in them a little bit. We should probably talk about them on the show

because I feel like they've got a lot of heat. But I haven't totally delved in yet. And neither have I. And it makes me think like with so many music that I find out is super popular before it gets to me. It's like there's probably some section of the King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard discography that sounds exactly like. this. Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. And in Angie, I'm just call them Angeen for brevity's sake. They seem like

they're a little bit King Gizertie, but also like a little bit Mars Volta. It's interesting how they've broken out because they don't seem like a band that would normally get that kind of heat. Although again, I don't know. There is a big audience for Praguegy, hard-rocking music, you know, And King Gizert's part of that and like the OCs, like that whole wing. But I just feel like they have more of a TikTok thing, that band and Gene DePotrine. Oh, sure. I don't know. Anyway, maybe next week or in the weeks ahead.

We'll talk more about that band. But we need to get to our fantasy draft for quarter two here. And we're going to run a little long in this episode, I think. Hopefully people don't mind. We haven't been around for, you know, what, three, four months here. So we're going to run a little longer than normal. but we have to do our fantasy draft for the quarter two here of 2026. And for people maybe who aren't familiar with the fantasy draft,

this is where Ian and I both pick five albums that are coming out between April and June. And we're going to add up all of the metacritic scores of our albums. And whoever has the highest score, whoever has like the most critically acclaimed team wins. And basically this is just like a fun vehicle for talking about, upcoming albums. This is our way of previewing the upcoming quarter. We think it's fun anyway. Hopefully you think it's fun too. So we need to figure out, because the way we do it is the person who picks first, obviously you get an album, but then whoever goes second, you get two albums,

and then we do two, two, and then one at the end. I don't remember who won last time. I don't remember either. I've been doing just like AI fantasy draft with someone, like, you Like fantasy AI draft against like Stephen Hayden. I'm like, of course, there was a Shabaka album coming out in Q1. I'm like, yeah, I got to take that. Oh, my God. But I don't remember who, I think I won. Okay, well, I'll let you pick.

Do you want to go first or do you want the second pick and you get two albums? Yeah, I'm going to go first. Not because I have like anything, like a, like a, like a, like a, a, like a, like a, a slam dunk number one pick. But just because like, maybe because there isn't something like that. There's one that I think is pretty strong, but I don't know. We'll see what you go with. Yeah, I'm just going to pick. I'm just going to do like a solid.

Like this is like the version of picking an offensive lineman with the number one pick. It's not sexy, but, you know, it's going to be a strong defender. I'm going with Alvis Harding. Wow. They're all of them train on the island. I feel like, you know, it might be kind of a low ceiling pick, kind of like whenever I pick Kate LeBahn when she puts out a record. But, you know, I think that. Who is all?

Aldous Harding, can you give a brief synopsis here? Yeah, I would describe Aldous Harding as a long-running, like, kind of art pop or art indie. You know, they record on 4A.D. They're from New Zealand. They put out a couple records that are pretty critically acclaimed, like almost guaranteed to be at number 25 on every single year end list. So they put out their last album called Warm Chris in 2022, which I believe did pretty well. an 82 on Metacritic. Designer before that had an 88.

So, you know, it's, it's maybe if you like older St. Vincent, that's sort of like artsy, but sort of folky, you know, kind of Laura Marling, Kate LeBond, like that sort of realm of picks. Okay. And that album, again, is called Train on the Island. It comes out May 8th. And that is Ian's number one pick. I have to say that was not on my board.

So that is. Yeah. I don't really know all this Harding at all. So that's coming out of left field for me. So we'll see what you do. See, the thing with this draft, it's going to be really tricky because we are at a moment where music media is falling apart. Like print media or online media is in free fall. Everything is going to substack like me and E&R.

So I think that in the draft, it's going to really come down to picking albums. that you can feel confident are even going to be reviewed enough to have a Metacritic score. So I'm thinking like big ticket albums and like British stuff. I guess Aldous Harding. All this Harding is British, you said, right? New Zealand. New Zealand. Okay, sorry.

European. Or not European. Anything outside of America is European to me. I'm going to go with Olivia Rodriguez as my number one pick. And I just feel like. She has a lot of critical goodwill. She's been doing a lot of crossover with old people lately, David Byrne, Robert Smith, all the way down the line.

She's, in a way, the new board. She covered the magnetic fields on that album, on that, like, help to. Yeah. Help, too. So I feel like she's cultivating a pretty wide base of critical support where you're going to get, in a weird way her strongest constituency might be the vaunted middle-aged music critic that we often talk about

you know the person who although I that person won't necessarily maybe be reviewing the records at some of the bigger outlets but I'm just saying they will at Rolling Stone they will at Rolling Stone yeah like like Rolling Stone you feel like that's money in the bank for Libby Rodrigo I feel like I'd be shocked if it was less than 80 that album would have to really stink I think for a to be less than an 80.

So I feel good about her. She, to me, is, like, one of the few. She's, like, the Mendoza kid, you know, the kid who's going to go number one in the NFL draft. Like, she's the closest. I thought you're about saying, like, Mendoza line. I'm like, damn, we got two Mendoza. Yeah.

So I'm going to go with her with number one. And the number two, my second pick, I'm going to go with a band that you and I often clown on on for how often they get great reviews from Pitchfork. And I'm banking on that happening again. this year. Their first album in five years, Ice Age, I'm putting them as my number two pick. This is the band, are they from Denmark? Yeah. And they are the band that notoriously has five best new musics from Pitchfork out of five albums, which I don't know if that's true for anybody. Like,

like Radiohead never pulled that off. I don't think. No, King of Wims broke that streak. Yeah, there's no band that I could think of that has that's Five for five on Best New Musics. Yeah, Deer Hunter. Deer Hunter eventually missed out. Yeah, Deer Hunter, you know, Kanye in his prime, like he never did that. They have a new album coming out, May 29th called For Love of Grace and the Hereafter. I wrote about their single, which came out, I think about a month ago.

I wrote about it on my substack. I did not write kindly of it. I think this is one of the most overrated bands of the last, say, 15 years. Their new single sounds almost exactly like Loretta Scars by Pavement from Slanded and Enchanted, which I'm not necessarily against people ripping off that song. I did think it was interesting that a lot of the reviews I read didn't note that, probably because they're younger than Slanded and Enchanted. They were probably born after that album came out, whereas people like you and I were grizzled music industry veterans. like we know that. I just think that they're

the most overpraise band in the indie world for a long time. But, you know, I'm not picking bands that I love. I'm picking bands that I know music critics like. So I think pitchfork, I'm counting on them to at least give it like the 8.0, even if they don't give it the best new music.

And I think all the British people will like it too. All the skinnies of the world, I think they're going to probably like that record. So, yeah, I'm going with that. my number two pick. Yeah, Olivia Rodriguez was on my list. And, uh, yeah, I, I, I, I think that it's guaranteed to get four and a half or better at Rolling Stone. I think that there is a kind of protective shell around that artist in a way that there wasn't with, say, like Sabrina Carpenter last year. So, you know, I probably should have made that my number one pick. But like,

also maybe there's like a fatigue surrounding them that wasn't there with the first two albums. But, nah, that's a good pick. And Ice Age, I thought about it. And look, I made, Some of the biggest mistakes that I've made in the past fantasy draft is like over leveraging what I assume the pitchfork score will be. I think that record will do just fine. But yeah, that's a good solid pick. That is kind of a like an edge rusher. You know, it's a good pick. It's solid, like a solid second round edge rusher because I've been reading like 18 NFL draft previews per day.

Yeah, I mean, this isn't like a star quarterback heavy draft. There aren't a whole lot of, like, Olivia Rodriguez, I think, is the, like, the biggest blockbuster pop record that's on the schedule right now. So, and I just feel like she has a lot of goodwill. I don't think there's fatigue with her personally. I think people have good feelings about her. So I don't know. I'm begging on critics going for that. So you have two picks.

What are your second and third picks, Ian? I'm going to do kind of a classic veer right here and go with. a posthumous album because I think this might be on your radar. I'm going with Tucker Zimmerman's Dream, Mia Dream. He is somebody who kind of came to the four, a couple of years back by making a collaborative album with Big Thief. Yes. He died, I believe, this January.

And so, look, it might not be on any year endless, but I guarantee if you're reviewing a Tucker Zimmerman album, you're going to praise it. I expect an 85 or better. Yeah, this seems to me, like, I feel because Big Feef was the collaborator, this is more of a defensive move. I felt like that was going to be your fourth or fifth pick. But, again, I'm building a solid offensive line with Tucker Zimmerman and Aldous Harding so far. Okay. And then what's your third pick?

All right. So, there are a couple that are real risky. And I'm going to go with... This is similar to me picking Virginia in a March Madness pool in that this could go real bad, but at the same time, like, they could surprise you. I'm going to go with American football. Yeah. Because, I mean, I've heard the record. And it's like, it's crazy.

LP4. LP4, yes, or American football. Yes. May 1st. Yes, May 1st. Really, you want to talk about Arena Rock. this album sounds like arena rock to me and the the reception of the first single bad moons and also they put out one recently with brendon yates of speaking of turnstile a lot of people were like excited about it who i didn't expect to be and then long-time fans like yeah love the music lyrics are cringe

um i think that this could go like this could this is a very volatile pick uh that being said i am no longer in fear of losing like once i like broke the streak of winning every single time. I stopped kind of caring about, like, winning and more kind of doing something interesting. So this is a very high-ceiling, low-floor pick for me. But also when I feel pretty personally invested in it, and I'm not going to review it. That's another thing because, you know, American football plays a very big role in my book. And so I've talked to them a billion times. I can't really do it in a way that is objective.

So, yeah, American football. They were going to be my next pick if you didn't take them. So I think that album will be well reviewed. And we'll definitely, we're going to talk about it on the show. Like your book doesn't recuse you from Indycast discussion, does it? Oh, not at all. Okay, so, because I want to talk about that album. Comes out again May 1st.

I've heard it as well. I'll reserve my comments for that. But I do think it'll be well reviewed. I thought the single was awesome. I don't go as deep on America. football as you do, but that single, the Bad Moons. Yeah. I thought it was great.

Eight minutes, beautiful. I really love it when they let the guitar, those wiry guitars just kind of float away. The twinkly guitars. It was very twinkly. And I was just like, give me more twinkle. Hell yeah. Shoot the twinkle in my arms. I loved it.

Okay, so I'll take American football off of my board. For my number three pick, I'm going to go with something that it might be a little volatile. But I like this band a lot. I feel like there will probably be some backers for this band because their first album, which came out a few years ago, got good press, and I was a big fan of it. It's a band from Chicago called Freiko, F-R-I-K-O. They have an album coming out, their second record, called Something Worth Waiting for, coming out April 24th.

Like I said, they put out a debut a few years ago. It was called Where We've Been, Where We Go From Here. And I was a fan of that record. It made my year-end list in 2024. And just to piggyback on the Woo-Life Conversation, this is a band that was, I think they were born at. Well, they would have been still alive when Woo-Life came out. But they were definitely, like, little kids.

Like, for this band, like Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, that's like classic rock to them. Like this is the kind of music that they grew up listening to, or at least that's my impression listening to their music, because they're a band that definitely aspires to the sweep of like those great 2000 eras, kind of big sky-type indie rock albums. And they're doing it also from the perspective

of like a scrappy Chicago band. So on their first record, I thought they really pulled that off well. and it was the kind of record that you listen to and you're like, okay, I'm going to keep an eye on this band because this is a good album, but I think they have an even better album in them. And something worth waiting for,

which again comes out April 24th. I'm sure we'll be talking about it on the show. I've obviously heard that record. I have good feelings about it. I think people will be excited about this album when it comes out. So, again, it's always hard to know, like, are they going to live up to the hype or are they going to be stuck in, like,

7.2 land from reviewers. I don't know. And 7.2 is a great review, by the way. But in terms of our draft, we always want to have at least 80 cumulative score from Metacritic or else you're in trouble. I think they can do it. So I'm going to put them in my number

three spot. Yeah. I like that record a lot. And yeah, I'm similarly questioning like the ceiling of it because like it's super, I like it a lot. And the first album was very much, oh, their next album is going to be awesome. But yeah, I think it goes to the thing that we talk about, like, you know, who's actually doing reviews nowadays.

Yeah, it's tough because I don't want to upstage our, to me, the record, it's not like an undeniable getting killed situation. It's like a really good record. But is it, maybe we'll change our minds in two weeks, though. We have a couple more weeks to listen to it. It doesn't feel like a paradigm shifter, but it feels like a really good second record. But I don't know. We'll talk more about that in a few weeks. my fourth pick

I'm going with the Wiley Veteran here and again I'm going back to my strategy that I mentioned at the top where who knows what records are going to even get reviewed

so you have to go with some big ticket records and then also just thinking like what will mojo like what will uncut like so I'm going with Paul McCartney

in my fourth this is the first Paul McCartney record in a while he put out a single recently which was very much an old man looking back on his life type song.

I have a feeling that the album will be like that too. And music critics are suckers for that. You know, music legend in the twilight of their career, you know, maybe there's a song about John Lennon on there. You know, who knows? I think people will be excited about it because there hasn't been a McCartney album in a while, even though, you know, his solo records can be a little spotty.

I think people are going to like it. they're going to know that documentary about him came out recently the uncuts of the world i'm feeling like a hundred from them i think uncut mojo straight one hundreds from them rolling stone i'm feeling like a four-star review at least maybe they're going to go the five-star old school route uh so yeah i'm going palmer cartonie number four good good choice so with my number four um well i'm going to keep my number five symbolic one. As far as number four goes, just like looking at my

notes app here. You know, I pick Yaya Bay for every single time. I'm going to skip that one. I feel like maybe there's some fatigue setting in. And I'm going to go with someone who has been a pretty reliable source of positive

reviews and at the same time, like this could be where the drop off happens. I'm going to go with Jesse Ware, Superblue. that feels good her previous album 89 the one before that what's your pleasure

that was an 84 one of the definitive hey it's COVID but like disco's hot nowadays so people just want to dance they just want to dance they want to dance against the you know

the dashes the dying of the light or whatever yeah yeah you can always that can always be a good framing for a review dance you know dance you know dance against the patriarchy

dance against dance against fascism, you know, like that will always be a good hook for a music critic. Can't, you can't deny that. Yeah, so this is kind of like your Florence and the Machine pick from Times Pass, where I think that she's past the point where, you know, it's like a top 10, it's something that could be in the top 10 of like, you know,

the sites we read, but I feel pretty confident about that. So it feels like a solid pick. As far as number five goes, this is what I have absolutely, no idea how this is going to be received, but I'm thinking that I'm going to go, I'm thinking that it could get a bump that has absolutely nothing at all to do with the music. I'm going to go with the upcoming Neacap album. Yeah, because Neacap, it's an Irish hip-hop trio who, if you've heard of them, it's probably because they've been like banned from playing in certain countries because they've been one of the most, you know, like outright political acts, especially in terms

of what's happening in the Middle East. And so it's been two years. Like I think everything, all that stuff has happened since their previous album. And they have a new one called, I believe, again, like they rap completely in Irish. So I'm going to miss up the pronunciation. Fenian. And that comes out May 1st. There's been a couple singles that have come out.

And even if they don't get like a lot of like good English press, I imagine the Irish. press or the British press will probably be just kind of like making a positive example out of this music. So this is another one that could completely turn on me. I have like a lot of like volatile picks here but nonetheless got to go for it. Yeah, I had kneecap on my board. I considered that one for the reasons that you said. If someone wanted to write the resistance review, you know, kneecap would be good for that. I'm just looking at what's still left on the board here. There's quite a bit.

There's a Casey Musgraves album that comes out May 1st. There's Megan Trainor, probably not. There's a broken social scene album. Remember the humans? May 8th. Licky Lye has a new album? That's her final album that's Bill does? It's been a while for her. Kevin Morby has an album, May 15th,

Little Wide Open. There's Rostom, Ex-Fampire Weekend. He's on my board, May 15th. I don't think I'm going to pick that one. Ed O'Brien's solo record, Blue Morpho, May 22nd. Same day as a new Bleacher's album. I feel like Ed O'Brien's solo albums, not as well reviewed as Radiohead albums,

even though I have some affection for them. There's a Death Cab for Cutie album, Ian. June 5th. Yes, there is. I built you a tower. I wonder if we're going to talk about that. I suspect we will. Sublime? A new Sublime record?

I think that's with the sun singing on it. That comes out too well. I thought it was with not the sun. Oh, no, no, no. It is the sun. It's not with Rome. They got rid of Rome. Yeah, they're no longer with Rome.

This is with the sun, Bradley Noel's sun, until the sun explodes. That's a great title. For a sublime record. Wait, but is it spelled S-O-N or? No, they didn't do the sun, sun, wordplay there. No, it's like the thing in the sky that glows. S-U-N. No one took Woo Life.

Are you not taking Woo Life because you're reviewing it? You don't want to... Yeah. We still got rules and regulations here. Because I'm thinking about taking Woo Life. No one took the strokes either. That album comes out right at the end of June. I think that album will be very volatile.

Although that could do well with the British press. I think if you're looking at it from the British press perspective, like the skinnies of the world, they could go hard for the stroke. strokes. The Brits always love the strokes. For me, it's between Casey Musgraves and something else that I think I am going to pick. A lot of people didn't like that Casey Musgraves single where she talks about how horny she is. I know probably didn't listen to that. I'm going to go with an artist close to my heart who I think will do well with the uncuts and the mojoes of the world.

and I think I'm banking on my middle-aged music critic community to come through for this artist, the bearded flannel wearing music scribes hanging in the music world. I'm going to go with Kurt Vile at number five. His album comes out May 24th. Did you hear a single? I haven't yet, but I thought you were going to say something else. I thought you were going to say His Golden Messenger. No, I feel like Kurt Vile, Kurt Vile, I feel like, has...

Um, there's a lot of love, I think, baked in for Kurt Bile still. And he's actually been pretty resonant, like with younger indie people. Like he is. That's a good call. I mean, if you, like, in a weird way, he's like the Neil Young now of like Philly indie rock, I would say. You know, the, the, the, just the veteran who's been along around a long time. He's an eccentric guy. His latest single is extremely Kurt Vile. I actually thought of you when I heard it. So I was like, man, Ian is not going to like this song at all. Just knowing your feelings about Believe I'm Going Down and some of the songs on there. Like the mannerisms of the chorus, very Kurt Vile.

And I love Kurt Vile and I'm still ride or die for Kurt Vile. So I'm on board with it. He's definitely moving in a more country direction, which I think is actually pretty apt, given indie music in general right now. So I think the British people and I think the writers who would write about Kurt Vile, I think are going to be on board with him. So I think he'll be a solid, probably low 80 for me. So I'm going to go with him in number five. And just a personal choice. Love Kurt Vile. I want him on my team. He's good for the clubhouse. He's a good glue guy. Yeah,

good locker room presence. So just to go over our teams here, we have Ian Aldous Harding, Tucker Zimmerman, American Football, Jesse Ware, and kneecap. And on my team, Olivia Rodriguez, Ice Age, Freco, Paul McCartney, and Kurt Bile. So, quarter to draft, over. I'm excited to get into it, Ian. Same. We've now reached the fire of our episode that we call Recommendation Corner, where Ian and I talk about something we're into this week.

Ian, why don't you go first? All right. So in lieu of, you know, checking out music, first quarter of 2026, my wife and I have been re-watching the Americans on Hulu, so I see about 20 minutes of ads every single day for GLP-1s, including the one that has Sleigh Bell's Riot Rhythm. the minute because treats is the 21st century answer to Moby's play. So maybe that's why I've been

looking for something with that same sort of energy. And underscores album, you probably doesn't need my boost. It's got an 89 on Metacritic. It seems like a lock to be a top 10. But I'm bringing it up here because it's my favorite album of 2026 thus far. And I imagine that maybe some people in our audience doesn't think it's for them, you know, because it gets subscribed as hyperpop or Katie Perry plus meets PC music. But to me, it just kind of vibe-wise reminds me of that first Slavell's album. It's all bangers, 35 minutes, extremely out, tons of fun. It's like pop, but also like not something you can play for like the office.

Great antidote for what ails you, especially because I haven't found too many, like down the middle indie rock records to satisfy me. That's kind of been the stuff I've been listening to. That grace eyes, even some Slater. So, yeah, underscores. She says it. on the record, but I think it spelled you, just the letter you. I love it. This will create a good divide between you and I in Recommendation Corner if you're going like the Slater route here. I think that'd be amazing. We need more variety in the recommendation

corner. I want to go with a Brooklyn singer-songwriter and great guitarist named Wendy Eisenberg, who recently put out a self-titled record, and that I like a lot. And the thing with Wendy Eisenberg is that she makes a lot of different kinds of records. She's a lot of worked a lot in the jazz world and she's made these improvisational records where she's just doing crazy things on the guitar. She's also made what I would call are more maybe experimental pop records that are often largely instrumental. And then she makes records like this self-title album that she's just put out, which is basically a straightforward singer-songwriter record. And the comparison I would make with Eisenberg is to someone like Jiml O'Rourke, who's another

artist who mostly makes esoteric experimental music. And yet when he decides that he wants to, he can also pivot to making these really melodic, accessible pop rock records that still have the patina of experimentation that make them more interesting than a more stock pop rock album would be. And I think that applies also to this Wendy Eisenberg record. You know, there's lots of cool guitar parts and string arrangements. You can tell that there's a lot of music. sophistication going on, but at the same time, you know, she's singing about love,

and she's singing about her life, and there are songs that you can just grab onto as great pop songs. When I listen to it, it has sort of like a Joni Mitchell meets Houses of the Holy vibe at times that I really like. And I also have to say that this is a great album for spring, you know, sit on your porch with a cup of coffee, listen to this record. I think it really kind of vibes well with the freshness of the air. this time of the year, and I'm always a sucker for records like that. So again, Wendy Eisenberg, self-titled album, go check it out. That about does it for this episode of Indycast.

We'll be back with more news reviews and hashing out trends next week.