Lots of new music this week including tracks from Thundercat, Fluid Japan, The Bags, and Matador artists Snail Mail and Lifeguard. No matter how dark the big bad world becomes, it can always be dissolved in a barrage of guitar or a sweet melody. Chocolate chip cookies help too.
We ran across a fair amount of rock this week, starting with voice mail composers Helens, from somewhere in Oregon. Their new song “Helldread Maul” is all the things its title implies. Mirky but great.
In the same vein, Lifeguard offer a satisfying blend of noisy jangle-pop and guitar-heavy thrash. The lead-off track “Ultra Violence” provides safe haven for the depressed; strong REM vibes in “Appetite.”
Also from Matador, Snail Mail’s “Tractor Beam” is the kind of pretty, girl pop that you tend to fall for without meaning to.
And then there are The Bags with their first full lengther since 2008. If you like classic Boston rock with all the weedly trimmings, these are your guys. Bags, rock on! Fave track: “Miserable Bastards”
But we’re not done yet… For lovers of contemporary yacht rock, there’s no one like Thundercat to supply the sweet nothings you desire. His first album in five years is called Distracted and it’s out now! Packed with guest artists, Distracted is non-stop nostalgic fun. We especially enjoyed “Pozole.” Now what does this remind us of? And we’re not just talking about the Beach Boys, although that’s in there too…
Finally, there’s Fluid Japan, who teams up with Intelligentsia this week for a late night cruise through the city, behind the wheel of a new automobile, flying on autopilot on the elevated highway into town….
Is there more? Damn straight there is….
April 8, 2026
Liddle Lamsy Divey
Space Ghost – What Day Is It?
Snail Mail – Tractor Beam
Intelligentsia + Fluid Japan – Live Life Loud *the Sealab Mix – Radio Edit)
Thundercat – Pozole
Cactus Moon – Can’t Seem To Make You Mine
Bob & Ray – Nothing To Buy
Prince – Sometimes It Snows In April
Prince – Under The Cherry Moon
Bill Scorzari – Open Door
Helens – Helldread Maul
Lifeguard – Appetite
Lifeguard – Ultra Violence
Frederic Grimes – The Launch
The B-52s – There’s A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)
Gil Scott Heron – Whitey On The Moon
Bull Market – The Ballad of Jimmy Blevins
The Bags – Miserable Bastard
The Bags – In Plain Sight
Doug Warren & the Rays – If The World Don’t End Tomorrow
Ray Bolger and Judy Garland – If I Only Had A Brain (extended mix)
Tack>Head – Ticking Time Bomb
Mutiny – Ticking Like A Time Bomb
La Souterraine – Le Blé
La Souterraine – Chouchou
Louie Zong – Sunrise Sunshower
Louie Zong – Raining Cats & Dogs
Joe Glazer – The Giveaway Boys in Washington
Lena Lovitch – Lucky Number (Slavic Dance Version)
Pink Floyd – Breathe
Fluid Japan + Intelligentsia – Live Life Loud (The Sealab Mix)
Yo La Tengo – Nuclear War (radio edit)
Attribution: Peter O’Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons