While Europe (the continent) increasingly shows signs of wear and tear, Europe (the band) are more cohesive than ever, and the band’s epic Scandinavian Eyes single finds them in fine, early Rainbow-shaped form. So fine, in fact, that it picked up our Tracks Of The Week single with a mammoth 50% of the overall vote. So congratulations to them.
Scarlet Rebels’ Chains was second, while Airbourne’s Kid In A Candy Store came in third. This week? You’ll need to wait an entire seven days to find out.
Steven Wilson – Requiem For A Village
Just a year or so after his Classic Rock No.1 Album Of The Year (2025’s splendid, intergalactic deep-dive The Overview), our favourite luxury-offbeat auteur is back with something completely different. Instead of outer space, we have a village. Instead of Floydian epics, we have a dark, twisty atmosphere that nods to his earlier solo work (little bit Luminol, some ominous Grace For Drowning-era shadows) 70s British folk-horror cinema and the gnarlier ends of his artistic palate in general. Scrappy yet heavy. Still cinematic, still narrative-driven, but in a quietly macabre way. Also, do check out the new website, which someone has clearly had a lot of fun making.
Gyasi – You Got The Look
West Virginia’s glam-tastic prodigal son returns to his signature glitter-infused style (having dipped into rawer blues for latest album Songs From The Holler) on this raucous, hard-strutting marriage of proto-punk, pink lipstick and no-nonsense rock’n’roll. Imagine The Stooges raiding Marc Bolan’s wardrobe and then throwing an all-nighter at some sticky, low-lit dive, and you’re in the right territory. Nice.
The War On Drugs – Who’s That
“Who’s That was written in 10 minutes somewhere between first coffee and school drop off,” says bandleader Adam Granduciel of this stirring, beautifully inward-looking swirl of 21st century alt heartland and Americana (and War On Drugs’ first new studio music since 2022). “It’s a song about trying to love yourself despite things we can’t always control, like the anxiety, depression and self-doubt that may stand in the way of living the life we truly desire.”
Split Dogs – Speed Demon
Need a dirty, hooky, punk-riddled antidote to the Back To School blues? Step into our office – or rather, the new Split Dogs house of thick, juicy riff ‘n’rollin’ good times. Plus they’re having such a blast in the video (swimming pools! Fairground rides! Crowd-surfing! Angus Young duck-walks in, like, every other shot!) it’s hard to not get at least a little swept up in it.
Twin Temple – Love You To Death
Jealousy, betrayal and the messy extremes of love are wrapped in a sumptuous package, on the ‘Satanic doo-wop’ duo’s latest dose of 50s/60s opulence and heartache. “With Love You to Death we wanted to put our own spin on two distinctly American musical traditions,” the band explain, “the romantic innocence of 1962 RCA-style pop and the darkness and brutality of the traditional murder ballad… It’s about devotion taken to its most dangerous extreme, to madness, and crimes of passion.”
Grace Bowers – Cigarettes For Breakfast
‘Cigarettes for breakfast, nothing for lunch,’ Grace Bowers sings in the catchy, 90s-fuzzed chorus of her latest solo venture, inspired by snapshots of life as a model at Paris Fashion Week. Expect skateboards, ill-fated shop mannequins, sharp guitar teeth and tonnes of attitude. Different from her earlier funky blues stylings, but packing its own baggy-jeaned punch.
The Bites – Dancing With The Devil
LA’s The Bites slam straight to the point on this juicy taste of their upcoming self-titled album, which comes out this month. ‘Go big or go home!’ they declare, making good on that statement with a combination of hard swagger and chest-thumping beats and basslines – plus a hand-clapping, shoutalong chorus. Little less 70s/80s big hair vibes compared to earlier releases, with a little more RATM-influenced bite.
Twisted Teens – When We First Met
Now signed to Sub Pop, New Orleans-based punks Twisted Teens have just announced their third album of 2026, which is a helluva feat, but the crackling lo-fi electricity of When We First Met suggests they’re not the types to be picking up the phone to Mutt Lange and booking 18 months in the studio. It’s all done and dusted inside two minutes, but it packs a lot of joy into that time, and singer Caspian Hollywell’s worn but impassioned voice is a genuine thrill.
(LouderSound)
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