I know this is a bit late, but in my defense, I was vacationing in Disney World and Mickey has a strict rule about listening to non-disney music. Can confirm: everything you will hear below blows “It’s a Small World” out of the water.

Reviews by TJ Foster

Mall Goth - “Crawl Space”
Mall Goth have been gearing up to release their new EP (out August 8th!) and "Crawl Space" is the second single from it. Another jangly lo-fi cut, this one channels the best qualities of Alvvays and Beach Bunny. These guys are quickly becoming a 518 band to watch so get in on the hype early.

Sara Devoe - “Evil Genius”
Sara may not reside in the 518 any longer—Brooklyn stole her from us recently—but she's still a Capital Region native and it's been lovely seeing her garner a lot of success in the Big Apple. "Evil Genius" is her latest single, with grunge-infused pop-rock elements not unlike Soccer Mommy or Phoebe Bridgers. It's a really incredible tune that leads me to believe she's on the verge of breaking out.

Forensic Polaroids - “One Hit”
Forensic Polaroids is a '90s alt-rock side project from Lonny of ShortWave RadioBand. And goddamn it's got hooks for days. The songwriting here is very much in the vein of the late great Adam Schlesinger, and that's definitely something to pine over.

Sean Lippin - “Frenemies”
Full disclosure, I wasn't too sure about this one from the first 30 seconds or so, but man, Lippin really sold it for me with the chorus. It's a hook that would make any '90s act jealous. The harmonies are immaculate, the instrumentation is tight, and when he stretches his range in the second chorus, it reminds me a bit of a young Brandon Boyd.

The E-Block - “Number One” (Live)
Our cover stars from our July print issue dropped a new tune live from the revered Jive Hive this month. And for a band that must be witnessed live to be fully appreciated, it represents the band perfectly. Solid grooves and melodies from one of our hometown heroes.

Dan Carr and the Cure For Asthma - “Duel Destiny”
Indie rock at its finest, which should be expected from a member of the Tummy Rub Records family. Loving the tones the crew got here, and those well-placed female harmonies are the cherry on top of this musical sundae.

Dayburn - “Unsevered”
More pitch-perfect post-rock from the newly formed duo of John Glenn and John Luby. On the first of this month, the duo released the first half of their Deep Elm Records debut as well, which is well-worth checking out. But if you like ambient guitars, gut-wrenching melodies and emo-adjacent songwriting, this is sure to dominate your playlists for the foreseeable future. What a tune.

Ab The Audicrat, Shyste Chronkye, Xkwisit, Mista Pigz - “Carry the Culture”
By now, I'm convinced there's no group of artists more prolific than this crew. Feels like every month they're churning out something new, each song as good as the last. "Carry the Culture" is no exception, and if I haven't convinced you to check their stuff out yet, what the hell are you waiting for?

Tops of Trees - “Upstate”