Psychedelic explorers from San Diego, California, Wild Wild Wets, returned last week with their fourth full-length album, “Time Mutations,” via Salton Sea Sound System.
Formed in San Diego’s fertile psych scene, Wild Wild Wets have become known for their swirling, high-energy shows and kaleidoscopic recordings. With “Time Mutations,” the group continues to evolve, offering listeners an escape into a strange, cinematic soundscape where rhythm, melody and imagination reign supreme.
The record is available on a limited-edition “Mutation Isle Splatter” vinyl and in a bundle featuring a custom Guatemala Cubulco roast from FUZZ Coffee — a bold, carefully curated brew to pair with the album’s immersive textures.
Recorded live at Earthling Studios in El Cajon, California, and produced entirely by the band themselves, “Time Mutations” is their most expansive and conceptual record to date. Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Mike Kamoo, the album weaves fever-dream psychedelia, gritty funk and experimental art-rock into a surreal listening experience.
Frontman Mike Turi designed the record’s striking artwork, and describes listening to the new album as, “stepping into another world — a narrative about building your own society, bending the rules of humanity, and teetering between dream and dystopia. Imagine Dr. Moreau meets Ziggy Stardust.”
That sense of otherworldly vision comes alive across standout tracks like “When Your Ghost Becomes an Island,” “Evolver,” and “Sunshine Sue,” the latter of which arrives with a live studio performance video now streaming online.
The group will bring “Time Mutations” to the stage throughout Southern California in the weeks ahead, beginning with a performance at the Bamboo Club in Long Beach on August 27, followed by a hometown album release show at the Casbah in San Diego on August 30. They’ll also appear in Los Angeles on September 19 at Permanent Records.
Stream: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/wildwildwets/time-mutations
Order “Time Mutations” (Vinyl + Bundle): Order Link
The Atlanta-based indie/alt-pop rock group abandcalledlove. are ready to make their next big leap with the release of their debut EP “Thriving Season,” arriving September 26 via their own imprint Valiant Sound Co. With the single “A Liar!” ready to set the tone on August 29, the group is stepping confidently into their Thriving Season indeed.
Guitarist and producer Ian Joshua Riley said, for the single, “We wanted the push-and-pull nature of the production and composition to reflect that tension as much as possible, so we spent a lot of time in the studio balancing the more traditional dynamic rock elements with the more subtle electronics and ambient, atmospheric moments to really emphasize the overall dynamics of the track, especially leading up to the song’s climax.”
Formed in early 2020 by frontman Ryan Chandler Love and Riley, abandcalledlove. quickly moved from a collaborative studio experiment to a locally loved live act. Their lineup — now rounded out by guitarist Blake Aldridge, bass player Brooks Roberts, and drummer Austin Yagle — first broke through with the single “Colors Bloom” before selling out their debut performance at The Masquerade in 2021.
Since then, they’ve built a reputation for striking, self-produced singles and high-energy shows, with half of their 16 live performances selling out and stages shared across all four Masquerade rooms as well as venues throughout the Southeast.
On “Thriving Season,” the band tapped producer/engineer Corey Bautista to sharpen their already distinct blend of soaring melodies, lush textures and propulsive drive. The result is an EP that balances stadium-sized rock ambition with atmospheric subtlety.
“If the opening track of the EP is a ‘mission statement’ of sorts denoting what love is, and the second track of the EP is an extrapolation of those ideas, then ‘A Liar!’ is intended to be an antithetical, bastardized representation of ‘love’ experienced while intentionally and genuinely pursuing it,” Riley said.
Beyond their own material, abandcalledlove. have quickly become fixtures in the wider music community. Both Love and Riley are part of the Grammy’s Class of 2025 Recording Academy and continue to work as full-time producers and songwriters with credits on multiple Billboard-charting projects.
Riley also tours with indie chamber pop collective Adjy from Triple Crown Records and Round Hill Music. Most recently, the band contributed a guest feature to Woe, Is Me’s comeback single “Seminola Blvd,” further highlighting their collaborative versatility.
Fans eager to see abandcalledlove. live won’t have long to wait — the band will perform at Atlanta’s Center Stage on September 25 in support of viral TikTok breakout Cuffing Season, just one day before the release of “Thriving Season.”
Stream “A Liar!”: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/abandcalledlove/a-liar/
Pre-Save Thriving Season: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/abandcalledlove/thriving-season-2/
Liverpool’s own Novelty Island, a surrealist pop project of Tom McConnell, unveiled a new single, “The Only Train Driver in England,” out now via Ripe Records. The track, which weaves woozy guitars with melancholy lyrics, expresses McConnell’s personal anxieties through his signature off-kilter lens.
“This one is quite autobiographical,” McConnell said. “Train stations often link with moments of loss. The Only Train Driver in England is about my anxieties for my own future, particularly the ending stream of consciousness. I wrote 32 little lines for that but when I got to record it, I realised I needed 64, so I swapped them all around for the second go around, piling anxieties on top of anxieties.”
The single offers a first glimpse into the darker, more surreal territory of the forthcoming album “Jigsaw Causeway,” which is set to release on October 3, through Liverpool independents 9×9 Records and Ripe Records. Inspired by the fuzzed-out textures of Grandaddy, Beck, and Boards of Canada, McConnell’s latest collection leans into melancholic lo-fi pop with a dreamlike edge.
Similar to Novelty Island’s past work, the record is paired with McConnell’s visual art — papier-mâché sculptures, lo-fi animations and claymation pieces all inspired by the songs. The “Jigsaw Causeway” album sleeve itself is crafted from over 50,000 jigsaw pieces. This creative vision will extend into the project’s debut gallery exhibition of the same name, October 4–10 at Bridewell Studios & Gallery in Liverpool, following a special launch event on October 3.
Ahead of the album, Novelty Island has already built momentum with singles “Rainy,” “Foam Animals,” and “Northern Nowhere,” which found support from BBC 6Music’s Nathan Shepherd.
Since forming at Abbey Road in 2019, Novelty Island has carved out a reputation for a prop-filled live show, festival appearances at Glastonbury, Moseley Folk Festival, and Sound City Liverpool, and support slots with Sea Power, The Pale White, and Trudy & The Romance. McConnell’s discography — spanning two albums, multiple EPs, and a string of experimental side projects — has garnered praise from outlets such as MOJO, The Line of Best Fit, and The Fader.
With “Jigsaw Causeway” and a UK headline tour on the horizon for Winter 2025, Novelty Island continues to expand its singular universe, blurring the lines between music, art and surreal pop storytelling.
Stream “The Only Train Driver In England”: https://ffm.to/noveltyislandtraindriver
Tickets: https://www.novelty-island.com/live
London indie punk trio cheerbleederz are officially back with their brand-new single “Passenger Princess,” out August 20th via Alcopop! Records. A whip-smart metaphor for taking control of your own life — wrapped up in the eternal dilemma of learning to drive as an adult — it’s another bags-of-fun slice of DIY magic from the three-piece.
“‘Passenger Princess’ is about learning to be the driving force in your own life,” bassist Sophie MacKenzie shared. “It might be easier to let others dictate your direction, but it gives you far more meaning to go your own way and trust your own instincts. Just because you have been a passenger princess doesn’t mean you can’t be king of the road later on. Also, isn’t it fun to shout sing ‘beep beep?’”
The single is lifted from their forthcoming EP “prove me wrong,” due September 5th, 2025 on Alcopop! Records. Recorded with longtime collaborator Rich Mandell across sessions at The Bookhouse Studio in London, the new record is another tightly-honed collection of irresistible DIY songwriting.
This time, the trio leaned into broader themes — taking control of your own life, the weight of personal responsibility, and the strange disillusionment that comes with growing older and apart from friends.
“If your friendships don’t serve you anymore, or they feel more like a competition, it’s time to let go,” drummer Phoebe Cross explained. “Feeling a bit defeated after a hang with a friend is not how you should feel.”
Lead single “i deserve better” landed last month and has already picked up tastemaker love from DORK Magazine, Noizze, Get In Her Ears, plus spins from Amy Lamé at BBC Radio 6music and John Kennedy at Radio X — setting the tone for what’s to come.
The band will celebrate the EP with their live return this September on a short run of UK headline dates, before joining LAKES at The Underworld, London on November 22nd. Tickets are on sale now.
“prove me wrong” marks the first new material from cheerbleederz since their critically-acclaimed 2022 debut “even in jest” — an album that earned praise from Brooklyn Vegan, UPSET, GIGWISE, and The Punk Site, alongside radio support from BBC 6Music, Radio X, BBC London, and Amazing Radio.
In the years since, the trio has toured with Fresh, The Spook School, and even Wheatus after frontman Brendan B. Brown stumbled across them on Bandcamp and became an instant fan. They’ve also hit festival stages at Manchester Punk Festival, 2000 Trees, and TRUCK Festival, while recently completing their first European tour.
Stream “Passenger Princess”: https://bfan.link/passenger-princess-1
Tickets: https://linktr.ee/cheerbleederz
Belfast’s DIY feminist queerpunk group Problem Patterns released their latest single, “Classic Rock Has Become My Prison,” via Alcopop! Records. It offers a glimpse of their upcoming EP “Boring Songs For Boring People,” out September 12.
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Belfast’s Start Together Studios with longtime collaborator Niall Doran, the single hit the scene with a video directed by Beverley Boal. In it, the four-piece step into creative personas — Beverley Flippin’ Boal, MegaBeth, Hard Rock Alanah, and Ciara King Cobra — lampooning the excesses of the genre even as they shred their way through it.
The track’s inspiration is rooted in both everyday frustration and a deeper societal critique.
“The title was the concluding sentence of a rant about my neighbour who plays classic rock radio stations obnoxiously loud from his garage for hours on sunny days,” the band explained. “But the more I thought about classic rock tunes, the more I thought about the sexism and misogyny rampant in the lyrics of even the most popular songs.”
Problem Patterns filled the track with sly references, hiding 25 notorious classic rock lyric nods in its patchwork structure. The band said there will be a prize for those who can correctly identify each reference.
Sonically, they lean hard into the tropes they’re skewering, layering ripping solos, chugging riffs, and arena-sized drum fills before unleashing their signature fury. As the band puts it: “This is Problem Patterns at our cock-rockiest.”
Problem Patterns had a breakout moment in 2024, when their debut album “Blouse Club” took home Album of the Year at the Northern Irish Music Prize. The band has since earned praise from punk icons Kathleen Hanna and Henry Rollins, while tearing up stages across headline tours, festival sets, and support runs with Bo Ningen and Michael Cera Palin.
“Classic Rock Has Become My Prison” follows the groups spring 2025 single titled “I’m Fine and I’m Doing Great,” which held down a four-week run on BBC Radio 6 Music’s C List, along with “Sad Old Woman,” featuring Pissed Jeans’ Matt Korvette.
Pre-orders for “Boring Songs For Boring People” are live now, and in the coming weeks there will also be a screen-printed vinyl with a tongue-in-cheek line of office mug merch to match for sale on their website.
With summer appearances lined up — including the Pink Pound Birthday Party, Get In Her Ears Fest, and newly announced dates with Pissed Jeans, Other Half, and Fightmilk — Problem Patterns are making waves in the punk scene.
Stream: https://bfan.link/classic-rock-has-become-my-prison
Tickets: https://linktr.ee/Problempatterns
