21 Albums In, Cheap Trick Still Refuses to Quit (Plus Mike Patton Meets the Avett Brothers)
Option 2: Discovery Angle From power-pop veterans still nailing the formula to a Get Up Kids frontman laying bare his battle with addiction—this week’s new releases span five decades of rock history a
Latest Podcasts
Would Speedstar Have Made It Big—If Anyone Outside Australia Had Heard Them?
This week’s pick is from Jason Pan of the DMO Union. He’s brought us gold before—now he’s submitting Speedstar’s Bruises You Can Touch, a 2002 Australian gem that somehow never left the country. Ready to shape the next episode? Join the DMO Union and vote on which album we dig out next.
Pluto (1971): From Record Bin Oddity to Cult Classic
Heads up, metalheads: you’re not lost—this is a special edition of the podcast, and we’re time-traveling back to the primordial soup of 70s rock! This week, you all went deep, voting Pluto’s self-titled 1971 album to victory in our October poll, edging out Trapeze, Julian’s Treatment, and Dr. Z in a heated runoff. Who says the most legendary records are…
New Releases
Cheap Trick - All Washed Up
Cheap Trick just dropped their 21st studio album. Yeah, you read that right—21st. These power-pop architects behind “Surrender” and “I Want You to Want Me” recorded All Washed Up across Nashville and Los Angeles studios in 2024, working with longtime producer Julian Raymond and mixer Chris Lord-Alge. The album title? A cheeky nod to their 1980 record All Shook Up.
What makes this one different? The band leaned into their live energy without stripping away the polish entirely—this isn’t a raw, no-overdubs affair, but it does capture that Beatlesque power-pop punch they’ve always nailed.
What works: Those infectious hooks are still there, and critics are loving tracks like “Twelve Gates” for its psychedelic guitars and lush vocal harmonies. The album scored a 79 on Metacritic.
What doesn’t work: If you’re expecting them to reinvent the wheel after five decades, you might feel like they’re playing it safe. But honestly? When the formula still rocks this hard, why mess with it?
Matt Pryor - The Salton Sea
Matt Pryor—frontman of The Get Up Kids and The New Amsterdams—just laid his soul bare on The Salton Sea. This isn’t just another solo record. Pryor wrote these songs during the darkest stretch of his life, battling addiction in 2022 before getting sober in early 2023. The album title references California’s terminal lake—a once-thriving oasis now toxic and desolate, a perfect metaphor for hitting rock bottom.
Mixed and co-produced by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), this record channels Paul Westerberg and The Afghan Whigs more than emo nostalgia. It’s full-band, dreamy guitars, big drums—closer to Copper Blue-era Sugar than anything you’d expect.
What works: The raw vulnerability cuts deep. Pryor’s storytelling—honed through daily writing practice he started in sobriety—makes every song feel like you’re eavesdropping on someone’s most private confessions.
What doesn’t work: The slower tempos and atmospheric production might feel like a departure if you’re craving the immediacy of his earlier punk-adjacent work.
Men Without Hats - On The Moon
The “Safety Dance” crew is back. Men Without Hats—led by original member Ivan Doroschuk and featuring his niece Sahara Sloan on keyboards and vocals—released On The Moon, their first album of original material since 2012’s Love In The Age Of War[12][13]. It’s seven tracks blending vintage analog synths (including an actual Prophet 5 from the “Safety Dance” sessions) with modern production.
The lead single “I Love The ‘80s” racked up over 2 million streams in three months, namechecking Live Aid and delivering pure synth-pop nostalgia. The album closes with a synth-led cover of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” that’s oddly moving.
What works: These melodies are infectious. Ivan still writes hooks like it’s 1982, and the band chemistry—especially Sahara’s layered backing vocals—elevates everything.
What doesn’t work: Seven songs feels like a tease. And if you’re allergic to ‘80s throwback vibes, this might feel a little too on-the-nose.
Thee Headcoats - The Sherlock Holmes Rhythm ‘n’ Beat Vernacular
Billy Childish’s garage-punk legends recorded 12 barnstormers at Ranscombe Studios in Rochester, their first album since returning from a 23-year hiatus in 2023. The Sherlock Holmes theme? Drummer Bruce Brand’s deerstalker hat obsession.
These are raw, authentic ‘60s-inspired rockers—think early Kinks, Pretty Things, Downliners Sect—with punk urgency and zero pretense. Songs like “And The Band Played Johnny B. Goode” and “100 Yards of Crash Barrier” hit like a fist.
What works: Billy Childish still writes killer garage riffs, and the band’s chemistry is untouchable. This is as good as anything from their ‘90s heyday.
What doesn’t work: If lo-fi grit and thematic focus aren’t your thing, some tracks might blur together.
Jimmy Eat World - Something(s) Loud EP
Jimmy Eat World is finally giving their digital-only singles a proper physical release. The Something(s) Loud EP—out November 14, 2025 on vinyl via their Exotic Location Recordings label—collects six tracks, including the previously unreleased “Failure,” recorded during the 2019 Surviving sessions with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen and mixed by Failure’s Ken Andrews.
The EP also includes “Something Loud,” “Place Your Debts” (plus a TW Walsh remix), an acoustic version of “Something Loud,” and a cover of Crooked Fingers’ “Call to Love” featuring Bethany Cosentino.
What works: “Failure” feels like a lost gem, and the EP captures the band reconnecting with fans post-pandemic without forcing a full album cycle.
What doesn’t work: If you were hoping for a bold new direction or a full-length album after six years since Surviving, this might feel like a stopgap.
Pig - The Merciful Night
Raymond Watts—industrial rock provocateur and KMFDM founding member—released The Merciful Night, a remix album of tracks from his recent Pig output, out November 14, 2025. Remixers include Euphonic, Tweaker, and others reworking Watts’ gritty, experimental industrial sound.
What works: Watts’ theatrical vocals and cinematic production get fresh interpretations that highlight his range.
What doesn’t work: If you’re expecting new original material, this is strictly a remix project. It’s for diehards, not newcomers.
AVTT/PTTN - AVTT/PTTN
This is the wildest collaboration of 2025: The Avett Brothers meet Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle). Scott and Seth Avett teamed up with Patton for a self-titled album blending Appalachian folk storytelling with experimental rock chaos. Produced by Patton, Scott, and Grammy-winning engineer Dana Nielsen, the album was written through a secretive, coast-to-coast exchange of ideas.
It opens gently with “Dark Night of My Soul”—three-part harmonies that could fit on any Avett Brothers record—before “Heaven’s Breath” unleashes fuzzed-out guitars and Patton’s trademark vocal theatrics. Lead single “Eternal Love” sits somewhere in between: a meditation on love’s beauty and burden.
What works: It’s genuinely unpredictable. The collision of folk warmth and surrealist aggression creates something neither artist could make alone.
What doesn’t work: The abrupt tonal shifts can feel jarring. If you’re a purist on either side, this might land in uncomfortable territory.