The Mars Volta, OK Go, The Saints & Squarepusher
Catch up on the week in new music and Dig Me Out podcasts
Latest Podcasts
The Saints - I’m Stranded | 70s Rock Revisited
In this special crossover episode, we’re spotlighting Brisbane’s 1977 I’m Stranded—a raw, proto-punk blast that helped shape the edge and energy of garage rock, grunge, and indie rebellion. With snarling guitars, DIY ethos, and zero interest in conforming, The Saints laid the groundwork for the disaffected swagger and sleaze later embraced by bands like…
Squarepusher - Hard Normal Daddy | 90s Album Revisited
It’s 1997. You're flipping through jewel cases at a local indie shop, the air smelling faintly of plastic wrap and cigarette smoke. The new Radiohead is playing overhead. Someone’s arguing about The Prodigy at the counter. Between the racks of post-grunge holdouts and Britpop imports, a warped bassline crackles through a listening station. You lean in. …
🥁 The Votes Have Been Counted
You’ve spoken—across both Patreon and Substack—and the winner of our latest 90s Rock podcast poll is:
Kill Holiday – Somewhere Between The Wrong Is Right: 37% 🏆
Social Distortion – Social Distortion: 30%
Boom Crash Opera – These Here Are Crazy Times!: 23%
Monsterland – Destroy What You Love: 10%
This one was tight—Kill Holiday and Social Distortion ran neck-and-neck until the final hours. But in the end, the shimmering fuzz and post-hardcore curiosity of Kill Holiday pulled ahead.
This month’s winner proves the value of listener-led discovery: Kill Holiday wasn’t a radio staple or a household name. But it struck a nerve. And now, we get to unpack a story many never heard—how a group of San Diego hardcore kids turned down the distortion and dialed in the melancholy.
New Releases
We get it—keeping up with new music can feel like drinking from a firehose. That’s why we’re doing the digging for you. Whether you’re here for deep cuts, comeback stories, or just curious what your favorite bands are up to now, here’s a roundup of recent releases worth checking out. No fluff, no hype—just context, texture, and what makes each one interesting. Let’s get into it.
The Mars Volta – Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacío
The Mars Volta picks up the thread from their 2022 self-titled reboot—only now, the grooves run deeper and the chaos is more contained. Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacío feels like a band that’s still wired for intensity, just not in a rush to explode at every turn.
They’re still pulling from Latin rhythms, jazz fusion, and psych rock, but the arrangements are tighter, more purposeful. Omar Rodríguez-López shapes the production with a focus on space and control, while Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s vocals sound less cryptic, more pointed. There’s structure here that past records didn’t always care for, and that shift says a lot. This isn’t about recreating their early madness—it’s about channeling it differently.
OK Go – And The Adjacent Possible
OK Go’s first album in over a decade started with code and algorithms, but what came out still sounds unmistakably like them. And The Adjacent Possible was built using AI-assisted tools that shuffled rhythms and reassembled melodies, yet the result is full of warmth, hooks, and charm.
This is still the band that obsesses over detail, but now they’re exploring the space between spontaneity and structure. There’s a curiosity baked into every track—like they’re asking, “What happens if we let the machines take the first pass, and we respond in kind?” It’s not a tech demo. It’s a record about possibility—and it feels like a natural extension of everything they’ve always been interested in.
Spin Doctors – Face Full of Cake
Spin Doctors are back, but not in a "remember the ‘90s?” kind of way. Face Full of Cake isn’t chasing old hits or repackaging “Two Princes.” It’s looser, groovier, and more about feel than flash.
The band leans into their jam-band roots here—riffs stretch out, the rhythm section breathes, and there’s a lived-in confidence to how the songs unfold. It’s not polished to death, and that’s part of the charm. You can hear the time that’s passed, not just in the lyrics, but in the way they play together. It’s not a comeback album. It’s just where they landed after a while away—and they sound good there.
The Album Leaf – ROTATIONS
ROTATIONS is The Album Leaf’s first full-length since 2016, and it plays like a slow exhale. Jimmy LaValle stays close to his ambient and post-rock foundations, but opens things up with a broader cast of collaborators this time around.
Synths, strings, and soft percussion swirl and build with cinematic pacing. There are no big hooks or loud turns—it’s more about texture, patience, and how sounds interact over time. Some of the contributors come from the Sigur Rós universe, and you can feel that shared language of space and tone. It’s a quiet record, but one that feels expansive if you give it time to move.
Mark Morton – Without The Pain
Mark Morton—best known for melting faces with Lamb of God—takes a softer path on Without The Pain. This isn’t a metal album. It’s more introspective, more layered, and built around songcraft instead of speed.
There’s a rotating cast of guest vocalists from different genres, which gives each track its own vibe. The sounds pull from rock, blues, and acoustic territory, but it all holds together thanks to Morton’s steady hand. He’s not showing off here—he’s exploring. And what he finds is subtle, melodic, and maybe even a little unexpected.
Röyksopp – True Electric
True Electric marks a shift back toward darker, beat-heavy terrain for Röyksopp, after their more ambient, conceptual recent projects. The tracks here are sleek, minimal, and designed more for motion than melody.
Processed vocals float in and out, but the synths do most of the talking. The pacing is smooth and continuous—like one long thought instead of a collection of singles. It doesn’t build to big moments, and it doesn’t try to. It just locks into a vibe and holds it. Late-night listening, headphones on, lights low.
Pulp – “Spike Island” (Single)
Pulp’s new single “Spike Island” is their first new music in 24 years—and the lead track from a full album (More) dropping June 6. It lands with weight, not just because of the time away, but because it feels like a statement: they’re not picking up where they left off, they’re re-entering with purpose.
The title nods to the legendary 1990 Stone Roses concert, but this isn’t a nostalgia trip. Jarvis Cocker’s delivery is as theatrical and cutting as ever, reflecting on memory, aging, and cultural mythology with a mix of wit and resignation. Musically, the track blends synthpop elements with a restrained rock pulse—moody, sleek, and more about tension than release.
There’s an AI-generated video that remixes old Different Class imagery, pushing the song’s themes of time and identity even further. It’s one song, but it’s loaded—and it sets the tone for what could be a very interesting full-length return.
Mark Hoppus – Fahrenheit-182
Mark Hoppus’s memoir Fahrenheit-182 mixes Blink history, personal crisis, and sharp humor into a nonlinear ride through a life lived loud—and lately, quietly heavy. The structure bounces around, but the voice is steady: self-aware, vulnerable, and just irreverent enough to keep it moving.
There are stories about label drama and pop-punk chaos, but the heart of the book is his cancer diagnosis and what came after. It’s not a pity party, and it’s not a redemption arc. It’s just honest. If you’ve followed Blink’s ups and downs, this fills in the blanks. If you haven’t, it still holds up as a story about trying to stay yourself when everything changes.
The Pulp song IS tied to an album.. which is called “More”