January 30th seems to be this year’s dam bust for new releases. It also broke my bad luck streak, and happy to say next month I’ll be starting a new gig.

In the meantime I am actually doing something I’ve been meaning to: really digging into my inbox and recommends and submissions to get a few layers deeper than the others, and getting the Heathen Disco supplemental newsletter ready to publish. It’ll be nice to have a good backlog and scheduled run dates up before my life shifts into the next gear.

Here’s some records that are worth it, unless they’re not.

Keep sending ‘em in! PO Box 25717 Chicago IL 60625 USA // [email protected]

First one teed up after this message.

CBDistillery’s expert botanist has formulated a potent blend of cannabinoids to deliver body-melting relaxation without the next-day hangover.

Enhanced Relief Gummies feature 5mg of naturally-occurring Delta-9 THC and 75mg of CBD to help your body and mind relax before bedtime so you’re ready to ease into a great night’s sleep and take on whatever tomorrow brings.

Try Enhanced Relief Gummies risk-free with our 60-day money-back guarantee and save 25% on your first order with code HNY25.

Shop and Save 25%

CULT OBJECTS Amulet LP (World Gone Mad)

Marked improvements (an old boss would say “step-level growth”) abound from this really excellent Philadelphia post-punk band. The persistent upbeat drive of their rhythm section against these circular riffs, stormy choruses and harmonized vocals high above it all points towards a mood that darkens variably based on the moment. They’re relying less on the scrape and bite from their 2022 debut and distributing their energies outward and across; if they sound more settled, they’re no less exciting than before, just more confident, wisely dressed in layers for the cold front pushing off these ten tracks. That fingerless-glove frostiness is what keeps me (and maybe you) inside this work, but sometimes you wanna look up and see the gears turning instead of just appreciating the machines’ output, and that’s happening here: more to the songs, more to the complete notion of a band whose members have pushed themselvesto figure out something that many others in this scene haven’t: how to get back to the sounds of a previous generation (or two) back without completely succumbing to an artificial or obvious notion of what that would be. “Salem 66 blasting cigs in that cement alcove under the school stairs and walking in the snow to the cemetery” wasn’t an expectation for 2026, but it’s one of the better ones as compared to what we’re enduring as of late.

After the jump, more reviews which you can read by subscribing.