Smells Like Alt Rock

While the lineup has changed over the years, much like a lot of the bands I've followed since the 90's, brothers Ed and Dean Roland remain the consistent soul of Collective Soul. Originally out of Georgia, today's lineup, consisting of Will Turpin (bass), Johnny Rabb (drums), and Jesse Triplett (guitar) is still dropping fresh alt rock including 2024's Here To Eternity (recorded at Elvis Presley's Palm Springs estate) and their 2026 drop Touch and Go.  The band filmed the documentary Give Me A Word while recording Here To Eternity in California. The documentary, available on multiple streaming platforms including Amazon Prime and Apple TV, details the band's sudden rise to fame via 90's anthem "Shine", the lawsuit against their management company, their financial hard times before Disciplined Breakdown, and how the current lineup came to be.  We've seen Collective Soul - three times in the last few years. They continue to bring great energy to ...

Feels like I've been waiting for ages to do this post. With Fuel's new single, "Want It" dropping on July 10 ( Pre-save it here ), now is the time.  I've been listening to Fuel since 1998 - the year that featured the band on Godzilla The Album and the release of the Sunburn album with features hits Shimmer (peaked at #2 on the alternative charts) and Bittersweet (peaked at 17 on the alternative charts).  While the original line-up had changed by 1998, the line-up most fans became familiar with comprised of: Brett Scallions, Carl Bell, Jeff Abercrombie, and Kevin Miller started major touring sprints with bands like Buckcherry, Kid Rock, Oleander, Three Doors Down and many more. If somehow, you missed falling in love with the Sunburn album, you probably bought their sophomore album. But let's pause for a second, before I get ahead of myself. I loved "Walk The Sky", I remember thinking that I'd never heard anything like, and high school me knew that...

Sometimes a song lands in your Release Radar and stops you mid-scroll. That's exactly what happened in June 2025 when "Make It A Lie" showed up — the first single off Lansdowne's then-upcoming album Wish You Well . Hard-hitting, melodic, and anchored by Jon Ricci's absolutely standout vocals — powerful and loud without ever losing the melody — it was an immediate add. Good enough, in fact, to land at #13 on the blog's Best of June playlist . Not bad for a first introduction to a band that's been doing this since 2011. Make It A Lie - Music Video - Lansdowne The follow-up single "Four Wheel Freedom" dropped in August and cemented their spot the list bands we are following. There's something classically American about a rock song built around a car — and this one feels like an Independence Day banger that could sit next to Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane" or "Smalltown". Punchy, anthemic, and road-ready, it grabbed the #9 ...

Something Like Alt Rock was inspired by the great alt‑rock bands of the ’90s and early 2000s — with the intention of reflecting on and celebrating their music while also spotlighting new artists who carry that spirit forward. Today, we lost one of the greats. Brad Arnold, the unmistakable voice of 3 Doors Down, passed away after a battle with cancer. The band had canceled their 2025 tour as Brad fought stage 4 renal carcinoma, following a massive year of touring in 2024 that kicked off with Creed on the Summer of ’99 cruise. It’s hard to overstate the importance of 3 Doors Down to the late‑’90s and early‑2000s rock landscape. They were a major part of the crossover from alternative radio to the mainstream, standing shoulder‑to‑shoulder with contemporaries like Creed, Fuel, and Nickelback. The last couple of summers have been a celebration of that era, which made it especially exciting to see 3 Doors Down team up with Creed in 2024 and all the more heartbreaking when they had to step aw...

We first stumbled onto these Texas‑based, self‑described “Western space grunge” rockers when “ Ritalin ” landed on the All New Rock Spotify playlist in early 2025. We kept an ear on them, waiting for whatever came next — and “ Cry ” sealed the deal. Their sound leans into a mellow, almost weightless kind of rock. The vocals carry that raw, 90s‑grunge edge, but the overall vibe has this ambient, drifting quality that weirdly echoes the laid‑back cool of Steve Miller Band’s “ The Joker .” It wasn’t until recently while listening to 106.7 FM — The Resistance that I finally connected the dots: “ Sad in Carolina ” is theirs too. And honestly, if you know Dexter and the Moonrocks at all, it’s probably through that track. It’s the most uptempo cut on their 2024 EP Western Space Grunge , and it went all the way to #1 on the Alternative charts. If that still doesn’t ring a bell, you might recognize “ Ritalin ,” which hit #4 in 2025. They’re not rolling through the Upper Midwest at the mo...

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve done a band spotlight, so going back to where this whole new‑music journey started feels right. Our push to explore fresh sounds really kicked off when familiar names like Fuel, Bush, and Pearl Jam dropped their post‑pandemic bangers: Anomaly, The Art of Survival, and Dark Matter . Around the same time, we found ourselves tuning back into 106.7 FM The Resistance in Madison, WI. At first, we were laser‑focused on new tracks from the bands we already loved, but as radio tends to do, it slowly opened the door to new artists. And honestly? It was good. In 2024, we grabbed a family Spotify account. My listening habits were still anchored in the old favorites, but the whole point was to branch out, to actively seek out new music. And I’ll be real; it was a struggle. I kept waiting for a song to hit me the way music did back in junior high and high school — when the right guitar riff or the right lyric made you think, this is my song . You know that feeling....

It’s been a minute since we’ve done a band spotlight, so picking up with a group we stumbled into in 2025 feels like the right move. BRKN LOVE first hit my Release Radar when “Pulling Leeches” dropped back in February, and it immediately grabbed me. The track sits comfortably alongside the grunge and post‑grunge bands I grew up on: mid‑tempo, loud, gritty, driven by that steady, pounding rhythm — and yes, it even throws in a Machu Picchu reference. It landed on my Favorites of Feb ’25 playlist , represented the band on our New To Us 2025 mix , and ultimately came in at #32 on our favorite new songs of the year. The Canadian rockers made our April playlist twice with “Cruel” and “Rearview Mirror.” “Cruel” hits especially close to home thanks to the line: “And now I’m having dreams that all my teeth are falling out.” That’s been one of my recurring nightmares since junior high, so going on three decades now, so hearing it pop up in a song was… something. These three tracks are a sharp ...

With their 2025 The Magic Word Tour selling out entirely — and a homecoming stop in Milwaukee tomorrow at the Vivarium — it feels like the perfect time to put the spotlight on the LA‑based duo Voilà. Gus Ross, originally from London, and Luke Eisner, originally from Greendale, WI, landed on the Smells Like Alt Rock radar about this time last year when they dropped Ballerina featuring The Word Alive. It shot straight to the number one spot on our November 24 playlist. The track’s gentle music‑box melody layered with heavy guitar is slick and original. Clever wordplay is a hallmark of a Voilà song, and Ballerina is no exception: “I’m sorry what’s your excuse, you’re dancing around the subject, tiptoe around the bad news, somehow I think you love it, ballerina dressed in black…” Like several of their other music videos, Ballerina arrived with a classic black‑and‑white visual — a style that’s quickly becoming a Voilà staple. Their single After(h)ours also grabbed our attention for i...

With their second EP of the year dropping last night, today seemed like a good day to put the spotlight on Senses . Self-described as "emo-friendly, punk curious" - Senses has a fun sound that is reminiscent of early 2000's punk bands that got a lot of air time on the radio but Senses' sound is bolstered with Madison Taylor's powerful vocals, which a friend recently described as Pink-ish.  The band has had a busy 2025, not only dropping two EP's - but after dropping " I'm Still Breathing " - they headlined a tour across the US, making a stop at the X-Ray Arcade in Cudahy, WI - where Madison showed off her dairyland-pride dawning a pair of "WisCANsin" shorts. After the US headline tour, they headed to Australia - dropped some more singles - and then back to the US for a tour with Marianas Trench . And this fall Senses are across the pond for a short tour in the UK.  Hopefully many of you got to see them this year as Nick and Madison wer...

Given that we are headed out to see Lakeview when they play the High Noon Saloon this week, it seemed like a good time to give the duo a quick spotlight. The band first ended up on our radar when they opened at KATTFEST 2025 in Oklahoma this year, playing before our favorite band, Fuel  and sharing the stage with other bands you'll find on the Alt Rock Rewind here, like Candlebox , Staind , and Bush .   About the same time as Fuel announced KATTFEST as part of their 2025, Lakeview dropped "Wrong Side of the Track" which turned up on our Release Radar on Spotify. "Wrong Side of the Track" has a serious hook that's repeated enough to make the country rock song stick and you'll find yourself coming back to it because the lyrics are incredibly relatable. The country rock vibe of Wrong Side of the Track has left me comparing it to songs like "Nothing Could Come Between Us" by Theory of a Deadman or "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback as...

We hadn't done this before on the old Facebook posts, but periodically we'll post a band spotlight here to introduce you to a band and their music. To pay homage to Temple of the Dog, we'll call the series "Say Hello 2".  Tonight we'll start with Welsh rockers, Those Damn Crows .  They landed on my radar with the single, "Glass Heart" which dropped ahead of the 2025 album, God Shaped Hole.   God Shaped Hole topped the UK album charts at #1. By the time the album dropped, I had added all of the singles from it to my Spotify playlists. If you're looking soulful, powerful vocals with thoughtful lyrics, and an ability go hard and slow it down - this album has it all. At some point, I'll do a favorite albums of the year for 2025, and this one is likely to take the #1 spot - I purchased it on vinyl, CD, and digital.  The album is so good, that while I was on the Creed Cruise, I spent a morning listening to my pre-saved copy twice before returning t...