Smells Like Alt Rock

That's it! We're calling it and cutting the July 2026 playlist down to our top 20 favorites. Hope you've enjoyed these new tunes as much as we have.  Your favorite didn't make the list, that's okay check the 2026 - 2030 playlist and thanks to all the bands for all the new music!  Fuel take the top spot for July 2026 with their new single "Want It" ahead of October's album Pendulum.  Fuel - Want It Death Cab for Cutie - Riptides The Haunt - Worst Taste in Men Letdown. - Did It To You Switchfoot - Beautiful Life Mayday Parade - Lying to Myself Deer Fang - No Matter What The Beaches - Hypothetical Fai Laci - Cure Upon the Hill Shinedown - Machine Gun Sleeping with Sirens - House of Matches The Pretty Reckless - About You Royale Lynn - Altar Movements - Separate The Warning - Ritual Bike Routes - Ripley Against the Current - You and I Des Rocs - Sing Me Back To Sleep Eva Under Fire - My Own Name Knuckle Bones - Salah Honorable Mentions: Oleander - Fourth...

It's time to wrap up Quarter two of 2026 - lots of great songs played on repeat in April, May, and June, and we've narrowed them down to our favorites of the quarter. Citizen Soldier takes the cake with Only One coming out on top, but Black Stone Cherry landed on the list three times this quarter.   Listen to the Something Like Alt Rock 2026 Q2 Playlist Spotify and check out the list below.  Citizen Soldier - Only One Shinedown - Young Again Switchfoot - Absolution Black Stone Cherry - I'm Fine Deer Fang - Howl Broadside - What Are You Leaving Behind Tiger's Jaw - Lost On You Lansdowne - Feel You Coming Theory of a Deadman - Barricade Des Rocs - Riders of Red Hook Evanescence - Who Will You Follow Black Stone Cherry - Caught Up In The Up Down Out In Front - The Sound Keo - That's Me Mayday Parade - Blame it on the Youth Black Stone Cherry - Deep Letdown. - Do It For The Love The Cab - Sweet Kerosene Nothing But Thieves - Evolution The Maine - Half a Spark Sawyer Hi...

Fell massively behind this month - so we'll do this post a little differently. The June list will still be cut back to our top songs, but we'll introduce you to all of the songs here. All of the songs have been added to our Alt Rock 2026-2030 playlist .  Check out the June Playlist by clicking here - and see all of the song below.  Top Songs for June: Shinedown - Young Again Deer Fang - Howl Nothing But Thieves - Evolution Keo - That's Me Against the Current - Deadman Walking Lakeview - Wreck My Night Almost Monday - Skinny Dip The Haunt - Alone On Your Planet High June - Passing Through Sawyer Hill - Tyin' the Noose Dexter and the Moonrocks - 12 Steps Eva Under Fire - The Words You Say Sublime - Gangstalker Judah & The Lion - Maybe the Best is Now Young the Giant - This Too Shall Pass Honorable Mentions: My Chemical Romance - Na Na Na The Pretty Reckless - Dear God Framing Hanley - The Reckoning Death Cab for Cutie - Stone Over Water Halsey - Lucid And the rest of...

We're cutting the May list short so that you can take the best of May with you on your Memorial Day weekend. If this is your first rodeo with us - we build up a list of new music each month, then we cut it back at the end of the month. The May list peaked at 78 songs (4 hr 33 min), which have all been moved over the Smells Like Alt Rock 2026-2030 playlist . But as we do, it's time to cut the May list back, this month is a big final cut with 25 top picks and 5 honorable mentions. Theory of a Deadman captured the top spot this month with Barricade.  Check out the Best of May 2026 below or just give it a listen.  Theory of a Deadman - Barricade Citizen Soldier - Only One Atreyu - Wait My Love, I'll Be Home Black Stone Cherry - Deep The Cab - Sweet Kerosene Mayday Parade - Blame It On The Youth Oliver Tree - Fuck The Whole World Switchfoot - Absolution Des Rocs - Fall Together Broadside - What Are You Leaving Behind Out In Front - The Sound Foo Fighters - Window As It Is - Do...

That's it! April is a wrap! The April playlist peaked at 71 songs - with great new songs by long time favorites like the Foo Fighters, Evanescence, and U2 and some of our newer favorites like Lansdowne, Tigers Jaw, and Yonaka dropping great tunes - April was a tough one to cut back. We end up with a top 20 list and 7 honorable mentions. Lansdowne take April's #1 spot and #6.  Without further delay - here they are: Lansdowne - I Can You Coming Evanescence - Who Will You Follow Des Rocs - The Riders of Red Hook The Maine - Half A Spark Black Stone Cherry - I'm Fine Tigers Jaw - Lost On You Lansdowne - Can't Wish You Well Yonaka - At The Beach Good Boy Daisy - Where Did You Go? SCATTERBRAIN - Fast Lane Sevendust - Threshold Silversun Pickups - In The Air Against the Current - Heavenly Stereo Club - Slightly Jaded Switchfoot - Wake Up, Mr Crow Black Stone Cherry - Caught Up In The Up Down Seether - Proud Daddy The Pretty Reckless - Love Me Like Roses - No Where Deer Fang -...

Hard to believe we are a quarter into 2026, so it's time to make some tough cuts. Lot of great music has dropped over the past 12 weeks, and we're pumped for what the rest of 2026 brings.  Here's our top 25 for 2026 Q1 - check them on Spotify by clicking here. Tom Morello w/ Beartooth - Everything Burns Papa Roach - Wake Up Calling Sevendust - Is This The Real You Lansdowne - Release Me Goldfinger w/ El Hefe - The Punisher The Menzingers - Nobody's Heroes Sullvn w/ Dicky Barrett - Raise a Glass Dextrer & The  Moonrocks - All Your Friends Still Scare Me Silversun Pickups - Long Gone Social Distortion - Born to Kill Noah Kahan - Great Divide Des Rocs - When The Love Is Gone Landsdowne - Rescue Eva Under Fire - Murder Scene Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Angel's Cry Nickelback - Bone for the Crows Eddie and the Getaway - What Do I Do? The Maine - Die to Fall Sevendust - Unbreakable The Haunt - Ghost Michael Clifford - Carry You Away Daydreamers - She Is The Time I'm ...

March was a crazy good month for new music, the March playlist peaked at 73 songs. March was full of drops from familiar names like Foo Fighters, Sevendust, Nickelback, U2, New Found Glory, Young the Giant, Depeche Mode, and so many more. And at the same time, lots of bands we've been following since launching Smells Like Alt Rock like: As It Is, Lansdowne, Kensington, L0L0, Dexter and Moonrocks, and The Haunt - dropped some real bangers too.  The task to cut the playlist down for the end of the month was really hard this time, we got it down to a top 20 with 5 honorable mentions. And in the next week, we will also post the 2026 Q1 playlist - a big thank you to all the bands for the great music, you are making this really difficult and we love it!  The Menzingers grabbed the top spot this month with Nobody's Heroes Top 20 Songs from the Smells Like Alt Rock Blog for March: The Menzingers - Nobody's Heroes Sullvn w/ Dicky Barrett- Raise A Glass Social Distortion - Born To K...

Two months in, ten months to go. 2026 is flying by. February was a ridiculous strong month for new release and we made some painful cuts including cutting new songs by Foo Fighters and U2. We successfully cutdown a list that was over 50 songs to a top 15 with 10 honorable mentions. As always a huge thank you to all the bands for dropping such fantastic music and making so tough to choose. Here's a look at our favorite new songs from February : Papa Roach claims this month's #1 spot with Wake Up Calling. Papa Roach - Wake Up Calling Sevendust - Is This The Real You? Goldfinger - The Punisher Dermot Kennedy - Funeral Noah Kahan - The Great Divide Eva Under Fire - Murder Scene Dexter and The Moonrocks - Flavorless The Warning - Love to be Loved Bilmuri - Twice Embrace - Road to Nowhere Story of the Year - See Through YUNGBLUD - Suburban Requeim Out In Front - In Another Life The Cab - Locked and Loaded The Maine - Die to Fall Our Unusually Long Honorable Mention List: Sly Withers ...

It's time! Time to cut down the January playlist. It was tough, the list was approaching 70 songs. A big thank you to all of the bands for their great music this month. Don't worry, if there was song you liked you can still find it here on the 2026-2030 playlist . Did your favorite make the top 15? The top 10? I hope so, it's always a tough call when cutting the list back.   Anyway, here's the first monthly best of - Something Like Alt Rock playlist of 2026: Dexter and The Moonrocks (picitured above) - All Your Friends Still Scare Me Tom Morello w/ Beartooth - Everything Burns Within Temptation w/ Smash Into Pieces - Somebody Like You Lansdowne - Release Me Nanana - Before I Leave Michael Clifford - Carry You Away The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Angels Cry Lakeview - Can't Live Without Eddie and The Getaway - What Do I Do? Sahara Hotnights - Vanishing Girl Silversun Pickups - Long Gone Cole Barnhill - Everything You Hate The Format - Right Where I Belong DZ Deathrays ...

That's it! Dropping the final monthly playlist of the year. December 2025 turned out to be a strong month for new music, the playlist peaked at 55 songs.  Like other months, it has been trimmed back to our favorites of the month. At the end of each month, I often sit back and wonder: "What made these my favorites?". And like many months before I don't have a unifying trend to point to.  Some of the bands included are repeats from other playlists this year including: Shinedown, Dorothy, Yungblud, Voila, Flash Forward, and Deer Fang. Others are net new to the playlists like Oh The Larceny, Volumes, AMH, and Rosecoloredworld.  As always, many thanks to all of the bands for all of the great music, and a special thanks to bands who dropped new music in 2025 that landed on the Alt Rock: 2020-2025 playlist .  Without further ado, here are top tracks for December 2025: Loveless (pictures above) - The Cure Youthyear and Letdown. - Nightmare Shinedown - Searchlight Aerosmith, ...

2025 is officially in the books, and while we dropped our year‑end playlist the other week, let’s be honest — the songs that hit earlier in the year always have a bit of an advantage. More months, more spins. But Q4 came in swinging. Many of our favorite bands dropped absolute bangers this fall: Smash Into Pieces (pictured above) , Mayday Parade, Mammoth, Senses, Armor for Sleep, Yungblud, and plenty more. With so much great new music landing late in the year, we held off until now to share our top picks from Q4 2025. After listening to hundreds of tracks, we cut it down to 31: a mix of uptempo punk, emotional ballads, anthemic rock, and everything in between. Whether you’re here for the slow‑burn heartbreakers or the songs that make you want to jump around your living room, this quarter delivered. Without further ado, here are our top picks from Q4: ( Click here to play on Spotify. ) Smash Into Pieces - Villains Mayday Parade - Promises Mammoth - Same Old Song Anberlin - Ready Fuels S...

We know great music is still dropping in December, but we have to call it at some point. So we'll keep the December and Q4 playlists going until the end of the month, but we're calling it for the year end of playlist.  We tried hard to cut it down to 40 songs, but there were some songs we just couldn't cut and after reviewing our Spotify Wrapped there were some songs we needed to add, so we landed on 55 songs for 2025. Given that Wrapped says we listened to over 3700 songs this year, narrowing down to 55 is pretty good. In other words, here's the Something Like Alt Rock: Top 55 New Songs of 2025 :  Those Damn Crows (pictured above) - No Surrender Smash Into Pieces - Heroes The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Slipping Through Dorothy - Tombstone Town All Time Low - The Weather Senses - Stabilizer Bush - 60 Ways to Forget People Poesy - Home Royale Lynn - Greed Our Last Night - Version of Me Stereo Club - Familiar Faces Sawyer Hill - Masochistic Lover Knox - Pick Your Poison Sen...

If you’re nostalgic like me, (and if you’ve found Smells Like Alt Rock , you probably are) then you might look back on the grunge, post‑grunge, pop‑punk, and emo days as the true peak of alternative rock. The trouble is, tuning into today’s airwaves often leaves you flipping between classic rock, mainstream alternative, and modern rock stations, feeling never quite satisfied. But here’s the good news: many of the bands you grew up with are still making music, and 2025 brought a wave of new albums worth your time. I didn’t spin every release this year, but these are the ones I listened to enough to confidently recommend. Think of them as the soundtrack to your teenage drives or your college move‑in days — updated for right now.  (Links jump to albums on YouTube)  All Time Low - Everyone's Talking The Black Keys -  No Rain, No Flowers Buckcherry - Roar Like Thunder Bush -   I Beat Loneliness CheVelle -  Bright as Blasphemy Garbage - Let All That We Imagine Be Th...

We're approaching the end of a another month, and according to AAA a bunch of us will be on the road for the Thanksgiving holiday with something like 75 million Americans expecting to be traveling by car. So I'm getting this top songs of the  November list out to you without delay, hoping you will be able rock out on your travels.  As always a big think you to all of the bands for another month of great music. The November list hit 62 songs before I started cutting them back. You can find all of them on the Alt Rock 2020-2025 playlist. Here are our top songs of November 2025 : Top 15 Mammoth - Same Old Song Senses - You and I Smash Into Pieces - Villian Lansdowne - Burn It Down Dayseeker - Crawl in My Coffin Armor for Sleep - Sky Full of Blackholes Strumbellas - Hanging Out in My Head Sly Withers - Make My Mind Up  New Found Glory - Treat Yourself Action/Adventure w/ Armor for Sleep - Background Citizen Soldier - Dead Butterflies Adelita's Way - We Are Unbroke...

Artists from outside the U.S. have left an undeniable mark on alternative rock — shaping its sound, spirit, and global reach. From the haunting vocals of The Cranberries to the swagger of Oasis, the anthemic power of U2, and the raw emotion of Alanis Morissette and Nickelback, international acts have helped define the genre across generations. This playlist focuses on some of today’s most compelling alt rock artists from around the world, highlighting their work in 2025. Their voices are pushing boundaries, telling bold stories, and keeping the genre alive and evolving. Whether you're into gritty riffs, emotional ballads, or genre-blending experiments, these artists bring something fresh to the table. Those Damn Crows make the top of our list for 2025 album - God Shaped Hole Check out this playlist for a sample of our favorites.  Rank Artist Country Release 1 Those Damn Crows Wales Album: God Shaped Hole 2 Yungblud England Album: Idols 3 One Ok Rock Japan Album: Detox 4 Smash Into...

Before the blog, there was Facebook. It started with public posts about songs I was listening to and enjoying. And today, Facebook had a memory for me - 1 year ago, I was sitting in an airport, waiting for a connection, when I decided to do a top 10 for month of October 2024.  That top 10 was ultimately a top 10 with 5 honorable mentions. And that first list heavily informed my listening habits and the new music played in our house. And we've continued to seek out new music each week, get out to concerts for the bands we've found, and share our favorites with you all.  So here's a look at the original list : Deer Fang - Low Tide Silverstein - Confession Anberlin - High Stakes Bilmuri - The End Taylor Acorn w/ Charlotte Sands - Final Nail Armor for Sleep - What a Beautiful World One OK Rock - Dystopia Linkin Park - Over Each Other Grayscale - Kept Me Alive Health w/ Filter - Free To Die Honorable Mentions: Scarlett - Goddess Liotta Seoul - When I'm Dead Myles Kennedy - S...

We started this journey (originally in FB posts) by listening to new music by artists we already knew back in 2024 when bands like Pearl Jam and Green Day dropped new albums. It became a bigger mission to listen to new music each week - often 50+ songs a week and then narrowing it down to our favorite each month. The result was at the end of 2024, we had a bunch of bands that were new to us that we were pretty excited to support.  So here's a countdown of the new-to-us artists for 2025 with links albums or EPs that absolutely worth a listen.  (Note that many of these bands are touring, some of them together, so go see them.) Find a sample of all the artists here: Alt Rock: Best of New-To-Us 2025 1. Mayday Parade - Sweet 2. As December Falls - Everything's On Fire But I'm Fine   3. Knox -  Going Going Gone 4. Nevertel - Start Again 5. Yungblud - Idols 6. Sawyer Hill - Heartbreak Hysteria 7. BRKN Love - The Program 8. Flash Forward - Renegade 9. Mammoth - The End 10....

Another month, and another few hours of anguish to cut the list down. The October list peaked at 45 songs, and it's time to cut it down. As always a genuine big thanks to all the bands for another great month of new music. Lots of good stuff dropped in October. All of the songs will be added to the Alt Rock 2020-2025 playlist but only some remains on the October list - let's see which made the cut.   Here's a hint about the top spot: We'll start with our honorable mentions for the month: Nevertel - Good Intentions The Belair Lip Bombs - Back of My Hand Leap - Do or Die Shatter Me - Lindsey Stirling, Halestorm Versus Me - Echoes And the our favorites for the month: 1. "Lose Your Way & Find Yourself" - As It Is 2. "Promises" - Mayday Parade 3. "Ready Fuels" - Anberlin 4. "Better Love" - Bermuda Search Party 5. "Razor" - Daughtry 6. "Crimson & Clover" - I Prevail 7. "Holding On" - Thrice 8. ...

2025 isn't really done yet, but we'll start counting things down now so that you have time to add some CDs or vinyls to your Christmas list, or maybe if you are looking to rock out a concert this winter - you can check out one of these bands.  We're notoriously terrible at picking favorites, the list was growing, rather than shrinking as we put this list together. We listened to a ton of music this year, and that's a big part of why the list kept growing. We'd like to thank all of the bands for a year of fantastic music and fantastic concerts.  We decided to break things down into a few a different lists, including our top picks for albums and EPs that haven't dropped yet. We'll start with the upcoming albums for 2025:  Citizen Soldier -  Family Heirlooms Smash Into Pieces -  Armaheaven Mammoth -  The End Taylor Acorn -  Poster Child Senses -  Onto Something (EP) Aerosmith / Yungblud -  My Only Angel (EP) Lots of bands dropped extended plays ...

What a great year for music 2025 has been! Lots of bands dropping new music, and we've loved listening each month trying to find something new from bands we didn't know and listening to new tunes from bands we were already familiar with.  I started by writing out the albums and EP's on paper to make a list I thought we could cut down easily. (Ha! That's not how that is going.)  And I didn't plan to share the full list of albums considered. But as we were talking, it felt like sharing the list was the right thing to do - maybe one of the albums that doesn't make our best of 2025 list, would have made your list, right?  And we love what the bands are doing, and we love that you're on this musical journey with us, so why not share our full list of albums and EP's considered? You'll find it below. (Links should open the albums in Spotify) (We'll keep working to cut it down over the next few weeks, stay tuned.) Those Damn Crow - God Shaped Hole Mayday...