Smells Like Alt Rock

* Special guest review, by my oldest - who is a big time Taylor Acorn fan.* Hi! Today we’re excited to highlight another standout release from last week—Taylor Acorn’s  Poster Child ! This marks her second album and her first under a record label, Fearless Records. With this new album, she’s delivered a fresh wave of pop punk energy that’s both nostalgic and bold. I first discovered Taylor through “Final Nail” (featuring Charlotte Sands) from  Survival in Motion (Deluxe) , and quickly fell in love with tracks like “Applause,” “Hell of a Show,” and “Homebody.”  Poster Child  builds on that foundation with even more emotional depth and impeccable lyricism. The album kicks off with a bang. “People Pleaser” and “Crashing Out” are high-energy anthems that make you want to dance, jump, and let loose. “Hangman” is where Taylor’s lyrical brilliance really starts to shine—filled with metaphors about letters, threads, guessing games, and neck pain, it cleverly plays on the chi...

Armaheaven  by Smash Into Pieces dropped this week, and it’s simply smashing. The "Maze of Fools" single put the Swedish group on our radar, and we have been waiting a full year for the album’s release. Over the past year, the band released a slew of singles. The only ones that didn't make the final cut were their covers of "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw and Linkin Park’s “In the End.” Not including “Heroes” feels like a miss—not just because it’s excellent, but because thematically, it would’ve fit right in. The second track, “Villain,” arrived with a music video alongside the album launch. Given the popularity of tracks like “Heroes” and “Heroes Are Calling,” the title stood out as a striking juxtaposition. After a few listens, “Villain” reminded me of another recent favorite: “Ready Fuels” by Anberlin. While the bands styles are different - these songs have similar emotional intensity and themes. “NeoFuture” felt like an odd choice for an opener at first—falling...

Last night, two of us made it out to a sold-out show at The Sylvee. A man near the front wore a black shirt that read “Pop Punk Is Not Dead,” and honestly, that pretty much summed up the night. The Paradox opened with a ton of energy and hilarity. We first discovered their music on Spotify when “Do Me Like That” landed on the Release Radar. Their high-energy jumps and hilarious commentary on the crowd’s costumes—from the broccoli guy to Darth Maul to Buzz Lightyear—were definite highlights. Their sound is classic pop punk, and the anecdote about getting hit by an ex-girlfriend in a Subaru got a big reaction from the audience. It might’ve been a slightly off night for the group—we were really excited to see them live after getting into their music on Spotify—but the vocals, especially the backup vocals, left something to be desired. Still, it was a fun set that got the crowd moving. The Cab took the stage next. We were the least familiar with them going in, so we entered their set bli...

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...

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...

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. ...

Thank God it's Friday! Stayed up after the Lakeview  show (which was awesome!) to watch new music drop at midnight. Listened to my Release Radar on the way to work and was surprised at how few songs made the All New Rock, All New Punk and All New Alt playlists. Sometimes, it takes me through the weekend to build the list for the week, but here's what was added to October today (as a reminder, the October list will be cut back to 10-15 song by the end of the month - probably next weekend): Deer Fang - Tasting Blood Yellowcard - Barely Alive Thrice - The Dark Glow The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Purple Halo Armor for Sleep - The Outer Ring Lindsey Stirling , Halestrom - Shatter Me Ryan Perdz - Temporary All Time Low (w/ Jojo ) - Sugar (BTW - their Everyones Talking album is excellent!) Sam Fender (w/ Elton John ) - Talk to You Porch Light - Upside Maggie Lindemann - Split  BRKN Love  - Crooked Tongue

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...

2025 has been a year filled with solid albums and EP's dropping, and we'll get into some of our favorites in a few weeks. But before that, let's take a look at some of the upcoming albums we're pumped about.  There's still a lot of good albums dropping here in October and into November, so if you are getting a jump on your holiday shopping or maybe you are just looking for some pre-saves to add to your library - consider starting with these (videos of our favorite singles from each are below): (And of course we'll keep you posted when more new music is dropping!) All Time Low - Everyone's Talking : (10/17) - The Weather Senses - Onto Something EP : (10/24) - Tiptoeing Mammoth - The End : (10/24) - The End Taylor Acorn - Poster Child (10/24) - Hangman Smash Into Pieces -  Armaheaven  (10/31) - Maze of Fools Aerosmith w/ Yungblud - One More Time EP (11/21) - My Only Angel

This week's list will start with some "Armor for Sleep" a band I first encountered on the Transformers soundtrack. Must have been a particularly good week for new music drops - this week saw 18 songs added to the October list - that as a reminder - will be cut back at the end of the month to a list ~15 songs with ~5 honorable mentions. Excited to have two bands with Wisconsin roots on this week's list with both Voila and Versus Me featuring this week. Also adding three of these bands to the Concert Calendar : with Porch Light playing the High Noon Saloon , Versus Me playing the Majestic , and Joyce Manor playing the Sylvee . As always, you can find the videos for each song below, and you can find the October list on Spotify .  Enjoy! Armor for Sleep - In Another Dream Yellowcard w/ Avril Lavigne - You Broke Me Too Voila - Lifeblood The Rasmus w/ Theory of a Deadman - Creatures of Chaos Alter Bridge - What Lies Within Thrice - Holding On Mayday Parade - I Must Obey...

It wouldn't be right to go through October without recognizing Halloween in some fashion. So we've pulled together a special Alt Rock playlist with spooky band names, song titles, or lyrics with references to ghosts and gravestones and such.  Here's the list:  Alt Rock Halloween on Spotify : Yungblud - Zombie Yungblud - Ghosts All Time Low - Monsters The Automatic - Monster V Shaped Mind - Monsters The Cranberries - Zombie Rob Zombie - Dragula Taylor Acorn - Final Nail Deer Fang - Low Tide Dorothy - The Devil I Know Nothing More - We're All Gonna Die Evanescence - Afterlife Darth Marley / Rev Theory - Monster In My Skin Reece Mastin - UFO Royale Lynn - WTCH Tantric / Chris Poland - Moonlight Feels Right mgk - Vampire Diaries  L0L0 - The Devil Wears Converse Ra - Devil Mind Florence + the Machine - Everybody Scream Loveless - Phantom of You No Doubt - Spiderwebs Evanescence - My Immortal Dave Matthews Band - Halloween The Smashing Pumpkins - Doomsday Clock REM - Daysleep...

In case you weren't with us before - here's the deal - we listen to a bunch of new songs each week - narrow it down to some we add to monthly list, then at the end of the month, we usually have like 50 songs that we narrow down to 15 or so songs.  By our count, it's the second week of new music for October 2025, Click Read More to see what all we found this week. We'll start things with "Promises" by Mayday Parade, followed by new music from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Sawyer Hill, I Prevail, Starset, Nevertel, and Acceptance w/ The Maine. Checkout the  October List  on Spotify.  Mayday Parade - Promises The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Perfection Sawyer Hill - Eye for Eye I Prevail - Crimson & Clover Starset - AD Astra Nevertel - Ever After Acceptance (featuring The Maine) - The Letter New Found Glory - Laugh It Off