This week’s indie rock bops run from brooding Glasgow post-punk to Bolton pop-punk to Boston alt-pop confessionals: loud in different ways, honest in all of them.
Easy Thieves – Situations
Easy Thieves’ “Situations” is a brilliant piece of Dallas alt-rock: a song about someone drifting back into your life after years away, and you’ll be glad this song drifted into yours
“Situations” was written by Jeff Rood about losing someone to life rather than death: the slow drift that ends a connection, followed by the gratitude and terror of crossing paths again during Covid years later. Recorded with Grammy-nominated engineer Bryan David, the track builds through push-pull dynamics toward a release that earns the tension preceding it. It’s smooth as butter this one, has a hint of a Del Amitri classic or maybe The 1975, but the lads are definitely in their own lane. Best of all is the song at the heart of this, it’s great and was an immediate addition to my road trip playlists.
Easy Thieves are a four-piece from Dallas: Marc Vega, Jeff Rood, Rick Colclasure and Jim Pawloski, a collective of seasoned songwriters who describe their sound as Romantic Survival Rock. They draw from the melodic alt-rock of the late 1990s and early 2000s with a Texas soul undercurrent, and play with equal conviction in acoustic settings and full-band electric ones. Excitingly, there’s a bunch of tracks recorded in recent sessions, so we’re expecting a follow up to ‘Situations’ pretty quickly. That’s a great situation for us to be in, because this band are great.
The Radio Addicts – Let’s Party Like It’s The 90s
The Radio Addicts’ “Let’s Party Like It’s The 90s” is an absolute vibe-fest of Bolton pop-punk and a teenage band already operating at a level most adults never reach.
“Let’s Party Like It’s The 90s” had its first public airing to around 25,500 people at the Bolton Wanderers v Luton Town match, then again at the play-off match against Bradford the following week, before its official release on 12 June 2026. Not a bad start for a young bunch of lads, and This Feeling have already named it their Track of the Day . Musically, it’s right to the heart guitar pop punk, with a hook that won’t leave your brain until the World Cup is done, and if we’re honest? We can’t get enough.
The Radio Addicts are Luke Cardwell, Daniel Wayland, Vincent Sanderson and Jonathan Wayland, a Bolton teenage four-piece formed in 2024. In their first year they sold out every show including the QMU, sold out their debut vinyl EP MMXXV four months before release, played a secret set at Kendal Calling that filled the tent, appeared on the front pages of both The Manchester Evening News and The Bolton News, and had Luke invited backstage to meet Bruce Springsteen at the Co-op Arena. Thankfully, it’s not just an exciting list of achievement, but an actual banger of a tune. More of this please lads.
Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends – The Hag
Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends’ “The Hag” is a stunning Stockholm indie-rock reconstruction: a woman burned for witchcraft in 1834, explosive drums and soaring guitar work that make the whole thing feel wonderful
“The Hag” is built around a middle section written in 1834 by Swedish writer and composer Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, whose original text tells the story of a woman burned at the stake on an accusation of witchcraft. Not your average sticky dancefloor indie tune then, but definitely all the better for it. The narrative is compelling, and musically there’s a huge amount to love here; vibey AF drums from Andreas Quincy Dahlbäck and lovely, spiky guitar work from Daniel Lagerlöf transform this into a psychedelic folk-rock beauty.
Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends is the solo project of ALIEN FRIEND, who previously played guitar and sang in Swedish band REDMOON. They’ve released a few bangers this year, and i love how the project glides elegantly across indie rock, shoegaze, psychedelia and folk rock with a consistent interest in source material that carries genuine historical and emotional weight. Thankfully, it’s part of an album, ‘The King and The Sparrow’ that I’ll be listening to this weekend. On the strength of this stunner, I don’t expect to be disappointed.
heavyskint – He Says, She Says
heavyskint’s “He Says, She Says” is a superb Glasgow post-punk single: true crime sleaze, found-footage dread, and a band that deserve to be heard very, very widely
“He Says, She Says” takes its cues from true crime storytelling and found-footage horror, building a brooding, dark atmosphere that pushes beyond the controlled intensity of heavyskint’s previous two singles. Which were great, to be honest. But this one should send the soaring, it’s fantastic. The production has a touch of contemporary stuff like Fontaines, but it also has a delicious hint of the 90s. It’s the melodic craft here that stands out for me, it’s all weight and momentum, and definitely feels like their most expansive single yet.
heavyskint formed in Glasgow in 2024 as a bedroom side project and arrived at their current lineup in early 2025, selling out every show since including King Tuts and the QMU. Fronted by Jacob Hunter, the band have built a growing following across Glasgow through the raw, unpredictable energy of their live performances. We’ve been keeping an eye on these lads for a few singles now, and on the strength of this one, we’ll be watching them even closer. It’s great.
Oscar Hall – Cancer
Oscar Hall’s “Cancer” is a gorgeously raw alt-pop anthem: over 450,000 streams into his career, and this is the one where things deserve to lift off.
“Cancer” was written by Oscar Hall and produced by Charlie Dahlke and Tyler DeTulleo, and it marks a deliberate shift from the softer register of his previous work into something grittier and more exposed. The subject is coming to terms with being the villain in someone else’s story, a position that requires the kind of unsentimental self-examination most songs avoid. Musically it’s in the world of pop, but on the slightly off kilter or edgier side, and we’re all for it. Oscar’s vocal sits squarely in the spotlight, and deservedly so, beacuse it’s genuinely stunning. It’s emotionally direct, unsparing, and we can’t get enough.
Oscar Hall is a Boston-based queer alt-pop artist originally from Arlington, Virginia, and a student of music therapy at Berklee, where he won the Career Jam Songwriting Award in 2024. His debut EP and album accumulated over 450,000 streams and earned coverage from queer media platforms including The Out Loud Podcast and The Property Brothers Blog. An impressive backdrop, but it’s this single that does the talking. It’s a beautiful, compelling piece and we can’t wait for more.