The Alt Weekly Roundup (6/9/25)
Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format. Albums, singles, videos, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Francis Doom – “Uninvited”
Jay Sakong’s been putting out singles here and there since I Caught the Light, his debut LP as Francis Doom, dropped last spring. The latest of these is a foreboding, eerie take on Alanis Morisette’s “Uninvited,” which he furnishes with strings and stabs of bleary overdriven guitar.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
skymender – skymender
The DC shoegaze quartet skymender released their debut LP If and Only in late 2023 before laying low throughout 2024, but that time away seems to have done them well. The band’s new self-titled EP is a refinement of the melodic, hazy sound of If and Only, with these four tracks carrying more heft and depth than even the best cuts from that album. The guitars are weightier and the vocals are pushed back a bit further without losing their catchiness.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Dan Darrah & The Rain – “Sister Song”
On “Sister Song,” the new single from Dan Darrah & The Rain’s upcoming sophomore album There’s a Place, the Toronto songwriter strays away from the sunny power pop of 2023’s Rivers Bridges Trains in favor of warm, rustic folk rock a la Neil Young or The Byrds.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Stateside – Where You Found Me
“Sometimes I wish I could go back to when I was 16 / just me and my burnt CD of Siamese Dream,” goes one particularly instructive lyric on “Stay Sweet,” the lead single from Stateside’s debut full-length. The California pop-punk band harkens back to the era of passing burnt mixed CDs to high school crushes. They’re bright, energetic, and and endlessly catchy all over Where You Found Me, and there’s no better demonstration of how far they’ve come than the new version of “Bitter Spring” tucked away towards the end of the record, a rerecorded take on the first song the band ever released. If that wasn’t full circle enough, “Stay Sweet” also features Joe Taylor of Knuckle Puck, who might have influenced Stateside just a bit.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Starling – “No Frown”
Starling’s new single “No Frown” is a perfect introduction to the LA band’s dreary, string-laden take on alt rock. The song moves at the pace of a slow drizzle, and vocalists/guitarists Kasha Souter Willet and Gitai Vishtok trade off melancholic verses in a way that suggests each is talking past the other.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week we compile a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
The Alternative is 100% supported by our readers. If you’d like to help us write about more great music and keep our site going, you can become a Patron on Patreon, which also allows you to receive extra content, sweet perks, and The Alternative merch, with levels starting at only $2 per month. Everything helps, and if you can’t afford to donate, consider sharing this article and spreading the word about our site! And if you want The Alternative delivered straight to your inbox every month, sign up for our free newsletter. Either way, thanks for reading!
