In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on January 30, 2026:
Joyce Manor, I Used to Go to This Bar
One of the most consistent bands in pop-punk, Joyce Manor have found ways to refine their sound while going out on a limb on at least a couple of songs on every album, and their latest is no exception. “Regular depression,” as Barry Johnson once put it in describing their self-titled album, has hardly lost its regularity and fans can all rally around it no matter the musical style it’s presented. But two decades is enough hindsight to say what it really used to be like, and no matter how dark, the comforting thing about I Used to Go to This Bar is the sense that Joyce Manor could be doing the same in as many years from now. Read the full review.
Softcult, When a Flower Doesn’t Grow
Self-produced and self-recorded, Softcult’s debut album journeys through self-transformation, presenting songs of radicalization and resilience that twist from riotous to gauzy, fuzzy and ethereal. When a Flower Doesn’t Grow follows Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn’s 2024 EP Heaven. “I had internalised so much oppression, abuse, sexism, misogyny, and shame, while still preaching empowerment in my lyrics,” Mercedes said in press materials. “The person I portrayed myself to be on stage was not the same person making the decisions that governed my life. I was rootbound. I was disappearing, shrinking, withering away.”
The Soft Pink Truth, Can Such Delightful Times Go on Forever?
Every the Soft Pink Truth album title is a question that also serves as a creative prompt for Drew Daniel. Can Such Delightful Times Go on Forever? is taken from a passage in Stendhal’s psychological novel The Red and the Black, translated by Roger Gard as such: “One evening at sunset, seated by his lover’s side in the depths of an orchard and far from any interruptions, he was sunk deep in reverie. Can such delightful times go on forever? he wondered.” You may not find yourself in these precise circumstances as you press play on Daniel’s latest effort, but it certainly sinks you into that tracelike state. A lush glimpse into the world of concert halls, it’s labyrinthine without ever sounding anything less than playful.
Geologist, Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?
The title of Animal Collective member Geogolist’s debut solo album may not sound as philosophical as the Soft Pink Truth’s latest, but there’s something in it about the mysterious, refractive nature of time. Brian Weitz said “the title of the album once a day for probably four thousand days in a row, at least,” according to press materials. “Now it’s been over five thousand days since he stopped saying it.” Inspired by a hurdy-gurdy performance he saw Keiji Haino deliver 28 years ago, the instrumental record transmutes and expands its traditional sounds in satisfying ways, aided by drummers Emma Garau, Alianna Kalaba (FACS, Cat Power) and Ryan Oslance (The Dead Tongues, Indigo De Souza), Sham’s Shane McCord on clarinets, and Mikey Powers on cello. His AnCo bandmate Avey Tare and son Merrick Weitz also contribute.
By Storm, My Ghosts Go Ghost
By Storm – the duo of former trio Injury Reserve’s RiTchie and Parker Corey – have released their meditative, mournful, and disarming debut album as By Storm, My Ghosts Go Ghost. “This past decade we built our identity and every record has been us figuring out more about the kind of band we want to be,” RiTchie said in a press release. “That doesn’t change.” The record features a guest appearance from Armand Hammer’s billy woods on ‘Best Interest’.
Lande Hekt, Lucky Now
Lande Hekt is back with a new solo album, Lucky Now. Following her 2021 debut full-length Going to Hell and 2022’s House Without a View, the album was written and recorded with producer Matthew Simms (Wire, It Hugs Back). “I’m not as concerned about how I’m presenting myself,” Hekt said in press materials. “I’ve tried to think less about how things are coming across, and just write songs that make me feel connected to myself and what I value.” Lucky Now‘s heightened maturity certainly doesn’t come at the expense of exceedingly pretty, vibrant tunes. “I wanted to try and push for something slightly more positive, which I’m trying to do more of generally — just to not fall apart,” Hekt added.
Other albums out today:
Yumi Zouma, No Lost Love to Kindness; Plantoid, Flare; Guv, Warmer Than Gold; Don Toliver, OCTANE; Cindytalk, Sunset and Forever; Tashi Dorji, low clouds hang, this land is on fire; Cast, Yeah Yeah Yeah; Only the Poets, And I’d Do It Again; David Moore, Graze The Bell; Tyler Ballgame, For the First Time, Again; Markus Guentner, On Brutal Soil, We Grow; Kula Shaker, Wormslayer; Cordovas, Back to Life; Marta Del Grandi, Dream Life; Ye Vagabonds, All Tied Together; Concrete Husband, Where the Ashes Glow.
