Despite being a prolific artist, singer songwriter Kurt Baker experienced a creative lull in 2025. Due to a change in personal circumstances – spearheaded by a massive change of location and a divorce – over the course of the year, he only released one digital single, before bowing out with a contribution to Wicked Cool Records’ Xmas compilation. Eventually buoyed by new writing partnership, his big return with ‘Undertow Afterglow’ puts the Kurt Baker stamp on a new year – and effectively a new beginning – in record time, appearing barely a week into 2026.
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RAYON – Shopping / Running
Rayon’s ‘Colour’ album – released in October 2022 – presented twelve tracks of pleasingly angular indie/post rock throughout a vinyl friendly forty minutes. Although there were times when main man Eric Sabatino’s work couldn’t claim to be one hundred percent original, the best bits of that long player were hugely entertaining. The highlights really showed off a band who could work a great riff: ‘Canada’ attacked with a harsh guitar sound coupled with a funky bassline, sounding like a deep cut from XTC’s ‘Drums & Wires’ before introducing a faintly psychedelic vocal; ‘Come Along’ mixed classic indie rock riffs with a finely tuned sinister edge, occasionally sounding like Robyn Hitchcock fronting the early 80s Cure, and ‘Blue Nights’ applied a fierce jangle and contrasted that with a vocal that was far more attuned with a dream pop sound, creating something surprisingly effective.
TOMBSTONES IN THEIR EYES – Under Dark Skies
Following 2024’s ‘Asylum Harbour’ – which featured a pair of very strong singles, ‘Mirror’ and ‘Gimme Some Pain’ – LA’s Tombstones In Their Eyes sound equally enthused on their sixth full length release ‘Under Dark Skies’. The record’s ten tracks take in some mighty riffs, mixing the huge sounds of shoegaze with the haziness of old school psych, adding a pinch of blues and a sprinkling of goth along the way, to create something that’s often very rewarding.
ALREADY DEAD – I Think It’s Time To Leave… EP
The first new music from the Boston punks Already Dead in almost a year, the band’s 2025 EP ‘I Think It’s Time To Leave…’ is in danger of being over as soon as it’s begun. Packing five high octane numbers into a little over ten minutes, the release barely gives the listener time to catch their breath, let alone provide an ideal opportunity to take stock of what they’re hearing. In terms of blending the classic Ramonescore sound with some old school, sometimes very British sounding punky thrills, the material really hits the mark, though, regardless of the release’s obvious brevity.
HOUSE OF HOSTS – Reckoning EP
At the end of 2023, House of Hosts’ debut single ‘Oblivion’ introduced a band who clearly knew their way around a riff. Right from the off, it showcased a band who could potentially crush their audience with relative ease. A few of the vocals were perhaps a little too gruff to fit with the alternative metal backdrop, but it presented something with a great potential. Over the course of a couple more singles, the rough edges had been ironed out a little, but by often sharing a cleaner vocal over a heavy sound, this Welsh band marked themselves out as a rising talent and an act that might build a committed following rather quickly.