It’s no secret that I’m an idiot. But even I am not stupid enough to think that I could preview every one of the 1,100 albums, EPs and other assorted releases coming out on (or around) Record Store Day next week. So I’m sure I missed a few buried treasures while putting together this roundup. So be it. If you think you can do better, put together your own list. Meanwhile, here are my plays of the week:
Swamp Dogg
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted Soundtrack
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted plunges into the hilarious, soulful, and psychedelic world of Swamp Dogg, Jerry Williams‘ wild alter ego and lifelong creative shield. Since becoming Swamp Dogg in 1970, he’s used the persona to break rules, bend genres, and say whatever the moment demanded. This album channels that unclassifiable spirit: a blend of heartache soul, political bite, cosmic humour, and anything-goes experimentation from an artist who promised himself he’d do nothing in life but make records. Set in the suburban San Fernando Valley, the film follows Swamp Dogg and housemates Moogstar and Guitar Shorty as they transform their home into an artistic playground and navigate the chaotic ups and downs of the music industry. This soundtrack mirrors their journey — raw, joyful, weird, and deeply human — offering a snapshot of an entertainer committed to being fully, unapologetically himself.”
Teen Suicide
Nude Descending Staircase Headless
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Teen Suicide’s seventh LP is the band’s first full-length release in three years. Originally formed in 2010 as a side project of Sam Ray, Teen Suicide gradually evolved while remaining a passion-driven endeavor. Since 2017, the lineup has included Kitty Ray, and in 2022 the band officially became a full-time project with the addition of drummer Niko Wood. Together, the trio began writing and recording their upcoming LP, Nude Descending Staircase Headless. The album represents a series of firsts for the band: Their first record recorded in a professional studio, their first release written and recorded as a full-time band, and their first since 2012 to feature a dedicated drummer throughout. It also marks the beginning of a fully shared writing process between Sam and Ray, who married in 2016 and collaborated from the ground up on the entire record, splitting both songwriting and vocal duties. Described by Ray as the band’s “career highlight so far,” Nude Descending Staircase Headless explores the endless pursuit of fulfillment through creation, threading motifs of death and rebirth with themes of embracing joy in the wake of immense loss.”
Deniz Tek
The Beat
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “At the centre of The Beat there is not an idea, a concept, or a plan. There is a rhythm. And the person who played it. In 2015, while working on material for the Mean Old Twister album, Deniz Tek and Ric Parnell spent time playing together without a goal. Ric on drums, Deniz on rhythm guitar. No rules, no formula, no songs to finish. Just jamming, listening, following the moment. The sessions were recorded casually, then put away and forgotten. Ric Parnell passed away in May 2022. Parnell was a drummer with a long and distinctive history. He first came to prominence with Atomic Rooster in the early 1970s, contributing to their most influential work, and later became widely known as the drummer in Spinal Tap, where technical precision and musical intelligence were hidden behind satire. Beyond the credits, Ric was a deeply musical player, with a strong sense of dynamics, restraint and forward motion. He played for the song, always. Years later, Ron Sanchez came across the recordings and sent them to Deniz. Hearing them again for the first time in nearly a decade, Tek was struck by their clarity. Ric’s drum tracks were not loose ideas or rough sketches. Every take was close to perfection. Focused, musical, complete. Those performances became the foundation of a new album.”
They Might Be Giants
The World Is To Dig
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “They Might Be Giants have spent over four decades perfecting a very specific kind of musical alchemy, and their 24th studio album, The World Is To Dig, feels like the ultimate refinement of that process. The 18-track collection serves as a vivid reminder that John Linnell and John Flansburgh remain two of the most restless and inventive architects in the history of alternative pop. While many of their contemporaries from the ’80s and ’90s have settled into the comfortable grooves of legacy-act nostalgia, the Johns continue to approach the recording studio as a playground for high-concept experimentation and melodic subversion. Musically, The World Is To Dig is a sprawling “pop multiverse” that leaps from Tin Pan Alley theatricality to jittery, synth-driven New Wave without ever losing its internal logic. Lyrically, the album finds the duo navigating the anxieties of the modern world with their signature blend of wit and existential dread. They remain masters of the “happy song about a sad thing,” masking profound observations about mortality, technology, and human frailty behind bright major chords and infectious hooks.”
13th Floor Elevators
We Are Not Live
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The 13th Floor Elevators’ We Are Not Live serves as both a historical correction and a long-overdue gift to fans of psychedelic rock. To understand its significance, one must first look back to the original 1968 album Live. Issued while the band was fracturing under the weight of legal troubles and Roky Erickson’s declining mental health, the 1968 record was one of the most notorious “fake” live albums in rock history. The label, desperate for content but lacking a professional live recording, took studio outtakes, alternate versions and existing masters, then crudely overdubbed the sounds of a cheering crowd. Legend has it the audience noise was lifted from a boxing match, and the result was a sonic mess where the applause swelled at inappropriate moments, distracting from the raw, garage-psych energy of the Austin pioneers. We Are Not Live finally strips away that artificial veneer to reveal the music as it was meant to be heard. By removing the intrusive crowd noise, the album functions as a “de-mixed” restoration of those 1966–1968 sessions. It transforms what was once a source of frustration for purists into a crisp, essential collection of studio performances. The tracks included represent the band at their most visceral, featuring the piercing, soulful vocals of Erickson and the rhythmic, otherworldly pulse of Tommy Hall’s electric jug — an instrument that provided the Elevators with a sonic signature unlike any of their contemporaries.”
Various Artists
Rock And Roll Doctor: Lowell George Tribute
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Little Feat’s Lowell George may well be the most underrated and underappreciated figure in the history of rock ’n’ roll. As a writer, guitarist, singer, and producer, his influence spanned genres — rock, R&B, country, blues, and the adventurous rhythms of West Coast jazz — and seemed to know no bounds. It was inevitable that George’s musical friends and admirers would unite to honor his legacy. Originally released in Japan in 1997, Rock And Roll Doctor: Lowell George Tribute Album brought together some of the biggest names in music to celebrate his extraordinary gifts. This long out-of-print document features 15 standout tracks from Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, JD Souther, Eddie Money and Lowell’s daughter Inara George in collaboration with Van Dyke Parks. It also includes a previously unissued rendition of George’s signature song Willin’, recorded by Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris with Inara.”
Ween
Europe 90
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ween’s Europe 90 might be the definitive archaeological dig into the “brown” soil of the band’s most primitive and hallucinogenic era. For decades, the lore of Gene and Dean Ween’s first foray across the Atlantic was preserved primarily through grainy bootlegs and the hushed reverence of longtime fans. This archival three-LP set finally codifies that chaos into an official document, capturing Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo at a pivotal junction where their four-track home-recording wizardry met the cold, unforgiving reality of the European club circuit. It is a record that smells of cheap beer, malfunctioning drum machines, and the sheer audacity of two kids from New Hope, Pennsylvania, trying to conquer the world with nothing but a DAT tape and a distorted Fender Stratocaster.”
Weezer
1192
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Weezer’s original bassist and founding member Matt Sharp recently stumbled upon a long-lost analog tape reel of the band’s very first studio sessions. These were the recordings that were responsible for earning the band a record contract for their debut Blue album and features raw, untamed versions of their timeless hit songs, like Say It Ain’t So and Undone (The Sweater Song), that made the album an instant classic. Sharp and producer Joe Chiccarrelli took these recordings to L.A.’s famed East/West Studios, where The Beach Boys created Pet Sounds and Frank Sinatra recorded My Way, to take a deeper look into this mysterious reel of 1” Ampex tape. What the two men quickly discovered was the original lineup of the group in an explosively joyful and feral form. Making the decision to honor the original era and intention of the music, the songs were remixed from top to bottom, from tape to vinyl, in a 100% analog process.”
Eaves Wilder
Little Miss Sunshine
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Eaves Wilder’s debut album Little Miss Sunshine captures a stellar evolutionary leap for the North London singer-songwriter who first came to attention back in 2020, aged 16, with her self-recorded lockdown release Won’t You Be Happy. Eaves began working on Little Miss Sunshine after a period of reflection which saw her question whether she could ultimately do justice to the music in her head. Time spent with the record will reveal ten songs that look to the cycles of nature to explain and celebrate the emotional weather that makes us human. “At my lowest,” recalls Eaves, who at once point even laughs as she recalls how she resolved to give up music altogether with a view to entering a convent: “I just wanted to be unhuman, unfeeling and unmoved. Like a mountain or a tree. Or the sky. These are all things that have a purpose but I didn’t know what my purpose was. And so what I had to do was figure it out, song by song.”
Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts
As Time Explodes: The Live Album
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts’ live album As Time Explodes is a landmark memento of a vital new chapter in the rock legend’s storied career. Emerging from the 2024 cancellation of his tour with Crazy Horse due to illness, The Chrome Hearts — Micah Nelson on guitar, Spooner Oldham on keyboards, Corey McCormick on bass and Anthony LoGerfo on drums — offered a powerful resurgence for Young. This double LP captures the raw, revitalized energy of the band’s 2025 Love Earth world tour, which saw them perform across North America and Europe. The album’s 13-track setlist is a masterful balance of deep cuts and classics. Produced by Lou Adler and The Volume Dealers (Young and Niko Bolas), As Time Explodes offers a sound that is both skeletal and muscular, emphasizing the intricate chemistry between Young and his collaborators. Standout tracks include a sprawling 14-minute version of Cortez the Killer — which Young has praised as one of the best versions ever recorded — and the new Big Crime, which debuted during the tour’s Chicago soundcheck and highlights the band’s improvisational depth.”
Zeni Geva & Steve Albini
Superunit: Maximum Implosion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Superunit: Maximum Implosion brings together the collected collaborative works of Zeni Geva and Steve Albini (Shellac, Big Black) in one comprehensive package. Included is Zeni Geva’s landmark album Nai-Ha, the rare Superunit studio recordings and the live album All Right, You Little Bastards! culled from Zeni Geva and Albini’s historic live performances in Tokyo and Osaka. Albini was an avid proponent of Japan’s Zeni Geva, producing five albums, as well as various singles and compilation appearances for the ultra-heavy, progressive noise-rock, math-metal powerhouse. However, during a particularly prolific period, near the dawn of the formation of his band Shellac, Steve joined forces with Zeni Geva on guitar and vocals for a series of releases now being collected in their entirety for the first time.”
Zodiac Youth
Carnival Of Souls
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The collaboration between Zodiac Mindwarp and the veteran producer Youth (Martin Glover of Killing Joke) is a collision of two of the most idiosyncratic minds in British counterculture. Their project, Zodiac Youth, and the album Carnival Of Souls, is a sprawling, psychedelic odyssey that feels less like a traditional studio recording and more like a captured transmission from a distorted parallel dimension. This is a curation of “crazed psych rock” tracks recorded over a 15-year period, finally unearthed and polished. It serves as a sonic bridge between the grease-stained biker rock of Zodiac Mindwarp and the expansive, dub-inflected post-punk production style that has made Youth a titan of the industry. Ultimately, Carnival Of Souls is a testament to the enduring chemistry between two artists who have spent their careers operating on the fringes of the mainstream.”