I begin my list with two conclusions about the first half of 2026: I am once again (more or less) over alt-country, and I can’t quite figure this year out.
As Steve and Ian on Indiecast put it, this has been a year that has produced a bunch of records I like a lot but nothing that I feel (at least not yet) is a classic, or one that I will come back to again and again in years to come. In the last few years, we’ve had Horsegirl, Heems, Naima Bock, Black Thought, Porridge Radio, and Wednesday all produce records I go back to again and again. (To be honest, I did have a record by a band called Island of Love as my number one of 2023, and I stand behind it as an incredible rock album, and “I’ve Got the Secret” as the best rock song of the 2020s, but the band’s demise soon thereafter has definitely affected its longevity and my connection to it).
As a result, I feel like I listen to more music than ever but less and less of it sticks. Maybe I’m just old and distracted (it’s in the name of the site, after all). Maybe I’m a product of the times. Maybe I just can’t quite figure out where I am (I travel a lot between AZ and DC these days), exactly, and thus it’s harder to connect to any specific music for more than what feels like a few minutes.
What I do know for sure is that I am really tiring of alt-country/Americana/“porch music.” This was my core music in the 90s, with Uncle Tupelo and others really shaping how I thought about and connected to music and, to a degree, life. This stayed true through much of the 90s, and then I more or less gave up for the most part because it all started to sound the same to me, and I lost interest. Then Wednesday/MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee (who of course didn’t really start there) brought me back, accelerated further by other bands like Fust, Florry, and Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band.
Yet after a few great years of returning to the sound, I feel like I’ve lost interest again. And as such, my list not only differs more from OG Brian’s (whose list is fantastic) than in years past, but my picks feel very much of the moment and likely to change in just a month’s time. But since we are music writers (at least in our dreams), we have to come up with a mid-year list, and so this is where I stand just now. In the end, I’ve listed 35 releases total: a top 15 (+4 EPs/reissues), then another 10 that could well be on my year-end list depending on how things shake out, and finally another 6 that I have heard in just the last week that make me excited for the rest of the year.
1 - House of All - Inklings. Is this the best record of the year? Almost certainly not. I’m also fairly sure it won’t end up as my top of 2026. But it’s the one I have found myself coming back to more than just about any other in the last few months. This band has gained notoriety as a group comprised of former members of The Fall, but it’s a different reference point that has vaulted them to the top of my list. I am a massive fan of the Wedding Present, one of the most underrated indie acts ever, and this feels like the best impression of that band and lead singer David Gedge I’ve heard in a long time: the tone and depth of the vocals, the catchiness of the riffs, the core that the drums provide, largely because they have two drummers. This album is definitely nothing on the order of Seamonsters, Bizarro, or even Watusi, but it brings the spirt of the Fall together with the sound of the Wedding Present and has produced a brilliant record, which feels like something only veterans - Old Guys, if you will - could have produced.
1A - many shining windows - mud. Not really counting this as an album, but I also can’t exclude it. Just a two song release from a mysterious Brooklyn band that one of my best music sources - my friend JJ Harder - turned me on to (true of several albums on the list). Both tracks are infectious, but the second track “untitled (you never check it)” is my undisputed favorite track of the year so far. So much going on in under 4 minutes.
2 - Twisted Teens - Blame the Clown. I wrote about this record here, and I still love it. Even if it’s not quite the Is This It of its time, the mix of lo-fi garage, pedal steel, and slightly off-kilter lyrics has kept me coming back just as often as Julian Casablancas and crew did in 2001.
3 - Touch Girl Apple Blossom - Graceful. I wrote about their earlier EP here, and Brian covered this new release here. In terms of indie pop/twee, which has more or less become my favorite genre in recent years, this is my favorite of the year. It’s not as dependable or as varied as Horsegirl was last year, and as I wrote, they have a ways to go before they live up to their name’s origin, but for now, I’m definitely asking my dealer for more.
4 - Cola - Cost of Living Adjustment. This Montreal band, formed in the ashes of the excellent band Ought, just makes great indie rock. There are moments that remind me of the Walkmen or, again, the Strokes, but they somehow take a fairly tried and true sound and make it exciting.
5 - SAULT - Chapter 1. I’ve long called SAULT the best band in the world, and their January release demonstrates why. I wrote about it here. Though it’s admittedly not even among their best, this is a band who can make a solid record that is better than most any other band can dream of producing. In that earlier piece, I said this was “not so much a return to form as a return to force,” and I stand by that. When you need an R&B/soul/funk band to sound powerful and prove to be an act for its generation, SAULT is it.
6 - Thee Marloes - Di Hotel Malibu. This trio from Surabaya, Indonesia hit me in the same neo-soul/R&B spot in my gut and heart that the Altons did last year (interestingly, the Altons’ album title also focused on a hotel). The Apple Music blurb calls Thee Marloes a “breezy combo,” and that is both exactly right and wrong. It’s right in that the tracks flow so seamlessly from one to the next, with tempo, language, and tone changing so effortlessly, like one of those days that moves between a light breeze and a strong gust and back again without so much as a cloud in the sky. This is soul/R&B/funk that you have to take seriously but can still lean back and revel in.
7 - Zoh Amba - Eyes Full. This is the first album on my list in anything resembling the country/alt-country lane, but it comes from a jazz artist and so, to me, feels very different from much of the rest that’s out there. I had not heard of Zoh Amba before this release, but they are originally from rural Tennessee and went on to become a rising star in the NYC avant garde jazz scene. Now they’re back home and turning to country, but with a definite edge. This is one of the more diverse and dynamic records I’ve heard in 2026, and it brings to mind the best of Big Thief, with an angrier and raspier vocal and lyrical style than Adrienne Lenker’s. The tracks move from quiet and soulful to angry and back again quickly and in exciting ways.
8 - Bobo and Behaja - Aia Haja? Just an insane collection of Malagasy-inspired tsapiky music combined with elements of jazz and funk. This is the first album in a long time that made me ask “what in the world is going on here?” The video you see below, recorded in what feels like a living room of a gallery, is a perfect encapsulation of what is so thrilling about this album: nothing crazy on the surface but just insanity as you try to focus on what is really going on with each musician, including the singer.
9 - Ratboys - Singin’ to an Empty Chair. Brian covered this record here and captured it well. As I wrote a couple years back, it took seeing Ratboys live for me to finally click with them, but ever since, it’s been constant clicking. This album works so well start to finish, with deep lyrics about moving through challenging parts of life. “Penny in the Lake” is the standout for me, and when I do need a dose of bluesy patio music, that’s my go-to. Singer Julia Steiner’s appearance on Sound Opinions where she gets into the nuances of the record is also well worth a listen.
10- Tamikrest - Assikrel. The most exciting, melodic, and innovative desert blues/Tuareg record I’ve heard this year, released on what is probably my favorite label (Glitterbeat).
10A - Antoine Dougbé et L’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou 1977 - 1982. This is a compilation/re-issue, so I don’t count it per se, but this Analog Africa release is just a powerhouse of West African Afrobeat from the classic era.
11 - MEMORIALS - All Clouds Bring Not Rain. When you need a Stereolab fix (the record was partly recorded with gear from the Stereolab drummer’s studio), perhaps combined with “I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One”-era Yo La Tengo, look no further than this Canterbury, UK duo. “Cut Glass Hammer” is a near-perfect track.
12 - ELUCID & Sebb Bash - I Guess U Had to Be There. Although Heems and Black Thought have made my favorite rap records of the 2020s, billy woods and ELUCID remain my favorite MCs. They are the denizens of the underground, and they paint worlds with their rhymes, bars, vocal tones, and beats that no one else even comes close to. They’re magic on their own, like on this release, and when they combine forces in Armand Hammer, it’s a whole different level. Can’t wait to see them on tour together later this year.
13 - Witch Prophet - Words are Spells, Thoughts are Magic. This Toronto-based soul/R&B/jazz/funk singer brings together all of those traditions and influences plus her East African roots in a work that feels like the best of Mumu Fresh, Valerie June, and Allison Russell brought together with some hints of Lauryn Hill and other turn of the 2000s classics. According to her Bandcamp page, the record came together in the wake of brain surgery she had in 2023, which imbued the songs with even more clarity and purpose.
14 - Maisy Owen - Dark on a Sunny Day. Just a gorgeous, and at times stunning, debut album from a Nashville-based folk singer-songwriter with a captivating voice and presence. The title track is just spellbinding.
14A - Trinity Ace - Learning to be a Cowboy on the Horse That Broke My Arm. Okay, maybe this is cheating, but this is also just an EP, so I am not fully counting it. Somewhere between singer-songwriter country folk and alt-country is this incredibly exciting collection.
15 - Slippers - Slippers 08. Another band in the broader indie pop/twee/Horsegirl universe that makes great, catchy songs that, as OG Dave said, are perfect for the summer.
Ten more albums worth your time and may well end up on my Best of 2026:
Eaves Wilder - Little Miss Sunshine
Annabelle Chairlegs - Waking Up
Ullnevano & Philth Spector - Stephon Barbury
Jill Scott - To Whom This May Concern
Six more albums I have heard just this week that have me excited for the next 6 months:
Parts & Labor - Set of All Sets
KelsTheGawd - It Could be Worse (this came out in May but just crossed my radar last week on local radio in Minneapolis when I was driving through)
Awesome to see Maisy Owen here! Lots of other goodies, too. I'm loving 2026, myself!
Great list! There's a several here that are new to me, and thanks for getting hem on my radar! Station Model Violence's record is definitely a front runner on my AOTY lists, as are Memorials. We'll see what the back half of the year brings.