Kevin Bronson on September 26th, 2025

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We close out September with Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 357), a truly many-splendored thing. Among its 35 tracks, get a load of songs by Janelane, Automatic, Nico Vega, Alex E.T., Livingmore, Crushed, Georgia Maq, Ruby Sparks, Lael Neale, Steven van Betten, Capital Cities, Genevieve Artadi, Auditorium, Valley Queen, Valley Boy, Taleen Kali and more. All if it is topped off by a heavenly cover from Quasi Moon.

Catch up on our recent playlists here.

Note: Anita Wills contributed to today’s roundup.

■ Crushed, “Exo” — Crushed’s debut album, “No Scope” (out today via Ghostly International), plumbs dream-pop, trip-hop and the more forward-thinking ’90s alternative artists to forge its heady sound. At their best — including on singles such as “Starburn” and “Oneshot” — the duo of Bre Morell and Shaun Durkan dial in just the right cinematic sweep for their emotional tightrope acts. Here’s director Luke Orlando’s video for the opening track, “Exo.” (More on the duo and their album via NME.) Live Oct. 10 at the Teragram Ballroom, opening for Cafuné.

■ Janelane, “Instincts” — A year and a half after the release of her debut album, “Love Letters,” Sophie Negrini — dba Janelane — is back with a new ’90s-styled rocker, “Instincts.” Austin Hayman (Dear Boy) contributes guitar and John Hodge drums on the track, produced by Joey Oaxaca.

■ Ruby Sparks, “Love’s All We Have” — “Iris,” singer-songwriter Jake Sternberg’s debut album under the name Ruby Sparks, is out Nov. 5. Not unlike previous singles “Pleasure,” “Dreams” and “Nowhere Man,” Ruby Sparks sonically communes with both ’60s pop-rock and 2000s indie gold on the new single “Love’s All We Have.” Collin Desha (Low Hum) produced the LP. 

■ Georgia Maq, “The LA River” — Georgia Maq is the nom de tune of transplanted Australian Georgia McDonald (ex-Camp Cope). This month brought the release of a five-song EP, “God’s Favourite,” which she made with songwriter-producer Daniel Fox. Consider the locale of her next L.A. gig, we’ve featured the song “The LA River” here. Live Oct. 15 at Zebulon.

■ Capital Cities, “So Be So Mine” — “So Be So Mine” is the third single in the past three months from Capital Cities (Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian), as well as evidence the duo are not quite playing it safe with their sound.

■ Livingmore, “Hurting” — Livingmore, the genre-fluid outfit led by Alex Moore and Spencer Livingston, release their second-single since last year’s album, “The Garden.” Contrary to the rapacious power-pop of “Not That Nice,” “Hurting” shows they’ve got some Laurel Canyon in their blood, too.

■ The Only Ocean, “It’s Too Much for Me” — The yearning rocker “It’s Too Much for Me” is the second single this year from Wesley Hill’s solo project the Only Ocean, following up “Shoot My Night for Day.”

■ Taleen Kali, “Crossed” — Post-punk/shoegaze artist Taleen Kali combines the muscular with the ethereal on her new single, “Crossed.” “The opening lines of the song are ‘Rose is a rose,’ which is from my favorite Gertrude Stein poem ‘Sacred Emily,’ Kali explains. “It’s meant to convey ‘it is what it is,’ or ‘things are what they are.’ I wanted to write about how matter of fact things are in life when the only choice you have is to ride the waves of grief. I lost my grandmother in 2023, the year we released our debut album, and the song ‘Crossed’ is a personal exploration where I’m just trying to make sense of the loss.”

■ Mind’s Eye, “Watchdog” — Today brought the release of the new EP from Mind’s Eye, “Run Like Hell.” Preceded by singles such as “Pryor,” it’ll get you properly amped for the band’s show Oct. 31 at the Fonda (with Hot Flash Heat Wave).

■ Automatic, “Black Box” — Friendly reminder that synth-punk trio Automatic today released their third full-length, “Is It Now?”. The mesmeric song “Black Box” (here’s the video) kicks off the LP, which includes beguiling singles such as “Mercury,” “Lazy” and the title track.

■ Shlomo, “Chore Boy” (feat. Salem) — Experimental mad scientist Shlomo (Henry Laufer) introduces his new album “Repulsor” (out Oct. 31) with his first new music since 2019, “Chore Boy.” And sure enough, that’s Angelyne in director Eliel Ford ‘s video?

■ Genevieve Artadi & Real Bad Man, “Don’t Gotta Think About U” — Genevieve Artadi and producer Real Bad Man (Adam Jay Weissman) go back to their days in the L.A. band Pollyn. Having this spring released the collaboration with Sweden’s Norbotten Big Band, “Big Leaf,” Artadi (also of Knower) and Real Bad Man tamed up on a pair of new singles released this week, “Don’t Gotta Think About U” and “Little Claws.” They’re from the album “Everything Is Under Control,” out Oct. 3.

■ Hether, “Company” — “Company,” featuring vocals by Orion Sun, is a trippy and haunting track from Hether’s self-produced debut album “Holy Water,” dropping on Oct. 24 via R&R Records. The track follows “Stupid Love.” Live at the Lodge Room on Nov. 5.

■ Nico Vega, “Battery” — Nico Vega (Aja Volkman, Dan Epand, Rich Koehler and Michael Peña) staged mighty comeback in 2024 that yielded the EP “Make It Out Alive.” They’ve kept the motor running this year; The band’s third single of 2025 is “Battery” (video by Pena and Epand).

■ Valley Queen & Austin Ward, “Crescent Smile” — Austin Ward teams up with Valley Queen’s Natalie Carol on the lush new single, “Crescent Smile,” the first release in almost a year from Valley Queen. This one hits the spot.

■ Valley Boy, “Naruto” — James Alan Ghaleb Amaradio is indeed from the San Fernando Valley, and his new album as Valley Boy, “Children of Divorce,” is on the way. He introduced the LP this spring with “Happy All the Time,” and the typically introspective “Naruto” is the new single.

■ Lael Neale, “Some Bright Morning” — Omnichord-wielding singer-songwriter kicks off her fall tour with the release of a new single, the lo-fi charmer, “Some Bright Morning.” She’s tending to chores on her family’s farm in the music video. Live Nov. 9 at the Lodge Room.

■ Sorry Ghost, “It’s Getting Late” — Sorry Ghost is the L.A.-via-Baton Rouge indie-rock outfit of Daniel Anton, Matthew Polito, Sean Duong and Tate. “It’s Getting Late” is their latest single, following up “Polyester (Yes Sir),” and everything about these guys screams fun.

■ Alex E.T., “Little Wars” — “Color of Strange” is the second full-length from Alex E.T. (Alexandra Elaine Tapié), and like its predecessor (2021’s “The Ashes”) it’s a tasty combination of psychedelic swirl and and gritty fuzz, topped by the singer-songwriter’s airy vocals. Ethan Miller (Howlin Rain, Heron Oblivion) produced, and in sum it’s liable to give a tingle similar to Belly, the Sundays and L.A. Paisley Underground bands. Live Oct. 5 at the Goldfish, along with the Spyrals and Dream Phases.

■ Dressed, “Media Wasteland” —Dressed the rock quartet of Jared Novak, Brad Hansen, Jaysson Black and Chris Moon who got together in 2019 and until this week hadn’t released any new music since 2022. Made with producer/engineer Keith Cooper (Dear Boy), “Dressed” and its bright guitar work lean toward the West Coast rock sound of the 1970s. More singles are on the way from the quartet.

■ Trousdale, “The Ick” — The soulful jaunt “The Ick” is a known quantity to those who purchased a vinyl copy of Trousdale’s sophomore album, “Growing Pains, released in April. It was the bonus track on the LP, and now the song can be heard everywhere.

■ Cold Gawd, “Bomb Pop” — Cold Gawd’s audacious new single “Bomb Pop” is the work of Brandon Aviles, Cameron Fonacier, Cameron “Duck” Burris and Matthew Wainwright. It’s their second single since the 2024 release of their album “I’ll Drown on This Earth,” and further proof they do relentless well.

■ Touching Ice, “Wish It (Bite It)” — Davis Stewart, Dominic Colangelo and Abigail Reese are Touching Ice: an electro-pop band formed in 2023. “Wish It (bite it) is a fun dance track from their debut album, “I Just Remembered Everything Always Works Out for Me,” out Nov. 14 via American Death Records. Watch extremely cute puppies run around in the music video here. Live on Oct. 17 at the El Rey.

■ Triptides, “Pendulum” — Fresh off the June release of their latest album, “Shapeshifter,” songwriter Glenn Brigman and the dudes in Triptides are back with the hallucinatory psych-soul jam “Pendulum.”

■ Magdalena Bay, “Second Sleep” — Following their successful 2024 sophomore LP “Imaginal Disk,” Magdalena Bay (Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin) release “Second Sleep,” a funky psychedelic R&B track accompanied by a highly stylized music video set in a toontown dystopia.

■ The Manic Standstill, “Girlfriend Island” — Today brought the release of “Moving,” the debut album from garage-punk trio the Manic Standstill. Helmed by singer-guitarist Adam Bones (The Two Tens, Save Ferris, Josie Cotton), “Moving” is packed with appearances from across the L.A. musical diaspora: Jonah Nimoy (The Offspring), Kody Templeman (Teenage Bottlerocket) and members of the Aquabats, the Dollyrots, Go Betty Go, Prima Donna and more. Live Oct. 3 at the Redwood Bar.

■ Gina Zo, “I Like Men Who Like Men” — “I Like Men Who Like Men” is a quirky pop song with catchy chorus from Gina Zo’s debut album, “Burn Me Into Something Better,”  now available for streaming.

■ Hunny, “Tired Of U” — Friendly reminder that Hunny’s new album “SPIRIT” arrives today via Epitaph Records. “Tired of U” is the final single, following songs such as “I Can See My House From Here.”

■ Syd, “GMFU” — The follow-up to the July single “Die for This,” “GMFU” is the latest single from Syd, who made the song with producer Rodney Jerkins and Raphael Saadiq on bass. Live Oct. 17 at the Kia Forum, supporting Renee Rapp.

■ Steven van Betten, “Summer Days” — Singer-songwriter Steven van Betten released his new album this week: “What’s the Takeaway Now” finds its power in plaintive balladry, with gently breezy guitars, poignant lyrics and filmy vocals. You can’t help but think of Elliott Smith.

■ Carrousel, “Alone in America” — For more than a decade, Carrousel (Sharon and Joel Piedt) have been working on an ambitious four-album project, shifting genres to correspond with each LP’s the geographic world. The first three segments of the album cycle are out: “Part 1: Memphis, Endless;” the L.A.-centric “Part 2: Nighttown;” and the New York-focused “Part 3: Magnificent Desolation.” “Alone in America” is the first single from the finale, “Memphis, Again,” due in 2026. Even without the project’s vast context, the single is a compelling listen.

■ Olivia Barton, “My First House” — Americana solo artist Olivia Barton shares her newest single, “My First House” from her upcoming album “For Myself And For You,” dropping Oct. 10. The lovely piano track is accompanied by a short film created by Barton. “Earlier this year I went back to my childhood home for the first time since I was 7, and asked the current owners if I could come inside and look around,” she says. “I wrote ‘My First House’ about my experience of being there, and I made a music video for it using childhood footage I’d never seen before.”

■ Dacelynn, “Moat” — Dacelynn, aka Dacelynn Dawn Guest, is a Texas-born singer-songwriter who found early success at age 15. “Moat,” co-written by Noah Weinman (aka Runnner), is a short but sweet track about vulnerability from her debut EP “Nine Lives,” dropping Dec. 5 via Nettwerk Music Group. Dacelynn says: “For me, music is one of my main ways to process traumas and heavy emotions.”

■ Auditorium, “George Washington’s Last Will and Testament” — Songwriter Spencer Berger turns his formidable lyrical and vocal skills to U.S. history in the new Auditorium single, “George Washington’s Last Will and Testament.” The lyric video, if you please.

■ Quasi Moon, “True Love Leaves No Trace” — Speaking of formidable singing voices, Quasi Moon is the trio of Claire McKeown (Honey Child/Shadow Shadow Shade), Claire Boutelle Pius and Danielle Mandel, engaging in what they call “weepcore.” Behold the harmonies in “True Love Leaves No Traces,” their Leonard Cohen cover.