Kevin Bronson on October 24th, 2025

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Autumn releases are dropping faster than leaves.

Here’s Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 361), brimming with new tracks from The Neighbourhood, Kristiane, Alain Whyte, Magic Wands, The Sophs, Sweet Nobody, Ima Robot (!), KiNG MALA, Livingmore, Dutch Interior, Chip Kinman, Very Nice Person, Hether, Mini Trees, Rose’s Pawn Shop, Harmony, LifeSize and a bunch more. With a cover song courtesy of Sara Melson on top.

Find our past playlists, with liner notes, here.

Note: Anita Wills contributed to today’s roundup.

■ The Neighbourhood, “OMG” — Surprise, surprise. The Neighbourhood, sounding suspiciously like a ’90s rock band (no complaints here), released not one but three new singles this week. “Private,” “OMG” and “Lovebomb” introduce the Newbury Park-bred quintet’s first album in five years, “(((((ultraSOUND))))),” out Nov. 14. They have big touring plans for 2026, including an Oct. 9 date at the Kia Forum.

■ Alain Whyte, “Baby I’m Strange” — Alain Whyte — co-writer of a slew of Morrissey hits, onetime member of Moz’s band, fresh off a rousing September residency at the Moroccan Lounge that followed the devastating loss earlier this year of his home in the Eaton Fire — returns with his first new music since 2022. The rocker “Baby I’m Strange” will get your pulse pounding, and Whyte indicates on social media that there’s more to come.

■ Kristiane, “Smoke & Mirrors” — After releasing her EP “Collateral Damage” in 2024, rising indie-rocker Kristiane Alphson had followed with four consecutuive strong singles in ’25. “Smoke & Mirrors” is the latest, its wandering bass line leading the lisgtener into Kristiane’s clear-eyed dissection of a thorny relationship. FFO: Phoebe Bridgers. See also: “Idaho,” “Beeacon” and “Good & Ready,” and see Kristiane live Feb. 21 at the Echo.

■ The Sophs, “I’m Your Fiend” —  “[This] is The Sophs at our most manic,” frontman Ethan Ramon says of “I’m Your Fiend,” the fourth single from L.A. sextet the Sophs since they burst on the scene in May. “It’s frenetic declarations of love and lust under a blanket of static so thick it feels like your DIRECTV satellite just got hit by lightning in the middle of your favorite show.” Live Nov. 21 at Gold-Diggers.

■ Sweet Nobody, “Forget Me” — Following a pair of winning singles, “I Don’t Know When I’ll See You Again” and “Revenge,” Long Beach quartet Sweet Nobody has released “Forget Me,” the latest from their album “Driving Off to Nowhere” (out Nov. 7). Live Nov. 8 at the Wayfarer and Nov. 9 at Permanent Records Roadhouse.

■ KiNG MALA, “Eat The Spoon” — “Eat The Spoon” is a haunting electronic stand-alone single from KiNG MALA, following the release in May of her latest album “And You Who Drowned in the Grief of a Golden Thing.”

■ CARR, “Hardcore!” — The latest dose of Carly McClellan’s in-your-face pop-punk, the new CARR single “Hardcore!,” comes with biting guitars and a cheer-squad chorus. “‘Hardcore!’ is about someone I was seeing who just wasn’t giving me enough,” she says of the song, which teases an album she’ll release in 2026. “I crave relationships that are fast, messy and all-consuming — and with him, I started to wonder if maybe I was just too much.”

■ Ima Robot, “Search and Destroy” — Gotta admit, we did not have new music from early Aughts wild dudes Ima Robot on our 2025 bingo card. But here it is, “Search and Destroy,” the title track from what the band is calling their “lost LP.” It’s out Nov. 14. You might have heard of some of these guys, who went on to other things: Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros), Tim Anderson (Twenty One Pilots, Billie Eilish), Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, M83), Filip Nilolic (Poolside), Oliver Goldstein (Oliver) and Scott Devours (Roger Daltry). Says Ebert: “In a lot of ways, this stuff sounds like the original Ima Robot, the pre-signed fuck-it. There’s a lightness to the whole thing. It feels more like the original concept, a reclaiming of the initial vibe.”

■ Magic Wands, “Hide” — Friendly reminder that L.A. post-punk/dream-pop duo Magic Wands (Chris and Dexy Valentine) today released their new album, “Cascades,” their sixth LP. If you’re wearing anything but black, you’re doing it wrong. Live Nov. 7 at Day 1 of Substance LA at the Belasco.

■ Sacred Skin, “Insomnia” (feat. SRSQ) — Sacred Skin — Brian Tarney and Brian DaMert — craft the kind of ’80s-style synth-pop that mandated you wear black leather jackets. Two albums in, they’ve infused the style with proper energy. Released last week, “Insomnia” is the second single they’ve issued since their 2024 sophomore album “Born in Fire.” Live Nov. 8 at Day 2 of Substance LA at the Belasco.

■ Livingmore, “Resident Psycho” — L.A. duo Livingmore tap into ’70s rock on their new single resident psycho, which Spencer Livingston explains is “inspired by a weird and noisy neighbor that we used to share a wall with at our apartment in L.A. All kinds of strange indecipherable sounds on the other side of the wall. To this day it still remains a mystery.”

■ Rain Gregorio, “Love the Gaze” — Rain Gregorio (Nebulamigo, Spirit Dive), whose debut album “Rolling Off the Tongue” came out in 2022, will release a new solo EP, “Do Your Business,” on Nov. 21 via Anxiety Blanket Records. The Jon Joseph-produced release includes the hazy but propulsive “Love the Gaze.”

■ Jennie Lawless, “Jacqueline” (feat. Gothic Tropic) — “Moody Age” (out today) is the solo debut album from singer-songwriter and painter Jennie Lawless, a native of Chicago. The album certainly lives up to th adjective in its title, especially “Pendulum” and “Jacquleine,” the latter of which features guitar by Gothic Tropic’s Cecilia Della Peruti.

■ SASAMI & Soccer Mommy, “Just Be Friends” (Soccer Mommy Version) — Sasami Ashworth and Sophie Allison twang-tackle “Just Be Friends,” a song that appears SASAMI’s album “Blood on the Silver Screen,” which was released in March. SASAMI explains that when making her new album, “I listened to Dolly, Johnny, Patsy, Merle and even a lot of the modern country that I had previously dismissed. Country songs have to be some of the most effective and cutting examples of peak pop songwriting — wit, drama, humor, sadness and the most human of all: horniness. My song ‘Just Be Friends,’ was definitely inspired by modern country, but I knew if I wanted it to be truly authentic I would need to enlist an actual southern princess. This new version featuring Soccer Mommy, pedal steel and all, delivers on the country magic that I had always wished could be in that song. That’s the best part about collaboration, all hat all cattle.”

■ Petey USA, “Not To Make It About Me” — Petey USA has announced that an extended version of his recently released album “The Yips.” Cleverly called “A Case Of Yips,” it drops Nov. 28, and features three new song including “Not To Make It About Me.” “Not To Make It About Me” is a rock track featuring vocal duets and a killer guitar solo.

■ Mini Trees, “On Repeat” — Friendly reminder that Mini Tree’s sophomore album “Slow It Down” is now available, featuring “On Repeat.” Vega says: “I stumbled on a random arp setting that completely transformed the synth chords I was playing, and that moment of discovery became the backbone of the song — steering it toward a more pop-forward, dance-driven sound that still carries an emotional weight underneath.” Check out the intimate music video here.

■ Dutch Interior, “Play the Song” — Dutch Interior, the sublimely soft-rockin’ sextet who released their debut album “Moneyball” this past spring, return with another mellow missive, “Play the Song.”

■ Very Nice Person, “Trampoline” — Malibu’s Very Nice Person hit the ground running when their 2024 album/animated mini-series “When the Sun Explodes” earned some exposure at a handful of film festivals. The indie-pop brother duo — Davis and Skyler Diamond, sons of the Beastie Boys’ Mike D — return with the wistful single “Trampoline,” the first taste of an album they have planned for 2026. Live Nov. 14 at Dreamland in Malibu.

■ Stacey Ryan, “Montréal” — Canadian singer-songwriter Stacey Ryan might be planted in the L.A. right now, but she sure misses her hometown. “Montréal” (here’s the video) is the lead track on her new album “Blessing in Disguise,” released in August. Live Oct. 30 at the Troubadour.

■ Cooper Wolken, “Way With Words” — “Ovular Infinity” (out today) is the second full-length from Cooper Wolken, whose graceful, precise, poetic songwriting recalls that of Steven van Betten, who plays on the record. (Wolken drummed on van Betten’s “What’s the Takeaway Now.”) Live Nov. 7 at Plant Material in Silver Lake.

■ Harmony, “Apple Pie” — Singer-songwriter Harmony continues to stray from her electro-pop sound she established in her debut album “Gossip,” with the release of  “Apple Pie.” Harmony says: “‘Apple Pie’ is about the price of having boundaries and how self-protection can make us find ourselves alone.” Check out the music video gorgeously lit by Max Harper here.

■ Hether, “Black and White” — Friendly reminder that “Holy Water,” the new album from Paul Castelluzzo’s solo project Hether, arrived today, boasting singles such as “Company,” “Stupid Love” and “Falling for the Feeling.” “Black and White” eases you gently into the 18-track (!) collection. Live Nov. 5 at the Lodge Room.

■ Chip Kinman, “So Young” — “So Young” introduces the new solo album from punk rock trailblazer Chip Kinman (Ford Madox Ford, The Dils, Rank and File). “Chip Kinman” will be out Nov. 21 via In the Red Records. 

■ Dennis Hauck, “Natural Heart” — Dennis Hauck has won acclaim as a filmmaker (2015’s “Too Late”) but he’s also an author of short stories and essays and, his first love, a songwriter. The follow-up to “Girl From Cedar City,” “Natural Heart” is his latest slice of Western noir storytelling … and a powerful one it is. Live Oct. 19 at the Hotel Café.

■ Diane Hubka & the Sun Canyon Band, “Moon Over Larrabee” —  “Moon Over Larrabee” is the title track from the new album (out this week) from folk quartet Diane Hubka & the Sun Canyon Band.

■ Rose’s Pawn Shop, “Summer’s Over” — The follow-up to “Darken My Door,” “Summer’s Over” is the latest taste from Americana stalwarts Rose’s Pawn Shop, who will release their new album “American Seams” on Feb. 27. Live Nov. 13 at Desert 5 Spot in Hollywood.

■ LifeSize, “The River Comes” — LifeSize is solo project of singer-songwriter Scott Marshall, who crafts true-blue roots rock with the heft of those who came before him. In late September, he released “LifeSize,” a career-spanning 24-track album that culls tracks from Marshall’s releases dating back to 2010, including from his 2020 album “Woolsey,” which was written with the only guitar, a Gibson, he salvaged from his home after the 2018 wildfire.

■ Unpolished*, Collateral Damage” — L.A. quartet Unpolished* (Mary Bugbee, Celinda Chang, Jasmine Day, Sephanie De Santos) released their debut EP, “Plead Insanity,” earlier this year. “Collateral Damage” deepens their catalog of by-the-numbers hard rock. Live Dec. 7 at the Troubadour.

■ Shoop, “Blessing In Disguise!” — Brandon Shoop, aka Shoop, is a multi-instrumentalist solo-artist who doubles as the drummer  for Junior Varsity. “Blessing In Disguise,” an R&B-pop track, is his third single released as a solo act, following “Your Place” via Epic records. Watch the low-fi music video here.

■ Megg, “Low Life Club” — Friendly reminder that punky powerhouse vocalist Megg’s newest EP “Low Life Club” has dropped. The title track is a sing-along camp style anthem for misfits.

■ FLAVIA, “Perfect Girl” — “Perfect Girl” is the title track of the EP released this week from FLAVIA, who’s been a pop force in L.A. for almost a decade.

■ Cosmic Kitten, “Breadcrumbs” — Bursting with visceral energy, “Breadcrumbs” is the lead track on San Pedro grunge-punk quartet Cosmic Kitten’s new LP, a self-titled album and their first for San Francisco’s Psyched! Records. Live Nov. 1 at the Redwood Bar and Nov. 16 at the Sardine in San Pedro.

■ Sara Melson, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” — Happy 40th birthday to “The Breakfast Club.” To celebrate, here’s Sara Melson’s new cover of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).”