Indie Basement is a weekly column on BrooklynVegan focusing on classic indie and alternative artists, “college rock,” and new and current acts who follow a similar path. There are reviews of new albums, reissues, box sets, books and sometimes movies and television shows. I’ve rounded up June’s best music, highlighting my favorite songs and albums, plus links to relevant features and news, a monthly playlist, and more.
Goodbye, June. Welcome to July and the dog days of summer. Before we start sweating, let’s look back what last month gave us: Knicks in 5, the start of the World Cup, some so-so movies, the Widow’s Bay finale and the final season of The Bear, and a whole lot of great music.
June may have had the most plentiful crop of new songs of any month so far. I reviewed 12 of them but there were probably 25 that I could’ve written about. The dozen I did include some indie/alt legends, new groups, fuzzy rock, full-on dance, and one song about the US/Canada border.
As for albums, I picked six to be crowned best of the month, but runner-ups include new records by Widowspeak, The Hobknobs, Pye Corner Audio, Brutalismus 3000, Jon Spencer, Paycheque, and Les Big Byrd.
I made a playlist with all the songs I review in this post, songs from all six albums, plus another 30 or so. It’s the perfect soundtrack for your next summer cookout. I made them in TIDAL, Apple Music and Spotify and those are linked at the bottom of the post.
With half the year gone, you can also check out the Indie Basement Mid Year list.
On the BV Interviews pod, I talked to Doublespeak (Vince Clarke, Neil, Benge), Jon Glaser, The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins, and Destroyer’s Dan Bejar.
Head below for all the Best of June goodness.
INDIE BASEMENT – BEST SONGS OF JUNE 2026
L’Rain – “Soulless Cycle”
Mexican Summer bills the upcoming L’Rain album fata morgana as “a genre-defiant synthesis of dancehall, tape meditations, slow jams, gospel, and crunched metal influences in answer to the question: How do you grow in a world not meant for you to thrive in?” That sounds like a lot, but you definitely get the crunched metal on the album’s first single, “Soulless Cycle,” a searing, hazy rock song that still manages to feel very L’Rain. It’s awesome. I’ve listened to it probably 40 times in the last 20 days, and fata morgana is my #1 album that I can’t wait to hear.
Interpol – “See Out Loud”
Apparently one of the things megaproducer Rick Rubin does with veteran artists is make them listen to their first album and then figure out how to get back to that. Interpol, who will celebrate their 30th anniversary next year, feel like they’re doing just that on their first album for Partisan after two decades on Matador. “See Out Loud” is classic Interpol, almost a descendant of “Obstacle 1,” but it’s also really good Interpol. There are surprises too: when the song kicks back in after a little angular guitar breakdown, guitarist Daniel Kessler steps up to the mic to share lead vocals with Paul Banks. It’s a welcome twist, making for Interpol’s best single since Obama was president.
Boy Harsher – “Jeans”
Boy Harsher (Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller) are leaning into the ’80s more than ever on “Jeans,” but at least here they are abandoning the dark clubs and back alleys for the fluorescent sunshine of the mall as depicted in the era’s teen films. The song is about dreaming of escaping your small town to move to the Big Apple, and you can almost smell the Orange Julius with this one, and I mean that in the best possible way. When Matthews opens the song on the phone, laughing, “OK, James Spader over here, look at you,” against a shiny beat, it’s perfect. Also great is the music video, directed by Matthews, which she says was their attempt at making “our own Robert Palmer ‘Addicted to Love.'”
THAO – “Fossils”
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down officially called it quits in 2021, but THAO is now back and back on Kill Rock Stars, the label that released her first two albums. Produced by Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus, “Fossils” is slinky funk, in an indie-rock kind of way, with a very positive message in the face of insane times. It’s her first new music in six years and is a real knockout. Kevin Parker would kill for this bassline. Welcome back, THAO!
The Wolfgang Press – “Speakers Don’t Speak”
One of my favorite original-era 4AD bands went from being arty goths to arty goths who liked Native Tongues hip hop and, for at least one album, managed to make that transition work before burning out in the early ’90s, just before trip hop would’ve given them a very logical way forward. After 30 years they returned for A 2nd Shape. It was good, but it sounds like Michael Allen and Andrew Gray have gotten all the rust out of the gears for its follow-up. “Speakers Don’t Speak” is very much in the Bird Wood Cage wheelhouse, with industrial grime, danceable rhythms, and Allen’s unmistakably menacing delivery.
Bonobo – “Me and You”
“I want to reinforce this idea that you can be more than one thing,” says Simon Green of his new Bonobo album Distance and Static. The album is full of guests — Arooj Aftab, Nilüfer Yanya, and more — but Green doesn’t need any help on “Me and You,” a low-key, melodic, effortless dance track that makes great use of a pitched-down sample from a Malawian field recording made by Hugh Tracey in the 1950s. Green calls this a “kitchen-table banger,” and I have definitely danced in my seat to it.
Penelope Isles – “Thinking Seat”
Immensely talented siblings Jack and Lily Wolter are back with their first new Penelope Isles music in four years. They haven’t been slacking at all: Jack’s been busy with his solo project Cubzoa and as a member of CMAT’s band; Lily just released an album as My Precious Bunny. In my opinion, the Wolters sound best together, and as evidence I present “Thinking Seat,” the wonderful first single from their upcoming third album. Melodies and harmonies seem to flow out of them like breath, and the ethereal production, layering guitars and keyboards into an intricate, light fabric, is pure summertime joy.
Django Django – “Cameos”
If, like me, you were a big fan of Django Django’s 2012 debut album, you’re going to dig the band’s new single “Cameos.” This is DD at their breeziest — think “Life’s a Beach” or “Firewater” — but that breeze whips up into more of a gale thanks to the Paranormal String Quartet and composer Pollyester’s wonderful ’60s-ish arrangements. It’s cinematic in all the right ways and the best thing they’ve done this decade.
Ibibio Sound Machine – “Concept of Love”
“What you give out into the world is what you receive back,” says Ibibio Sound Machine’s Eno Williams. “It’s beautiful to be loved.” This is a well-worn idiom in pop — see also New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give,” The Beatles’ “The End,” and probably 100 more — but there’s no denying Williams believes it when listening to her band’s terrific, joyous Afro-house disco banger of a new single. They’re definitely getting a lot back on their return.
Kiwi Jr – “Pure Michigan”
Toronto’s Kiwi Jr. kinda fumbled the ball after their winning debut, Football Money; Jeremy Gaudet remained an observant, arch lyricist, but it felt like they were bucking against all the Pavement comparisons and ignoring their melodic instincts. Not so with the singles from their upcoming K Records debut, both of which have been total earworms. “Pure Michigan” adds an irresistible ’60s organ hook to this sweet, witty coming-of-age story about a brief romance at the border between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. “It was over before it began / I grabbed my passport and ran.”
The Tubs – “Who’s Gonna Love You Now?”
Mixing downcast lyrics with sunny melodies is a satisfying formula, and few are doing it better these days than Owen Williams, the singer and songwriter in Welsh band The Tubs. (He’s very much in the Bob Mould/Richard Thompson lineage.) “Who’s Gonna Love You Now?” is a beat-yourself-up anthem where his more positive side is putting up a good fight, too. The real winner is the listener, of course.
Dinosaur Jr – “Several Got Away”
Speaking of bands sounding like themselves (see Interpol above), that has never been a problem for Dinosaur Jr. Yet when they deliver something as toothsome and satisfying as “Several Got Away,” it’s like your mom making your favorite meal when you go home to visit. You don’t want them to do anything else.
–
INDIE BASEMENT – BEST ALBUMS OF JUNE 2026
Lee “Scratch” Perry & Mouse on Mars – Spatial No Problem (Domino)
Reggae and dub icon Lee “Scratch” Perry died in 2021 and was prolific till the end. Not unlike Tupac, there have been a lot of posthumous albums claiming to be the “final” one, and who knows which will actually be the last, but this one will be hard to top. Made with experimental German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, the bulk of the record was recorded during a whirlwind four-day session in 2019 involving a dozen musicians. It took a while for MoM’s Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma to complete the album, thanks first to the pandemic and then Perry’s death. Some things just need time to marinate and simmer, and what they’ve created is a delicious concoction with an intoxicating aroma and a complex broth with lots to sink your teeth into. Musically, many of these tracks are built on krautrock rhythms, and then things go global with horns, backing singers, flutes, a variety of synthesizers, and other instrumentation. These songs ride grooves more than they follow traditional pop structures, but St. Werner and Toma keep things engaging with inventive, trippy arrangements that feel like a tribute to Perry while moving things forward.
—
Slippers – Slippers 08 (K)
Madeline Babuka Black’s second full-length album as Slippers is overflowing with hooky delights and quirky charm. Like with Lande Hekt’s equally great Lucky Now from earlier this year, it’s hard not to use the word “winsome” here, but Madeline embodies the best aspects of it: sweet and just a little sad, and never saccharine. Also: memorable song after memorable song. “Castaways” has already cast its spell on you before the twin leads enter the scene, and when it goes full George Harrison, resistance is futile. Then there’s “Wants for Everyone” that grabs you from its opening seconds: the jazzy, lightly distorted chording is an instant endorphin rush, recalling those Swedish groups from the mid-’90s (The Cardigans, Eggstone). That’s before the chorus, before the part where she sings along with the lightly gnarly guitar solo, and definitely before the “ooooooohweeoooohs” that take it into the stratosphere. The delights keep coming: “Wasted Tonight” has 12-string arpeggios, a “Bah Bah” refrain, more twin leads, and an irresistible key change; “Until You Can’t Give Up On Me” layers in perfectly spacey keyboards; and “Fool In Your Room” is a 1:40 earworm about a post-one-night-stand escape. Who knew you could squeeze so much into such little packages? Slippers 08 is a real treat.
—
Beth Orton – The Ground Above (Partisan)
Beth Orton’s Weather Alive was one of my favorite albums of 2022, and she’s now back with many of the same collaborators (Shahzad Ismaily, The Smile’s Tom Skinner, and more) for an album that feels like the natural continuation down that luminous path. The Ground Above opens with its stunning title track; set against Vishal Nayak’s skittering drum pattern and a swirl of sound design-heavy production recalling late-period Talk Talk even more than her last album, Beth sits at the center with chiming Fender Rhodes and her fragile vocal delivery. It not only gets better as it goes, it deepens with repeat listens. The whole album is another subtle stunner. Orton’s voice forever sits on the verge of shattering, even at the quietest moments, and you hang on every word as they float in the center of mesmerizing arrangements that are jazzier, more enveloping, and more woozily romantic this time around. Put on your headphones for this one.
—
La Sécurité – Bingo! (Bella Union / Mothland)
La Sécurité’s sophomore album comes at a time when ’00s nostalgia is peaking, and the Montreal group are direct descendants of that city’s fertile indie scene when The Unicorns, Think About Life, and Duchess Says were all the rage. This band are here to party, and Bingo! hits you with one punky New Wave dance banger after the next, loaded with groovy basslines, quirky keyboard hooks, de rigueur angular guitars, and shout-sung vocals dripping with attitude. “On Bingo!, we move from one style to another, it’s not necessarily textbook post-punk, Riot Grrrl, or another particular style,” the band say. “It’s more like a snowball effect, like a piece of gum at the bottom of your bag, picking up glitters, hair, etcetera.” You can hear The B-52s, Pylon, Gang of Four, Delta 5, Bush Tetras, and more on Bingo!, but La Sécurité have made it all their own. As for the vocals, La Sécurité are now singing in English at least part of the time, and that Franglais mix is both friendlier and all the cooler for it as they effortlessly flip between the two languages. They are not afraid to touch on serious subjects, but they mix politics and social commentary with songs about Cheetos and potato chips, bringing that unique attitude and tongue-in-cheek sensibility to all of it. Mostly, though, Bingo! is a dance party, and “Deny,” “Nah Nah,” “Detour,” and the other seven songs will have even the most staunch stick-in-the-muds pogoing.
—
Horse Lords – Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! (RVNG Intl)
The great Baltimore experimental indie rock combo are exploring new territory on their seventh album — for the first time in their 15+ year history, there are vocals. Those come via Nina Guo and Evelyn Saylor, who are the first thing you hear on Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!, and their ethereal style fits perfectly with the group’s knotty, precision-engineered sound. Their eerie harmonies bring an almost Celtic vibe to the record, which also finds the quartet of guitarist Owen Gardner, bassist Max Eilbacher, drummer Sam Haberman, and alto saxophonist/percussionist Andrew Bernstein augmented by bass clarinetist Madison Greenstone and trombonist Weston Olencki. It’s almost as if Guo and Saylor are otherworldly spirits who come down to Earth to jam with a group of scientists, and the results are not unlike the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It’s skronky, groovy, and at times very beautiful as one track leads into the next, culminating in Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!‘s title track, which is both funky and lithe despite sounding like some of the musicians are playing in different time signatures. It is hypnotic and wonderful, and if you’ve played out Angine de Poitrine’s two albums, you might want to give this a spin. If we ever do get contacted by aliens, I hope Horse Lords get the call.
—
CFCF – L.U.V. (BMG Solutions)
Oscar Isaac and Kerry Washington’s couple in Beef Season 2 would like L.U.V., CFCF’s tribute to ’00s hipster club culture, from French touch to electroclash, dance-punk, electro-house, and whatever Uffie was. Every song on this features-heavy record seems to find Mike Silver focusing on a different microgenre or specific group. The album opens with “Kiss Me” ft. nuum & Seren Forever, and between the chopped-up microsamples and vocoders it’s nearly impossible not to think of Discovery-era Daft Punk. “Babes” is pure sleaze, as are “La touche” (ft. Bernardino Femminielli & bbcoooool) and “ultra-obscene! (Piel a Piel),” which plays a bit like Max Tundra’s Amiga-made proto-hyperpop. The irresistible “Bad Song,” featuring vocals from Cecile Believe (ex-Think About Life), owes more than a little to Basement Jaxx, and “Cosmo” could be I Created Disco-era Calvin Harris. There’s also an inspired cover of The Ponys’ 2004 garage rock ripper “Let’s Kill Ourselves” that would’ve sent crowds into hysterics at Motherfucker. The cover art, meanwhile, looks like a still from a Justice video. Pastiche? Yes, but done at an extremely high level, and it’s hard to deny the bangerability of these 13 tracks. Too long? Also yes. At just over an hour, you may lose focus, but it’s okay in this case, as what L.U.V. really resembles is a Kitsuné Maison compilation from a parallel universe: all hits you’ve never heard before that somehow feel vaguely familiar. You have to wonder if Silver has had a lot of these ideas sitting on a hard drive, never wanting to flesh them out until now. If this had been released in 2023, it would’ve felt 15 years too late, but between Fcukers, Slayyyter, and The Dare, it arrives right on time.
—
Here’s the Indie Basement Best of June 2026 playlist in TIDAL (best sounding, less morally dicey), Apple Music, and for those who haven’t left it yet, Spotify:
Looking for more? Browse the Indie Basement archives.
And check out what’s new in our shop.