The pretty bad but fun-to-watch new biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is in theaters now, and it mostly seems pretty factually faithful to Springsteen’s experience recording the album Nebraska. But any work of biography is at least partly a work of fiction, and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere seemingly includes at least one glaring lie about Springsteen’s choice in condiments. In the movie, Springsteen says that he likes mustard. In real life, Springsteen hates mustard.
What should we call this person? He has many names, and we don’t know the real one. We’re talking about the anonymous South Korean musician who releases gorgeous, idiosyncratic shoegaze under the name Parannoul. This prolific artist has only played live a handful of times, and he won’t be doing that anymore. Instead, he continues to craft cohesive, transportive records on his own, and it feels weird to keep calling him “Parannoul” when he’s releasing a lot of his music under different names.
Most people wait until later in life to write their memoirs. UK indie-poppers the Tubs haven’t been around for a very long time; they were a Stereogum Band To Watch just a couple of years ago. But co-leader Owen Williams has done plenty of other things, as well. He makes his own music under the name Cotton Crown, and he used to be in Joanna Gruesome. Williams’ other band Ex-Voïd just played their farewell show a few days ago. As part of the Gob Nation Collective, Williams launched Perfect Angel Press, a small literary operation dedicated to “spiteful literature.” And anyway, Williams’ book might not even be about his experiences in music.
On Halloween, Anna von Hausswolff unveils her new album Iconoclasts. So far the Swedish musician has released “Stardust,” “The Whole Woman” with Iggy Pop, and “Struggle With The Beast,” and today she’s sharing the final preview with the magnificent Ethel Cain collab “Aging Young Women.”
Yes yes yes, it’s the Gum posting GUM. You figured it out. You’re very clever. GUM is the solo project from Jay Watson, touring Tame Impala member and co-leader of the Perth psych-rock band POND. GUM’s last solo album was 2023’s Saturnia. After that he teamed up with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s Ambrose Kenny-Smith to release the collaborative album Ill Times. Now, GUM has signed to King Gizzard’s label p(doom), and his new single “Expanding Blue” is out now.
Earlier this year, New Orleans post-punk duo the Convenience released their very good album Like Cartoon Vampires. Today, the band follows that LP with a new one-off single that has nothing whatsoever to do with cartoon vampires, even though it’s almost Halloween and everything. Their latest track is called “Angel.” If anything, angels are the opposite of cartoon vampires. They’re at least enemies. I’m pretty certain of that. If a vampire and an angel saw each other in a bar, maybe it wouldn’t be on sight, but they’d at least glare at each other surreptitiously.
Last year, Public Enemy hypeman extraordinaire Flavor Flav took it upon himself to sponsor the US Women’s Water Polo team on their way to the Paris Olympics. It worked! Flav became the team’s official hypeman, and the team — well, they didn’t win the gold. They came in fourth, which seems like the worst possible outcome for an Olympic hopeful. But they competed! And now, Flav has turned his attention to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, and he’s now the official hypeman for Bobsled And Skeleton USA.
Almost exactly 19 years ago, heavy-hearted Scottish indie rockers the Twilight Sad became a Stereogum Band To Watch. All these years later, the Twilight Sad are still going. These days, they’re probably best-known as the permanent opening act for the Cure. Anytime the Cure announce a new tour, you can be pretty sure that the Twilight Sad will join them. Cure frontman Robert Smith is a big Twilight Sad fan and supporter who’s called them his favorite band and who covered their song “There’s A Girl In The Corner” a decade ago. Now, the Twilight Sad are back with their first single in six years, and it features Robert Smith on guitar.
Mute Swan have shared stages with Wednesday, Horse Jumper Of Love, and other great, fuzzy acts, and now the Tucson shoegazers are the newest signees to Hit The North/Wooden Tooth. Along with the announcement, they’re releasing a new song aptly titled “Hypnosis Tapes.”
It finally happened. Last night, the mercurial R&B great Miguel released Coas, his first album in eight years. Now, he’s getting ready to take it on tour. Early next year, Miguel’s genuinely electrifying live show is coming to venues across North America and Europe. Pop experimentalist Jean Dawson is opening the North American shows, with Channel Tres jumping on just for the big hometown LA show.