Monthly Music Recap: February ‘26
Between Alysa Liu taking the ice to Pink Pantheress and Zara Larsson’s “Stateside” at the Olympic Exhibition Gala, Charli xcx’s gothic-electronic soundtrack for the polarizing adaptation of Wuthering Heights and Bad Bunny’s record-breaking Super Bowl halftime show, February provided a great reminder that music permeates almost every corner of pop culture.
As with every month, keep scrolling to read about the tracks and albums that had OTR tuned in the past four weeks. Who knows, maybe in 2030 we’ll have an olympian skating to the rough-around-the-edges melodies of Snail Mail or the guitar-forward riffs of Edgehill.
Cardinals burn expectations to smithereens on debut album
I didn’t know I needed accordion in rock music until I heard the harmonic squeeze of one blending gloriously with power chords and driving bass lines, its dense sound like an impenetrable force. On Cardinals’ debut album, Masquerade, the Cork, Ireland natives deliver a vast exploration of adoration and anguish without fear of getting a little weird.
Throughout the record’s 10-track progression, the songs take on increasingly dark atmospheres, dialing in on the fallacies of the human condition and tragedies of political oppression while running farther from the conventions of what an indie rock song “should” sound like. Masquerade’s A side has tracks like “She Makes Me Real,” an almost histrionic fanfare, and “I Like You,” a sort of backwards love song disguised as a waltz. Though the tracks are pointed in their delivery, Cardinals are markedly more revealing of their intentions on the album’s B side. From the forthright titles of “Barbed Wire” and “The Burning of Cork,” to the vivid descriptions of the “inherited” violence that lingers in the streets of the band’s home in “Anhedonia,” Masquerade is rooted in protest.
“Even though Cork is small, we’re enamored by its presence and character. It can get its hands on you, and I think it’s had an effect on every aspect of our characters,” guitar and vocalist Euan Manning said in an interview with FLOOD.
Masquerade is so much more than a great indie rock album. It’s an amalgamation of brilliant theatrics — accordion and all — founded on the clear need to make genuine art.
Snail Mail invites fans to meet their maker in new single
Watch the music video for “My Maker” on YouTube.
Watching Lindsey Jordan’s artistry grow since dropping her debut EP ten years ago feels like being a proud mom, cheering on from the sidelines someone who has never needed the validation of others to soar. From her DIY, teen-angst-infused roots, to the refined existentialism of 2018’s Lush and lovelorn paradise of the Brad Cook-produced Valentine, Snail Mail has been an indie darling whose music I constantly find myself coming back to. Though she filled her five-year album hiatus with a stunning role in A24’s I Saw The TV Glow in 2024, Snail Mail fans are finally being sated with the March arrival of her third studio LP, Ricochet.
As the second lead single ahead of the album, “My Maker” is the freest we’ve seen Jordan since she arrived on the scene over a decade ago. A buoyant acoustic strumming underscores the whole song, as interjections of dazzling, sporadic synths give the track an ethereal but edgy feel. In a way, it’s the perfect backdrop for Jordan’s musings on mortality. “Waitin’ 'round to die / To see what happens after / Battalions of angels marching from on high / Say ‘above us it’s just sky,’” she delivers in the chorus, her staple laissez faire inflection making the lyrics land like a simple fact of life. Going two for two with catchy sing along outros on Ricochet’s singles, the repeated “yeah yeahs” at the end of “My Maker” encapsulate the liberating essence of the song better than any convoluted metaphor might.
Taking to the clouds in a hot air balloon in the music video for “My Maker,” Jordan said she wanted everything about the song to reflect “the freedom that comes with realizing fate is out of your hands.”
Dirt Buyer watches from the sidelines to worm their way into your heart
If third time’s the charm, then consider me beguiled by the sad boy, soily stylings of Dirt Buyer’s third LP. Following the naming trend of the emo-folk trio’s preceding two albums and recorded mere weeks after their sophomore album dropped, Dirt Buyer III was born from a time in frontman Joe Sutkowski’s life where he just couldn’t put his foot on the brakes. From lyrics that reek of familiar aches to the all-or-nothing approach to production, Dirt Buyer III embodies the sound of an outsider looking in.
The album oscillates between unfiltered bluntness and rich metaphors, and unleashed outpourings of sound and laid-back folk melodies. On one end of the spectrum is “Bullshit Fuck,” a straight rocker with the unironically banger lyric, “Sick of all the bullshit fuck / Hit me with a fuckin’ truck,” while on the other end you have “Wait on the World,” an acoustic lullaby that sees Sutkowski singing, “Heard through the wall when your tears hit the ground / Such a beautiful sound.” But the record strikes the perfect balance when meeting in the middle, like on standout track “Baseball.” As the album’s opener, “Baseball” presents the theme of loneliness in nostalgia through the most obvious allegory: America’s favorite pastime, of course. A quintessential indie rock track with fervent, distorted guitar-driven choruses, the song soundtracks the feeling of just not quite grasping something, no matter how hard you try: “Baseball / Is somethin′ I'll never get, but I sleep on it / Wake up and try again, but I won′t run in.”
Edgehill exudes cathartic honesty in debut album
If you come 'round here often, you know the Off the Record love for Edgehill runs deep. The indie rock trio headlined our March 2025 house show, where they recorded OTR’s first “Live From The House” Session, and were recently featured in our sixth zine, with an interview and photoshoot by our incomparable, taste-making editors-in-chief, Reegan and Sloane. On their debut album, Ode to the Greyhouse, the Nashville-based band cement their status as the next big act in indie rock.
In her review of the LP, OTR Senior Writer Sullivan Jordan noted, “the album is explosive where it needs to be, but not overly so. The band relishes their time in the studio, with several tracks fading out into the warm, incoherent chatter of friends who crave good music. Ode to the Greyhouse, with gritty instrumentals and raw lyrics, doesn’t just establish Edgehill’s potential in the alternative rock scene and beyond, but brings forward a group of musicians who let authenticity lead their artistic journey.”
Tracks like “Drone Song” illustrate Sullivan’s point beautifully. The opener balances satirical, but genuinely funny, commentary with searing self cynicism: “Man on the corner, an angel in need / And Jesus commands me to buy him some weed,” lead vocalist Chris Kelly sings in the second verse, before piping, “Bucket of poison, bottle of wine / I'll right my wrongs when I feel like they're mine,” in the third. Couple the witty lyricism with its solid indie rock foundation that briefly lets sonic chaos seep through the cracks before the outro, and “Drone Song” is not only a jam, but also acts as the ideal introduction to the album.
Staff Picks:
Caroline Goldschmitt - “you and forever” by Bleachers
Tabita Bernardus - “Truth Of Pursuit” by Sarah Kinsley
Elena Cabigas - “Roamer” by spill tab
Claire Cole - “Out Of My Bag” by TV Star
Liv Strohecker - “constellations” by Brooke Wheeler
Logan Goettemoeller - “START OVER” by Tiffany Day
Daisy Calderon - “I’ll Change for You” by Mitski
Madelyn Aiken - “Agkyotirhynchus” by Oxis and See You Next Year
Isa Darisay - “I Like You A Lot” by Lowertown
Jane Flautt - “It Takes Time” by Jaguar Sun
Reegan-Tate Johnson - “Seven Degrees” by Friko
Mitchell Stewart - “OLD TECHNOLOGY” by Slayyyter
Harmony Robinson - “I Can Be Your Dog” by Edgehill
Check out some of our February coverage!
Live Shows:
“The Strumbellas gave a performance that could only be described as good times personified at the opening date of their ‘Into Dust’ tour in Boston” - Kate Kotlyar on The Strumbellas in Boston
“The whole evening felt like a welcome home, slipping back into the comfortable embrace of the familiar, the feeling of knowing that everything is going to be okay, if only for that moment.” - Alex Stefan on Summer Salt in Toronto
“As the opening notes dance from the speakers towards eager ears, there is no question about it; at least for the night, the stage is his.” - Claire Cole on Ruel in Nashville
“30 minutes dedicated to confiding in the crowd about the thoughts that run rampant in their minds, yet somehow leaving everyone feeling like life will still be okay.” - Tabita Bernardus on Shallow Alcove in Los Angeles
New Music Reviews:
“In Ashman’s hands, the familiar becomes beautifully uncanny. A cello can sound like an electric guitar scrape; classic piano plucking is twisted by unexpected note progressions; synths feel oddly natural.” - Seay Howell on Maddie Ashman’s Her Side
“Singin’ to an Empty Chair invites listeners into a warm, swirling world of twangy instrumentals and tender vocals that ring with the familiarity of childhood laughter and a favorite lullaby. The album doesn’t just paint a vibrant musical landscape, but allows listeners to relive nostalgia with a full sensory experience” - Sullivan Jordan on Ratboys’ Singin’ to an Empty Chair
“AngelPink feels like clean hair, fresh linen and flipping through glitter gel pen ink-filled diary pages while reminiscing on the vulnerability, honesty and trials and tribulations that come with growing into womanhood.” - Olivia Strohecker on Keni Titus’s AngelPink
“The project explores emotional collapse with a sense of chaos, self-deprecating wit, and emotional candor. There’s a constant push and pull between wanting to disappear but also wanting to be seen; it’s emotionally volatile and completely relatable.” - Eva Elisa Wells on Worry Club’s I’m Freaking Out
Interviews:
“Really nothing has stayed the same other than the four of us. But every song we record is a different journey, but we've all grown old now. We're living up in the country of Bushwick.” - Spencer Rosenfeld of The Baxbys in an interview with Emma Hug Rosenstein
Music Extras: