Gold Soundz: March 7, 2025

This week's suggested new music, curated by omg!nyc

Mar 07, 2025

Alright monsters, the first big pop album of the year is here. After giving us the OK single “Disease” last fall and the pretty bad duet with Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga roared back with the excellent tune “Abracadabra” earlier in 2025 and now she’s here, in her vintage glory with an album of what she does best. After the bizarre twist of Joker 2, it’s great to have her back in classic mode. Bring on the mayhem!

While the Walkmen reunion might be on hold for now, the band’s singer Hamilton Leithauser has a new solo album out today that fits with the rest of his solo effort a bit more than the garage rock revivalism of his band and these pleasing songs are sure to be a good fit for anyone looking for that crooning indie sound.

Former Hüsker Dü member Bob Mould has had a solo career longer than his famous punk band and he certainly has no signs of slowing down. Today he’s back with his fifteenth solo record which finds him going as hard as ever while still searching for a greater good amidst our constant chaos.

Bassist Billy Mohler has a new record out today that introduces a new quartet featuring guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Damion Reid, and alto saxophonist Devin Daniels and Mohler leads the group through a sonic exploration of loss and its aftermath as he forges his own path in contemporary jazz.

Shoegaze / alt-rockers Swervedriver have been in reunion mode for quiet some time and after releasing some pretty great comeback records, today they’ve shared a new EP of tunes with plenty surging, anthemic guitars that are full of fuzz and ready to be heard at maximum volume.

Screamo icons Orchid are back and that in and of itself is hard to believe, but now they’ve officially shared their first “new” music in over twenty years. Their collection of old recordings and demos is out now and while these tracks weren’t written recently, it’s still the first time we’ve been gifted unheard music from these legends.

Another week, another “new” album from the one and only Neil Young. This week he’s back with Oceanside Countryside, another unearthed record from his much lauded vaults that features plenty of older, classic tunes that he recorded on acoustic guitar in 1977.

Doechii is the moment and her win at the Grammy’s for Rap Album of the Year was a rare occasion of that award show getting something right. Her hot streak has launched her towards superstar status and this week she dropped a new tune called “Anxiety” which features a heavy dose of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” which finally gives a great reason to have that track stuck in your head.

After dropping their debut album last year, indie rock all-star group The Hard Quartet shared two new songs this week. “Lies (Something You Can Do” is yet another of their classic-leaning tracks with Malkmus on vocals while “Coreopsis Trail” is a noise jam that finds the band in one of their wildest moments.

Noise-punks The Jesus Lizard delivered their underrated and under appreciated reunion record last year and now have a new EP coming for Record Store Day 2025. The new single “I’m Tired of Being Your Mother” is a haunting, sinister track full of doom and crawls along with a devilish sulk.

Moving slightly away from their more intense past, Scowl aren’t totally lightening up and their latest tune, “Tonight (I’m Afraid)” moves more towards alt-rock territory with a flare for the ‘90s. It’s still a big sound that packs a punch, but isn’t as bruising as you might expect.

The second album from pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is due at the end of the month and this week they shared another cut from the record, the gorgeous and flowing track “Kite (For Refaat Alareer).” It’s a sprawling and ethereal tune with glowing piano under contemplative trumpet.

Finally, today’s the first Bandcamp Friday of the year where the company once again waives any fees and passes along all sales directly to the artists (on the first Friday in February, the company gave the proceeds to wild fire relief in California). It’s always a great time to support artists you love on independent labels.

Albums:

Songs:

If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2025) here!

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