Psychedelic Everest

03/09/2026

The last few years I haven’t been listening to as much punk and hardcore as I used to, but the last 3-5 months, I’ve been getting back into it. And I’m arguably listening to more hardcore than I did back I 2015-2017. There’s a few bands that I credit to getting me back into it, but Spiritual Cramp is one of them. So it’s only fitting that my first show of 2026 is them. I have a few more shows coming up too.

03/08/2026

I haven’t posted much here recently, but that’s just because nothing has really been going on. I’ve been struggling with money and have been behind on bills, so I haven’t the ability to actually do much. Well I’m caught up now and things are hopefully going in the right direction, so I can now.

But a couple weeks ago, an old friend from back home came out to Denver for work for a couple weeks and I had the chance to go hiking with him. Back in 2017, I was living in Glenwood Sprimgs while going to college. I had gone back home for the summer and I didn’t have any friends there besides a few online friends. But over Memorial Day weekend that summer, I went on a canoe trip with him and his family where we just floated down a river and camped for 3 days. We mostly just got hammered all weekend and it was a great time. We went to concerts and stuff that summer and it was one of the only reasons I was able to enjoy myself while I was back home. I hadn’t talked to him since like 2018, until a couple months ago he texted asking about 14ers. And well, found out he was coming out here for work.

So two weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I took a day off of working to drive up to Estes Park and go hiking. We hiked Twin Sisters. Colorado has a pretty warm winter this year, so the weather was really nice for being middle of February. But it was very windy. We got to the saddle, which is like a 50 foot scramble to the top of them, and turned around because there was about 60-70mph winds. The wind was so strong it was knocking us over. But regardless of that, it was a great time and I was glad I got to go hiking with a friend!

02/06/2026

I’ve been singing the praises for this for a couple months now, and now that it’s finally released, I can state it will be a very difficult album to top this year! Honestly, this would have been my second favorite album of last year! This is so good front to back and Ratboys deserve all the praise they’re getting from it!

02/01/2026

January started 2026 off strong with some great albums! My favorite of the month was definitely Joyce Manors new album, I Use to Go to This Bar. But behind that, here’s some more of my favorites from the month. These are sorted listed in the order in which I liked them, but some I’ve only listened to once, so it’s not 100%.
1. Crush Your Soul - ICE WATER🦈
2. Rifle - Rifle🦈
3. Hot Face - Automated Response🦈
4. Feels Like Heaven - Within Dreams🦈
5. Westside Cowboy - So Much Country ‘Till We Get There (ep)🦈
6. Whitelands - Sunlight Echoes🦈
7. DZ Deathrays - Easing Out of Control🦈
8. GUV - Warmer Than Gold
9. Dry Cleaning - Secret Love🦈
10. Calling All Captains - The Things That I’ve Lost🦈
11. Master Peace - F**k It Up (ep)🦈
12. Poppy - Empty Hands🦈
13. A$AP Rocky - Don’t Be Dumb🦈
14. Shaking Hand - Shaking Hand🦈
15. Together Pangea - Eat Myself🦈
16. Leisure Hour - …And to Think🦈
17. Crystal Lake - The Weight of Sound🦈
18. Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet

02/01/2026

I’ve been going back through listening to bands that have been around for a long time and I just have never got around to checking out for one reason or another. One such band is Superchunk. For whatever reason I assumed they were just generic 90s indie rock, so I’ve always put them off. Well, I started going through their discography last night, and I’m honestly confused why they’re not more talked about! I know they never signed to a major label, but there’s still no reason they’re not more appreciated. They sound like they influenced most all late 90s and early 2000s emo bands

01/15/2026

Ratboys are probably the most criminally underrated band in the indie rock scene currently. Their new album Singin To An Empty Chair comes out February 6, and I see no one talking about it. And that’s super sad considering all 4 singles they’ve released so far are some of their best songs they’ve written! They honestly remind me of Sheryl Crow mixed with the current crop jangly indie rock bands like Hotline TnT, The Beths, Liquid Mike, 2nd Grade, and Waxahatchee. They just dropped their fourth single yesterday for the new album, and it’s just as catchy as the other 3 singles.

Stream or download the new single here: http://newwst.com/theworldPre-order + pre-save the new album 'Singin' to an Empty Chair' here: http://newwst.com/sin...

01/11/2026

01/10/2026

Yesterday was the first New Release Friday of 2026 and it was a surprisingly solid release day. The first friday of release tends to be a light day as not a lot of artists release albums at the beginning of the year. It wasn’t as light as other years, but it was still light. But there were still some gems that came out.

1. Feels Like Heaven - Within Dreams
Technically this was released on January 1, but I’m lumping it in here still. Feels Like Heaven are a melodic hardcore band featuring 3 members of hardcore band Speedway. If you’re into bands like Anxious and Fiddlhead, this will be right up your alley! This is my favorite release from the day!

2. Queens Pleasure - Stunt Double

I’ve never heard of this band, but this is their third album and is quite the solid post-punk, indie rock record. It’s a bit generic sure, but it sounds like all the best UK indie rock bands from the last 20-30 years. Plus, there’s a couple tracks on here that are straight up bangin.

3. Dry Cleaning - Secret Love

Dry Cleaning have been releasing some of the best spoken word post-punk out of the UK the last few years, and Secret Love is no exception. The melodies are one of the highlights here, as Cat Le Bon knows how to do melodies. Another highlight is the lyrics which basically come across as Cat reading her diary in a studio with with interesting bass lines. Now it is spoken word, so it won’t be for everyone, but if you’re into their style, you’ll love this!

4. Home Star - A Binding Life

A Binding Life is the debut album from power pop band Home Star. If you listen to this and recognize the vocals, that would be because their vocalist is also the vocalist for emo band Marietta. I don’t listen this stuff often, but it’s quite good still. It sounds very similar to old Weezer. And while it’s not classic Weezer, they’re still good enough to be compared to them. Super catchy and hooky power pop.

5. The Cribs - Selling a Vibe
The Cribs have been around for awhile now, but I’ve never listened to them before this. But The Cribs are a post-punk, indie rock band in the realm of The Libertines. The first half was top tier for bands in this style, but the second half was kind of lacking. And I mean that as the first was fun and catchy, and the back half slows things down, but also take away the catchiness. But there’s still enough great tracks here to make it a solid release.

6. Calling All Captains - The Things That I’ve Lost
I’ve never been big on Calling All Captains before, but this is probably their best release yet! Filled with super heavy and super catchy pop punk.

These were my favorite releases from this week, but there were a few more solid releases that are worth checking out. Sault surprised dropped her new album that was really good. Let’s Go Granny vocalist, Jenny On Holiday, released her solo album and that was a good pop album. Alter Bridge was better than their last few, but nowhere near the highs of the early albums. Vi**ra Boys dropped a deluxe edition of their album viagr aboys from last year with 4 new tracks, all of which are great! Zach Bryan was probably the biggest release of the week, and that proves yet again that Zach is not trying to write mainstream country music. It feels like he cares more about connecting to the indie country and indie folk scenes than country. But even with this, I’m not a country fan. I’m sure his fans will love it, it’s just not for me. But there’s still enough good songs on here, that I can enjoy some of it. Then finally we get to what I’ll call Dud of the Week. Which that would be Lionheart. Theyve typically put out solid but not spectacular tough guy hardcore songs. And while they follow the same formula, thod is so boring. It’s like they’re reusing the same boring breakdowns on like half the album. Lyrically, it’s a cringe fest. There were a clue decent tracks, but this just plain boring.

01/07/2026

What albums are you looking forward to in 2026? All genres are welcome. Here’s everything im excited for this year!

Alter Bridge - Alter Bridge
The Cribs - Selling A Vibe
Dry Cleaning - Secret Love
Zach Bryan - With Heaven on Top
A$AP Rocky - Don’t Be Dumb
Cavetown - Running With Scissors
DZ Deathrays - Easing Out of Control
GREYWIND - Severed Heart City
I Promised The World - I Promised The World (ep)
Madison Beer - Locket
Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet X
Together Pangea - Eat Myself
Crystal Lake - The Weight of Sound
The Damned - Not Like Everybody Else
The Format - Boycott Heaven
Goldfinger - NINE LIVES
Megadeth - Megadeth
Poppy - Empty Hands
Geologist - Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?
SoftCult - When a Flower Doesn’t Grow
Illenium - Odyssey
Mandy, Indiana - Urgh
Ratboys - Singin to an Empty Chair
Silversun Pickups - Tenterhooks
Ulrika Spacek - EXPO
Angel Du$t - Cold 2 The Touch
Charli XcX - Wuthering Heights
Converge - Love Is Not Enough
Remember Sports - The Refrigerator
Story of the Year - A.R.S.O.N.
New Found Glory - Listen Up!
Sports - Sports
Gorillaz - The Mountain
Nothing - A Short History of Decay
Rob Zombie - The Great Satan
Varials - Where The Light Leaves
Surfbort - Reality Star
Teenage Bottlerocket - The Invisible Man (ep)
The Orielles - Only You Left
Sweet Pill - Still There’s a Glow
The Dandy Warhols - Pin Ups
Footballhead - Weight of the World
Hit Like a Girl - Burning at Both Ends
Tigers Jaw - Lost on You
Joyce Manor - I Used to Go to This Bar
Sylosis - The New Flesh
Cardinals - Masquerade
Our Mirage - Fractured Minds
Lionheart - Valley of Death II

01/03/2026

As I reflect back on 2025, i didn’t do much. At the beginning of the year, I was still working for Coke. I had big plans for the year like go to more concerts, get a better job, hike 1000 miles, and more. And while I didn’t achieve most of what I wanted, I’m not upset by it. I knew after a couple weeks into the year my hiking goal wasn’t possible for the year. I tried to get a better job and just quit instead. But my main goal for the year was buy a car, and I did do that. So while I didn’t accomplish a lot, I did do that at lease. But 2025 was a weird year for me.

It was the first year that I didn’t climb a single 14er since living in Colorado. I did go hiking a few times, but not enough. I hardly watched any movies or tv shows. Most of what I’ve been interested in for most of my life, was ignored. But, I did find some new interests too. In February, I started reading manga and since have read Spy Family, One Piece, Naruto, Hunter X Hunter, The Marshal King, Ichi The Witch, OTR of the Flame, and Astro Baby.

I also got back into anime this year. This year I watched Hells Paradise, Chainsaw Man, Sakamoto Days, DANDADAN, catching up on One Piece, and starting Bleach. I have a bunch on my list that I want to start, but time makes it difficult. But I’ll continue to watch more.

And I’ve posted about this a lot this year, but I’ve been learning Japanese the last 6 months and making great progress. Not time for another update yet though, so not talking about this today.

I’ve played some games this year, but again, not as much as normal. I played a few random new games that came out this year but didn’t really finish many of them. So most I won’t even mention. I did finish Borderlands 4, but borderlands is one of my favorite series, so that’s not shocking. I’m currently working on Hades, which I love. My partner, Jordan also has talked me into playing Fortnite with him, so I’ve been playing that too. I’m not any good, but Jordan is. And yesterday I bought Arc Raiders. I haven’t t played much of it yet, but I’ve heard great things and hopeful that I enjoy it.

Now with music, 2025 was one of my favorite years in a long time. Not necessarily for new music, just in general. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy new music in 2025. There was a lot of great music in 2025 as you can see on my album of the year lists I posted last week. But most of what I mean is that I listened to so much music this year. For quite a while now, I’ve been listening to bands discographies just to find new music, and in 2025, I listened to many bands and artists I’ve had on my list for years! I’m not 100% caught up as that’s impossible with how much music I have, but for the first time in a long time, I’m happy with where I’m at. I’m currently working through a bunch of 80s punk and alternative bands, and after that I’m mostly finished with it. I still have a lot of bands and artists on my list, but they’re in genres that aren’t necessarily my favorite. Once I’m finished with the bands I’m working on, I’ll start chipping away at more, But at a slower pace than what I have been working at.

Now, for what’s to come in 2026!
1. I plan to go hiking much more frequently. My goal is to go hiking every week I’m not starting to hike every week right away, as I do have a few things I have to get done first. But I do plan to post a trip report for every time I go hiking with pictures.
2. I plan on going to many more concerts! I have quite a few on my list for the year, which I’ll also make a post about when I do. There’s a couple festivals I’d like to go to also.
3. I’ll probably make anime/manga posts sometimes, but not a lot. Mostly will just be like opinions or theories and such.
4. I’ll talk about any tv shows or movies that I watch, but again, this probably won’t be frequent since I don’t have a lot of time to watch stuff.
5. Anything that Jordan and me do I’ll make a post about. Not sure what all we will do, but I’ll still post about it.
6. Sometimes Jordan and me stream on twitch when we play Fortnite. So I’ll post those links when we do. Once I’ve gotten more into Arc Raiders, I’ll probably stream that too.
7. And really, just anything else I feel like posting about. There’s no theme to this blog, so don’t expect one.

I hope that I can actually stay motivated to post frequently. All of my socials will be based around this blog, and I’ll share them all when it’s relevant too. I’m very hopeful that 2026 will finally be my year, and have every intention of making this true.

12/18/2025

My top 100 albums of 2025! Lots of great albums this year across many genres. Remember these are my favorites, and just because its Missing your favorites, doesnt mean i didnt enjoy it. Listen to some of these you havent heard before and maybe youll find some new favorites!

1. Turnstile - Never Enough (alternative rock, hardcore, shoegaze, pop rock)
2. Wednesday - Bleeds (indie rock, alt-country, shoegaze)
3. Teen Mortgage - Devil Ultrasonic Dream (hardcore, garage punk, psychedelic rock)
4. Home Front - Watch it Die (post-punk, hardcore, new wave)
5. Lifeguard - Ripped and Torn (post-punk)
6. Anxious - Bambi (emo, indie rock, pop punk)
7. Frankie & The Witch Fingers - Trash Classic (garage rock, psychedelic rock, new wave)
8. Psychedelic P**n Crumpets - Pogo Rodeo (Psychedlic rock, garage rock, blues rock, progressive rock)
9. Militarie Gun - God Save the Gun (alternative rock, hardcore)
10. Arms Length - There’s a Whole World Out There (pop punk, midwestern emo)
11. Hotline TnT - Raspberry Moon (alternative rock, shoegaze)
12. Delivery - Force Majeure (post-punk, garage punk)
13. Vi**ra Boys - viagr aboys (post-punk)
14. Alien Boy - You Wanna Fade (jangle pop, post-punk, emo)
15. Sharp Pins - Radio DDR (indie pop)
16. Maruja - Pain to Power (post-punk, noise rock, jazz)
17. Secret World - Tomorrow is a Mystery to Me (ep) (hardcore, alternative rock)
18. Geese - Getting Killed (post-punk)
19. The Bug Club - Very Human Features (garage pop, garage rock, post-punk)
20. Spiritual Cramp - RUDE (post-punk, garage punk)
21. Snõõper - Worldwide (garage punk)
22. End It - Wrong Side of Heaven (hardcore)
23. Higher Power - There’s Love in This World if You Want It (hardcore, alternative rock)
24. TVOD - Party Time (post-punk)
25. Mclusky - the world is still here and so are we (post-hardcore)
26. The Murder Capital - Blindness (post-punk)
27. Hot Mulligan - The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still… (midwestern emo, pop punk)
28. Heart Attack Man - Joyride the Pale Horse (pop punk)
29. The Tubs - Cotton Crown (jangle pop, alternative rock)
30. Liquid Mike - Hell is an Airport
31. Bar Italia - Some Like it Hot (post-punk, indie rock)
32. Rocket - R is for Rocket (alternative rock, post-punk)
33. Sacred Paws - Jump Into Life (post-punk, indie rock, Afro-pop)
34. Blondshell - If You Asked For a Picture (alternative rock)
35. TRSH - String Theory (Midwestern emo, pop punk)
36. Strawberry Fuzz - Millers Garage (garage punk)
37. The Hives - The Hives Forever Forever The Hives (garage punk)
38. XWeaponX - XWeaponX Demo (ep) (hardcore)
39. Destiny Bond - The Love (hardcore)
40. Greyhaven - Keep it Quiet (metalcore)
41. Pup - Who Will Look After the Dogs? (punk, indie rock, emo)
42. Superheaven - Superheaven (shoegaze, alternative rock)
43. Bilk - Essex, Drugs & Rock n Roll (garage punk)
44. Stick to your Guns - Keep Planting Flowers (Metalcore, hardcore)
45. The Armed - THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED
46. Briston Maroney - JIMMY (indie rock, folk)
47. Colin Miller - Losin’ (indie rock, country)
48. Far Caspian - Autofiction (indie rock, indie pop)
49. Shame - Cuthroat (post-punk)
50. Lawn - God Made the Highway (post-punk, country)
51. The Callous Daoboys - I Won’t See You In Heaven (Mathcore, Pop)
52. Water From Your Eyes - It’s a Beautiful World (indie rock, shoegaze)
53. Good Flying Birds - Talulah’s Tape (indie rock, post-punk, country)
54. Snocaps - Snocaps (indie rock, country)
55. Panda Bear - Sinister Grift (indie rock)
56. Wet Leg - moisturizer (indie rock, post-punk)
57. Mhaol - Something Soft (indie rock, noise rock, post-punk)
58. Dazy - Bad Penny (indie rock)
59. Greg Freeman - Burnover (indie rock, country)
60. Jobber - Jobber to the Stars (indie rock)
61. Bedridden - Moths Strapped to Each Others Backs (shoegaze, alternative rock)
62. The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Dreams of Being Dust (post-hardcore, emo)
63. Model/Actriz - Pirouette (noise rock, post-punk)
64. Action/Adventure - Ever After (easycore, pop punk)
65. Psychedelic P**n Crumpets - Carpe Diem, Moonman (psychedelic rock)
66. Fleshwater - 2000: In Search of the Endless Sky (shoegaze, nu-metal, post-hardcore)
67. Dinosaur Pile Up - I’ve Felt Better (alternative rock)
68. The Last Dinner Party - From The Pyre (post-punk, indie pop, indie rock)
69. Bloom - The Light We Chase (metalcore)
70. Quannic - Warbrained (shoegaze)
71. MSPAINT - No Separation (ep) (synth punk, hardcore)
72. Wolf Alice - The Cleaning (alternative rock)
73. My Ticket Home - Pure to a Fault (nu-metalcore)
74. SPACED - No Escape (ep) (hardcore)
75. Stray from the Path - Clockworked (metalcore)
76. They Are Gutting a Body of Water - LOTTO (shoegaze, alternative rock)
77. Fox Lake - New World Heat (nu-metalcore)
78. Thornhill - BODIES (nu-metal, shoegaze)
79. Church Tongue - You’ll Know It Was Me (ep) (hardcore)
80. Cusp - What I Want Doesn’t Want Me Back (shoegaze, alternative rock, country)
81. Hundredth - Faded Splendor (alternative rock)
82. Scowl - Are We All Angels (hardcore, alternative rock)
83. SPRINTS - All That Is Over (post-punk, alternative rock)
84. The Convenience - Like Cartoon Vampires (jangle pop)
85. The Laughing Chimes - Whispers in the Speech Machine (jangle pop)
86. JID - God Does Like Ugly (rap)
87. Ty Segal - Possession (psychedelic rock, garage rock)
88. Sports Team - Boys These Days (post-punk)
89. Dreamwake - The Lost Years (metalcore)
90. Charmer - Downpour (emo, pop punk)
91. Badflower - No Place Like Home (alternative rock)
92. Nihilistic Easyrider - DELUXE EDITION (alternative rock, pop punk, shoegaze)
93. Heavy Lungs - Caviar (post-punk, punk)
94. Old Mervs - Old Mervs (alternative rock, indie rock)
95. Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out (garage punk, hardcore)
96. Rainbow Kitten Surprise - bones (folk, indie rock)
97. Ditz - Never Exhale (noise rock, post-punk)
98. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Phantom Island (psychedelic rock)
99. Great Grandpa - Patience, Moonbeam (indie rock, emo)
100. Greet Death - Die in Love (shoegaze, emo)

12/15/2025

Top 10 alternative rock albums of 2025!

Remember, this is just my opinion. Others may gave different favorites, and thats okay. But alternative rock is in an interesting spot in 2025. Most alternative rock bands are mixing multiple other genres in with it, so a lot of alternative rock albums were put on other genre lists. But these are albums I feel are best put as alternative rock. 90s and early 2000s sounds are back too as many bands would have fit in quite well 20-30 years ago!

1. Militarie Gun - God Save the Gun
2. Hotline TnT - Raspberry Moon
3. The Tubs - Cotton Crown
4. Rocket - R is for Rocket
5. Blondshell - If You Asked For a Picture
6. Dinosaur Pile-Up - I’ve Felt Better
7. Wolf Alice - The Cleaning
8. Hundredth - Faded Splendor
9. The Laughing Chimes - Whispers in the Speech Machine
10. Badflower - No Place Like Home spot i derker lll