Towards the end of 2025, singer songwriter Josaleigh Pollett released ‘Radio Player’, a complex track that took in various indie and electronica styles, along with other moods, to create a recording that felt as if it were always shifting. The fact that it never felt forced or unsettled was testament to some great hooks and a soaring vocal that contrasted the music’s more mechanical elements brilliantly.
This visit to the Singles Bar comes absolutely loaded with treats. Among the eight picks you’ll discover a great reggae number, a cameo from a bona fide legend of Britpop, some goth oriented sounds, a riot grrrl inspired banger…and more besides. With a great variety, this represents everything we love about the SB, and hope you’ll find something to love too.
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With its bright sounding guitar lines and prominent bass groove, ‘Pyramid of Djoser’, the lead track from Yawning Balch’s fourth opus, opens a little more forcefully than you’d possibly expect from a typical Yawning Balch recording. In many ways, its busier feel, evident even from its first few bars, comes closer to sounding more like a Yawning Man leftover. This doesn’t make it in any way bad, of course: for desert rock fans, the immediacy with which the quartet hit a rocky groove here creates something striking; something which, stylistically, sits at the pinnacle of desert rock coolness.
Combining a stoner rock swagger and a post hardcore crunch, ‘Glass House’ by Abrams isn’t particularly shy when it comes to sharing a huge riff. Throughout the track, the band attack with a real intent, and although there are moments where a superb drum sound feels like the dominant force, a really crunchy Helmet influenced guitar sound brings a huge amount of weight to an impressive, heavy melody. The bulk of this performance delights in sharing a great groove, but even when Abrams slow things enough to drop into a classic hardcore breakdown, or unexpectedly break into a thrashy riff to finish, the tones and attitude shared are absolutely first rate.
Over the past year, one man band Tooth Gore has released some fantastic singles and a really enjoyable album. For a musician working in a DIY fashion, Kobi Joe has covered a lot of ground in a really short time, peaking with a tour of the Philippines in early 2026.
Showing no signs of slowing down, a new Tooth Gore single has just been released, and it’s one of their best tracks to date. ‘Scum of The Sea’ opens with a steady beat and a chopping guitar, initially hinting at a strong blend of power pop and surf rock, before introducing a fuzzy guitar that owes more to an old alternative rock sound. From solid foundations, a quiet verse serves up a very 60s influenced riff alongside a melodic vocal, forming one of the band’s most accessible tracks.