Pop Pop Vernac’s newest EP, A Sense of Human, is what you remember the morning after your 18th birthday: a few songs, lots of yelling, and a good fuckin’ time.

All four members, Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland, Jay Ferguson and Andrew Scott have such distinct voices, not just as singers but as songwriters. Their compositions are instantly recognizable, and Based on the Best Seller almost plays like a latter-day greatest hits album because of it. 

In the end, Fencing Wikipedia isn’t some grand reclamation of the past, and maybe that’s the point. Its nostalgia doesn’t feel clean or comforting—it’s messy, conflicted, more about disillusionment than escape. The record captures what it means to live in a digital landscape that’s too fast, too curated, too numb, yet still find yourself longing for sincerity inside it.

I once described Smokey as sounding like a “railroad worker on a mushroom trip,” and reductive though that may be, there’s something about the combination of his choice of subject matter—coyotes, religion, unemployment, death—that paints a decidedly midwestern gothic picture. And yet it’s tinged with an almost spiritual quality, something ethereal that lingers, prodding you to remind you that not everything is as simple as it seems.

With tattoo-like melodies, cleverly crafted riffs, and three-part harmonies to write home about, In the Crowd perfectly captures the Absolute Losers at their best, and makes it easy to see why they’re quickly becoming one of the Maritimes’ rising stars.

Imagine this: you are at their live show, the opening song would have you wanting to clap along immediately, then when the beat comes in and the vocals start, you have the urge to get out of your chair and hit the dance floor, then the whole show, you just cannot sit back down. Yes, that was me in my bedroom listening to this.

You can catch Fredy V & The Foundation live at their album launch party tonight at 8:00pm at the Turbo Haus in Montreal.

Overall, in many ways, Squash takes everything that Rec Centre had built up to in Maxed Out (2023) and takes it to the next level with its gentle thematic focus and its creative ways of playing on this long term creative collaboration with Jay Arner. Honestly, this album can appeal to a wide audience from indie rock darlings who want gentle rock music all the way over to engineering music heads who will find lots to dig into throughout some of the more ambitious cuts of the album.

“I lost my voice ‘cause I talked too loud,” mourns Patrick Watson in “Silencio,” Uh Oh’s opening track. It’s a true story—the singer-composer wasn’t sure if his damaged vocal cords would ever heal. Though he’d recovered in time to make the record, he wisely kept his cast of plan B singers, resulting in a highly collaborative album that frequently explores the thematic avenues surrounding voice and voices in their abundance or absence.

This album is a triumph of songwriting, a lyricist who found another peak more than 20 years into her career and whose voice has only gained power and beauty since her 2003 debut - less airy vibrato and more grace and control. Honesty and vivid storytelling have always been Edwards’ strengths. Here those strengths are balanced by a level of experience and wisdom that can only come with the benefit of age.

Ribbon Skirt continues to be a stunning act of musical artistry and lyrical prowess that has picked up on the following behind their debut release and leaned on it to enhance it. You can tell that PENSACOLA turns up the notch on what made Bite Down one of the highlights of 2025, whether it is in the textured noise, the vocal dynamism, or the melodic composition. This only makes me all the more excited to see what Ribbon Skirt has coming up next for them.

it is a delight to see one of Vancouver’s finest bless us with a sophomore release. Dust Cwaine (aka. I-am-not-giving -more-than-this-drag-name-cuz-I-am-not-a-cop) has a considerable following tied to their almost decade long drag career, but I want to stress that the fact that they are just as much a musician shouldn’t get buried under the layers of make-up, mascara, and blush.

Franco Rossino, who’s previous album, #1, is packed with brilliantly sardonic folk-punk earworms that rail mercilessly against the day to day minutiae of small town hierarchies, garnering him a devoted club of fervent fans, most of whom now sit in the front row, giddy with excitement. 

Have you ever heard of the legend of Montreal's Bermuda Triangle? It’s a place where it’s always 2:15 am, a perfect time to drink with the same culprits, pretend you will find the love of your life, show off your best look and smoke cigarette after cigarette on the dirty concrete. You might even cross paths with a crazy wacko vampire with bleached hair and chromosome damage, who makes music that sounds like it's from hell. That must be Alexandre Fournier, also known as Alix Fernz.