Every Monday, 88Nine music director Erin Wolf shares a sonic gem she found using her nearly 20 years of new-music exploration experience. You can hear all her discoveries at 2 p.m. every Sunday on What’s All This: Adventures in New Music.
Ben Kweller, the forever-young rocker long-known for his sweet riffs (and for being a teenage rockstar fronting a band called Radish back in the day) is back with new music. And, of course, it’s a solid example of the sound he’s become known for: fuzzy, chug-y, guitar-rock goodness.
After dealing with an intense season of life — losing his teenage son to a freak car accident in 2023 — Kweller used his songwriting to tap into that deep-seated grief, enabling him to get through. Wisely, he also enlisted friends to help.
His new, collaborative album arrives in May with featured appearances from MJ Lenderman, The Flaming Lips and Waxahatchee, who joins Kweller on lead single “Dollar Store.” Joining forces and voices, Kweller and Katie Crutchfield offer a cathartic garage rocker that has me eager to hear more from the full album.
Enjoy Ben Kweller’s “Dollar Store (ft. Waxahatchee)” on the latest episode of What’s All This by hitting the “Listen” button at the top of the page, and find Cover the Mirrors out May 30 on Noise Company Records. You can also check out this week’s full playlist below and then circle back at 2 p.m. every Sunday on 88Nine for another installment of What’s All This: Adventures in New Music.
Best new indie music this week
- Japanese Breakfast, "Mega Circuit"
- EKKSTACY, "keep my head down"
- Cloth, "Golden"
- Moontype, "Long Country"
- Ben Kweller, "Dollar Store (ft. Waxahatchee)"
- Lucy Dacus, "Ankles"
- Cuco, "ICNBYH"
- Beirut, "Guericke's Unicorn"
- BRONCHO, "Funny"
- Panchiko, "Honeycomb"
- Toro y Moi, "Daria (ft. Kenny Beats)"
- Obongjayar, "Not In Surrender"
