5 BEST ALBUMS – MAY 2026
28 May 2026
Band: BLEACHERS
Who: Singer/songwriter & workaholic
Jack Antonoff‘s supporting team.
Album: EVERY ONE FOR TEN MINUTES
Their 5th.
Antonoff: “It’s very rare that I write from the perspective of an everyone-ness. Obviously, the album is about my personal life, but when I was writing it, I was like, ‘We’ve never disagreed more. We’ve never been more torn apart.’ And yet there’s one core thing that everyone agrees on, which is: this version of modernity is trash. No one’s having a good time.”
Press photo by Alex Lockett
TUTV: It’s only recently that I found out that Antonoff is not one but an 11-time Grammy Award winner for his longtime production/songwriting work with megastars such as Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, and Kendrick Lamar. Well, I’m not a follower of these 3 global celebrities, so there you go.
But I do follow, and I do love his Bleachers project. And I do think that his new opus is
his/their best. Antonoff is a masterly, romantic singer-songwriter à la Beirut‘s Zach Condon, an enchanting mood-swinger à la Matt Berninger, and an absorbing human-stories teller à la Father John Misty.
Not one dull moment on Everyone For Ten Minutes. He writes/muses
about the shit times we live in, and it feels like you’re not alone comforting.
I wonder where he finds the time, aside from his hectic, main job for some of the biggest names on this planet, to write, compose, record, and then tour, alluring beauties like this hearty, mixed emotions one. Almost half of the year gone, and I’m quite sure this new Bleachers diamond will be Top-10 in my 2026 list.
Key singles.
– DIRTY WEDDING DRESS –
– YOU AND FOREVER –
ALBUM
.
Europe/UK Dates Instagram – Website – Spotify
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Band: JAPANESE JESUS
Who: 2 Irish mavericks from West Limerick.
Bertie Kelly (vocals, guitars, bass) and
Denny Dunworth (Drums).
FFO: USA Nails, Fugazi, Pissed Jeans,
Nirvana and other noiseniks.
Album: A WALL TO CLIMB OVER
Their debut, which follows their ace EP,
named Depression Breakfast from 2023.
Album artwork
TUTV: This is one of those indie DIY records that overwhelm my (experienced) ears way more than some massive mainstream successes within the same genre, in this case, powerhouse-noise rock.
I listened to the new Foo Fighters LP ‘You’re New Favorite Toy’ twice, and I probably won’t return to it, except for a couple of corking standouts. Thus far, this Japanese Jesus debut (released the same day as the Foos LP) has heated my earphones about 10 times now.
And it won’t be the last time.
Why? Well, it’s simple. These two hepped-up underdogs come up with more impressive tunes than Dave Grohl‘s globally famous band. With The Beige, Big Balls, Boredom Forever, No Rest and Over It the Irish turbo deliver riff-sick master blasters (think The Jesus Lizard on amphetamines, backed by Black Sabbath‘s cast-iron rhythm section) with blood-curdling melodies at the core of them all and vociferous vocalist Bertie Kelly screaming, at times, way more scarily than the former Nirvana drummer
With “I’m Bits,“ “Right Back Where They Started,” and “Whatever,” they offer some reflective moments amid the overall paranoid racket, balancing the record comprehensively well.
Japanese Jesus have outscored the Foos. Say no more, except for the
fact I always love it when the underdogs beat the big rock stars.
SINGLE
.
ALBUM
.
Instagram
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Band: THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS,
Who: Oklahoma‘s vet rockers.
Album: SANDBOX.
(Only) their 5th in 27 years.
Tyson Ritter (frontman) told NYC’s magazine Paper: “This album has taken
a lot of fireside chats, and a lot of mending fences. I think I said in an interview
before. People don’t really want a new All-American Rejects record.
People want their time capsule and want to jump into it and feel like they smell
CK One and it makes them feel young. But the question I pose is, ‘What if we can
say something now? What if we can actually resonate?’”
TUTV: After 27 years, these vets come up with a highly peachy longplayer. A fireworks record stuffed with a series of whoppingly fab tunes. We get scream-along/fist-pumping rockers (Easy Come, Easy Go / Sandbox / Staring Back At Me), euphoric rockers à la The Killers (Get This / Eggshell Tap Dancer / King Kong / Lemonade), and a couple of gripping ballads (Green Isn’t Yellow / Mama).
Enough sonic scores, with familiar life-observing-affirming stories, to have yourself one of the best rawk ‘n’ roll LPs of the year. Retro? Old-fashioned? Maybe, but I don’t give a flying f**ck if it’s hip or not. Sandbox made/makes me go for the repeat button several times now. It activates my bloodstream and doubles my production of adrenaline.
100% solid gold triumph. Hands down.
Key singles.
– KING KONG –
– GET THIS –
ALBUM
.
Instagram – Linktree
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Band: THE CORAL
Who: Liverpool‘s psych-folk-pop-rock ramblers wandering since 2002,
when they drew instant ear-attention with their dynamite self-titled debut LP.
Album: 388.
Their 13th.
“Recorded in two weeks and inspired by Rocksteady, vocal groups of the early 60s, Ethiopiques compilations and “the highs, lows, births and deaths of the last three decades”
11-tracks bring the band back to the essence of being The Coral.”
TUTV: It’s vintage The Coral. Over the years, they grew mellower, more relaxed, more melancholic, more dreamy, and more sepia-toned. Charming, hum-along, mid-tempo tunes for romantic sunsets. If I think of it, the Scousers never ever disappoint(ed). They’re always welcome on my headphones. Right on, let the music play.
SINGLE
ALBUM
.
Instagram – All Albums
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Credit J Kimball
Band: JESUS THE DINOSAUR
Who: Boston-based indie folk team.
Debut Album: NOTHING TO THE BRANCHES
Press info: “As most of us go through life’s formative stages, there are often
two lanes of maturity and fulfillment that casually intertwine, with each helping
inform and propel the other.
One is establishing who we are as a person, while discovering a sense of identity
and comfort as our true selves; and the other is finding our community along the
way, seeking refuge and safety in those that exist, and persist, closest to us.
Those lanes converge and come to the forefront of Jesus The Dinosaur’s introspective
debut album, Nothing To The Branches, a record that acts as a portal into a different
kind of emotive headspace.”
Tommy Ng (frontman) “The statement that we are making with this album is that we’re here! The songs cover a range of things from complex relationship dynamics to gender identity to anxiety attacks. But at our core, the music we make is really more about being involved in an intimate collaborative creation process together and finding our own expressions within it.”
“Our chemistry is everything! We’ve been friends for a long time. They are my closest friends.
It allows for the process of music writing to be very intimate and vulnerable and expansive. There’s space for everyone to have their expressions, and we all want to work together and
feel seen.”
TUTV: On this debut, the band explore gender identity, relationship dynamics, anxiety,
and escapism. Musically, they embed these life-important issues in gentle, charming, candid and acoustic-euphonious reveries. Luring indie folk that triggers self-analysing daydreaming.
The ruminative balladry of Bon Iver and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy comes to mind. Nothing To The Branches embraces a similar heart-and-soul stirring melancholia, wrapped in introvertive reveries such as Lifetime, Not Yr Boy, I Miss My Friend and fervent tunes such as (Agender, Empty Space, Sweet Nothing and Looking For A Way Out). Great vocals too from Ng and guitarist Hannah Foxman on Can’t Say.
I’m sure many young people out there can relate to the covered
topics on this brave and frank debut. Kudos to Jesus The Dinosaur.
SINGLE
STREAM/BUY ALBUM
