Slim pickings here, folks. But the cream always rises to the top. July 2018, much like any other July in music history, is a bit of a wasteland for new indie releases – a Mad Max desert through which few marauders race each other in souped out vehicles to the finish line, which in this strange analogy, is presumably the song of the summer glory. The Internet surely have that sound nailed down, but don’t sleep on these others. But Ty Segall convincingly manages to save garage rock for something like the fifth time, the innocence mission muses on British-weather-soaked city buses, and Gaika sends the world plummeting into delicious darkness. Drink up, me lads.

Artist: Kasey Johansing
Title: The Hiding
Label: Night Bloom
What is it? A rich slice of Fleetwood Mac-ian ’70s West Coast heartache from former Yesway member.
L&Q says: “‘Hold Steady’ is the sort of dreamy, melancholic and wonderfully concise song full of glistening guitars and haunting refrains that should soundtrack Big Sur sunsets.”
Read Sam Walton’s full review

Artist: Lavender Flu
Title: Mow The Glass
Label: In The Red
What is it? The bedroom project of Chris Gunn finally comes full-formed.
L&Q says: “Almost every track comes in at under 3 minutes, and adheres strictly to pop conventions, but this does not restrict Lavender Flu – it simply creates order and reason in the otherwise hazy, crazy world that this record inhabits.”
Read Cal Cashin’s full review

Artist: the innocence mission
Title: Sun On The Square
Label: Bella Union
What is it? US indie folk’s best kept secret make something timeless.
L&Q says: “It hunts out the curious minutiae of being alive, saves them and makes them spectacular. In an already strong back catalogue, this album feels like the crown jewel.”
Read Tristan Gatward’s full review

Artist: The Internet
Title: Hive Mind
Label: Columbia
What is it? What was once an Odd Future spin off is now a bona fide pop-R&B sensation.
L&Q says: “There’s a keen sense that The Internet’s time is now: the band’s fourth album is unapologetically ambitious both musically and commercially, resulting in a collection of songs that are leaner, sleeker and more direct than ever.”
Read Sam Walton’s full review

Artist: Ty Segall & White Fence
Title: Joy
Label: Drag City
What is it? Further proof that the garage rock game-changer works nights too.
L&Q says: “This is garage rock entering 2018 – abstract, playful, smart and downright odd at times. .”
Read Haley Scott’s full review

Artist: Phantastic Ferniture
Title: Phantastic Ferniture
Label: Transgressive
What is it? Aussie singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin ditches alt-country for pure danceability.
L&Q says: “Songs like ‘Fuckin ‘n’ Rollin’ combine towering and silky vocals with hard-to-shake bass lines and twinkling and summery guitar hooks.”
Read Rosie Ramsden’s full review

Artist: Gaika
Title: Basic Volume
Label: Warp
What is it? A confident, patient debut from a vital voice in UK music.
L&Q says: “Gaika circles around images of violence, spiritualism and black bodies. “Naked and black in a white man’s world,” he says at the end of the opening track, after describing the chaos of inner city life.”
Read Stephen Butchard’s full review