The Swim Team’s Favorites of February 2026

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There’s new music coming out constantly, and oftentimes it can feel hard to keep up. Part of this is the constant swirl of social media and how fast everything moves, but it’s also a byproduct of how streaming platforms like Spotify are set up. If you’ve ever found yourself surprised to learn that your favorite band released a new song months ago, that’s kind of by design. Maybe there’s a record that you had on repeat earlier in the year but were only reminded of its existence because you scrolled deep enough back in your own library. These services would much rather keep you in their playlists and algorithmically generated radio stations than have you seek something out and make an intentional choice about what you listen to. 

Once you factor in all the other forms of entertainment vying for your attention, it can feel like an insurmountable task trying to stay up to date with any of it. I don’t wanna be “old man yells at cloud,” but part of me can’t help but think it was better when you’d get a CD or buy an album on iTunes and listen to it for weeks at a time. 

While most of us here at Swim Into The Sound spend a fair amount of time returning to old faves and digging into backlog blind spots, we’re also music nerds who love keeping up with the latest stuff and getting into needless debates over the buzzy band of the moment. Each month, The Swim Team will round up our favorite albums and songs in hopes of helping you keep up to date, see what you may have missed, or find something new you might love. 

If you find yourself wishing “I wish I were better at keeping up with new music,” this list is for you. If you find yourself overwhelmed when you open up your streaming service of choice, this list is for you. If you find yourself valuing actual human recommendations over whatever the streaming powers that be have elevated to the top, this list is for you. Fuck your algorithm, find something new. 

Records We Dug

  • Abacot - Songs About Problems (Review)

  • All Get Out - Side A

  • Angel Du$t - COLD 2 THE TOUCH (Caro’s Pick)

  • Baby Keem - Ca$ino

  • Barely Civil, Known Moons - Barely Known

  • Bayou Princess - Burger in My Mouth

  • Bill Callahan - My Days of 58

  • Charli xcx - Wuthering Heights

  • Cootie Catcher - Something We All Got

  • Deathcrash - Somersaults

  • Degenerate Synapse - Battle For The Mind

  • Garden Ants - Workhorse

  • Good Tiger - The Most Negative Day of the Year

  • Good Sleepy - CONSTANT HUMMING

  • Hans Gruber and the Die Hards – Or Hans Gruber and The Die Hards (Review)

  • Hilary Duff - luck… or something

  • It's You! It's Me! And There's Dancing! - Tell Me All About It (Taylor’s Pick) (Review)

  • Katzin - Buckaroo (Katie’s Pick)

  • Limbs - Like A Poet, Keen To The Rustle Of Leaves (Elias’ Pick)

  • Madi Diaz - Enema Of The Garden State

  • Michael Cormier-O'Leary - Proof Enough

  • Mitski - Nothing's About to Happen to Me

  • Nothing - a short history of decay

  • Ovven - Gnawing At The Chord

  • PONY - Clearly Cursed (Doyle’s Pick)

  • Pretty Rude - Live At God City

  • Ratboys - Singin’ to an Empty Chair (Review)

  • Remember Sports - The Refrigerator

  • Seven Teller - What Are The Chances? 

  • SUPERWORLD - Super World

  • Tiger Really - mayfly daydream

  • Twisted Teens - Blame The Clown

  • Worry Club - I’m Freaking Out

  • Worst Party Ever - Dartland (Demos)

Songs We Loved

  • Addy - “Peel”

  • Cape Crush - “Place Memory”

  • Cashier - “Part From Me”

  • Chat Pile - “Sifting”

  • Dry Socket - “Leglock”

  • Free Throw - “The Outlaw Star”

  • Future Teens - “Unmade Bed”

  • Georgia Maq - “10 Drunk Cigarettes”

  • Gladie - “Brace Yourself”

  • Hiding Places - “Waiting”

  • Hot Mulligan - “I Don’t Think It’s the Right Time for Emojis”

  • It's You! It's Me! And There's Dancing! - “Here Comes the Hurrah”

  • jeer - “Fall Off” (Britta’s Pick)

  • Kicksie - “SWEETNESS”

  • Lamb of God - “Blunt Force Blues”

  • MUNA - “Dancing On The Wall”

  • My Wonderful Boyfriend - “My Love, My Darling”

  • Ovven - “Thermal Fuse”

  • Palette Knife - “Sleep Paralysis” 

  • Red PK - “Get Down”

  • SAID, NEVER - “Swallow Me Whole” (Ciara's Pick)

  • Sella - “Perfect Worth It” (Braden’s Pick)

  • Sluice - “Zillow”

  • Stars Hollow - “Casper”

  • Swae Lee - “FLAMMABLE”

  • Sweet Pill - “Smoke Screen”

  • Trepid - “Watch Me” (Review)

  • TV Star - “Out Of My Bag”

  • Um Jennifer? - “Comedy 42”

  • youbet - “Ground Kiss”