The Swim Team’s Favorites of April 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

  • Acetone - I've Enjoyed As Much Of This As I Can Stand - Live at The Knitting Factory, NYC: May 31, 1998

  • Bay Faction - Year of the Dog

  • Bon Iver - VOLUMES: ONE (SELECTIONS FROM MUSIC CONCERTS 2019-2023 BON IVER 6 PIECE BAND)

  • Brown Horse - Total Dive

  • Cavs - Sojurn (Noëlle’s Pick)

  • Commitment - Fear Of

  • Enter Shikari - Lose Your Self (Ciara's Pick)

  • Florry - Smells Like... Florry Live As Hell

  • Friko - Something Worth Waiting For (Review)

  • Gay Meat - Blue Water

  • Gia Margaret - Singing

  • Holly Humberstone - Cruel World

  • Joe Jackson - Hope And Fury

  • Judy - Songs of Mutt and Hate (Review)

  • Latchkey Kids - Year of Summers

  • Mikaela Davis - Graceland Way

  • Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize - Nine Inch Noize 

  • Palette Knife - Keyframe

  • Prince Daddy & the Hyena - Hotwire Trip Switch (Review)

  • Pro Wrestling The Band - Weanling (Review)

  • Sean Solomon - The World Is Not Good Enough

  • scientists & saboteurs -  of times and places (Britta’s pick)

  • Souled American - Sanctions (Logan’s pick)

  • Skylar Spence - Almost Butterflies (Review)

  • Stars Hollow - Kind of Hoping

  • Sunn O))) - Sunn O)))

  • This Is Lorelei - Box for Buddy, Box for Star (Super Deluxe)

  • Touche Amore - Stage Four (10 Year Anniversary Edition)

  • Wendy Eisenberg - Wendy Eisenberg 

  • WU LYF - A Wave That Will Never Break

Songs We Loved

  • The Acid Flashback at Nightmare Beach - “Feels Like Something”

  • Alabama Shakes - “American Dream”

  • Arcadia Grey - “Septum Ring”

  • Avril Lavigne - “Ironic”

  • Beach Bunny, Aly & AJ - “Clueless”

  • Big Nothing - “Sick of It”

  • Broken Social Scene - “The Call”

  • Callahan & Witscher - “Downtown Clown”

  • Crash of Rhinos - “Recurring” (Taylor’s Pick)

  • Dari Bay - “We’re Gonna Be Okay”

  • Death Cab For Cutie - “Punching The Flowers”

  • Emperor X - “Praise Jesus! Hail Reagan!” (Braden’s Pick)

  • Future Teens - “Bad Faith”

  • Glom - “Glass - Dad’s Version”

  • Greg Mendez - “No Evil”

  • Grolixes - “Dreamin’ Again”

  • Grumpster - “Trust Me”

  • Guitar - “Bunny the Night Clerk”

  • Held, High Vis - “KNIFEPOINT”

  • Holy Motors - “Heaven’s Night”

  • Hurry - “Zoned Out”

  • Ian Fisher, Paul Gallister - “Connection - Revisited”

  • Jack White - “Derecho Demonico”

  • Kevin Morby - “Badlands”

  • Kurt Vile - “Chance to Bleed"

  • Labrador - “The Rosy Red World”

  • Mandancing - “Fight Night”

  • Mikaela Davis - “Junk Love”

  • MooseCreek Park - “Sleep Again”

  • Mopar Stars - “Feast For The Smile”

  • Nick Weber - “Follow My Breath”

  • Pharmacist – “Propelling Inwards” (Review)

  • Piebald - “This Thing is Old” 

  • Portrayal of Guilt - “The Last Judgement”

  • Rhododendron - “Like Spotting Out Copper”

  • Rosali - “Other Side”

  • S. G. Goodman - “Pepper”

  • Sincere Engineer - “Twist My Tongue”

  • Snarls - “No Lock, No Prayer”

  • Squint - “Crushed by the Weight”

  • Swapmeet - “Sand”

  • Swiss Army Wife - “Lion’s Mane”

  • The Sword - “Winter’s Wolves - 2004 Demo Version”

  • tenmonthsummer - “broken fist in a boxing glove”

  • This House is Creaking - “There’s a Stench in the Air”

  • This is Lorelei, Waxahatchee - “Where’s Your Love Now”

  • Thomas Dollbaum - “Coyote”

  • villagerrr - “Caoursel”

  • WU LYF - “Wave”

  • youbet - “Undefined”