The Swim Team’s Favorites of July 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

  • Babe Rainbow - Acid and Honey

  • Bring Me The Horizon - Count Your Blessings | Repented

  • The Bug, Dis Fig – Ladybug 1 (Review)

  • Charli xcx - Music, Fashion, Film

  • Compandas - Tropical Finasteride (Taylor’s Pick)

  • Crush Fund - GO

  • Emma Ogier, Eden Joel - “Rocksteady/Heavy Metal”

  • Foamboy - STUPID HOT

  • Forests - That's Not Very Mid-Century Modern Of You

  • Future - The Real Me

  • Gracie Abrams - Daughter From Hell (Logan’s Pick)

  • Grey Matter - Grey Matter

  • Hurry - Zoned Out (Review)

  • Iris Temple - Ghosts of the Future

  • Jack White - Frozen Charlotte

  • mary in the junkyard - Role Model Hermit

  • The Menzingers - Everything I Ever Saw

  • Mopar Stars - Official Researchers Of The JN Devil

  • Nia Archives - Emotional Junglist

  • phoneswithchords - High Up On The Wheel Well

  • Josaleigh Pollett - If I Let It Quiet

  • Radkey - Bedroom Sand (Doyle’s Pick)

  • Rico Nasty - RX

  • Riley! - To Live and Die in the American South (Review)

  • Sad13 - 1331

  • Sam & Louise Sullivan - Love & Devotion (Review)

  • Sex Prisoner - Cautionary Tale (Review)

  • Small Parks - Panic Sounds

  • Syd - Beard (David’s Pick)

  • Swapmeet - Mount Zero

  • Thousandaire – Cowards (Review)

  • Tiny Voices - My Mind’s Recession

  • Tracey Nelson - Hercules

  • Twisted Teens - Florida Water Blues

  • Ultra Lights - Pleasure’s All Yours

Songs We Loved

  • A. Lee Edwards - “Without You”

  • Allah-Las - “Pt. Conception”

  • Asher White - “the eagle is no omen”

  • Autumn Rhythm - “Down for the Count”

  • Babehoven - “Lasagna” 

  • Beach Bunny - “July”

  • Cameron Knowler - “El Centro - Cassette Demo”

  • Celebration Guns - “Johl Rides Again”

  • Chastity - “Penny on the Tracks”

  • Chat Pile - “PEN I S MALL”

  • Citizen - “I Can See You From Here”

  • Cold Gawd - “Grease”

  • Computerwife - “Nobody”

  • Deep Sea Diver - “Teardrop”

  • Dogwood Tales - “Ralph Sampson”

  • Dormer. - “Lie Still”

  • Emma Ogier, Eden Joel - “Rocksteady/HeavyMetal”

  • Endswell - “Bad News Beers”

  • god of war, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Hooky - “mickey don’t pose”

  • Gracie Abrams - “Minibar”

  • Graham Hunt - "Riverboat Blues”

  • Greg Freeman - “Indu”

  • Growing Pains - “Crush”

  • Hannah Colle - “MMA”

  • Heccra - “Haley”

  • Herr God - “slow green water”

  • Initiate - “Numb the Pain”

  • In Loving Memory - “Your New Aesthetic”

  • James Barett, Francie - “All I Need (Something Good)”

  • Jawdropped - “Split Lip”

  • Jess Williamson - “Goodbye to All That”

  • Josaleigh Pollett - “Escape Routes”

  • Julia Jacklin, The Maes - “I Wish”

  • Kill Gosling - “Pavement”

  • Krill - “Commemorative Plaque” (Britta’s Pick)

  • Leisure Hour - “Am I Dumb?”

  • Lily Seabird - “Portal to the Past”

  • No Joy - “Barking at the Sun”

  • OK Cowgirl - “Cruise The Town”

  • Oven - “Abbreviated - acoustic”

  • patrick hardy, Pipe Bomb - “meant to live”

  • Perennial - “Modernism”

  • Phoebe Bridgers - “Lost Boys - Acoustic”

  • A Place for Owls, Josaleigh Pollett, All Thieves - “Son of Man”

  • Prairie Princess - “Lonely Eyes”

  • Prairie Princess - “Unlimited Space (Jewish American Prairie Princess)”

  • Public Opinion - “I Pay Everyone I Still Talk To”

  • Radiator Hospital - “A Fine Vintage”

  • Rodrigo y Gabriela - “OurHome”

  • Ron Gallo - “Peter Thiel”

  • Royal Coda - “Of The Mortal Self”

  • Russian Circles - “Eluvial”

  • Self-Defense Family - “Reclusion”

  • Sharp Pins - “Saturday Sun”

  • Slow Joy - “Forget”

  • Slow Fiction - “turning down flowers”

  • Squirrel Flower - “Sick Tooth”

  • Sugar World - “White Noise”

  • SUNFO - “The Numbers, Mason!”

  • Talker - “Strangers”

  • Truman Sinclair - “4th of July”

  • Ty Segall - “Running to Nowhere”

  • Tycho, Sea Lemon - “Another Wave”

  • Westside Cowboy - “Pin Up Boys” (Taylor’s Pick)

  • Wild Pink - “500 Is The New 250”

  • Wishy - “All The Rage” (David’s Pick)

  • 2nd Grade - “Cellophane Girls”