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Now Hear This! - August 2026

(Optional) This text will appear in the inbox preview, but not the email body. Allison Russell In the Hour of Chaos Fantasty Buy Now Russell's third album is a healing record made in community, summoning friends from across the map to find small moments of joy in a chaotic 2026. Americana Highways calls it music where healing is 'taken from those who would cause harm.' Harpist Ahya Simone among many contributors. A generous, radiant statement. Green Day Nimrods Original Soundtrack Reprise Buy Now The long-awaited companion to the 1997 album's narrative mythology, Green Day's Reprise archive expanded to accommodate the visual world of Nimrod's original rollout. This supplemental release gives collectors and hardcore fans a deeper look at one of the band's most eclectic and beloved records. An essential document for the faithful. Show Me The Body Alone Together Loma Vista Buy Now Brooklyn post-hardcore outfit Show Me The Body's fourth Loma Vista album pairs Julian Cashwan Pratt's raw delivery with production that feels both urgent and expansive. One of the more genuinely political and sonically distinctive acts in contemporary punk, Alone Together gives fans exactly what makes them worth paying attention to. Green Pajamas When Fever Let Me Dream Label 51 Recordings Buy Now The long-running Seattle psych-folk outfit return with another collection of their signature hazy, melodic dream pop. For 40 years, the Green Pajamas have been quietly building one of the American underground's most consistently beautiful catalogs, and When Fever Let Me Dream belongs there comfortably. Essential listening for anyone who prizes melody over fashion. The Mountain Goats Days Thirty Tigers / Cadmean Dawn Buy Now Darnielle's latest release arrives nine months after Through This Fire. Days carries the intimacy of music made without pause for breath, and Darnielle writing quickly rarely means writing carelessly. Another chapter from one of indie folk's most essential voices, delivered with characteristic urgency. Rain Parade Home In Any Language Label 51 Buy Now Paisley Underground legends return via Label 51 with new material demonstrating their gift for shimmering, reverb-drenched psychedelic pop remains intact. Home In Any Language slots beautifully into the Rain Parade catalog and into the West Coast guitar-based dream pop tradition they helped create in the early 1980s. A welcome and genuine return. Little Big Town It's A Dying Art MCA Buy Now The veteran four-piece deliver what the title suggests: a record that honors craft over trend. It's A Dying Art leans into the harmonies, melodic sophistication, and emotional nuance that have defined the band across their remarkable 25-year career. For country music's devoted craft-conscious listeners, this is exactly the record they've been waiting for. Punch Brothers The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers Nonesuch Buy Now Punch Brothers' seventh Nonesuch album (first with fiddler Brittany Haas and first all-instrumental) was recorded at Guilford Sound, Vermont. Eight originals and three traditional arrangements. Mandolist Chris Thile: 'our deepest but also most joyful exploration of the American string band.' Without words, the music speaks a complete language. Margaret Glaspy I Am Both ATO Records Buy Now The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter pushes her guitar-forward indie rock into bolder territory on her third album. Glaspy writes with an emotional bluntness that sets her apart, and I Am Both channels that quality into her most fully realized arrangements yet. A significant and confident step from one of indie rock's most distinctive voices. Future Palace Resurgence Century Media Buy Now German symphonic and alternative metal act Future Palace deliver a resurgent album, pairing orchestral grandeur with contemporary metal production in a way that balances spectacle and substance. For listeners who want their metal cinematic without sacrificing force, Resurgence deliver both in generous supply. Michigander Over Before You Know It Thirty Tigers / Totally Normal Records Buy Now Flint, MI's Jason Singer releases cements his position as one of indie rock's most reliable purveyors of anthemic, guitar-driven pop. Over Before You Know It continues Michigander's run of big-hearted records with hooks that stick and production that suits the material. Improvement Movement Your Perfect Real Life ATO Records Buy Now Improvement Movement's ATO debut is a project that arrives with a knowing perspective on the performance of self-improvement in modern life. Sharp, melodic, and more layered than its premise might suggest, Your Perfect Real Life comes from an intriguing new voice worth watching. Old & In The Way Live at Sonoma State 11.4.73 Round Records Buy Now A previously unavailable November 1973 live tape from the legendary acoustic supergroup of Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Vassar Clements, and John Kahn. Essential for Garcia devotees and acoustic Americana fans. A genuinely revelatory document from a band that changed what bluegrass could mean. My Chemical Romance Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Deluxe Edition) Reprise Buy Now Reprise's deluxe expansion of MCR's 2010 concept album arrives to mark its 15th anniversary and the band's ongoing global return. The original record remains the band's most maximalist and narratively ambitious statement; the deluxe edition adds previously unreleased material that deepens the Killjoys mythology for the faithful. For the MCR universe, this is essential. LISTEN HERE LISTEN HERE The Strokes Reality Awaits RCA Buy Now Reality Awaits finds the Strokes doubling down on the maximalist detours of The New Abnormal, with Rick Rubin back behind the board and Julian Casablancas leaning hard into autotune and general weirdness. It's indulgent, swinging between tropical disco-rock and Radiohead-ish atmosphere. This a band unbothered in their 40s, and genuinely fun to watch. Gracie Abrams Buy Now From bedroom pop confessional to chart-topping songwriter, Abrams has built one of the most quietly compelling careers of her generation. The EPs minor and This Is What It Feels Like established her gift for raw, aching intimacy. Good Riddance, co-written with The National's Aaron Dessner, earned a Grammy nod and raised the stakes, while The Secret of Us delivered the breakthrough, cementing her as the real deal. Koe Wetzel The Night Champion World Tour Buy Now Texas country's most gloriously chaotic live act is taking his show global. Koe Wetzel's The Night Champion World Tour is a 45-date headlining run spanning the U.S., Canada, and Australia, timed to his new album of the same name. Wetzel put it simply: "I survived the night side of me. I'm coming out of it a champion." From dive bars to arenas, he's earned every bit of it. The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) is a national level organization comprised of the best independent record stores in America. CIMS was founded in 1995 with the goal of uniting like minded independent store owners, giving them a more powerful voice in the music industry. The stores that make up CIMS are all very different, but we share the same desires – to be the heart of our communities, to super-serve our customers, to support and develop artists, and to share our love of music. For more information about CIMS and the stores in our organization, please visit cimsmusic.com or find us through social media with the #cimsmusic hashtag. And please remember to always shop local by supporting your neighborhood record store.

OUT THIS WEEK 8.21.26

HOT SELLERS:

Weezer - Weezer [Indie Exclusive Gold]

KISS - KISS Destroys Anaheim '76

Brandon Flowers - THRASHER [Indie Exclusive Ground Red]

Grace Potter - Trespasser [Indie Exclusive Translucent Light Blue]

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Reel 2 Reel 4 Real [Indie Exclusive Gray]

Out 8.21 - Weezer - Weezer (Gold)

The new Weezer album - Weezer - is hands down the band's most collaborative.  They all took turns contributing songs; they all took turns writing ON songs together.  Produced by Kenneth Blume and Klas Ahlund, Weezer is already shaping up to be another standout in the band's incredible, timeless catalog following the release of recent acclaimed single "Shine Again."

Buy Weezer - Weezer (Gold)

Out 8.21 - KISS - Destroys Anaheim '76

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of one of the most seminal concerts in KISStory - on August 20, 1976, Kiss performed in front of their largest audience to date - 42,000+ fans - at Anaheim Stadium. Originally recorded by Eddie Kramer on that KISStoric night, Eddie has newly mixed this concert from the original multi-track tapes! The 60+ min concert is pressed on 180-gram 2-LP black vinyl and includes an insert featuring liner note highlights from the Deluxe version, unreleased photos & memorabilia imagery.

Buy KISS - Destroys Anaheim '76

Out 8.21 - Brandon Flowers - THRASHER

Brandon Flowers will release THRASHER, his first solo album in over a decade, August 21, 2026 via Island Records.  Recorded in Nashville at Historic RCA Studio A with longtime producers Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado, THRASHER features many of Music City's most renowned players, including longtime Gillian Welch collaborator David Rawlings on guitar, prolific and influential pedal steel player Bruce Bouton, and Charlie McCoy, the legendary harmonica player whose signature playing graces all four of Bob Dylan's iconic Nashville records. Rooted in his formative childhood years in the small town of Nephi, Utah, the timeless sonic approach proves to be the ideal home for Flowers' most personal and vulnerable songwriting yet.

Buy Brandon Flowers - THRASHER