Insider Monthly #9
This month’s Insider newsletter features Wishy, Sloan, Clinic, Lily Seabird, Angela Autumn and more!
Latest
Lead Story
Reviews
Protomartyr – Hotel Usona
Drawing on the more troubling aspects of life in the US, the Detroit post-punk veterans treat their latest conceptual release as though stepping headfirst into a house of horrors.
Beck – Ride Lonesome
Ezra Collective – Here Because of Hope
Jawdropped – Secret to Spare
Bloc Party – Anatomy of a Brief Romance
Weekly music puzzle
The Magic Number
New puzzle live · 19 August · #007
Three clues, three guesses, one answer. Play this week’s edition.
Features
10 Albums to Look Forward to in October 2026
Our monthly preview looks ahead to new records from Greg Freeman, Dawn Richard, DIIV, Queens of the Stone Age, Wishy, and more.
Were 2009’s Defining Indie Landmarks Ultimately a Dead End?
10 Albums to Look Forward to in September 2026
Badly Drawn Boy’s The Hour of the Bewilderbeast Revisited
10 Albums to Look Forward to in August 2026
Explore No Ripcord
Independent music criticism since 1999
No advertising. No agenda. No recycled press releases. Just honest reviews, thoughtful features and a deep archive of music writing.
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Popular Right Now
The reviews and features readers are spending time with at the moment.
Guides & Resources
Start here for No Ripcord’s regularly updated guides, schedules and archive hubs.
From The Archive
Death Cab For Cutie Interview (2002)
Death Cab For Cutie’s eleventh studio album, I Built You a Tower, is out now. To celebrate the landmark, we are revisiting a classic early interview with the band from the No Ripcord archive.
Big Star Interview (2009)
Black Tambourine Interview (2010)
M83 Interview (2004)
MF DOOM Interview (2004)
Insider Monthly
Lists
The Worst Albums of 2025
Enough of the positivity. It's time to get critical. What were 2025's worst reviewed records? And what do they say about the state of music criticism?
The Best Albums of 2025
The Best Albums of 2025: Bubbling Under
The Best Swervedriver Songs, Ranked
The Best Idlewild Songs, Ranked
Believe The Hype
Protomartyr – Hotel Usona
Drawing on the more troubling aspects of life in the US, the Detroit post-punk veterans treat their latest conceptual release as though stepping headfirst into a house of horrors.
Lily Seabird – Lightspheres on Their Way
This Is Lorelei – The Singer in My Band
Westside Cowboy – It Goes On
Open Mike Eagle & Kenny Segal – DOOMED!
Records Revisited
Albums To Look Forward To
10 Albums to Look Forward to in October 2026
Our monthly preview looks ahead to new records from Greg Freeman, Dawn Richard, DIIV, Queens of the Stone Age, Wishy, and more.
10 Albums to Look Forward to in September 2026
10 Albums to Look Forward to in August 2026
10 Albums to Look Forward to in July 2026
