An imaginative and visceral listen that’s thrilling from the offset, The Smile are truly one of the best bands on the planet right now.

On the turntable, Wall of Eyes feels like an immersive experience with a proven, special ability to turn the heads of both adoring fans as well as those (somehow) yet to become acquainted with their genius.

TANGK is the sound of an already incredible band reaching a whole other level. An album littered with moments of genuine fragility and vulnerability while maintaining the band’s signature ferocity, with the all-star production duo of Kenny Beats and Nigel Godrich guiding the project into thrilling sonic territories.

(Also, POP POP POP is one of the best tracks released by a guitar band over the last five years).

A highly anticipated follow up to 2021’s Sling (Assai’s album of that year!), Charm delivers and then some.

With the merging of two of our favourite creative minds [production by Leon Michels], Clairo’s third full-length is a much-welcomed elevation of her typical lo-fi bedroom pop sound intwined with complex instrumentation, R&B and '70s soft rock.

Gorgeous, lush electronica from Gordon Chapman-Fox’s Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan.

The sound of optimism towards an imagined future, with the melancholy of knowing it was never realised. Both retro and hauntingly modern, invoking the bleeps and bloops of 70s Kraftwerk and Jarre, with a sense of dread that couldn’t be more 2024.

Cinematic in some places, folky in others, Bill Ryder-Jones eased us gently into the new year with 13 of his most delicate and personal songs to date.

Iechyd Da (a Welsh toast to good health) acts as a perfect toast to both his musical and ancestral histories, executed in the dreamiest way imaginable.

Being a Scottish record shop, we feel it's our duty to celebrate the album artwork - an incredible painting of Crail, Fife [Texture & Light, Crail] by Dale Bissland.

86TVs' debut embodies the ethos of what art should be about—pure, unfiltered joy and the love of creation. Free from the pressure of chasing conventional ‘new band’ milestones, the album draws from the members' rich histories with The Maccabees and Stereophonics, focusing instead on reconnecting with the simple pleasures of making music as brothers and friends.

Across its 15 euphoric and anthemic tracks (although not lacking in heartbreaking moments like 'Komorebi'), 86TVs captures the nostalgic spirit of the great guitar bands that first sparked our lifelong infatuation with music: Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, The Strokes, Sea Power, all whilst maintaining a 2024 freshness.

It’s a reminder that when all the right elements align—a shared sense of conviction, chemistry, and passion—it’s impossible for it to go unnoticed.

We may not have been blessed with much sunshine this year, but Pull the Rope provides the much needed [metaphorical] sun through the sheer hope and joy that emanates from this record.

A high-energy electronic masterpiece with standout basslines reminiscent of the best of the genre - think LCD Soundsystem or Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul's Topical Dancer.

On Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend maintain their unique ability to transport you to the depths of a bleak and hazy New York City - even if you’ve never been.

The band are no strangers to this setting. In fact, being able to adopt it as the sonic/geographical backdrop to multiple eras whilst maintaining their beloved melodic, baroque-infused core, is the very thing that makes them one of the greatest bands in the world.

Spiritual, special, and reminiscent of 2013’s Modern Vampires of the City.

This album hasn’t been off the shop turntable since the moment it was released.

A solid favourite from the team, it’s flamboyant, surreal, sleazy, sophisticated, and everything you could want from a record.