Editor’s Note: Anyone who says there isn’t good music coming out these days — and quite literally, every day — simply isn’t paying attention. Vanyaland’s compilation feature The V List highlights the best in new music, both homegrown and national, over the past month, pulling together the sounds that have soundtracked the website in recent weeks. It’s all the stuff we’re bumping here at Vanyaland HQ, one new bop at a time.
Common People, ‘Dear Worry’
Look don’t at us, but our new kink is bands that we think are named after Pulp songs but in reality are probably not. We swooned over Bar Italia not too long ago, and now we’re singing along with Common People, the white-hot Los Angeles band that has Next Big Thing written out all messy in Jarvis Cocker’s crooked handwriting. Whether or not these dudes are named after perhaps the most iconic Britpop banger ever — apologies to NYC’s The Drowners, yeah — is a moot point, because soon their own tracks will define them entirely. Giving an anthem that’s more Pixies-flavored college indie than anything Cool Britannia, Common People deliver a hopeful new tune called “Dear Worry” that sets a mighty tone for debut EP Games, out this week (April 3) via Parallel Vision/Big Loud Rock. Described as a reminder to give yourself self-compassion and mental grace even when we feel unworthy, this guitar-rock ripper was produced by Cage The Elephant’s Brad Shultz, and we can hear that band’s DNA embedded within its vertical loud/quiet dynamic. “‘Dear Worry’ is a love letter to that voice in your head,” says bassist and vocalist Konrad Ulich. “An honest reflection on worry that is less so about overcoming negative emotions as it is learning to live with them.” Let’s go dance, drink, and screw.
she’s green, ‘mettle’
One of the musical highlights of spring arrives May 19, when reunited shoegaze pioneers Chapterhouse play The Sinclair in Cambridge and remind us that “Pearl” holds firm as one of the greatest songs ever written. But now we gotta make sure we bounce outta Tasty Burger early enough to catch she’s green, the Minneapolis-based band that opens the show with their own fresh take on the enduring genre. The rising quintet led by vocalist Zofia Smith draw us deeper into their heavenly n’ hazy daydream pop with “mettle”, a lush and melodic new single on Photo Finish Records that harnesses the distressing weight of our grim world into a feeling of hope. Feels timely. Says Smith: “‘mettle’ channels the frustration and discomfort that stem from what often feels like constant bad news, while also being an anthem of resilience and the courage to take action and bring about positive change.” Check it out via the official music video, directed by Jaxon Whittington.
Johnny Dynamite, ‘Helpline’
May 15 is shaping up to be a banger holiday for us here at Vanyaland. Not only does the date find us turning 13 (how did that happen?), but it also delivers a new album from longtime V fave Johnny Dynamite, who, from 2020s decade-definer “Bats in the Woods” to a stand-out 617 Q&A, has been a relative constant here under our pink neon lights. And that’s for good reason, as our increasingly dystopian mood is often offset by the shimmer of compassion that permeates through Dynamite’s prismatic sound. To get us primed for the forthcoming self-titled, the Philadelphia comet serves up new single “Helpline,” a crystalline synth-pop romp via Born Losers Records that’s another sleek and seductive turn in bridging new wave and post-punk under animated, late-night storytelling. The track was produced by Trey Frey of Korine, and offers an extension of a human connection between two unlikely suspects, perhaps not unlike us turning to Dynamite’s music for catharsis when we need it most. Call in below.
Lily Seabird, ‘Demon in Me’
There is a darkness that surrounds us in virtually every aspect of life in 2026, and each day requires a distinct effort to shake free the evils that swirl inside and out. Lily Seabird, the Vermont singer-songwriter who’s quickly gaining a national profile, recognizes the battle in “Demon in Me,” her potent new indie-folk single that moves like our day, building from a slow-burn acoustic strummer into a lush cacophony of sound that’s not unlike the best of Big Thief and Geraldine Fibbers. It’s Seabird’s first new music since last year’s breakout Trash Mountain album, and feels very poignant for today. “[‘Demon in Me’ is on] the dark side, probably a symptom of anxiety or depression,” says Seabird. “The beginning of the song I talk about this longing for freedom. Whether it’s freedom from the demon or letting the demon be free, I’m not really sure, but by the end the music is supposed to embody that.” Catch her at Green River Festival out in Western Massachusetts in June. Demons, stay home.
Cherry Bomb, ‘Digital Girl’
Tired: “What were you like in the ’90s?” Wired: “What were you like in the 2000s?” Move over Goo Goo Dolls, here comes a new sonic jolt to soundtrack a social media craze. It comes from Cherry Bomb, the Los Angeles solo project of MisterWives’ Mandy Lee, who transports us back to a Y2K state of mind with “Digital Girl,” a radiant alt-pop electro anthem that scoffs at our automated and algorithmic world in favor of a simpler time before smart phones, streaming, and everything else that makes us miserable. “‘Digital Girl’ asks how far are you willing to go for your dreams and at what cost? In this Information Age where the pressures of perfection and an unsustainable quantity over quality are constantly burning out not just artists but everyone who is plugged in, it’s impossible to not romanticize unplugging entirely,” Lee says. “Remembering a time when you could tour without social media to adapting to social media now becoming an algorithmic gatekeeper for musicians while the charts are riddled with AI-generated songs leaves you at a crossroads of having to partake in the systems you hate for the sake of what you love.” Press play and unplug, go dust off that broken iPod to feel young and alive again, and revert back to a time when you didn’t want the world to see you, because we knew back then that they wouldn’t understand.