Automatic have spent the last few years building one of the tightest, most confident live shows in the current wave of post-punk-adjacent rock, and their Saturday afternoon set on the Panhandle stage at Outside Lands was proof the trio's new record only sharpens that reputation further. Touring behind Is It Now?, Izzy Glaudini and Halle Saxon brought a set that balanced synth-driven cool with real physical urgency, and Golden Gate Park was fully locked in from the first note.

Fresh off the release of their newest record, Joy Next Door, one of our absolute favorite bands of all time The Maine is back and better than ever. With a tour planned and on the way (tickets here!), we got the unique opportunity for a lengthy Q&A with the band’s own Garrett Nickelsen. Make sure to check out the record and head to a date, but also to learn a little more about the album and the band’s storied history below.

After nearly two decades away from the album format that first defined them, The Format have reemerged not as a nostalgia act, but as a fully revitalized creative force. With the release of Boycott Heaven on January 23, 2026 via The Vanity Label, the duo of Nate Ruess and Sam Means have delivered a record that feels both rooted in their past and sharply attuned to the present. We can sincerely say it’s our album of the year and nothing else that gets shared this year will even come close.

Whitney have always had a gift for turning the everyday into something luminous, but Small Talk feels like the album where they’ve distilled everything they’ve been chasing since their debut into one cohesive statement. Set for release November 7th on AWAL, the Chicago band’s fourth record is not just their most affecting to date, it’s arguably their best, full stop. If their past albums flirted with brilliance, this one weds it, an effortless blend of their signature soft-focus soul, shimmering folk-rock warmth, and tenderly crafted pop that glows from the first note to the last.

Some festivals feel like a grind to get through. Just Like Heaven feels like a party you never want to leave. Goldenvoice's one-day indie showcase returned to Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for its 2026 edition, and from the moment the gates opened at noon until the final notes rang out well after dark, it reaffirmed exactly why this has become one of the most beloved single-day festivals anywhere in the country.

There's a reason The Strokes closing out Just Like Heaven Festival felt less like a booking decision and more like an inevitability. This is the band that basically invented the sound the entire festival is built around, and from the second Julian Casablancas ambled up to the mic and the band launched into "Lonely in the Future," it was clear Pasadena was about to get the full, unfiltered version of one of rock's most influential live acts.

By the time James Murphy stepped out from behind that iconic mixing rig, Brookside at the Rose Bowl had already stopped being a golf course for the day, it was a dance floor, packed shoulder to shoulder and buzzing with the kind of anticipation only a headlining LCD Soundsystem set can generate. What followed was one of the most electric hours of the entire Just Like Heaven Festival, a masterclass in building a crowd up, wringing it out, and sending it home glowing.

If Just Like Heaven Festival needed a jolt of pure, unfiltered rock and roll chaos, Twin Peaks delivered it in full. The Chicago band has built a reputation as one of the most reliably wild live acts in indie rock, and their set at Brookside at the Rose Bowl was proof that reputation is very much earned.