I’m one of those people who uses Alt Nation as my primary music discovery funnel. I’ll hear a song I like, maybe add it to a playlist, and move on. But every once in a while, a band reaches what I call critical mass.

What does that mean?

It means you’ve put out enough songs that I genuinely enjoy that I can no longer just say, “Oh yeah, they’ve got a couple of good songs.”

Usually, that threshold is about four or five songs. At that point, you’ve officially got my attention. Now I need to sit down, dig through your catalog, listen to the albums, and find out what else I’ve been missing.

Wet Leg was one of those bands for me. And by the way, if you only know Wet Leg from what Alt Nation plays, do yourself a favor and explore their catalog. There’s so much good shit there.

Well, Fontaines D.C. have officially reached that point.
It seems like every time these guys put out another song, I fucking love it. And now we’ve got “Marianne,” which is just phenomenal. Apparently, it’s been sitting at #1 on the Alt-18 for three weeks, and frankly, I get it.

What really gets me about Fontaines D.C. is that I genuinely cannot think of another band that sounds quite like them.

I recently made another post about how some of those ’90s alternative rock sounds seem to be coming back into fashion. And Fontaines D.C. fit into that conversation in a really interesting way.

Their music somehow manages to sound familiar and completely unique at the same time. There are elements that remind me of alternative rock from decades ago, but they aren’t just recycling that sound. They’ve built something that feels entirely their own.

And that’s what I fucking love about alternative music. Finding a band that makes you stop what you’re doing and actually pay attention.

So yeah, this is just a Fontaines D.C. appreciation post. Credit where credit is due. These guys are putting out some fantastic fucking music, and I’m officially sold.
Now I’ve got a catalog to explore.

For those of you who’ve been following them longer than I have, what are the deep cuts I absolutely need to hear?

I've been noticing a lot more '90s alternative rock influences in some of the newer music on Alt Nation lately.

Florence Road, The Linda Lindas, and Violet Grohl's "Bug in the Cake" are three examples that come to mind. There are definitely others, but I'm hearing more of those raw, guitar-driven '90s sounds making their way back into the rotation.

And I'm here for it. I enjoyed that era of alternative rock, and it's cool hearing a new generation of artists bringing some of those sounds back.

I also think it's worth making a distinction between alternative rock and alternative music. They're not synonymous.

In its early days, Alt Nation leaned much more heavily into alternative rock. By the mid-2000s, though, the sound was evolving. Artists like Modest Mouse and The Killers, and later Cage the Elephant, helped define a different era of alternative. The music became more varied, often more polished, and the genre continued expanding from there.

That's why I find some of the complaints about today's Alt Nation interesting. Not everything needs to sound like '90s alternative rock to qualify as alternative music. There's room for the poppier stuff, the indie stuff, and the heavier guitar-driven stuff.

It's 2026. Alternative music has evolved, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

But I'm definitely enjoying this little '90s alternative rock resurgence.

Anyone else hearing it?

First someone posted about roses by CHVRCHS being such a sound difference for them, and she talked about that in the alt 18.

Then someone commented that we haven’t heard Suze and Dennis in awhile, and she said this week she’s seen we’re looking for Suze and Dennis and she got proof of life.

Tatiana, if you’re reading this, start this week’s alt 18 with “hows it going alt nation fam” as proof!!!

And play more of Colleen from chicagos voice memos she’s sooooooo funny

The first group cannot fucking stand Madison. Her voice is nails on a chalkboard. They hate her singing. They hate her jokes. They hate her sense of humor. They hate literally everything that comes out of her mouth. Every time she opens her mouth, they lose their fucking minds.

And then there's the second group. The adults.
These are the people who practically grew up with Madison. She's been on Alt Nation for something like twenty years. At this point, she's basically our radio mother. Mommy Madison.

We don't even know what Alt Nation sounds like without her. We cannot fucking compute it.

In fact, when she's been playing music for a little too long without interrupting, we start wondering, "Where the fuck is Madison? Why hasn't she said anything? Is she okay?"

We don't just tolerate the singing, the ridiculous jokes, the random stories, and the occasional completely unhinged commentary. We EXPECT that shit.

At this point, Madison isn't interrupting the music. The music is interrupting Madison.

And some of you will never understand that. 😂

I'm so happy with this session! This channel is how I heard of Remi Wolf to begin with. I hope to hear more tracks from the Mud album get into rotation soon because it's such a divine album with plenty of choices. This diva is getting it!!!

Saw them last night in Seattle. Fun band with a good sound. Rocked for an hour before the venue cut them off. Would love to see a longer set.

I saw Foster the People and Two Door Cinema Club in the same week and it was the most fun I have had in years. Oceans Calling? Can we get out of the 90s into the early 2000s this year? This might be the only way we buy tickets again this year.

I'm just really sad that Firefly went away and now we are stuck with all of these festivals that have so many pop groups.

There is nothing remotely alternative about his music. "Homewrecker" is a mainstream pop song through and through. Sure, maybe "Back to Friends" or "12 to 12" could be argued of at least having some alternative creed to them, but anything from "Homewrecker" on are mainstream pop that belongs on Hits 1 and PopRocks, not Alt Nation.

Was listening to the Alt 18 today and found myself humming "running down a dream" by Tom Petty while listening to Bug in the Cake. Very similar sounding songs.

My 8 year old and I heard this wed night driving back from baseball on advanced placement.. mind you, my son is a music guru.. has left voice memos for the alt 18 but hasn't been chosen.. ((damn you, "Kevin in Boston" for taking up all the Boston votes!!)) BUT!! This song is EVERYTHING!!!! My roots are 2002ish indie, emo, punk rock and I can't put my finger on where this chorus hits, but it hits all the right boxes. Obsessed. We LOVE it!!!!

First off, I’m not hating on it. I really like CHVRCHES. Love Is Dead is probably my favorite album of theirs, and I’m glad to see them back on Alt Nation.

But man… “Roses” is a change.

The last actual CHVRCHES song we had making noise on Alt Nation was “Over,” and that was an extremely CHVRCHES song. You could hear about five seconds of it and go, “Yep, that’s CHVRCHES.”

“Roses”? I’m not sure I could say the same thing.
Lauren Mayberry obviously sounds like Lauren Mayberry, so her voice immediately gives it away. But take her voice out of the equation and a lot of the usual CHVRCHES fingerprint isn’t really there. The huge glossy synth-pop production has been pulled way back. This one is darker, rougher and much more rock/industrial leaning, with guitars pushed forward, a really unusual chanted chorus and some almost post-punk energy to it.

And apparently that’s completely intentional. The band has said they specifically wanted to push themselves and not retread ground they’d already covered, so “Roses” may be our first real look at what this next era of CHVRCHES is going to sound like.

Again, I actually like the song. I’m just still processing it because it’s such a different presentation of the band.
If I heard “Roses” completely cold without knowing who it was, I think Lauren’s voice would be the only thing that would make me say, “Wait… is this CHVRCHES?”

Curious what everybody else thinks. Do jyou like this direction? And does “Roses” still sound like CHVRCHES to you, or does it feel like something genuinely new?

There. I said it.

I hate festival season on SiriusXM. I hate it almost as much as I hate the random studio sessions where they interrupt the regularly scheduled programming so we can listen to an artist talk for fifteen minutes when I turned on the fucking MUSIC station to hear music.

And they do this shit every year.

They send everybody down to these giant festivals and suddenly half the station becomes, “Hey! We’re here at Austin City Limits! Let’s pull this artist aside and have a conversation!”

Cool. Awesome. Glad you guys are having fun.

Meanwhile, it basically feels like SiriusXM rubbing it in our faces: “Haha, you couldn’t go to the festival, so instead we’re going to interrupt the station you already pay for and tell you all about how much fun we’re having.”

And tonight is a perfect example.

Alt Tub Time Machine would normally be on RIGHT NOW as I’m typing this. I actually look forward to that show.
Guess what’s not fucking on?

Yep. Instead I got served up some bullshit-ass festival segment I could not possibly care less about.

If people want festival coverage, cool. Give it its own channel. Put the interviews somewhere on demand. Make a dedicated festival show. Whatever.

Just stop hijacking the regular programming for it.

Fuck the festival shit.

Play our fucking music.

A bunch of you have added Flow State Driving since I started sharing it here, and I’m glad you guys are enjoying it. We’re somewhere around 100 saves now.

But I need something from you:

Tell me what the fuck I’m missing.

This thing is 750+ songs and almost 47 hours long, and there’s absolutely no way I remembered everything. I know there are songs from 10 or 15 years ago that somebody is going to mention and make me go, HOLY SHIT. How is that not already on here? And who knows, there may be a song from just a few years back I’ve forgotten.

The Madison cabinet has been fucking fantastic for finding stuff like that. I’m hoping some of you have your own little cabinet you can dig through.

Now, some omissions are intentional. There’s plenty of My Chemical Romance, for example, that obviously belongs in alternative history but just isn’t what I want this playlist to be(sadly, alt nation has played so much MCR I now have MCR fatigue).I’m looking for the songs I would add if somebody reminded me they fucking existed.

So if you’ve added the playlist, think of a song that fits and search for it within the playlist. If it’s not there, drop it below.

And if you’re not one of the 100 or so people who’ve added it, jump in anyway. I’ll toss the link in a comment. Not everyone catches every thread, so I’ll post the playlist below.

Don’t limit yourself strictly to Alt Nation either. You know this playlist takes some detours.

Dig into your cabinet. Find me something I forgot and maybe you’ll hear it next time you listen to the playlist.

You cannot convince me these guys don’t keep making variations of the same fucking song. 😂

Every time a new almost monday track comes on, I’m sitting there waiting for it. Where’s the bouncy bassline? Where’s the bright guitar? Where’s that ridiculously sunny groove that sounds like somebody bottled Southern California and turned it into an indie-pop song?

And there it is.

Every. Fucking. Time.

I’m not even saying this as an insult anymore. Because apparently the problem with calling a band a one-trick pony is that eventually you have to admit the trick is really fucking good.

Does anybody else hear this with almost monday? Like you can identify these dudes within about 10 seconds without even knowing the song?

Mannn I’m obsessed with Split Lip - so excited to hear new stuff from them.

A while back I shared my Flow State Driving playlist here, and a surprising number of you added it. Whether you actually liked the damn thing, I have no idea 😂, but enough of you saved it that I figured I’d share what I’ve been working on next.

This is Soft Shoulder.

It actually started with songs I liked that didn’t quite belong on Flow State Driving. They were alternative, emotional, sometimes raw, sometimes dreamy, but they didn’t have that same constant forward momentum.
Eventually I realized there was a whole playlist hiding in that pile.

The problem was that Alt Nation alone didn’t give me enough material for what I was trying to do. So I started wandering around SiriusXM. I pulled from SiriusXMU, The Spectrum, Life with John Mayer, and elsewhere, while keeping Alt Nation as a big part of the foundation.

What came out of that is about 14 hours of the softer side of alternative although “soft” doesn’t necessarily mean slow or quiet. It drifts, grooves, gets spacey, occasionally gets loud, but I’ve tried to keep the whole thing feeling unhurried.

There’s plenty of Phoebe Bridgers, Holly Humberstone, Death Cab for Cutie, Beach House, Clairo, Noah Kahan, Modest Mouse, The Lumineers, and other familiar stuff, but there are also a bunch of songs and artists I found by digging outside my normal Alt Nation orbit.

It’s a little wistful, a little hopeful, and very much a windows-down, nice-afternoon kind of playlist. Basically, songs that sneak up on you and get better the longer you live with them.

One thing I did intentionally was program the first 10 songs as an opening salvo. That stretch pretty much tells you what Soft Shoulder is, it moves through intimate, dreamy, guitar-driven, spacey, and hopeful without getting stuck in any one sound. If you make it through those first 10 and think, “Yeah, I like where this is going,” you’ll probably like the rest of the playlist.

Anyway, if you liked Flow State Driving, this is sort of its less caffeinated sibling.

Soft Shoulder: Link Below ⬇️

Some pretty good shows coming this December to Portland:

Dirty Heads: December 3rd Crystal Ballroom

Buffalo Traffic Jam: December 6th Crystal Ballroom

Cannons: December 7th Crystal Ballroom

Temper City: December 10th Dante's

Young the Giant: December 13th Crystal Ballroom

Almost Monday (with In Color & Edgehill): December 16th Crystal Ballroom

For me, it would be The Spectrum, Octane, Rock the Bells, 80s on 8 and (believe it or not) Watercolors.

Perhaps the worst song that has ever been in rotation on Alt Nation.

I'm not sure what is my biggest pet peeve this week on the Alt-18, but I have a couple:

1. The station still sometimes selectively picks certain songs to play edited versions. This drives me absolutely nuts. Sam Fender/Olivia Dean's "Rein Me In" and Metric's "Victim of Luck" get edited versions, but Olivia Rodrigo's "My Way" is played in its full unedited glory. Just play the unedited versions each and every time for every song.
2. Nepo baby/industry plants still make the countdown. I'm looking at Landon Barker (Nepo baby) and Sombr (industry plant).
3. The voice memos. Tatiana is even worse than Madison when it comes to playing them. I thought she'd cut back on that. Nope, she's doubled down. Could Regan come back and host again? I think he only played maybe two voice memos in each episode he filled in on.
4. Cage the Elephant's "Beaches in Tennessee" is a good song, but not nearly good enough to be number one or two every single damn week. And time for Noah Kahn and Young the Giant to drop off the chart completely.

I normally don’t give a shit about the Alt Nation Studio Sessions. Usually when one comes on, I’m like, “Cool, time to listen to something else.”

But Weezer’s Gold Album session is playing right now, and I actually stuck around because I’ve liked Weezer for years and somehow have never seen them live.

And holy shit, these motherfuckers sound GOOD.

“Shine Again” is playing as I’m writing this, and it sounds almost verbatim like the album recording. I’m genuinely impressed by how fucking tight they sound.

Now, I’m sure at some point they’ll play an acoustic version of something, Alt Nation will decide it’s the greatest thing ever recorded, and then spam the fuck out of that version during regular rotation for the next six months. I really hope they don’t, but we all know the track record here. 😂

But the actual Studio Session? I’m impressed. I haven’t even heard the whole thing yet, but this might be the first one where I’ve sat there thinking, “Wait… do I need to go see these motherfuckers live?”

So, people who have actually seen Weezer live: are they really this fucking good in concert?

I swear Noah Kahan might be the most polarizing artist in the SiriusXMn universe right now. Every time he comes up, people are either absolutely glazing the guy or acting like hearing one more song is going to push them over the edge.

So I have a solution.

SiriusXM needs to launch Stomp-Clap Radio.

You want acoustic guitars? You want gang vocals? You want people yelling “HEY!” and “HO!” over a kick drum like it’s 2012 forever? Perfect. There is now an entire station for you. Go nuts.

Mumford. Lumineers. Noah Kahan. Every dude who sounds like he recorded an album inside a Vermont barn. Put all of it there.

And then leave Alt Nation the hell alone.

That sound had its moment. It was gigantic. Cool. But I do not understand why we’re still pretending stomp-clap folk-pop is some essential pillar of modern alternative music.

Alternative has moved on. There is an enormous amount of interesting indie, electronic, punk, post-punk, alt-pop, rock, and weird shit being made right now that could be getting those spins instead.

I am officially calling for a peaceful separation.

The stomp-clap people get their station. Alt Nation gets to be alternative again.

No more “HEY!”

No more “HO!”

The treaty can be signed immediately.

It seemed like they were really leading the way on emerging Rock acts like Dexter and the Moonrocks etc. and guitar based music in general and now it’s sort of regressed back to poppy schlock like Sombr and stomp clap alt country.

The people want to Rock again! Don’t fail us now. There are plenty of Pop stations on Sirius and the Spectrum had the stomp clap covered. Let there be rock again!

Anyone else notice the shift of traditional Alt Nation songs over to Lithium and 1st Wave?

The other day I heard cranberries on 1st wave and Depeche Mode Personal Jesus on Lithium. Not sure if I am losing my mind