October 2025 (Part 2)

Wow, it's Halloween! Here are some ghoulish thoughts on nine songs that are so good you'll scream!!! 

Katy & the Null Sets - “Last Time/Next Time”
Came across this nice, surprisingly noisy take on the sort of gentle bossa nova tinged indie folk sound that people like Mei Semones and John Roseboro have been living in for the last few years. It's not a new trick but it's still cool to drop a bunch electric guitars in the middle of your delicately shuffling love song!

Able Noise - “Boycott”
I’ve been throwing on the collagey, impressionistic debut record from improvisational baritone guitar/drum duo Able Noise pretty regularly since diving into London-based record shop/label World of Echo’s back catalog earlier this year. “Boycott” is ninety seconds of stop-start rhythmic weirdness with a nervous guitar line that can’t quite settle into a groove, it’s awesome.

They Are Gutting A Body of Water - “the chase”
Everyone’s talking about the new TAGABOW and whether or not it’s an exciting new development for these surprisingly influential Philly shoegaze revivalists. I think it’s the best thing I’ve heard from them, especially tracks like “the chase” that sound like the spoken word mysticism of Slint’s Spiderland mixed with the reedy discordance of Slint’s Tweez.

Sam Wilkes - “Today”
The final track on the new live Sam Wilkes record, Public Records Performance, is an awesome version of “Today,” a standout from his 2018 album Wilkes. Experimental music legend Shahzad Ismaily makes an appearance on this version, going absolutely crazy on an analog synth.

Oxis - “Long Sardine”
I really like Oxis’ bit of naming all their songs after different kinds of fish. Naming stuff is hard! Better to call your song “Long Sardine” than being the 10,000th person to write something called “Going Home” or whatever. 

Pullman - “Weightless”
Post rock/Americana supergroup/studio project Pullman just released a really incredible track from their first album in more than two decades, a collaboration set into motion following drummer and Chicago indie rock legend Tim Barnes’ tragic Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Alsace Lorraine - “Alex Runs the World”
Horse Combinations favorite Ear played Alsace Lorraine’s “You Are Like Charles Lindbergh To Me” on a recent NTS broadcast and my interest was piqued. Occupying a space somewhere between Magnetic Fields and Portishead or something, I’m really digging their 2001 album Through Small Windows. 

One Wheel Fireworks Show - “Jason”
Speaking of guys who keep coming up on Horse Combinations, Colin Miller is in the mix on another great sounding project from the Wednesday Cinematic Universe. The new single from One Wheel Fireworks Show, a collaboration between Miler and Nashville based songwriter Will Cole, is a sleepy but efficient lofi country gem, featuring longtime Wednesday/MJ Lenderman /etc. collaborator Xandy Chelmis on the pedal steel.

Ex-Void - “Pinhead”
I haven’t kept up with Ex-Void despite loving their old band, Joanna Gruesome, whose debut LP Weird Sister is an all-timer for me. This current project is less idiosyncratic than Joanna Gruesome’s weirdly aggro indie pop, but tracks like “Pinhead” have me thinking I’ve been missing out on some classic meat and potatoes indie rock bangers. 

Embedded below is the official Horse Combinations October 2025 playlist, we'll be back next week to close things out with some final thoughts on the remaining chunk of tracks!