ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
June 12, 2026
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Here is where we present five of our favorite new singles for the week passed. Sometimes with fun videos! It's like if Mtv's 120 Minutes was fixated on roots music. But the 120 Minutes hosted by Matt Pinfield, not the one with Kevin Seal.
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!
Johnny Blue Skies, "Whiter Shade Of Pale" Mutiny After Midnight (Expanded Edition) (Atlantic Outpost, 26)
On the occasion of his birthday, Sturgill lowered his walls and begrudgingly posted March's Mutiny After Midnight on streaming services. The band has broken out their take on the Procol Harum gem on tour, though this marks its studio debut. Gary Brooker set an unfairly high bar, but the song seems tailor-made for Simpson and co.
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Alex Amen, "Changes" Sun Of Amen (ATO, 26)
There's a good chance we'll have more to say about Alex Amen and his lovely hand-crocheted record in the days to come. For today, this final single speaks volumes about his effortless throwback folk, songs that succeed in the exceedingly rare feat of creating retro music that doesn't come off like a studio trick.
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Lambchop, "Stella" Punching the Clown (Merge, Aug 21)
If the entirety of Lambchop's August project is consistent with their first pair of singles, somebody's been listening to our prayers. Kurt Wagner creates idiosyncratically beautiful music, no matter what musical sandbox he's playing in. Here with Justin Vernon and something called the Eau Claire Vocal Sextet, they recall a 60s folk scare cut left behind by Glenn Yarbrough (now we're going to start praying for a Lambchop cover of "Frodo Of the Nine Fingers").
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American Aquarium, "History Repeats Itself" New Ways To Lose (Losing Side, Jun 26)
Today BJ Barham's band announced a pending project in the wings, produced again by Shooter Jennings and promising to kick your throat in. While we don't need that kind of talk, this initial glimpse promises a deck of well-executed Springsteen-esque portrayals. This live recording from Echo Mountain demonstrates how it is done.
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Attic Abasement, "Bruised Water Moon" Moonlight Passes On (Father/Daughter, Aug 14)
Prior to Friday's onslaught of novelty, this Episode of WSGATW?!! featured a circus of left-of-center oddities, great stuff that wouldn't really fit on our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast (think Hank Heaven, Hollow Hand, Mary In the Junkyard). This droopy oddball by Mike Rheinheimer's Attic Abasement is all that remains of that lovely assemblage. Moonlight will mark his first record in a decade. That's an unhealthily long time to spend in your attic.
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