WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!! (July 10, 2026)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

July 10, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

We hope your week has been blooming with great new music. Just in case you need some encouragement, we're here with five (5) songs that we've been enjoying over the past several days. Consider it a spoiler for the Spotify ROUTES-cast that's waiting in the wings for Sunday. We'll remind you that we consider any song that's been released as a single, rather than just any old album track. We call it

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!

Twisted Teens, "Florida Water Blues" Florida Water Blues  (Going Underground, Jul 10)

Yes, we're going here again (and there's a good chance it won't be the last time in the next couple days). Though we're still working to get our heads around what's exactly going on with Twisted Teens, the New Orleans duo of Caspian and RJ are making music that is so messed up that it's perfect. Like the band itself, the story behind their video isn't entirely clear, but we know it won't end well. 

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Squirrel Flower, "Not Me" Say a Prayer To the Gods Of Getting Going  (Polyvinyl, Aug 21)

We don't recall Ella Williams' first couple records as Squirrel Flower being as good as the singles we've heard from her August release. Co-produced by the suddenly ubiquitous Alex Farrar, "Not Me" encourages a country lilt, albeit with a thickened electric guitar buzz like we like. 

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Alabama Shakes, "I Feel Hope Coming" I Must Be Dreaming  (Island, Aug 28)

This week's announcement of the first Alabama Shakes project in forever fulfilled at least one of our wishes for 2026. The accompanying single is both dreamy and chewy, landing between the Shakes' more organic early stuff and Brittany Howard's bolder solo work. It's our intention to simply follow the lyric here, and Get dug in. 

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Dogwood Tales, "Ralph Sampson" Every Star In Rockingham County  (Born Losers, Aug 28)

We expect this Virginia band's August album to be among the year's sleepers - their second collection of 2026, counting January's project with Euphoria Again. "Ralph Sampson" is a stony alt.country number with that humid southeast vibe that's inescapable nowadays: My grandmad swears her dog was a Christian / And I sleep better knowing / Delly's up in Heaven ...

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Magic City Hippies, "Snakes" single  (MCH, 26)

You ever come across a band's name and just know what they're probably going to sound like? We're new to this Miami trio, but can vibe with this groovy, laid-back single. If we had a pool (and if the air wasn't chunky with particulate matter), we'd be soundtracking our swim with stuff like this. And we'd make sure the bass was bumped up enough to rattle the fences. 

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