Surface Noise Weekly: 11 July 2026

Issue 5 — July 2026

New vinyl you need to know about

A strong week anchored by a 20th anniversary debut from Howling Bells, first time on vinyl, with unreleased demos. Andy Bell and Masal return with their second collaborative album on Sonic Cathedral, and James Ellis Ford arrives on Domino with one of the more remarkable backstories behind a record this year. The Sick Man of Europe and Velocity Girl round out a week that rewards collectors across several corners of the post-rock, shoegaze and indie spectrum. Plus More.

FIRST TIME ON VINYL / REISSUE

Howling Bells – 20th Anniversary Edition

Howling Bells

Nude Records — 2nd October 2026 — Coloured LP / Dinked Edition LP (EcoMix marble vinyl + bonus 7″ with 4 unreleased demos + signed art print, edition of 500)

The Australian band’s 2006 debut, darkly romantic, atmospheric, built around Juanita Stein’s striking voice, never made it to vinyl first time around. Twenty years later it finally does, in a Dinked Edition that includes four unreleased demos on a 7″. If you know this record, you already know why this matters. If you don’t, start here.

Buy from Piccadilly Records →

NEW RELEASE

Veld

Sick Gazelle

Vampire Blues — Out Now — LP

This is the project to pay attention to if you want post-rock with actual pedigree behind it: Bruce Lamont (Yakuza), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and Doug McCombs (Tortoise). The combination on paper is almost too good, and from what’s been heard, the record delivers on it — expansive, slow-building, and unhurried in the way the best post-rock tends to be. Worth getting in front of before anyone else tells you about it.

Buy from Norman Records →

PREORDER

Common Primitives

Andy Bell & Masal

Sonic Cathedral — October 9, 2026 — 2xLP (transparent turquoise and violet / indies starburst / Bandcamp exclusive gold splatter — includes both albums across two records)

The second collaboration between Ride’s Andy Bell and Turkish duo Masal moves across kosmische, astral jazz and folk-inflected ambient with more layered complexity than their 2023 debut. The vinyl version bundles in the first album, Tidal Love Numbers, finally getting a vinyl release after a cassette-and-CD-only run. Worth preordering for that alone.

Buy from Sonic Cathedral →

PREORDER

Lost In Another World

James Ellis Ford

Domino — August 14, 2026 — LP (Petrol Blue vinyl, limited Domino Mart edition with signed art print and lyric book)

Written over two weeks while Ford was on a hospital ward undergoing chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukaemia, this solo debut from the producer behind records by Arctic Monkeys, Blur and Depeche Mode is something genuinely unexpected. The Petrol Blue Domino Mart edition comes with a signed print and lyric book and is the one to go for.

Buy from Domino →

PREORDER

The Intermittent Signal

The Sick Man of Europe

The Leaf Label — September 25, 2026 — LP / Coloured LP / Dinked Edition LP (‘Phosphor Plate’ translucent vinyl + transparent Roentgenizdat 7″ flexidisc with exclusive bonus track + fold-out zine/poster + hand-stamped numbered edition, pressing of 500)

The follow-up to their minimal wave-adjacent debut pushes deeper into machine rhythms and melodicism without losing the urgency. The Dinked Edition is the one to chase, translucent vinyl, a flexidisc B-side exclusive, and a hand-numbered run of just 500. The politics have sharpened on this one, and the sound has widened accordingly.

Buy from Piccadilly Records →

REISSUE

1989–1992

Velocity Girl

Slumberland Records — August 28, 2026 — LP (transparent orange vinyl / limited white-and-orange creamsicle vinyl, shared with Monorail Music)

Early singles, B-sides, split tracks, unreleased songs and covers from Velocity Girl’s formative years, remastered from the original tapes. The creamsicle variant is a Slumberland and Monorail Music exclusive and will move quickly. If you missed their early 7″s first time around, this is the most complete way to catch up.

Buy from Slumberland Records →

PREORDER

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Slumberland Records — Out now — LP, bio-sourced black eco-vinyl

The 2009 debut that’s become an indiepop touchstone is back in stock, now pressed on eco-vinyl. If you missed it the first time round, this is the one that took C86 and Creation-pop and ran it through a fuzzy American filter, still a masterclass in melody sixteen years on.

Buy from Slumberland Records →

NEW RELEASE

Shallow Hits

Ebbb

Ninja Tune — Out Now — Coloured LP / Dinked Edition LP

Ebbb sit somewhere between jagged indie-electronic, neo-psych and post-punk, with club production underneath everything. Will Rowland’s vocals are getting a lot of attention, but it’s the combination with Lev Ceylan’s production that makes this click. The Dinked Edition is the one to aim for while it lasts. Norman Records and Piccadilly both have this in stock.

Buy from Norman Records →

PREORDER

Was It Always This Way

Real Numbers

Slumberland Records — 14th August 2026 — LP (Black Vinyl)

Minneapolis’ Real Numbers return with ten songs that sit squarely in the tradition of late-80s and early-90s UK indiepop, Field Mice, St Christopher, that lineage. Jangle, strum and a sense of ache running through all of it. If you know Ducks Ltd or The Umbrellas and want more of that sensibility, this is where to look next. Out 14th August.

Buy from Slumberland Records →

More releases this week

Virga III — Eluvium

Temporary Residence Ltd — LP (crystal clear vinyl, limited one-time pressing of 1,000) — Buy from Temporary Residence Ltd →

On Leaving — Nina Nastasia

Temporary Residence Ltd — LP (Clear Glass coloured vinyl, limited edition) — Buy from Temporary Residence Ltd →

You Follow Me — Nina Nastasia & Jim White

Temporary Residence Ltd — LP (Transparent Yellow coloured vinyl, limited edition) — Buy from Temporary Residence Ltd →

Outlaster — Nina Nastasia

Temporary Residence Ltd — LP (Burgundy coloured vinyl, limited edition) — Buy from Temporary Residence Ltd →

Two Steps At A Time — Railcard

Skep Wax Records — Coloured LP / Dinked Edition LP — Buy from Norman Records →

Was It Always This Way — Real Numbers

Slumberland Records — LP (black vinyl) — Buy from Slumberland Records →

A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness (30th Anniversary Reissue) — Rocketship

Slumberland Records — LP (white/bone swirl vinyl) — Buy from Slumberland Records →

Fliegen Lernen (Curated By Gunther Wüsthoff) — Faust

Bureau B — LP / Coloured LP (clear vinyl, indie exclusive, 700 copies) — Buy from Piccadilly Records →

Gugaruz (Curated By Zappi W. Diermaier) — Faust

Bureau B — LP / Coloured LP (clear vinyl, indie exclusive, 700 copies) — Buy from Piccadilly Records →

MOI (Curated By Jean-Hervé Péron) — Faust

Bureau B — LP / Coloured LP (clear vinyl, indie exclusive, 700 copies) — Buy from Piccadilly Records →

Ungebunden (Curated By Hans-Joachim Irmler) — Faust

Bureau B — LP / Coloured LP (clear vinyl, indie exclusive, 700 copies) — Buy from Piccadilly Records →

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