Release Date: 01/05/26
Hoopla is the hook-packed second album from Weird Nightmare, the solo project of METZ guitarist/singer Alex Edkins, on Sub Pop. Co-produced with Spoon’s Jim Eno and recorded at Machines With Magnets, it broadens the palette with piano, bells, and castanets while keeping the fuzz-and-crunch immediacy front and center. Bright, melodic bursts of top-shelf power pop—delivered with Loel Campbell (drums) and Roddy Kuester (bass)—make for a new-and-nostalgic listen that never leaves the car stereo. An optimistic, shining light in strange times, it’s perfect for fans of The Replacements, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Sharp Pins, Ratboys, and Alvvays.