KRUI Staff Picks: Best Releases of March 2026

From true Iowan emos, to psychedelic folk, to Polska amidst a heartbreaking World Cup Qualifier loss, our KRUI Staff recommends some of our favorite releases from March, 2026!

Bassvictim – ?

Bassvictim, a duo riding the indie sleaze revival with electroclash/bloghouse albums such as with their Basspunk series, takes a sonic and mood shift in 2026 ? EP. Maria Manow and producer Ike Clatman leave behind many of the dance-oriented and intentionally trashy influences in favor of deeply intimate folktronica and twee pop, similar to that of the Femcells’ debut album released this past January, also produced by Clatman. The album’s themes are deeply nostalgic of childhood and contrast innocence and wisdom; this can be heard as many of the folkish influences pull more from Manow’s Polish and Eastern European heritage than the traditional American folk revival harmonies. The 7-minute track Babcia Jadziais easily stands as the album’s highlight and contains stripped-back xylophones and toy sounds with childish vocals reading a tearjerker poem. Easily one of my favorite and well-executed surprises this year. It’s worth the listen.

–Amman Hassan

Stars Hollow – Catch Me (single)

Iowa’s own Stars Hollow has released 2 brand-new songs In preparation for the release of their record Kind of Hoping on April 24. Named after the fictional Connecticut town featured in Gilmore Girls (as well as in Supernatural according to my sister), the sound of Stars Hollow fits shoulder-to-shoulder with other emo projects out of the Midwest from the mid-2010s and early 2020s, though Hot Mulligan and Arm’s Length certainly come most strongly to mind. The singles feature competent math-rocking, scream-singing, and some solid guitar riffage. Stars Hollow starts an album release tour this summer, playing alongside their contemporaries Palette Knife and Kerosene Heights in Des Moines, IA on the 22nd of May. There’s still plenty of time to memorize the lyrics, if you can decipher them through the vocal fry. If the quality of their upcoming album follows the singles, we are in for another solid, supremely rare, emo record out of the Hawkeye State this April.

FFO: Hot Mulligan, Kerosene Heights, Arm’s Length, Palette Knife, Origami Angel.

–Daniel Lawless

heavensouls – westside trapped

While studying for midterms this March, the music I was listening to played a huge role in whether I could stay focused or not. Throughout this time, heavensouls was on the heaviest rotation. Largely known for The Sidepieces (his collaborative effort with experimental rapper Stickerbush) the duo has been making fun, glitchy, maximalist music bordering on the line of hip hop and electronic for the past few years. While all their releases have been great this is likely my favorite thing he’s made. Taking the more energetic sound collage inspired production of his previous works into these more varied lush textures, dipping into more classical genres like soul, jazz and funk. Creating these beautiful luxurious soundscapes that feel like you’re being transported into another world.

My favorite track off the album is easily shed a tear for me, the nine-minute long penultimate track. Starting with the beautiful repeated vocal line of “i can’t breathe,” backed by quiet piano notes before going into this danceable drum line and electric guitar solo (with a fucking choir in the background). This is briefly interrupted by a spoken word section before crescendoing back into this gorgeous multi minute instrumental breakdown. It’s truly a masterpiece of music production and will keep me beyond seated for anything heavensouls makes in the future.

–Tarik Krob

Fcukers – Ö

This is one of the greatest [my favoriteist!] music videos maybe of all time ever.

Contributing to the electronic/sleaze/dance beat wave, NYC duo Fcukers released their lorazepam-ed indie-sleazer debut album Ö last week. It’s a flirty voice and half-lidded eyes hidden behind sunglasses, a big-lights-on house party where scents of designer perfume mix into the cheap wine. The production from Kenny Beats ties UK garage and sleaze into a lazy-cool record that actually works, a genuine miracle these days. Jackson Walker Lewis of the duo describes their approach to reviving the indie sleaze nostalgia by asking, “what would Basement Jaxx do if they were young now?” Don’t get me wrong, this album is trendy, neither timeless nor monumental as the fresh gets cut through by an underlying tiredness. But in this charming moment we all share, it’s sickly sweet & sexy. It captures the haze of a club at 4am, everyone left on the misty dance floor swaying through their own drowsy sense of fatalism.

Ö is one of those albums that makes my depraved kitchen feel like a club for 30 minutes, which is truly all that a good dance beat album needs to be. An aching pit rests in my stomach, this leaden premonition that some track off this album is gonna blow up online and bring great fortunes and success to those Fcuckers (at least success beyond a Jimmy Fallon performance). Listen to it now so you can be cool before it’s not cool anymore. fucking what else is there to do i guess. besides dancing in your kitchen. and reading student radio articles.

–Pauly

Slayyyter – WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA

Miss Slayyyter dropped WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA this month, an explosive and explicit electro-pop record that took the internet by storm. every song sounds interesting, from heavily produced ones like “CRANK” and “YES GODDD,” to tamer ones like “GAS STATION” and “UNKNOWN LOVERZ.” There are also tracks like “DANCE…” which perfectly mix the adrenaline of grittier and more saturated songs with the less explosive ones.

The production of this album is packed with techno-electronic synths and EDM pop reminiscent of early 2010s Lady Gaga and Kesha. The drums and snare construct the songs masterfully. The album is also littered with nasty synths, which are definitely the highlight characteristic of the project for me. Many of the songs carry a sharp baseline that gives me an 80s slasher soundtrack vibe. Her vocals range from a controlled and sultry tone, to a bigger display of her range and impressive belts mixed into many of the choruses. She’s just electrifying through and through. The high you get from this album makes you wanna move a million miles a minute. This album makes you wanna crank up the volume and dance, which really is the unofficial motto of WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA.

–Clara Carrion

Maria BC – Marathon

Maria BC‘s Marathon feels like a logical step in the specific school of psychedelic folk that Sacred Bones Records has been pushing for years now. This record falls well within the tradition of established acts like Marissa Nadler, whilst retaining a sound very much its own. Maria’s performance is immediately intoxicating and demands the listener’s full attention as the slow progression of each track evokes the revolution of the earth, each track seamlessly transitioning into the next. A handful of cinematic instrumental interludes create a sleek journey from one track to the next, as Maria’s voice parses the desolate soundscapes as pleas from the void. The first song and title track constitute an undeniable hook to the record, placing Maria’s methodical craft on full display, and setting the tone fantastically for the record ahead. If you are at all a fan of folk, this is a record for you.