Hellbender, Soup Dreams (8/10)

Another hugely anticipated September release was Soup Dream's debut LP, "Hellbender," which came out 9/19/25 w Pleasure Tapes / Candlepin Records. I bolded "debut" bc it's actually so wild that this is a debut LP when it feels so fully formed as a project and sound. I've been following Soup Dreams, another Philly indie band for a while and have loved a lot of what they've put out, especially the singles for this album, so I was really stoked about this release. It's got so many certified bangers on it, some of my favorite songs of the year, and I just really love how a band can make a guitar tone so theirs, which I feel they've done. Don't love every single song, but the majority are so good that this will stand strong as an 8/10 for me. Fav tracks: Wonderdog, Hunger, Red Bird