The Weekender #25: A Salute to Indie
From stage dives to stoop kids: the best new albums, concert streams, and longreads for your weekend.
The Wax Museum is a vinyl-centric missive, but every now and then, we step out of the record stacks and into the wider world with The Weekender — a curated mix of must-listen tunes, must-watch gems, and must-read treasures to give your weekend a sensory upgrade.
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What to Listen to This Weekend
Friendship - Cavemen Wakes Up
Stream: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music
Get Vinyl: Black
First up, let’s cover two new releases out today, headlined by Philly country-rockers Friendship, not to be confused with the Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd film of the same name, also out wide today.
Caveman Wakes Up marks Friendship’s fourth album and their finest to date. Dan Wriggins spins sharp, surreal lines about First Lady Betty Ford, landscaping gigs, and late-night video games in a voice hovering between a sigh and a sermon. It’s the kind of cracked Americana that channels David Berman or Jason Molina — tired, tender, and haunting.
The band’s pedigree enhances the experience: guitarist Peter Gill crafts hooky pop with 2nd Grade, while drummer Michael Cormier-O’Leary and bassist Jon Samuels help steer the excellent Dear Life Records, home to MJ Lenderman’s Boat Songs, the Album of the Year contending Fust record, and next week’s anticipated Florry release. With Caveman Wakes Up, Friendship cements their place at the intersection of alt-country heartache and existential burnout.
Tune-Yards - Better Dreaming
Stream: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music
Get Vinyl: Blue | Black
Better Dreaming is Tune-Yards’ most vibrant, free-flowing release in over a decade, a joyous burst of instinct and rhythm that ranks among their best.
Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner approached the album with a “first thought, best thought” mindset, letting songs emerge naturally and follow their own danceable logic. The result is a front-to-back groove machine, with standouts like “Heartbreak,” “Swarm,” “How Big Is the Rainbow,” and “Limelight,” which features a cameo from the couple’s 3-year-old, who refused to let them change the original demo. It's their loosest and funkiest work since their 2011 breakout w h o k i l l, and proof that following your gut is the way to go.
Numero Group x Horsegirl Playlist
Stream: Spotify
I love Numero Group, I love Horsegirl, so when they collab, I listen, and I recommend. The Chicago indie rockers recently handpicked 20 gems from Numero Group’s bottomless vault of overlooked brilliance.
"We discovered Numero while growing up in Chicago. The label made the strange and underground accessible to us, and no doubt played a huge part in our early interest in underground music. We’re excited to share some of our favorites from their catalogue [...] Numero remains one of the coolest current Chicago-based labels!" - Horsegirl
This mix is the latest in Numero’s excellent playlist series. Be sure to also explore other recent crate digs from Clairo, Khruangbin, and The Avalanches.
What to Watch This Weekend
Turnstile’s Wild, Free Concert in Baltimore’s Wyman Park Dell
Stream: YouTube
I have a three-pack of recent concerts to share with you; first up is one of the coolest filmed performances I’ve ever seen.
Last Saturday, an estimated 10,000 people — babies and grandparents alike — packed Baltimore’s Wyman Park Dell to watch hometown heroes Turnstile debut songs from their upcoming June album Never Enough. The moment frontman Brendan Yates let out the first few lines, the crowd erupted into chaos: a nonstop flood of stage-divers surfed over sweat-soaked arms, and the energy was so intense it literally shook a speaker off the stage. Even better, the free event raised over $35,000 for Healthcare for the Homeless (donate here). The set kicks off around the 19-minute mark, and it’s pure joy from there.
Vampire Weekend’s A Salute to Indie
Stream: YouTube
Vampire Weekend rolled into the Just Like Heaven festival as part of their Only God Was Above Us tour — our pick for 2024’s Album of the Year — and delivered something special. In lieu of their usual audience cover requests, the band unveiled A Salute to Indie: five tributes to millennial-era classics by Phoenix, Tame Impala, Beach House, Grizzly Bear, and TV on the Radio. It was a perfect fit for a fest built on indie nostalgia. I’ve included timestamps below, but the whole show is worth a watch.
1:06:21 Lisztomania (Phoenix)
1:08:07 The Less I Know the Better (Tame Impala)
1:09:20 Space Song (Beach House)
1:10:43 Two Weeks (Grizzly Bear)
1:12:27 Wolf Like Me (TV On The Radio)
Jamie xx’s Adidas Arena Paris Concert for ARTE
Stream: YouTube
After watching Jamie xx’s euphoric March 2025 set from Paris’ Adidas Arena, seeing him live has shot to the top of my bucket list. This nearly two-hour performance is packed with highlights — his collabs with xx bandmate Romy shine, and the Robyn-assisted “Life” has never hit harder. The cinematography is stunning, capturing every pulse and strobe with cinematic flair. It’s the perfect late-night stream: throw it on the big screen, crank the volume, and let your living room turn into a dance floor.
What to Read This Weekend
"Why ‘Hey Arnold!’ Sounded Like That" by
"Life was a gas...but that gas has passed." - Dino Spumoni
Hey Arnold! was my favorite cartoon growing up, and now I’m having a blast rediscovering it with my daughter. A huge part of what made the show so special was its music, courtesy of composer Jim Lang. He didn’t just score a cartoon, he converted a generation of kids into accidental jazz heads.
recently published a great interview with Lang that’s worth your time.
A few years into the TV animation renaissance, Nickelodeon began to air Hey Arnold. It’s the kind of subtle, unorthodox and psychologically complex cartoon that networks didn’t greenlight before. It told stories about broken families, Vietnam War refugees and everyday life as a kid in the city. And the risk paid off again. It was popular.
The oddness of Hey Arnold was always right there in its music: the soundtrack is full of jazz (including acid jazz), with quasi-Sinatra pop on the side. Showrunner Craig Bartlett was aiming for a sound that fit the series, and Nickelodeon played along. The network was up for almost any music Arnold delivered.
And so Jim Lang, a composer from outside the animation world, got to do special work here. He’s still proud of that work today. “Hey Arnold was a fantastic show,” he tells us. “Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Oddly enough, the Hey Arnold! vinyl is one of the best-sounding records in my collection. What should be a novelty release features stunning sound quality. The A-side is full of jazz instrumentals, while the B-side highlights deep character cuts. It’s a beautiful record, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Since its 2020 debut, the vinyl has been pressed eight times across 40 colorways, all of which sold out quickly, including the infamous $200 Gerald Field Glow-In-The-Dark Baseball Diamond Dirt-Filled variant. Demand isn’t slowing down anytime soon, so keep an eye out for a repress, or try your luck on Discogs.
Hey, thanks for visiting The Wax Museum! If you enjoyed your stay, forward this to a friend who needs their weekend upgraded.
Leave a comment card on your way out and I’ll catch you next week!
Thanks very much for the shout-out! We really enjoyed interviewing Jim.