Suffering Jukebox

This morning's episode features an interview with Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. Half-Told Tales is Arab Strap's latest record, released last Friday though Rock Action Records. They will be touring Australia in April next year, with additional details to be confirmed. Find out more about Arab Strap (and purchase their music) here: https://arabstrapband.bandcamp.com/music and https://arabstrap.bandcamp.com/

Nick's Pick of the Week is Lex Walton's Ultimate Love Forever, you can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here: https://youthagainstsatan.bandcamp.com/album/ultimate-love-forever and my review can be read below.

Lex Walton: Ultimate Love Forever (Sub Pop)

Released Friday 4th September 2026

Ultimate Love Forever is Lex Walton’s Sub Pop debut, but it is just one in a long line of delightfully scrappy, lo-fi recordings released by the Brooklyn, New York based singer/songwriter, poet, artist, filmmaker and actress. Recorded by Uniform’s Ben Greenberg at Thump and Circular Ruin studios, Ultimate Love Forever also features contributions from Greenberg, as well as Emily Green and Sam Revaz of Geese, Sarah Neufeld of Arcade Fire and more.

Clocking in at a brief twenty minutes and comprising just seven songs, Ultimate Love Forever is a short and sharp burst of all-killer no-filler power-pop delivered earnestly and with unflinching honesty. For Thee I Sing, Hipster Run Off and Ultimate Love 4Ever each grab you by the throat from the get-go; then never let up. Owing as much to the Folk Implosion as the earliest Strokes releases, there is a naivety and an urgency to these faster tracks that makes them instantly infectious.

I Wish I Was An M80 and Adrian Borland Will Have His Revenge On London are slightly more experimental, incorporating tape hiss, acoustic guitars and additional percussion. About half way through the former, the songs sounds as if it is going self-destruct, albeit somewhat gleefully. Even at their most challenging, however, the songs on Ultimate Love Forever are too damned enjoyable to be unbearable.

Chock full of hooks and passion, Ultimate Love Forever is a major step forward for Walton, who has previously confined themselves to solo, at-home recordings. The backing of a record label allows her the freedom to expand her sonic palette and the budget to add a touch of polish to the album’s endearing scrappiness. Quick and to the point, with little margin for mucking about, there is very little about Ultimate Love Forever to complain about, with (perhaps) one exception —it’s a little too short.

Nick Stephan