Features / The Weekend Stream

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We’ve got a lot of new songs from old favorites and a couple of digital-forward expanded reissues, too – you don’t want to miss this!

Squeeze, “You Get the Feeling” (Love/BMG) (Apple / Amazon)

The latest single from Squeeze’s forthcoming Trixies, though written early in the partnership of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, harkens back to their signature sound. It’s also the first track from the album to have a music video, which you can watch above.

Sugar, “Long Live Love” (Granary/BMG) (Apple / Amazon)

Fans of Sugar – Bob Mould’s post-Hüsker Dü grunge-pop trio – were delighted by the release of new single “House of Dead Memories” last October, and the announcement of a few reunion gigs in New York and London. Now, they’ve unveiled another killer rocker, “Long Live Love,” and announced the Love You Even Still tour, which will trek across Europe in May and June and North America from August to October. (“Long Live Love,” which, like “House,” only has the drawback of being too short, is available with the previous release on a new 7″ single.)

Panic! At the Disco, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (20th Anniversary Deluxe) (Fueled by Ramen) (Apple / Amazon)

Panic! At The Disco helped usher in a wave of emo-afflicted pop/rock in the mid-’00s that galvanized millennials through the smart kitchen-sink flourishes and soaring vocals of frontman Brendon Urie (the sole consistent member from their inception in 2004 to their disbandment in 2023, when Urie took a step back from music to raise a child. Urie briefly revived Panic! to perform 2005 debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out at the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas last year, and subsequently planned a new deluxe version of the album (also available on double vinyl) that features 11 unreleased demos of songs like the hit single “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” plus, as a digital exclusive, a 2006 set at the Fillmore in Denver, Colorado that was previously released on DVD.

Reba McEntire, Starting Over (30th Anniversary Edition) (MCA Nashville) (Apple / Amazon)

Reba McEntire’s 1995 album Starting Over paid homage to many of the singers who had inspired her, featuring covers of classics associated with Crystal Gayle (“Talking in Your Sleep”), Linda Ronstadt (“You’re No Good”), Donna Summer (“Starting Over Again”), The Supremes (“You Keep Me Hangin’ On”), and Patti LaBelle (“On My Own,” reinvented by Reba with fellow country queens Linda Davis, Martina McBride, and Trisha Yearwood in the place of LaBelle’s original duet partner Michael McDonald!). Now, it’s back on digital formats and 2LP vinyl (sorry, no CD!) with three previously unreleased bonus tracks: covers of Martha and The Vandellas’ “Heat Wave,” Dorothy Moore’s “Misty Blue,” and Don Williams’ “Tulsa Time.”

Def Leppard, “Rejoice” (Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury) (Apple / Amazon)

Ahead of a February residency at the Coliseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas (and a summer tour of Europe), the U.K. pop-metal survivors have added an energetic new song that you’ll likely hear on their set lists.

The Format, Boycott Heaven (Vanity) (Apple / Amazon)

Arizona-based alt-pop/rockers The Format (singer Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Sam Means) made two cult favorite albums (2003’s Interventions + Lullabies for Elektra and the independent Dog Problems in 2006) before going on a lengthy hiatus; after that, Ruess formed an even more successful alt-pop/rock group called Fun. with future super-producer Jack Antonoff and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost. Years after their hiatus (and Ruess’ semi-retirement from music), The Format attempted an ill-fated tour that was cancelled multiple times from 2020 to 2022, starting with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That seemed to be it…until this weekend’s release of The Format’s third album, produced with gusto by Brendan O’Brien and reminding fans why they were and are guitar-driven pop cult heroes worth the hiatuses and reunions all this time.

Snail Mail, “Dead End” (Matador) (Apple / Amazon)

Singer/songwriter Lindsey Jordan steps back into the spotlight for her third album as Snail Mail, titled Ricochet and due March 27. The follow-up to the fabulous Valentine (2021) features first single “Dead End,” a sweet, intoxicating burst of guitar pop/rock that proves Jordan likely hasn’t missed a step yet. The album was produced by Aron Kobayashi Ritch of indie-rockers Momma and was recorded in part at North Carolina’s Fidelitorium Recordings studio, owned by Let’s Active frontman and indie stalwart Mitch Easter.

Courtney Barnett, “Site Unseen (feat. Waxahatchee)” (Mom+Pop) (Apple / Amazon)

Another terrific alt-rocker to emerge in the past decade, Australia’s Courtney Barnett has just announced her latest album and its accompanying single. Creature of Habit, also due out March 27, is her first proper studio album since 2021’s Things Take Time, Take Time (her last to release on her own Milk! Records label, and last before relocating from Melbourne to Los Angeles). “Site Unseen,” which follows last fall’s “Stay in Your Lane,” features backing vocals by Katie Crutchfield, who leads the Grammy-nominated indie-folk outfit Waxahatchee.

Bill Quateman, Just Like You (RCA Victor) (Apple / Amazon)

1979’s Just Like You was the fourth and final of Quateman’s major-label rock albums (restored to digital, as with the others, with the aid of SuperVisible Multi Media). Beyond its solid songcraft, it features a murderer’s row of session legends in its credits: arranger Buzzy Feiten, Toto bassist David Hungate, backing vocals from Michael McDonald and rhythm guitar from his fellow Doobie Brother Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, to name a few.

The Red Garland Quintet, Soul Junction (Remastered 2026) (Craft) (Apple / Amazon)

Released on the Prestige label in 1960, Soul Junction was recorded the same day as 1958’s hard-bop winner All Mornin’ Long. It also features the same five-man line-up as that album: Garland leading on piano, the distinctive tenor of John Coltrane, Donald Byrd on trumpet, and the rhythm section of bassist George Joyner and drummer Art Taylor.

Passings

Drummer Rob Hirst (1955-2026) formed the group Farm in Sydney, Australia with his schoolmates Jim Moginie (guitar/keyboards) and Andrew James (bass). Five years later, with singer Peter Garrett and guitarist Martin Rotsey, Farm became Midnight Oil, and started a decade-long climb to become one of the most formidable bands from down under – a vision that coalesced with the worldwide hit “Beds Are Burning” and popular albums Diesel and Dust (1987) and Blue Sky Mining (1990). Beyond their musicianship, the Oils never failed to stand up for their beliefs, championing causes related to Australia’s indigenous population and environmental issues. Hirst died this month after a near three-year battle with pancreatic cancer, but his monstrous timekeeping resonates far beyond the outback.

Guitarist Rudolf Schenker formed Scorpi0ns in Hanover, Germany in 1965 and the band has been on an incredible odyssey ever since. The ever-changing line-up (save for frontman Klaus Meine) included bassist Francis Buchholz (1954-2026) for nearly two decades from 1973 to 1992; during this time, the band became a formidable presence in hard rock the world over, scoring massive hits in America with 1984’s “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and 1990’s sociopolitcal, reflective ballad “Wind of Change.” After laying relatively low for years after his departure from the group, Buchholz joined forces with Rudolf’s brother Michael – who’d briefly played in Scorpions before finding fame as the guitarist of UFO and the Michael Schenker Group – for his Temple of Rock project, further re-establishing his vitality in the European rock canon.

Finally, a moment for TSD’s Jersey-born team to remember Floyd Vivino (1951-2026), a regular fixture on Garden State public access TV as the host of The Uncle Floyd Show from 1974 to 1998. Uncle Floyd’s wacky send-up of ’60s children’s variety shows was bolstered by a sharp ear for alternative music, with seminal performances by the Ramones, Joe Jackson, Squeeze, The Smithereens, David Johansen and others over the years. (Music quite literally ran in the family: brothers Jimmy and Jerry were longtime members of comedy icon Conan O’Brien’s house bands, working with longtime E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg on Late Night and The Tonight Show before leading The Basic Cable Band on O’Brien’s TBS program Conan.) “Twinkle, twinkle, Uncle Floyd / we were dumb, but you were fun, boy,” sang avowed fan of the show David Bowie on “Uncle Floyd,” a track from the scrapped Toy that later appeared as “Slip Away” on his 2002 album Heathen – as good a tribute to his unique spirit as any.

And one more thing…

Many reissue lovers appreciate pop music as a neutral ground from the everyday hassles of life. But we at The Second Disc appreciate the value of having a megaphone and using it. Over the past few weeks in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, Americans and concerned citizens all over the world have seen the terrifying invasion of the country’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency committing atrocities against presumed illegal immigrants and their protectors. Since the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent on January 7, observers have seen continued violence against peaceful, unarmed protestors, teargassed and pepper-sprayed at point-blank range while in agents’ custody. Legal residents have been pulled from their homes with no warrants. Children as young as two – the age Mike’s children will turn next month – have been rounded up with their parents and sent to detention centers across the country.

It has been excruciating balancing our work in music with witnessing acts of unspeakable barbarity against people with quickly and openly violated legal rights on American soil. Our politicians blatantly lie about the intentions of protestors and activists – people braving subzero temperatures to protect families and provide care and comfort to ordinary citizens irrationally branded as gang members or criminals poisoning a community. But there remains hope. Yesterday, in the land that gave us Prince, Jam & Lewis, Bob Mould, or even some 154 miles away, Bob Dylan, tens of thousands of Americans shut down nearly every business and school in a peaceful general strike. Faces of all colors, men and women of all nationalities, people who perhaps didn’t consider themselves “political” – untold scores took to the streets in double-digit wind chills to stand up against the thuggish behavior of ICE. There were no reports of looting or violence; the cudgel of “agitators” could not be swung against this steadfast band. That tells us who the true patriots are – the people we wish the spirits of creation – however you believe it works – to watch over them in these desolate times.

You may not agree with us saying so, and that’s fine. You’re free to visit another website for reissue coverage. Here at TSD – a staff made up of parents, uncles, taxpayers, people in unjustly targeted communities of humans, and perhaps most importantly for this discussion, Americans – we will not fail to join the growing chorus of ordinary folk who believe the time to stand up is now and always.