AP A-sides: 10 songs you need to hear
Welcome to AP A-sides, where we’re highlighting the very best songs from the past week. Every Friday, the AP editors will wade through the daunting number of tracks released daily, narrow down their favorites, and give them to you in one playlist. Because the definition of alternative is constantly in flux, there are no rigid parameters to our selections — just tracks we’re obsessively talking about and listening to on repeat. This week’s playlist features artists diverse in genre but singular in sound, including smush, Greg Freeman, Victoryland, Fontaines D.C., lustr, and more.
Read more: Fontaines D.C.: New theories of romance
Check out our picks below, and stay informed about everything coming out in October with our monthly album release calendar.
AP A-sides – Oct. 2, 2026
- Dazy – “Ugly”
- DIIV – “Trillions”
- Fontaines D.C. – “Tongue”
- Greg Freeman – “Loser’s Prize”
- Honeycrush – “Spine”
- kaeto – “propane”
- lustr – “you bet”
- Prodigal – “Opium-12”
- smush – “milkweed butterfly”
- Victoryland – “The Ugliest Girl on the Beach”
