URGH | Mandy, Indiana

I know it’s only February, but this year has been a pretty slow start musically. My little consumeristic goblin brain wants new things, and I want them now please and thank you. Well, at long last, the wait is over and we now have one of the first big releases of 2026 (by big release I mean an album that scores above like a 7.8 on Pitchfork).

Mandy, Indiana are a noise/experimental rock band from Manchester/Berlin and their second album URGH continues the abrasive, jarring and cathartic sound that they explored on their 2023 debut i’ve seen a way. Their debut was one of the standout releases from 2023. It can be a difficult listen at times, but the payoff is undoubtedly worth it. It also uses a sample of Toni Collette from Hereditary so that’s pretty fun.

URGH kicks off hard and for the next 34ish minutes, rarely gives you a moment to breathe. Opener Sevastopol is a barrage of glitchy synths and overblown bass that sets the tone of the album. Aggressive, danceable and French. I don’t know what Valentine Caulfield is saying but a quick Google translate search tells me that it’s metal as fuck. Hell yeah.

Magazine was released as URGH’s lead single. It’s a track that turns Caulfield’s lyrics into a weapon, aiming the barrel at her rapist. “I’m coming for you so go ahead and run. I won’t miss you” she declares as the alarms sound and the drone lines up its target. Fuelled by fury and a desire for justice, it’s one of the highlights of the album – pairing the anger with something foreboding and blistering.

While the abrasive sound of this is almost deliberately off putting, it remains something that you can still run to/dance to/beat someone up to. Tracks like Cursive and ist halt so have this awesome dance-punky energy swirling throughout them. A Brighter Tomorrow is a slight change of pace, bringing the pace down slightly and serves as the albums only real moment to rest and regather yourself.  Sicko! featuring Billy Woods is another standout with lyrics rallying against big pharma, addiction and the glorification of violence paired with massive hits of disjointed bass and sirens coming at you from all angles.

Closer I’ll Ask Her sees Caulfield satirising the excusers of misogyny and violence against women. “They’re all fucking crazy man” is chanted repeatedly against the noise and anger, permeating the track with this sarcastic takedown of those forgiving the boys who will be boys. The final minute or so of the track sees URGH at its most cathartic point. Caulfield declaring “your friend’s a fucking rapist” is a poignant and blunt note to end the album on but is incredibly fitting for the aggressiveness and violence that URGH seeks to justify throughout the record.

Mandy, Indiana have described this album as a reaction to the global despair that has been experienced by many over the past, I don’t know, like 8 or 9 years? Perhaps it is only right that something so disorienting and in your face can simply be summed up by saying “urgh” and maybe shrugging your shoulders. It may have taken just over a month for 2026 to deliver its first AOTY contender (which is basically a century in the today times) but I’m okay with that. This thing is fucking great.