When an Indie band calls themselves “Good Stuff” and submits their music for review, I’m immediately curious. They’ve put forward a 5 track album called Terrible Party that was released on the 5th January 2026. Let’s see if this Indie band from Stroudsburg, US can make good on their promise of being the providers of ‘Good Stuff’ within the Indie music sphere…


As an Indie music lover, I was immediately captivated to hit play and be greeted with a song (LMA) that started with just an acoustic guitar and bass. I’ve always felt an obligation when creating a record to front-load it with high dynamic tracks in desperation to capture the viewers attention. However, much like a band that names themselves Good Stuff, the start of this album oozes an important self confidence in their ability to create meaningful and captivating sounds without hitting the studio's decibel meter. LMA, (presumably “Leave me alone”) is a raw and emotional opening, with minimal but beautiful guitar sounds and a well matched vocal performance alongside. The production is perfect, without exhausting additional layers or feeling the need to create unnecessary hooks - instead, the opening track is like listening to your friend drunkenly open up about his ex. The song ends with the lyric “leave me alone, so I can miss you”, and like that, I found myself captivated by their story telling and unique sound. Our drunken conversation had ended, and we were truly on our way at this ‘Terrible Party’.

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Safehouse begins - and I started to double check the notes on the submission. It was listed as Indie - possibly due to the lack of ability on our site to select multiple genres, but by track two I began to wonder if Good Stuff were genre-drifting into a more shoegazing-side of Indie/Rock. A minute into the second track the drummer, Ace Hendrix, has been given his sticks and kicks into action. Now sounding more typically Indie/Rock, Good Stuff still manage to create a unique sound through both their performance and production methods like backing vocal shouts and spaced out reverb on their instrumental layers. The song is cinematic and epic, again in a way that doesn’t stress dynamic variations, but instead sits back and allows you to feel the space between the instrumental tracks. 

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By the third song, I feel Good Stuff have hit their Indie Stride, and start rocking. Despite it being my first listen, this track felt nostalgic to indie gigs in the mid 2000’s. Arguably a more simplistic track in production compared to the previous numbers, I felt Dummy was punchy and a perfect example of identity within a saturated genre. They utilise half-time, vocal harmonies and instrumental breakdowns/solos to continually change the dynamic of the track and throughout I felt myself completely absorbed by the music. Artistically, despite becoming a more familiar and fuller sound, I felt the contrast highlighted the importance of the simplicity and raw production the previous tracks offered. I loved Dummy, and it’s arguably my favourite track of the album, however ‘Leaving w/ Bryan’ brought me back to my seat at the thematic ‘Terrible Party’ that Good Stuff had initially brought me to. 

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Leaving w/ Bryan continues to be anthemic, cinematic and complex despite being the product of an Indie band. This track defined the album for me. This was a story. It’s the very reason the band didn’t shy away from a timid opening song, or feel the need to constrict their sound into the expected. Finalised with an intricate acoustic number, looping back to how we started, the album boasts an impressive dynamic range, and is absolutely captivating to those listeners hoping for a story in their music.

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‘Good Stuff’ have done much more than create a 5-song album with their release of Terrible Party. Instead, they created an entire space musically, invited us in as listeners and told us a story. The songs are emotional, well written and honestly fascinating in their construction. I will be listening to future releases eagerly, and hope the band never stops telling their stories - and never wonder what they should sound like; because Terrible Party is a record that claimed their own musical identity.

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Good Stuff, Indeed.

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