Underlined Passages has always written songs that sit between hope and dislocation. Since 2015, the Baltimore band has built a reputation for guitar-driven indie rock that mixes shoegaze textures, post-rock dynamics, and a clear melodic core. Over the years, critics have called their music “gorgeous celebrations of brilliant musicianship” (Jersey Beat) and praised the band for “getting more profound and musically compelling” (The Big Takeover).
Their new record, The Accelerationists (Mint 400 Records, October 17, 2025), continues this trajectory. The album was recorded with J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines) and longtime collaborator Frank Marchand (Bob Mould, The Thermals). Across seven songs, the band channels the exhaustion and unease of living in a system that pushes forward at all costs. The music is guitar-forward, stripped back, and unflinching, with lyrics that touch on quiet resistance, emotional withdrawal, and cultural burnout.
The record’s influences include the failed futurism of The Long Boom and the stark realism of Adam Curtis’ HyperNormalisation. These references shape the tone, but the songs remain deeply personal. Tracks like “Endsong,” “Heywood Floyd,” and “Remainder” reflect both societal pressure and the private cost of acceleration. The cover of “La Dolly Vita (Cresyl Mix)” offers a link to the 1990s underground that shaped the band’s identity, while new originals like “Flaxxon” and “Somelin” expand their range with restraint and defiance.
Formed by Baltimore-centered songwriter Michael Nestor (The Seldon Plan, Pupa’s Window, lowell), Underlined Passages is now a trio with Roger Stewart on drums and Joseph Marcus on bass. The band has released five full-length albums and an EP with Mint400 Records, including Neon Inoculation (2022) and Landfill Indie (2024). Those records earned year-end top ten nods from outlets like Curious for Music and Sleepingbag Studios and charted across college and community radio.
Live, Underlined Passages delivers a sound that is both intimate and explosive. Their shows move between fragile melody and full-volume catharsis, carrying the same sense of presence that defines the records.
The Accelerationists shows that Underlined Passages can still turn noise and melody into something urgent and alive, reminding us that even in a fractured world music can still carry connection and weight.