"Bad Feeling" off upcoming LP Pleasure's All Yours
BIO
Ultra Lights is a punchy four piece indie-rock band out of Atlanta bringing fresh pop and garage songwriting grit. Spearheaded by seasoned singer-songwriter John Robinson, the band’s tightly written anthems take influence from greats like The Strokes, Pavement, Archers of Loaf, and Wipers, with a bit of a swaggering lean into some of Australia’s best trash rock.
Robinson spent the better part of the pandemic locked away honing a new sound. Endearingly honest and nihilistic sentiments wrapped in singalong melody and clingy guitar hooks have always been Robinson’s specialty, but with Ultra Lights the songs reflect a seasoned maturity. After having ended things with his project Illegal Drugs (2016-2019) and before that Turf War (2006-2014), and with not much else to do during lockdown, early versions of Ultra Lights songs were born. There was always the intention of eventually finding bandmates when the coast was clear, and in 2023 that happened: Gus Fernandez on drums, Alex Wharton on bass, and Leela Hoehn on second guitar and backup vocals. Hoehn and Robinson are longtime creative partners, as well as life partners, but this marks their first musical project together. While Ultra Lights’ earlier demos started out with more 70s proto-punk threads, the band has since honed a rock sound and songcraft that is uniquely their own.
Ultra Lights’ 2025 self-titled EP was given high praise by Stereogum, and the band has since opened up for indie-rock greats like The Hold Steady and Les Savy Fav. This summer they are releasing their debut full length titled ‘Pleasure’s All Yours’ through Chunklet Industries and are planning to tour in the fall. Recorded, mixed and co-produced by Kris Sampson (Omni’s ‘Souvenir’, Balkans) and mastered by Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control) ‘Pleasure’s All Yours’ is a nod to the working artist schlub and the relentless work of finding meaning in a world that keeps telling us to look the other way. A fully formed, all killer no filler debut that gives head bobbers no choice but to get up, move around, and ultimately sing in unison to our communal plight all the way until the end. Then, do it all over again.
May 22, 2026
STEREOGUM, Band to Watch: Ultra Lights
Sorry to belabor the Strokes comparison, but there are times when this band makes me feel like I’m falling in love with Is This It at age 18 all over again. They put the real-life present-tense Strokes to shame. A lot of people (including me!) called 2020’s The New Abnormala return to form, but Pleasure’s All Yours is a reminder of what form actually sounds like. It’s one of the finest debut albums in recent memory — no frills, no filler, just 11 compulsively listenable tracks that have been on loop since they hit my inbox. (Also: the name of the guy who wroteNME's five-star review ofIs This It? John Robinson! It's kismet!)
May 22, 2026
Post-Trash review of "Bad Feeling"
Atlanta’s Ultra Lights seem to have an innate understanding of what makes a great song. In just two short years they’ve proven over and over that they deal in smash hits, songs that pick and choose from alternative rock’s many sub-genres in favor of creating the most infectious pop rippers that have existed this side of the “college rock” era. Effortlessly blending together punk grit, melodic fuzz, hard driven jangle, and the mountainous hooks that hold it all together like superglue, the band are dealing exclusively in FM gold. Set to release their first proper full length, Pleasure’s All Yours, on July 10th via Chunklet Industries (Harvey Milk, Vangas, Man… Or Astro-Man?), along comes “Bad Feeling,” a song that stomps between bright corners, gleaming with inescapable hooks and instant charm. Rumbling with a sense of dangerous swagger and overdriven melodies, this is alternative rock at it’s very best, with every moment designed to embed itself forever into your head. Blistering pop at its most infectious.
April 7, 2025
Stream Southern Slacker Indie Band Ultra Lights’ Excellent Self-Titled Debut EP
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