It’s funny how just two weeks ago (and the weeks before that) we were discussing how incredibly close the battles were for #1 at the top of the NACC 200, when now a cavernous gap has opened up between the #1 and #2 records on the chart. This week it’s basically Stereolab and everyone else. Their eleventh studio album, and first since 2010, has opened up the 11th biggest lead any #1 album has had over their closest competition. Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Warp/Duophonic) puts Stereolab in some pretty heady company. Only six other albums by five different artists have held bigger leads. For the chart buffs out there, Alvvays hold the record (and they’ve done it twice) followed by Arlo Parks, St. Vincent, Weyes Blood, and just earlier this year, Japanese Breakfast. History shows these sorts of leads rarely last, but for this week at least, Stereolab is dominating. They also accomplish another rare feat: topping the NACC 200, NACC NEXT, NACC Non-Comm, and NACC Canadian Charts simultaneously.
Three new albums reach the Top 10 of the NACC 200 this week, along with one rebound. Rising back 12-9, after reaching #2 in April, is Lucy Dacus. The first debut is a massive one from Baltimore five-piece Turnstile. We first featured the band here in 2021 when Glow On went Top 10. A collaborative EP with BadBadNotGood in 2023 was also the highest debut the week it opened on the NACC 200. Now the band’s fourth studio album, Never Enough (Roadrunner), makes a stunning debut on the chart, opening at #5. It’s the second-highest debut ever on the NACC 200. The only other act ever to debut inside the Top 5 is The Black Keys, who began their chart run at #2 in 2019. Turnstile also has this week’s most added album, with 62 Top 10 Adds.
Next up is an artist who is no stranger to the NACC Top 10. The National’s Matt Berninger has reached the top tier four times previously: once as a solo artist and three times with his band. The National has released ten studio albums dating back to their 2001 self-titled debut. Their most recent trio of LPs have all gone Top 10, in 2017, 2019, and 2023. The Cincinnati native has also released two solo albums. He reached the Top 10 in 2020 with his debut, Serpentine Prison, and this week, his sophomore solo effort, Gut Sunk (Book/Concord), is anything but sunk as it sails ahead 35-7 for his fifth cumulative Top 10-peaking album.
Enjoying the last of our new entries into the Top 10 this week is last week’s highest-debuting album from Florry. The Philadelphia seven-piece recently released their second LP, Sounds Like (Dear Life). After debuting at #15 on the NACC 200 last week, they zip ahead to #8 this week to score their first Top 10-peaking album. Florry is currently on tour with sets scheduled in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Madison this week, along with ten more shows after that, including a Medford, MA show on June 29 that winds down their latest tour.
Last week, we mentioned that Sea Lemon had a chance to make the biggest climb ever on the NACC 200 this week. Seattle-based Natalie Lew, who records as Sea Lemon, had the most-added album of the week last week and had debuted at #200 on the NACC 200. Although she didn’t quite pull it off (and to be fair, it was a very daunting task), this week’s climb with her debut album, Diving For The Prize (Luminelle), is still impressive. In fact, by soaring 200-21, she enjoys the sixth biggest climb ever on the NACC 200. The all-time climbing champ remains Yard Act, who rose 196-6 in 2022.
Wet Leg‘s second LP, moisturizer, is due July 11, and this week the band has two of the top 3 songs on NACC Singles. Their latest single, “CPR,” leaps from #21 to #3, while “Catch These Fists” extends its 2025-leading reign with a ninth consecutive week at #1. They tie Fontaines D.C. for the second-longest stay ever atop NACC Singles and are just one week away from tying Arlo Parks, who spent 10 weeks at #1 in 2023 with “Weightless.” How odd would it be if their new song stops their old one from tying that record next week? Three singles make the NACC 200 Top 30 Adds Chart this week. Cate Le Bon and Sudan Archives arrive with new songs. But it’s Big Thief taking most-added honors with “Incomprehensible.” The song is the first from the band’s upcoming sixth album, Double Infinity, due September 5.
