Alex Ian Smith, the primary force behind the New York-based project Railings, sounds nothing like Cobain, but his voice induces similarly vicarious listening. Other than Smith and bassist Sean Liljequist, it’s unclear who is currently in the band; Railings’ social media accounts have been dormant for years. But in the first week of this year, Railings ’26 appeared with just one X post to promote it. Where Chud Up’s whirling synths and prog-punk rave-ups suited Smith’s unhinged performances, on Railings ’26 he sounds comparatively restrained in service of his most streamlined collection of songs to date. The song vamps where Railings used to weave and wind, its ever-busying rhythm section building tension atop its harmonic simplicity.