Pittsburgh slacker rock group Feeble Little Horse returns with their highly anticipated sophomore effort, 

. After making a huge splash in the underground with tracks like “Chores” and “Picture” on their first record

 in 2021 (which had some hits but, admittedly, was a little hit or miss), there was a long wait to see where the band would bring their sound next. Luckily, it seems that they have progressed in all of the right ways. There are some genuinely incredible tracks on 

 that showcase the band’s ability to create extremely catchy, intimate moments through songwriting.

A great example of this is on the opening track, “Freak,” which seems to be a song about a girl teasing a boy for whom she has a mutual interest in a really fun and endearing way. Lydia Slocum’s vocals on this track are so extremely sweet and somewhat innocent sounding, which lends a certain young, playful atmosphere to the song. This is heavily contrasted with the harsh, almost shoegaze-like guitar tones. However, the mixing on this album is so incredible that the two work in tandem extremely well instead of clashing with each other. This is also the case for “Sweet,” which not only has a harsh but well-mixed guitar riff but also has some amazing duet work throughout the track. This song has a distinct momentum to it, and this is especially true during the overwhelming wall of sound that is the chorus. This particular sound stays fairly consistent throughout the record, and considering how well the band pulls it off it does not overstay its welcome by any means.

The musical quality that Feeble Little Horse truly excels at above all else, however, is catchiness. There are so many songs that have either a very infectious hook, vocal delivery, or guitar melody that listeners will find themselves humming to for months on end. A good example of this is “Tin Man,” which might just be in the running for the best guitar work that this band has pulled off. It has an incredibly catchy riff that honestly is difficult to tell how they pulled off or what tuning the guitar recording was in. This song has some poignant analogies involving the tin man from The Wizard of Oz, seeming as though the narrator of the song sees their partner as a sort of rusty tin man who, for lack of a better word, is a fixer-upper. Another extremely catchy song is “Paces,” which has an incredible, very carefree-sounding vocal melody during the verse. The guitar on this track also has a sort of vibrato quality to it, which adds a lot of depth.

The one single detraction that could be levied at this album is its brevity. At 26 minutes, it is an extremely watertight listen with very few moments of boredom, but does leave the listener craving more. There are certain songs on the record that definitely could have been expanded upon to extend the length and unfold new ideas within the timeframe of this record - namely “Healing,” which has every quality going for it except for how it feels underdeveloped after its quick ending. However, the material that is on the record is extremely solid, and in some cases makes up for how brief the album ended up being.

Feeble Little Horse proved themselves to be among the most exciting acts in the current underground indie rock scene with this album, and it will definitely be exciting to watch them grow over time. They are already at a very good point in terms of their musical evolution as it stands, but they will continue to build their ethos of simple, good music as time goes on, and it will be extremely exciting to see how their growth as artists affect their sound. For now, though, 

 serves as a great, albeit brief, release from this up-and-coming band.

Feeble Little Horse creates simple, beautiful music on Girl with Fish

Metallica is unquestionably a legendary thrash metal band, having released some of the most seminal and essential material in the genre to date. Their virtually perfect 5-album run from 1983’s Kill ‘Em All to 1991’s self-titled release (the black album) essentially set the blueprint for what thrilling and adrenaline-fueled metal music was, and then some. However, it’s been evident ever since the release of St. Anger in 2003 that the band is long past its prime. And yet, they kept chugging along with releases that ranged from mediocre to okay from then until now, where they’ve released yet another record that sounds completely uninspired. On 72 Seasons, Metallica manages to essentially sound like a ripoff of their former selves for 1 hour and 17 minutes straight.

The album begins with the title track, which is indicative of the qualities of practically every single other song on the record for the remainder of the run time. It has a boring riff that rests on a singular low note with occasional interjections of higher notes, a very bare-bones solo, and a drum pattern that just functions as a backbeat and adds nothing more to the song. It also is way too long for the actual amount of substance it has. Metallica then proceeds to rinse and repeat this formula for 11 more tracks. In contrast to most of Metallica’s prior work, the guitar riffs, melodies, and general instrumentation sound completely uninspired. This is especially evident on tracks like “You Must Burn!” and “Chasing Light,” which are somewhat exhausting to listen to, especially at their length. Even when Metallica seems to be doing something interesting, like “Sleepwalk My Life Away” beginning with a very gritty-sounding bass line and Tom Morello-esque metallic guitar sounds, it is instantly ripped away and replaced with generic, boilerplate, meat-and-potatoes thrash riffs. The one solid aspect here are some of the solos on the record, namely, those on “Lux Aeterna,” “Too Far Gone?,” and “Room of Mirrors.” The latter two actually have an interesting dual-guitar effect going on which adds to the music a lot, especially considering how boring everything else is, and the former is probably the only fully solid, fun song on the album. It is genuinely moshable and is a singular glimmer of hope among the bleak sea that is the rest of the album.

“72 Seasons” is particularly frustrating as the title track of the album in that the lyrics are nonsensical. According to the band, the album title has to do with the experiences one goes through in the first 18 years of life, and by extension, this song should address that directly. However, it does not. This is not the only point in the album where James Hetfield’s lyrical prowess is shown to be lacking – it honestly might be the most glaring issue in the album. There are a few times on the album where James engages in Myspace-era level edgelord cringe, namely on “Shadows Follow” with the line “hanging by a thread and my mind is code red” and on “If Darkness Had a Son” with the line “if darkness had a son, here I am.” Truly bottom of the barrel, complete cornball lines. The crown jewel of this, though, has to be “Screaming Suicide,” which is a song that talks about suicide with all the tact of a tiktoker who made a clip explaining how they “made a song from the perspective of” a mental illness. It feels extremely hamfisted and vaguely ableist, which is disappointing considering the fact that this song has some of the better instrumentation on the record that almost creates the feeling of a rollercoaster. It is a little sad to see someone who probably held the title of the best lyricist in the thrash metal genre fall to standards this low.

For lack of a better description, 72 Seasons sounds like a bunch of old dogs trying to regain the bite they had in their youth, though their teeth have long since fallen out. They say you can try and teach them new tricks, but evidently, they just keep on attempting to do the ones that they are physically incapable of doing at this point in their lives.

Metallica sounds old and jaded on 72 Seasons

Boston local bedroom rock group Winkler are showing a lot of promise with their debut album, 

. The band, which had been gaining traction with a steady release of singles over the past few years (most notably 2022’s “Mona”), have finally released their first full length, and it pushes their 60’s/70’s influenced lo-fi rock sound to even higher points than they’ve reached in the past. It’s a surprisingly solid release from a band of their size, and at this stage in their career.

The album begins with “City Rain,” a song with bright, summery-sounding, jangle pop-influenced guitar instrumentation. The vocals’ mixing complements the rest of the instruments incredibly well – the low-fidelity equipment makes sure they’re crisp, but not overpowering. This production carries over into tracks like “Nothing But Time (if you want it)” and “Call it Good Times,” both of which have really intriguing sections of vocal harmonies between the lead and background that are very beautiful. The former track, a slow and relaxed cut, also incorporates some very Belle and Sebastian-esque flutes and woodwind toward the latter half of the song, exuding a very innocent-sounding, youthful energy. Winkler is by no means a one trick pony, however. They incorporate a lot of sonic variation throughout the album. “Sarah and the Moon” is an emotionally poignant piano ballad with an infectious riff that ends off with some rather dramatic violins while also leaning into some sounds more associated with psychedelic music – it’s a very interesting combination of sounds. “Jellyfish” almost sounds like a song from the early 2000s garage rock era, albeit with more dream-like, reverb heavy production.

If there is one criticism to levy against Winkler, it’s that at times, they wear their influences on their sleeve. It is obvious at points where they take elements of their sound from, not to a distracting point, but to where at times it does sound like they’re still trying to find their own voice amongst the Beach Boys, Strokes, and Jack Stauber tracks that they took inspiration from. That being said, they at least fuse these influences together in a novel way, and there’s never a point where anything on the album sounds overtly unoriginal. Of course, this all makes sense for a band so early in their career, and is definitely something that can be brushed under the rug when their output is otherwise so inventive and genuinely fun to listen to. 

 is a very worthwhile listen from a band that one can only hope gains more popularity as time goes on. It shows a surprising amount of artistic integrity and especially in production skill for a debut record, and it will be extremely exciting to see how this band continues to evolve their musical style on subsequent releases.

Winkler hits the ground running with their debut

It’s been a busy year for Swedish rap collective Drain Gang, having previously produced and released two albums to general critical acclaim. Thaiboy Digital was the last to have released a major project thus far in 2022, and now that it’s released, it’s obvious that this was almost paradoxically the most half-baked. So much of it sounds like Thaiboy either rehashing, trying to recapture, or even just plain ripping off aesthetics and sounds that Bladee and Ecco2k had already done to death by the time the album released. Mostly, it doesn’t even sound like that – instead, more like some random SoundCloud rapper who wants to be Bladee so bad.

The production on this album is, to be blunt, terrible. There are maybe one or two beats that make a positive impression at all, and the rest are bland and uninteresting, lacking the flavor that other Drain Gang and Thaiboy Digital releases have. Some tracks on the album, namely “The Kingdom” and “Love Potion,” are harder-hitting, but the rest sound like they came from a “Drain Gang type beat” search in SoundCloud. It’s surprising how amateurish it all sounds, and this is probably the most evident in the percussion choices throughout the album. Not only did the engineers mix them way too loud, but the producers chose the most grating, cheap-sounding drum kicks available. This is especially evident on tracks like “Angel,” “All The Way,” and “Mr. CEO,” where the production of the drum beat completely ruins what would otherwise be a passable song.

The vocal performances on this album do it no favors either. Thaiboy’s vocals are weirdly clean on this record – not as in crisp and clear, but with way less character than other Drain Gang members. This would be fine if he could give a good vocal performance most of the time, but he instead chooses to just annoyingly croon over the majority of tracks. It’s to the point where not even autotune can save tracks like “Back 2 Life” or “Angel”: Thaiboy’s incapable of consistently hitting good notes. This is exacerbated by the repetitive and mind-numbing hooks and rapped verses. The few good vocal performances on this record aren’t even delivered by Thaiboy: they’re from Bladee and Yung Lean when they show up on “All The Way” and “The Kingdom” (not even Bladee could save “3 Star Reunite,” that song is just terrible).

It would have been cool for Drain Gang to close out what is probably their biggest year to date on a high note, but unfortunately, they’re ending it with a fizzle. Hopefully, Thaiboy can find more of his own voice both style-wise and production-wise. 

, however, shows a clear lack of identity in Thaiboy’s music.

Back 2 Life is the weak link in this year’s chain of Drain Gang releases

 for over a year now, and fans have been frothing at the mouth with anticipation. Ever since the first single “Argyle” released in October 2021, Brakence has been dropping little hints and teasers as to what the album would be, how his sound has changed since 

, and the themes the album would deal with. Finally, though, after fourteen months, the album is out, and it’s extremely pleasing to say that it delivers on all fronts.

To be very blunt, there is not a single bad track on this album. So much care is put into each song, and they’re all so varied in the emotions they conjure up while staying consistent in terms of style and quality. Brakence takes the same glitch pop aesthetic that made songs like “fuckboy” and “fwb” such hits right after 

 released and expands upon them tenfold, building five-or-more-minute ballads and opuses that remain intriguing throughout with their well-developed sound. Each instrumental has so many layers and changes throughout each track’s runtime, making the entire album extremely engaging. This maximalist philosophy also allows for some incredibly complex and thought-provoking emotions to be painted through the music, such as the extremely hype, almost manic “caffeine”; the more stripped back, folk-esque “introvert”; and the pure momentum that is built up on “intellectual greed.” It should also be noted that there is some incredible guitar skill on this album, with tracks like “5g” and “argyle” displaying infectious, detailed riffs that always complement the glitchy production surprisingly well.

If only the sound was incredible, though, this album wouldn’t be nearly as effective as it was – Brakence’s songwriting has improved significantly since 

 even though the general style has remained relatively consistent. The star of the show on 

, without a shadow of a doubt, is Brakence’s incredible lyrics and vocal performances. Brakence has a breathtaking voice that can go from deep, sexy, and contemplative to high, boyish, and expressive within mere seconds, and that allows him to develop very unorthodox vocal melodies. “Stung” has a pretty standout performance where he pulls off incredible vocal work while simultaneously intertwining a more difficult rap-esque delivery. “Hypochondriac” is another song that lets Brakence’s vocal chops shine – it’s just him and a piano on this one, and he performs the full version of a musical motif that appears on the record a few times before. It’s an emotionally effective track that serves as a perfect way to finish the album.

That seems to be, in turn, one of the main themes of this album – emotion, and how to portray it in art with honesty and integrity. This is illustrated beautifully by the lyrics: they delve into thoughts and experiences that affected Brakence immensely, as evidenced by the poetic and thought-provoking ways he chose to articulate them with. He strikes a perfect balance of various literary elements to present his feelings in a compelling manner while keeping them understandable and relatable to the audience. This is no more evident than on the crown jewel of this record, “deepfake,” which encapsulates the pain of having lost a relationship with someone you love while simultaneously questioning your own self and how genuine you are and were in that said relationship. There are tons of memorable lines even in just the first verse of this track, such as “I don’t know how much more I can take / ‘cause I’m gonna need more than sunlight and getting and shape / weed makes me panic and lexapro drives me insane” and “but despite all the lies and projections I hope you’re okay / I’m not I don’t want to escape.” Another particularly great track lyrically is “venus fly trap,” which nails the emotions of being in love with someone who you know is controlling and bad for you, but feeling trapped nevertheless. It all strikes a chord, to say the least – you can understand clearly how Brakence felt in every situation he describes.

 is not just an incredible evolution for Brakence as an artist. Of course, he develops musically by every metric, and it’s very cool to hear as a fan. But more than that, you can literally hear him mature as a person – he is not the same person he was before, and it shows by the way this album differs from his previous work. It’s sort of like a coming of age story in that sense, and it’s an ostensibly honest and insightful one. 

 is undoubtedly Brakence’s best work yet, and definitively one of the best records of the year.

Brakence perfects his sound on Hypochondriac

 comes right off the tails of the release of their third album earlier this year, 

. Upon initial listen, it became apparent that 

 was not only one of the most sonically intriguing indie rock records to release this year, but had some of the catchiest songwriting as well. Luckily, 

 mostly holds up to this standard despite being released only a few months after 

, which is a testament to the band members’ creative endurance.

A lot of the same basic ingredients from 

 and Deadharrie’s prior releases are here in 

 – the low, warm guitar tones, the whispery and slightly awkward vocal delivery, and the muted, somewhat compressed drum production. That being said, the consistently inventive songwriting keeps the songs interesting. For example, the opening track “South” has a very slow, sliding, high-pitched guitar riff that is comforting and nostalgic. This complements the lyrics beautifully, which paints the picture of two lovers moving down south, describing their dreams and aspirations of what they might do while living there. Florida, the band’s home state, seems to be a pretty common lyrical theme throughout the record (which makes sense considering the album’s name). There are a few passages where the lyrics describe the scenery and landscape of the Sunshine State such as the first verse of “Emberly.” Across the album, Deadharrie’s lyrics create a lot with a little; this is especially apparent on “Nuzzled,” which discusses the feeling of being friends with someone superficial.

The band also plays with some new sounds on this record, most prominently a strange compressed guitar tone. It’s on a few tracks, and it makes note transitions feel sort of strange – the best comparison is a guitar otamatone. It works very well in most cases, especially on “Emberly,” “Florida,” and “Jubilee” by adding a piercing, scorching sound to the softer, more enveloping guitar production that is also present. However, the real flaw of this album is that the Deadharrie doesn’t evolve their sound too much. This is apparent on tracks like “Bounce,” which, while enjoyable, sounds a little more generic than a lot of the tracks on 

. this is to be expected, though, considering the record is coming so soon after their last one and is only twenty-nine minutes. Generally, the record is high quality.


 is another collection of great Deadharrie tracks in their signature style. Future endeavors could definitely expand and implement more sonic variety – but for now, this is a solid release from Deadharrie. One can only hope they’ll grow in popularity over the coming years.

Deadharrie releases another solid record this year in "Florida"

Loma Vista Recordings · October 28, 2022

New York-based post-hardcore group Show Me the Body recently released their third solo studio album, 

. For the most part, their sound is consistent with their prior releases – heavy and dissonant guitar production, loud and booming drums, and gritty, attitude-filled vocals. That being said, a lot of the songs on this album start to sound the same, making for a monotonous listening experience.

This isn’t to say that Show Me the Body doesn’t try different things on this album at all. Quite to the contrary, there are several points where they use sounds outside their typical style, specifically the noise genre. For example, “Radiator” has an interesting, industrial-electronic melody that is integrated with punk instrumentation throughout the track – until the end, where a chorus of voices repeats the refrain of the song in a very robotic manner. “Out of Place” also includes a more subdued synth line, along with the vocalist, Julian Cashwann Pratt, trying his hand at singing instead of his usual shouting delivery. It isn’t technically proficient, but for the song it fits the aesthetic. “Boils Up” sounds like a continuation of “Out of Place” – it’s driven by these synth lines that probably came from the same machine as those in “Out of Place,” but much louder and darker. The guitar production is spacey on this track, which is a distinct change of pace from how the band sounds on the rest of the album. It should also be noted that the drumming on this album is consistently fantastic, “Boils Up” included. The band recently replaced their drummer, and Jackie Jackieboy is giving his all here. This is also evident on the track “Using It,” which not only features this phenomenal drumming, but also enjoys a particularly good guitar riff on melody.

All this being said, there isn’t as much variety with the rest of the album. To be honest, most of the tracks here are indistinguishable from each other. Especially on tracks like “Food From Plate,” “We Came To Play,” and “War Not Beef,” there isn’t much to latch on to. They can all be described with a few limiting adjectives– dissonant, loud, and not very detailed. It doesn’t help that on a lot of these tracks the lyricism is fairly simple, a lot of the time just sounding vaguely violent and not much else. There are also points on the record where the band’s experimentation doesn’t work. “Demeanor,” for example, has electronic instrumentation that sounds like something a really inexperienced kid would make in Garageband. “WW4,” while having noticeably more substantive lyrical content, also features the most outwardly annoying vocal performance on the record, really clashing with the acoustic guitar on the track.

While it isn’t all bad, and Show Me the Body took experimentation head-on, 

 just gets boring after a while. There aren’t many moments that particularly stick out as intriguing or different, and the ones that do aren’t very memorable. As a whole, the record is kind of… forgettable.

"Trouble the Water" is a monotonous and boring listen

Experimental and cloud rap legend Bladee returns with yet another album this year, 

Coming right off the tail of his critically acclaimed collaborative effort with Ecco2k 

is comparatively a more straightforward Bladee release, filled with blissful and melodic cloud rap as well as a few intense cuts. While Bladee generally plays to his strengths on this album, there’s a distinct lack of ideas as compared to his previous releases. Most Bladee releases entail some sort of reinvention, but on 

Of course, playing it safe at this stage in Bladee’s career means you are going to get some quality tracks no matter what. The opening track, “UNDERSTATEMENT,” opens with video game-esque synths, which then leads into some hard-hitting percussive sections. The chorus of this song specifically sounds very dreamlike, as the repetitive hook combines with the intense reverb on Bladee’s vocals to envelop the listener in an otherworldly trance. Bladee drops the line “gravity very up, won the World Cup” on this track, which is a classic Bladee moment through and through. “I AM SLOWLY BUT SURELY LOSING HOPE,” meanwhile, takes an interesting direction with a very powerful, driving melody that sounds like a pop rock song. Surprisingly, Bladee’s vocal delivery works well with this production.

“DiSASTER PRELUDE” features Ecco2k and exudes more of the weird, abstract energy that they brought on 

 – it’s a great display of their consistent chemistry. “HAHAH” is a pure banger where Bladee decides to go off the wall, proclaiming that he is crazy in such a manic and excited manner for the first 30 seconds of the track and then going on to prove it by dropping the sickest verse on the album. The vocal production on this one sticks out, as Bladee sounds more crisp and clear in the mix than ever before. Finally, “URIEL OUTRO” brings back some extremely blissful sounds that Bladee likes to pull out occasionally. The melody on this track has a strange music box quality to it, as if Bladee is singing a lullaby. The religious undertones of the lyrics actually compliment this quite well: it’s like listening to a drained Christmas hymn.

While there are some highlights on this album, nothing really stands out on account of the fact that it all sounds like more of the same. “ICARUS 3REESTYLE,” for example, is not technically a bad song, but this particular Bladee sound has been played out by this point. More directly, it sounds like a song that Bladee has released at least 10 times before. The same is true for “DRESDEN ER,” which sounds familiar to Bladee’s earlier work both in production and autotune usage. There are also a few songs on here that, while not bad on their own, could have been trimmed out of the tracklist to make a more cohesive album. “IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK” sounds generic, and oddly feels more like an interlude than a fully fleshed-out song. The same is the case with “She’s Always Dancing,” which includes a sample of Scarface at the end for seemingly no reason. “BLUE CRUSH ANGEL” is completely unmemorable, save for the fact that the percussion consists of just one kick drum every few seconds. It’s a little distracting and off putting, considering that nothing else in the track seems to have been written with the same sort of minimalism in mind.

 is by no means a bad album. There are really no outwardly offensive tracks in the entire tracklist. What there is, however, is a lack of progression on Bladee’s part, which is especially strange considering how much he and Ecco2k had obviously progressed as artists on 

It’s the same old Bladee for 30 minutes, and that’s passable for right now, all things considered. However, it could easily delve into monotony if this trend continues on future releases.

"Spiderr" has some definite highlights, but not enough new ideas

The experimental rock duo of unreasonably handsome Californian twins known as The Garden returned earlier this month with their fifth studio album, 

. While the release is fairly brief, only clocking in at about 25 minutes, it packs a massive punch both in the abrasive sound it brings to the table and the contexts in which they put that sound. There are some misses at points, but there is enough sonic variety to maintain full attention for the album’s duration. It is their most solid overall release to date, hands down.

firmly earns the title of experimental throughout its runtime, more so than previous The Garden releases. Luckily, it works substantially more often than it doesn’t: for example, the song “Freight Yard” seems to be a fairly straightforward indie rock song with some cool vocal samples and percussive metal clanks, but around the halfway point there’s a massive sonic freakout – and then it just returns to the original riff until the end like nothing happened. It’s definitely jarring upon first listen, but sounds better after a few playthroughs. The lead single for this album, “Orange County Punk Rock Legend,” incorporates some heavy, rattling bass that works surprisingly well. The song also has an interesting guitar riff that sounds like an indietronica melody. “X in the Dirt,” meanwhile, plays with some dissonant melodies during the verse that exude an infectious, manic energy. There was clearly no shortage of interesting ideas flowing when the twins were writing this album.

It’s interesting to note how many different genres The Garden pulls from on this album; on some tracks you can tell exactly who the artists and genres influences are. For example, “Puerta de Limosina” is unambiguously a hardcore punk track, in the same vein as Minor Threat or a late Misfits record – fast, heavy, and chaotic. There are a few other examples of late punk worship on this album, such as “Oc93” and the titular “Horseshit on Route 66.” In fact, that’s probably the most omnipresent genre on the record, evidenced by the obvious punk aesthetics on the cover of the album. That’s by no means the only source material, though: there’s some gabber influence and Andy Morin worship on “What Else Could I Be But a Jester,” for example. It’s interesting to note that The Garden collaborated with Morin on a single last year, “French Kiss the Abyss,” that previewed their sound on this album. There’s even some twinges of the late 70’s New York no-wave scene on parts of this album, especially on the intro track “Haunted House on Zillow” and “Squished Face Slick Pig Living in a Smokey City.” Between all these influences, it’s a really intriguing collection of sounds packed into just 25 minutes.

There are definitely points where the band delves too deep into abstract sound, or where the experiment goes awry, so to speak. While “Squished Face Slick Pig Living in a Smokey City” has some cool sounds going on, the hook becomes more annoying and tedious than anything – not in the way Michael Gira’s vocals on an early Swans track emits certain anguish and anger through tedium, but instead more like an annoying little brother yelling the same phrase into your ear about a hundred times. A similar case is the last half of “Horseshit on Route 66,” where there is another sonic freakout that is much less structured, less impactful, and perhaps less thought out. Given the short runtime of the album, these negative points stick out more than usual. Perhaps in future releases, they will iron out the kinks in their formula and deliver more consistent material, especially after having grown more acquainted with writing and producing this type of material.

That being said, the way in which The Garden plays with sound on this album works more often than not. The mix of songs here is eclectic, but it all comes together cohesively in the end, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. 

 is worth a listen for that reason alone.

The Garden comes to Boston on Oct. 4, at Big Night Live.

"Horseshit on Route 66" is The Garden’s most experimental album yet

British indie rock duo Wet Leg have finally released their long-awaited debut after a string of singles that performed exceedingly well during 2021. The most popular of which, “Chaise Longue,” released all the way back in June (several months ahead of the release of this album) and amassed over 14 million plays on Spotify — very impressive for a group that hadn’t released an album up to that point. Finally, after a long period of buildup, the self-titled debut released, and it’s a bland, homogenous, uninspired project through and through. It seems as though all the hype was for almost nothing, as Wet Leg did not deliver what was promised on the singles leading up to this album.

The album does start off strong with the opening track, “Being in Love.” The chord progression is really unique, and the vocals on this track incorporate some cool melodies as well, all while being produced in a clear and gratifying manner. There are some quick synth chords toward the beginning of the track that add a lot, even if they’re just there for a few seconds. Another highlight is “Wet Dream,” which has an infectious, catchy drumwork throughout the track — much more engaging than the simple backbeat that lines most of the other tracks on the album. The vocals also have substantially more attitude and personality than pretty much anything else on the album which definitely works in the song’s favor, especially the effect-heavy backing vocals. “Ur Mum” is definitely the best out of the singles that lead up to this album, and “Wet Dream” and “Being in Love” have a lot of much-needed personality that seems to be absent from the rest of the album. The vocals are a lot more present in the mix than they usually are, which draws more attention to them. There’s a part at the end where the singer starts a long, monotone scream which works exceedingly well in the context of the song. There are some other cool moments on the album as well, like the shoegaze-esque breakdown on “Angelica,” or the well-placed minimalist synth chords on “Piece of Shit,” or the percussive, reverb heavy background noises on “Too Late Now.” However, none of these are really expanded upon in an interesting way, or explored in depth at all. Places where these moments could be expanded on are completely replaced by what comprises the rest of the album — generic, dime-a-dozen indie rock that’s been heard before.

If the best parts of this album are the parts that exude a certain personality of the band, the worst parts are its absence — which is more often than not. For example, “Chaise Longue” has bland and uninspired vocal melodies, and the hook can be annoying to listen to at times. This is the same case for “Supermarket” and “Oh No.” Most of the instrumentation is pretty generic as well, and sometimes it sounds like all of the songs bleed into each other and become one large, homogenous ball. “Wet Dream,” for example, is one of the highlights of the album, but it’s followed up by “Convincing,” which is a song that follows the exact same formula with less interesting songwriting. It’s a redundancy in the tracklist and nothing would be lost if it was never released. “I Don’t Wanna Go Out” is another completely unremarkable, mind-numbing track, save for the guitar riff which almost sounds as though it were plagiarized from a Nirvana song.

 has some cool moments sprinkled throughout it, but most of the time, it doesn’t feel like the band has the capacity or courage to explore those ideas. There are so many missed opportunities, and so many songs that could have been better if they were just given more thought. To put it bluntly, the tracks often sound bland and lifeless. There are some interesting songs here and there, moments where Wet Leg’s personality really shines through, but not nearly as many as there should be.

Wet Leg’s self-titled debut is bland, homogeneous, and uninspired

Accomplished Canadian sophisti-pop group Destroyer returns this year with their new release 

, which sees the group flexing some of its creative muscles again. After the standout 

 was released in 2011 to critical acclaim, most of the 2010s for Destroyer were marked with mediocre to slightly above average output. This was sad to see, considering their status and consistent creativity throughout the 2000s. However, with this release, it seems as though they’ve managed to shake off their artistic rut, and have managed to incorporate some really great songwriting quirks into their music.

which showcase how engaging Destroyer can be at their best. The opening track, “It’s in Your Heart Now,” is produced immaculately, and has a great chord progression; toward the middle of the song, you can hear a synth line that almost sounds like a subdued electric guitar. The track doesn’t feel like it drags on, even though it’s almost 7 minutes long. Songs like “June” and “Tintoretto, It’s for You” incorporate strange and idiosyncratic rhythms, which force the rest of the instrumentation to adapt in interesting ways. “Tintoretto, It’s for You” incorporates a strong, forceful synth melody that almost sounds video game-esque. The song manages to sound epic and grandiose in a way that none of the other tracks on the album do. Other songs on the album, like “Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread” and “It Takes a Thief” take influence from funk and dance music, making them much more anthemic and poppy than much of the other material on this album. It should be added that they’re both extremely catchy. The somewhat awkward vocal delivery and the lyrics’ quirky sense of humor enhance this album, especially on the songs “Suffer” and “The Last Song.” There’s a lot to appreciate creatively about this record, which is more than can be said for some of Destroyer’s previous releases.

Some blemishes on this record could be addressed to improve future releases. Some of the songs, like “June” and “The States,” overstay their welcome, and sometimes sound like there isn’t really much going on in the songwriting except excessive repetition. There isn’t enough engaging material in these songs to justify their runtime. The vocal delivery comes off too awkward on both of these tracks, to the point where it’s no longer endearing and is slightly annoying. The title track to this album is also just sort of boring, and, to be frank, was not necessary to include as an interlude on the album. On occasion, the actual instruments themselves sound cheap or low-quality, like the synths on “Suffer” and “June.” These issues don’t affect every song on the album, but they detract from the songs they’re on pretty greatly.

, Destroyer successfully regains the lightning in a bottle their work had pre-

. Some songs could’ve been weeded out of the tracklist, but they don’t detract from the highlights of this album, which include some of the best material Destroyer has released in years.

Destroyer finds their footing again on "LABYRINTHITIS"

How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars

The Weather Station returns after their critically acclaimed 2021 release 

 with their subdued and stripped-back new album, 

 was an album that featured grand and varied instrumentation on many tracks, so it’s interesting that The Weather Station chose to go this route. At some points, it works to the album’s favor, feeling very intimate and being able to express very raw emotions. At others, it tends to feel a little boring and flat compared to their prior work.

The album kicks off with what is probably the best track on the record, “Marsh,” which features naturalistic lyrics to pair with lush, beautiful piano chord progression. It’s made all the more engaging by the incredible production on this album. There is not a single moment on this album that does not sound incredibly crisp and clean, and there is not a single sound coming from that piano that cannot be heard in great detail. The same can be said for the following track, “Endless Time,” which also features an interesting, Americana-influenced vocal melody, and the almost theatrical “Taught,” which features a soft saxophone that seems to gently support the rest of the melodies within the track.

The rest of the record, however, doesn’t reach the same heights that the first three tracks do. There isn’t any material on this record that is wholly or completely offensive, and most of it is actually quite listenable. The problem is that, at some point, they all start to sound like variations on the same song. There are small changes from song to song, sure — “To Talk About” features a duet rather than just Tamara Linderman singing, although the male vocalist shows substantially less vocal talent on this track, and “Sleight of Hand” features some good backing vocals at points. However, the actual piano melodies and chord progressions are all pretty basic and similar to each other. If the vocals were completely removed from these tracks, it might be difficult to tell which ones are which. The vocal melodies, while definitely more distinct from each other, can be quite repetitive from track to track. This is especially apparent on tracks like “Stars” and “Ignorance,” which don’t feature many variations in the vocal melody for the duration of the track. This being said, I don’t necessarily think there are any individually bad tracks on this album — they’re just forgettable and a little mundane, which, sometimes, can be worse.

, and The Weather Station obviously had a very clear vision for this release. This is evident in the points on the album that really shine through with creativity and emotion, especially toward the front end of the record. Perhaps if they varied the instrumentation on some of the later tracks, or just more varied tempos or chord progressions, this album could have been a lot better. However, it seems as if the songwriting itself just isn’t up to par with previous The Weather Station releases.

The Weather Station’s latest release is monotonous at times

Kanye West is a figure who needs no introduction at this point. There are a myriad of words you could use to describe not only his influence within the music industry, but his influence over culture as a whole: omnipresent, overarching, and dominant being just a few that come to mind. There are also a few choice words one could use to describe the effects of his mental health struggles and erratic behavior over the past few years on his image and legacy; many of which overlap with those previously mentioned. Especially in recent months, polarizing is probably too kind of a word to levy at Kanye as a person, who verbally attacked his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s current partner Pete Davidson directly, and in a fairly vicious manner at that. But, throughout all of this, one thing has stayed consistent — his ability to produce incredible art on an extremely consistent basis. It’s no secret to those who know me that I’m a die-hard fan of Kanye’s music, and, up until this point, I’ve always stood by the statement that I don’t think he’s really dropped a bad album — even 

 was slightly above average. But, it finally happened. Not only did Kanye drop the ball, he dropped what is probably among the most embarrassing and obviously unfinished major releases within recent memory. This is made all the sadder by the fact that, upon listening to the album in full, there’s an immense amount of squandered potential that isn’t capitalized on in the slightest.

To start out on a positive note, almost every single feature on this album is a prime example of Kanye bringing the best out of those he works with. On the single “City of Gods,” Fivio Foreign drops an impassioned and rhythmically complex ode to the culture of New York, while Alicia Keys sings her heart out, begging the city to “go easy” on her. Although Kanye himself could stand to be a little more present on the track, Baby Keem and Migos drop pretty fun and infectious verses on what’s probably the most motivational-sounding song on the album, “We Did It Kid.” XXXTentacion’s posthumous incorporations on both “True Love” and “Selfish” are extremely well mixed and sound like they genuinely belong on the song, despite how bare-bones the latter track is. Jack Harlow drops what is probably the best verse on the album on “Louie Bags,” discussing how his career has affected his interactions with family as a result of his experiences watching many of his peers pass away. Truly, Kanye still has some sort of legitimacy as a guiding hand and an influence to others wherever he shows up. The production on most of these tracks is mostly okay, with some standout beats being displayed on the very synth-heavy “Flowers,” the 

-esque “Security,” the very somber and subdued “True Love,” and the haunting “Sci-Fi.” There are so many opportunities throughout the album’s runtime for Kanye to shine, but, for some reason, he has chosen not to.

Throughout this album, there are maybe two or three Kanye verses that could be called complete. They’re not even incomplete in the slightly improvisational way that sometimes comes out in Kanye’s recent albums — they are genuinely unfinished. Kanye didn’t even hand in a first draft to his paper, he handed in an outline. He releases these dissonant, incoherent ramblings on “Happy” that sound just ghastly over the production, and, honestly, most of the time I couldn’t even make out what he was saying. On tracks like “Sci-Fi,” “Louie Bags,” and “First Time in a Long Time,” Kanye just repeats one bar over and over, maybe interjecting with some variation or single comment before returning to the same phrase again. On “Keep it Burning” and “Too Easy,” Kanye croons over the track, not even making an attempt to harmonize or speak a known language. It is so obviously apparent that these were all just placeholders for Kanye to return to and write better material, but for some reason, he just left them like this. To a degree, it’s insulting. Let’s remember here that he barred this album behind a $200 paywall by making it exclusively available on his Stem Player speaker brand. He could have chosen to make it available on his website for those who don’t want to purchase the speaker for a substantially lower price. Then, is this really the best he could give us for $200? Kanye West — the same man who dropped some of the greatest bars of all time on 

, the same man who sung some of the most heart-wrenching ballads in all of hip-hop on 

, the same man who came up with the line “too many Urkels on your team, that’s why your wins-low” — could barely come up with a few verses for his album that costs more than a brand new pair of shoes or a new set of AirPods. He’s punching far below his weight and asking for so much in return that, frankly, it’s disheartening and disrespectful toward his fanbase.

After all of this, however, a small bit of hope still clings to my heart. Both 

 went through fairly extensive changes post-release, so maybe something similar can happen for this album. Maybe something salvageable can come to fruition, even if he can only bring it to an average level. Or maybe, it’s possible that that’s all just a pipe dream coming from a little fanboy’s heart. Either way, 

 as it stands is like going to a restaurant, ordering a medium-rare filet mignon, and instead receiving an eye of round that’s fully raw in the middle. Kanye West has, for the first time in his music career, completely fumbled the bag.

"Donda 2" is an unfinished product

Alice Glass, former frontwoman of legendary electronic duo Crystal Castles, returns after several years with her debut solo album, 

. Her last major release, a self-titled EP in 2017, was generally well-received, especially when compared to the music that Crystal Castles was releasing at the time. Glass left Crystal Castles in 2014, and later cited the abuse she received from fellow band member Ethan Kath as the primary reason for her departure. She addresses many of the details of this relationship on this record and, indeed, those make for some extremely compelling and interesting moments that are worth listening to. However, much of the rest of the record is filled with material that is fairly forgettable and surprisingly bare-bones for an artist that is this talented.

Some tracks on this record are genuinely thought-provoking expressions of Glass’s intense feelings, and as such there is a lot of untapped potential being shown. For example, “BABY TEETH” uses vivid, gory imagery within the lyrics to describe exactly how Glass was feeling during her time in Crystal Castles. The house-inspired synths are very reminiscent of Crystal Castles’ early work, and the piercing vocal effects on Glass’s voice couple with those nicely. “SUFFER AND SWALLOW” employs similar lyrical and production tactics, but draws them out longer and plays with them in more interesting ways. Glass’s vocal performance on this track is also probably the best on the record, bringing a certain manic energy to the table that isn’t present on much of the other material. It’s not only abrasive but extremely emotionally potent. Another notable track is “ANIMOSITY,” which, while more subdued instrumentally than the other tracks, presents something much more ethereal that becomes much more intense and explosive during the chorus.

However, much of the record fails to capitalize on the potential that is illustrated with those few tracks. There are several tracks on the album where either the vocal melodies are questionable, or certain lines within the lyrics themselves could have benefitted from some revisions. “PINNED BENEATH LIMBS,” “EVERYBODY ELSE,” and “THE HUNTED” are good examples of this – there are definitely good songs hidden in these tracks somewhere, and they could have been so much better had there been some minor edits here and there to bolster the presentation as a whole. Some of the instrumentals also sounded fairly bare-bones at points, namely on “FAIR GAME,” which otherwise could have been a much more captivating song considering the emotional potency of its lyrics. At other times, the intense moments of songs just feel out of place or improperly implemented, such as on the chorus of “LOVE IS VIOLENCE,” which sounds like a lackluster early 2010s dubstep track.

There are interesting ideas sprinkled throughout this record, but in most cases, they are not explored in a compelling manner or are muddled by other aspects of each track that could have used more work. The album definitely has a few moments where everything comes together, and those moments are genuinely spellbinding, but they are few and far between. Perhaps on a subsequent record, Glass may be able to fine-tune some of the apparent kinks on 

, but as it stands, this record is mostly unfulfilled potential.

Alice Glass’s "PREY//IV" is full of unfulfilled potential

Kevin Whelan, bassist of indie rock group The Wrens, tries his hand at a solo project on 

under the pseudonym Aeon Station. While most elements of indie rock are present on this record, some of the material relies more on singer-songwriter motifs, and strays from the genre in that sense. It’s an interesting album with some good songwriting, and it definitely has its moments – Whelan has a knack for creating songs that spark a sort of wondrous feeling, almost child-like. However, the album does feel like it’s missing something, and at points suffers from being a little derivative or bland.

The album opens with “Hold On,” which features tender piano chords and introduces Aeon Station’s soft, boyish singing. The lyrics on this track are somewhat generic, as they are on most of the rest of the record, but it mostly slides for being such an intimate moment. Overall it serves as a decent intro, as the subsequent song, “Leaves,” opens with a similar set of chords and a similar vocal timbre. The song shifts from idea to idea toward the beginning, and it does feel pretty slow at that point, but all of these motifs eventually merge and the song becomes moving, with the long, drawn out vocal notes complimenting the instrumentals. “Fade” is really the first song, though, that impacts upon first listen, opening with overbearing and somewhat harsh guitar tones that are later joined by booming drums. Eventually, the track mellows out and becomes something much more serene, which is an impressive feat.

“Everything at Once” begins with some finger-style guitar picking that is instantly catchy, but it eventually gets drowned out by everything else in the mix. It’s a decent song, and the piano picks up that same riff nicely, but it could have been better. There’s also some compelling acoustic guitar work on “Queens,” this time bringing in a loud bass-driven guitar riff to succeed it. I think the raspier vocals on this track work incredibly well compared with some cuts on the rest of the record. The song explodes around the 3-minute mark into something almost ethereal, and it’s very interesting to see that dissipate into a more low-fidelity acoustic guitar recording at the end, almost like something from an early Mountain Goats record.

Most of the other tracks, however, are pretty forgettable. “Move” is a pretty generic guitar ballad, and “Empty Rooms” plays with some arpeggiating guitars and almost synth-like piano tones but ends way too early for anything to be really fleshed out. The one major weakness of this record, though, is how derivative it is. To put it bluntly, this record just sounds like an Arcade Fire record at some points. Certain songs, for example, “Better Love,” could probably be confused for other bands, as there’s nothing really distinct about them in terms of indie rock. Even the closing song, “Alpine Drive,” sounds like a Fleet Foxes song without any of the emotionally moving bits. Most of the record isn’t like this, but the parts that are are pretty draining to listen to.

, but a good chunk of the record is unmemorable. While I do enjoy most of the material here, I can’t help but feel that this project could have been better if certain ideas had been expanded upon more, or even if some of the tracks had been left out. It has its flaws, but overall, it’s a decent listen for Wrens fans and indie rock fans alike, and there are definitely things to appreciate about it.


On Aeon Station’s mostly bland "Observatory", a few good ideas manage to shine

Chicago-born singer-songwriter Tasha’s newest release, 

is an album that, more than anything else, sounds comfortable in its own skin. The music expresses this unique emotion of collectedness and self-confidence, and it is from this place of confidence that Tasha lays out both her triumphs and sorrows on record. It’s extremely cathartic and gratifying to listen to, not to mention the fact that it’s also well-crafted from a compositional standpoint.

The album opens with “Bed Song 1,” which is a tender, intimate song about a lost relationship. The guitar repeats a simple, calming riff throughout the track, which is complemented by the occasional backing violin to enhance Tasha’s soft and whispery singing. It’s an incredibly good way to introduce the sounds of this album. The following track, “History,” tells a similar story in a less metaphorical manner, as Tasha delves deeply into the emotions she felt as a relationship of hers came to a close. It’s an impactful song and one that builds up instrumentation throughout its duration to illustrate an increase in emotional intensity. These two tracks hit extremely close to home for those who have experienced heartbreak in their lives, which is a testament to how authentic and open Tasha is in her songwriting on this record.

Tasha delivers some amazing vocal performances on the songs “Perfect Wife” and “Sorry’s Not Enough” – there’s a particular way that she hangs on notes and plays with a melody that is genuinely beautiful to listen to throughout the entire tracklist. While the approach she takes to instrumentation on these tracks and the rest of the album is rather minimalistic, what’s there is produced immaculately, and every single note can be heard clearly and can make a strong impression on the listener. The guitar tones on “Sorry’s Not Enough” are extremely well done, with just the right amount of reverb to create a dream-like feeling. A similar effect is achieved on “Year From Now,” which also has one of the most fulfilling and gratifying song endings I’ve heard this year. Another area where the production shines on the album is on “Dream Still,” where some gorgeous synths are employed, almost reminiscent of some of Mort Garson’s work on 

. This is coupled with some blissful vocal choruses that encapsulate Tasha’s vocal talent better than any other point on the album.

There are few complaints that can be made regarding this album, as most of what’s presented is at least decent if not excellent. Some points on the album feel somewhat unnecessary, like “Love Interlude,” which has a strange position toward the front end of the tracklist. “Burton Island,” while not overtly unpleasant to listen to, is too simplistic and repetitive compared to the rest of the material. However, these moments make up a small minority of the record, and pretty much everything else is spectacular.

The degree to which Tasha is able to clearly and succinctly express herself on this album is genuinely impressive, and a feat to behold for anyone interested in singing or songwriting. There hasn’t been a release this raw and open since the self-titled Lianne La Havas record, which is a good album to compare to this one both in terms of material, subject matter, and musical quality. All in all, 

is an emotional gut-punch, and an incredibly well-crafted one at that.


Tasha crafts emotionally jarring artwork on "Tell Me What You Miss The Most"

JPEGMAFIA proves himself to be one of the most skilled and versatile artists in the current hip hop genre with the release of his newest record, 

The listening experience this record provides is not only astounding in its consistency and technical prowess, but also in its ability to remain extremely catchy and engaging throughout its runtime. JPEGMAFIA builds upon all of his previous musical endeavors and ideas on this record substantially, and it’s extremely gratifying to hear, especially in light of his more recent releases like 

. Put simply, with this record, Peggy delivers pure ear candy.

It should be noted that JPEGMAFIA (who also uses the nickname Peggy) decided to release two versions of this record, an “online” version that’s on most streaming platforms and an “offline” version with a few more tracks that couldn’t be released on streaming services, mostly because of issues with copyright and sampling. While the online version is good in its own right, it’s missing some key tracks that enrich the record by a huge margin, most notably “HAZARD DUTY PAY!,” “GOD DON’T LIKE UGLY!,” and “UNTITLED.” While it’s a decent option if you are intent on streaming the album, it’s obvious that the offline version is the album the way Peggy intended it to be heard, and is a truer representation of what the album was supposed to be.

The tracklist kicks off with “TRUST!,” which was released as a single earlier this year. The manic beats toward the front end of the track couple well with Peggy’s usual laid-back delivery until the hook, where his flow becomes more frantic and speedy as he remarks on how “Everything’s great, everything’s cool, everything’s perfect, everything’s good, everything’s kosher” before delivering some uniquely braggadocious bars. The track slows down before the end, giving a moment of calm before the storm that is the second track on the record, “DIRTY!,” which has one of the most hard-hitting beats on the entire record. The extremely high tones in this track are simultaneously piercing, melodic, and beautiful.

Not long after is “END CREDITS!,” which is a genuinely perfect track. It starts out with what is probably one of the hardest intros of all time, a sample of wrestler Arn Anderson insulting one of his colleagues on stage at an AEW event. The monologue is, in a word, the embodiment of violence, and is followed by a stunning guitar sample from Animals As Leaders’ most recent single, Monomyth. This is probably Peggy’s most aggressive vocal performance on the record, which is even more impressive considering it follows up the already combative “DIRTY!.” The song has this aura of grandiosity to it, as if Peggy is reaching some final form where he’s more powerful than ever. It’s an astounding cut that every JPEGMAFIA fan, as well as every experimental hip hop fan, should experience.

The following track, “HAZARD DUTY PAY!,” employs a soulful sample that Peggy just lyrically destroys. The track moves with a certain momentum that isn’t matched by much else on the record, let alone most other hip hop songs this year. Every time the audio cuts out and Peggy yells into the mic, it hits in a way that is unmatched by most other recent ad-lib/production work.

“THOT’S PRAYER!” is another highlight on the record. Not only does the intro sample a gospel song, but during the verse, JPEGMAFIA sings the lyrics to Britney Spears’ 1999 anthem “…Baby One More Time.” It’s an extremely blissful and emotional moment, as Peggy sings about how “my loneliness is killing me inside,” truly creating new meaning and context for the Britney lyrics he follows with.

“TIRED, NERVOUS, & BROKE!” is probably where Peggy’s pure rapping skill shines the brightest, maintaining an incredibly strong bond to the backing beat of the track despite constant flow switches. The hook on this track is extremely catchy as well, where Peggy raps about how “the opposition sick of me, tired, nervous, and broke.” The end of the track, though, is a phenomenal piece of music in and of itself, featuring Peggy and Kimbra singing a sweet ballad over a set of piano chords.

“THE GHOST OF RANKING DREAD!” is another song that could be considered virtually perfect, and is extremely emotionally driven. Tkay Maidza delivers some beautiful vocal melodies over the graceful, almost comforting synths. It’s a really tender and stunning moment on the record, and it’s obvious that this arrangement came from a particular place in Peggy’s mind that doesn’t come out very often in his music. Peggy’s rapping itself has a certain sass and attitude to it that shows off lots of personality. The song ends with a huge crescendo, complete with horns that add on to the melodic beat and a bass line that shakes the listener to their core before fading out.

These aren’t even the only great tracks on this record – virtually every song on 

 is pure heat. Peggy delivers quality, track for track. The record would already be good even if he just had included the previously mentioned songs, but Peggy still decided to include masterful tracks like “DIKEMBE!,” “ARE U HAPPY?,” “REBOUND!,” and “

,” just to add more variety and versatility to the record. That, truly, is where the record shines – there are so many different things on here, so many different sides of JPEGMAFIA as an artist. All of them are done flawlessly, and with very evident effort put into them.

 released back in 2019, JPEGMAFIA called it “the most ME album I’ve ever made in my life.” To be quite honest, I didn’t hear it like that – as much as 

was also a pretty great record with some killer tracks, it didn’t seem like the personal statement Peggy intended it to be. 

, however, truly does seem like a fulfilment of this idea. It’s a record only Peggy could make. It’s a presentation of his personality in its rawest form, and as a piece of art, it’s all the better for it.


"LP!" is JPEGMAFIA’s most solid work to date

Johnny Marr, legendary guitarist of The Smiths, fails to play to his strengths on his newest EP. 

 which comprises the first four tracks of Marr’s forthcoming album, 

, certainly doesn’t build any excitement for the project. Instead, it showcases a rather bland, generic alternative with surprisingly simplistic and basic instrumentation for someone who at one point made incredibly complex and musically engaging songs like “This Charming Man” and “Nowhere Fast.” It isn’t necessarily unpleasant to listen to, and there are even a few moments on the EP that stand out as moderately interesting or catchy, but by and large it’s boring and uninspired.

The first song on the EP, “Spirit Power and Soul,” features an enjoyable synth line that runs throughout the track with a rather rudimentary guitar riff that doesn’t compliment it very well. Marr’s voice is also rather dull, and while it isn’t necessarily unpleasant to listen to, the vocal performance on this track isn’t exactly stellar either. The chorus produces some ear-catching moments here and there, but the song is mostly forgettable. The next song, “Receiver,” is similarly bland, perhaps even more so than “Spirit Power and Soul.” The bass line is pretty decent, and for the most part very present within the mix, as is the guitar riff, which is much more interesting than the one on the previous song. That being said, Marr gives his most unflattering vocal performance on this track, sounding monotone and rigid during the verse and engaging in a rather strange vocal intonation during the chorus. In general, though, this song just sounds derivative of other, better alternative acts.

The latter two songs on the EP are slightly better and have substantially more standout moments on them than the former two. “All These Days” has what’s probably the best hook on the EP, as Marr gently and quietly sings the title of the track to a genuinely catchy chord progression. The synthesizers are also a nice touch in general on this track, albeit they’re buried into the mix by other instruments and at points are hard to hear. The final track, “Ariel,” is probably the best song on the record, opening strongly with an impactful, reverb-heavy guitar line that is almost reminiscent of some of Marr’s earlier work. This guitar line returns on the chorus, along with an emotionally-driven vocal melody. The lyrics also seem the most well thought-out of what’s been presented on the record. While the synths are somewhat unnecessary during the verse and the song would probably be better without them, they don’t detract all that much, and can largely be overlooked in this otherwise great track.

Overall, while there isn’t anything outwardly repulsive or cringeworthy on 

, it surely doesn’t show Johnny Marr’s musical prowess as much as other works of his do, and it certainly isn’t as engaging as those works are. None of the tracks are outwardly bad, but none of them are groundbreaking, and none of them feature any intriguing musical complexities. Above everything else, though, it’s simply uninteresting.


Johnny Marr fails to deliver anything compelling on "Fever Dreams Pt. 1"

Post-rock and midwest emo band The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (TWIABP) come in with a decently strong return on 

. While certainly not as consistent as their 2015 album 

, there are definitely some solid tracks and well thought-out moments on this album that make it worth a listen.

The record is their longest yet at 70 minutes, and is wholly bisected by the 35-minute mark. The first half of the record features more indie-rock and emo-inspired songwriting, while the second is comprised of two longer tracks that lean more heavily into TWIABP’s post-rock influences. The songwriting on the first half of the record is mostly familiar to those who have been following the band, kicking off with “Afraid to Die,” a song that starts off with a serene guitar riff that plays well with the simple and minimalistic synth-line. These both eventually fade out and are replaced with an abrupt wall of sound that gains momentum and builds upon itself throughout the rest of the track. It’s a great way to start the record and is pretty indicative of how the album as a whole sounds.

Another highlight comes not long afterward with “Invading the World of the Guilty as a Spirit of Vengeance,” which features a more aggressive, almost nu-metal inspired guitar line. The song shifts to a more drum-driven section, which builds tension throughout the back half and develops into an amazing finale. “Died in the Prison of the Holy Office” is another track that builds momentum extremely well, beginning with vocals that are subdued within the mix and constantly adding different elements of the melody together until the song reaches a crescendo and subsequently starts to incorporate some elements of math rock.

The subsequent song, though, “Your Brain is a Rubbermaid,” really feels like more of an afterthought to “Died in the Prison of the Holy Office,” and a somewhat unnecessary one at that. It doesn’t ruin “Died in the Prison of the Holy Office,” but certainly doesn’t add to the overall flow of the album. “We Saw Birds Through The Hole in the Ceiling” is another song that feels underdeveloped and underutilized within the context of the album, although the mix is much more well-executed and detailed on this track.

Appearing toward the end of the first half of the record, “Blank // Worker” is also worth a mention. The song features some reverb-heavy strummed chords along with what are probably the most politically charged and radical lyrics on the entire album. Truly, the lyrics on this track sound like they were written from a very strong core set of values that the band collectively believes in.

The second half of the record is only two songs, both running over 15 minutes in length. “Infinite Josh,” the first and the better of the two, is a post-rock slow burner with lyrics that truly feel like they’re coming from the heart. The refrain in the first leg of the track is actually somewhat catchy, as a background chorus repeats “but everyone says you can’t go home again, can’t go home again.” The track builds upon itself and metamorphoses into something that sounds both ethereal and nostalgic. After reaching a crescendo of these feelings, the song shifts into a more simplistic, although still appreciable, second segment. Although it isn’t as exciting as the expertly crafted culmination of sound in the first half, it’s still passable.

“Fewer Afraid” starts out strong with a lengthy monologue that plays off of some quiet instrumentation very well – reminiscent of some sections of certain Godspeed You! Black Emperor tracks. More instruments are incorporated as the vocals begin, including an emotional piano line and what seem to be wind chimes in the background of the track. Like “Infinite Josh,” the track builds up to a climax, this time featuring a stinging guitar riff that eventually dissipates. The latter half of the track isn’t nearly as impressive as the first; the instrumentation is pretty basic and almost seems to drag at some points. The lyrics, however, are still very well thought out and grab the listener’s attention, even becoming pretty meta at some points. While it is a flawed track, it is very obvious that a lot of work was put into making it, and is a decent closer for the album.

 is perfect, but there are some spectacular moments on it that make it worth a listen. The level of detail and emotion emanating from tracks like “Invading the World of the Guilty as a Spirit of Vengeance,” “Died in the Prison of the Holy Office,” and “Infinite Josh” make it evident how much work was put into this album. At times 

lacks focus, but more often than not, TWIABP is demonstrating their songwriting talent and instrumental techniques beautifully.


"Illusory Walls" is TWIABP’s strong but inconsistent comeback

Immersive / Sandlot / Geffen · September 17, 2021


Expectations weren’t exactly high for LILHUDDY’s newest release, 

. Even with this fact, however, LILHUDDY still manages to underwhelm in every aspect of his musical ability on this album. Chase Hudson, known more commonly by his pseudonym LILHUDDY, rose to fame through his association with the Hype House, an LA-based collective of teenage TikTok influencers. More specifically, he made a name for himself after being in a rather rocky relationship with fellow member Charli D’Amelio, who is currently the world’s most followed TikTok user. From this, he created the image of a “bad boy” that he ran with for the rest of his career, all the way up into his venture into recorded music on 

. It’s on this album, however, that he reveals how sincere he is about this facade – which, of course, is not at all. There is not a single original idea on this LP, and there is not a single note of music that doesn’t sound uninspired. It is quite literally just a ball of clichés and lowest-common-denominator instrumentation designed to fill the run time of an album and nothing else. There is no variety, and there’s nothing to grab your attention; it’s just extremely boring and annoying. In a phrase, it’s all edge and no point.

There isn’t a single distinct moment in the entirety of 

, let alone a distinct track. For the most part, they all sound like the same bad rip-off of Green Day and use the same three power chords in the exact same rhythm. Sure, you have one or two songs that involve perhaps an acoustic guitar, but even then, the song structure and all other instrumentation are essentially identical. Not only this, but somehow this album succeeds in incorporating every repetitive cliché from the pop-rock genre from the past 20 years. A good example of this is the song “Partycrasher,” which takes the audience through the blandest riff one could possibly imagine, incorporates the most basic backbeat on drums, and still manages to fit in lyrics that read like a cut-and-paste of every other teenage party song. The start of the second song, “America’s Sweetheart,” includes what seems to be a halfway decent (albeit extremely simplistic) fingerpicking riff that very quickly becomes annoying as it fails to evolve and is engulfed by the same two or three piano chords over and over again with no variance or focus. Every song has the same exact structure as well, having two choruses and two verses followed by a bridge where the song quiets down in preparation for a comparatively louder reprise of the chorus. It becomes distracting, especially when the bridge of each song begins. It’s almost like you can tell they were just padding for time every time a song decreases in timbre, as those moments very obviously serve no purpose musically.

The most outwardly offensive part of this album, however, is LILHUDDY’s braindead lyricism and lackluster singing. The lyrics all sound like they were stitched together in a corporate boardroom and meticulously designed to be as generic as possible. It’s exceedingly obvious that LILHUDDY put no effort into them whatsoever, and hooks like the ones off of “IDC” and “America’s Sweetheart” illustrate this clearly. LILHUDDY is also incredibly untalented as a vocalist, and he showcases that fact throughout the album. His voice is whiny and irritating, and it genuinely seems like he has trouble matching his vocal rhythm to the beat of the music sometimes. The first few seconds of “Lost Without You” illustrate this clearly, as he churns out an artificial-sounding vocal performance over yet another cookie-cutter riff.

While it’s no surprise that this album was a disappointment, it’s still appalling to see how much of a failure it is. It is by no means a case of “it’s so bad it’s good,” it‘s just extremely mind-numbing and seemingly lacks any creative intent. 

 is almost tailored specifically to bore the listener out of their skull, and it succeeds with flying colors at that task.


LILHUDDY’s "Teenage Heartbreak" is, unsurprisingly, uninspired and trite

It’s disheartening to hear the state of girl in red’s music on her latest LP, 

. The EPs she released previously showed genuine promise in her songwriting and in her ability to hit upon certain moods. Tracks like “We Fell in Love in October” and “i wanna be your girlfriend” were indie gems that were hugely successful both commercially and artfully, and showed immense talent in her musical ability. This newest collection of tracks, however, can succinctly be described in two words: bland and unoriginal. There isn’t that spark that appeared in her previous work – all that’s left is the droning, persistent thought of how this could have been so much more.

The main problem with this album, overall, is just how forgettable and unnoteworthy the tracks are. There isn’t anything outwardly egregious on this album, but it’s all just so simplistic and repetitive that listening through all of the tracks becomes a chore. There are several points on this album where it seems like you’re listening to the same song over and over again, or you notice that girl in red is using the same drum fill or vocal rhythm or piano chords as some different track. This is even evident on the first two tracks – the second that “Did You Come?” starts, the most striking aspect of the song is that the vocal rhythm is completely identical to the previous track, “Serotonin.” On at least five songs on this album, there’s a point in the bridge where the melody gets quiet before the final chorus plays, and that cliche gets old by about the second time it happens. The melodies themselves are all super simplistic as well, to the point where most songs become indistinguishable. The entire album sounds so formulaic and one-note that one questions the amount of work that went into it, at least as compared with girl in red’s previous work.

The lyrics on the album are generally either extremely vague and nonspecific or encompass the phrase “all edge and no point.” There’s a lot on the album about mental illness and depression, which at least in intention is appreciable, but to be frank, a lot of it just sounds like someone who hasn’t experienced depression writing what they think someone who has experienced depression would write. When it’s not touching on mental illness, it’s presenting generic and overused love song cliches that I’m sure listeners have heard millions of times before by this point. A prime example of this is “hornylovesickness,” which aside from having no engaging instrumental or rhythmic qualities also lyrically sounds like a collection of lines ripped from other songs hobbled together into one mess. Honestly, at some points you could literally predict the next line she’s about to say, and that’s genuinely irritating considering the nuance and feeling she put into her previous two EPs.

Both lyrically and instrumentally, girl in red does nothing interesting on 

. Sure, most of the time the songs sound cohesive, and sometimes she throws something interesting into the mix – I really like the bass on the chorus of “Body and Mind,” and the arpeggiating strings on “midnight love” were quite soothing (even though they get drowned out in the mix about 10 seconds in the song). But through and through, there isn’t a shred of originality on this album. To a degree, it seems like girl in red didn’t care about this album, at least not enough to put proper work into it, and it shows. I suppose, in that, it lives up to its name – one really wonders what would happen if this album just went quiet.

girl in red’s long-awaited debut LP is a disappointing flop

, is a worthy successor to their magnificent 2019 EP 

and builds upon the themes that were previously illustrated in that work. Its sound, while similar to 

, is distinctly more blissful and serene, and the lyrical content of the EP feels much more focused. While it does feel a bit quick, it leaves the listener anticipating whatever release Kero Kero Bonito has coming up next.

The first track, “The Princess and the Clock,” teased this EP earlier this year, telling an interesting, almost mythical story about a cursed princess trapped in a room, painting pictures and figuring out how to free herself. The track shows a distinct storytelling skill that previously hadn’t been exhibited by Kero Kero Bonito, and which most fans would probably hope shows up on later work. The track is very upbeat, which couples with the story quite well and confers a rather mystical feeling. There’s a specific point in the beginning of the track where Sarah Bonito’s voice is sampled and mixed into a new melody, and that leaves a lasting impact on the listener, as well as the wall of sound that the synthesizer solo creates toward the latter half of the track. It serves very well as an introduction to the musical themes of the EP, and points toward the more inventive lyrical areas that the band ventures into later on the tracklist.

“21/04/20” is a track that’s extremely low-key and calm compared to the other two tracks on this EP. It’s more reminiscent of Kero Kero Bonito’s earlier work, being extremely chipper and cheerful in tone. Sarah Bonito’s voice sounds uniquely soft and whispery on this track, in stark contrast to 

The song itself is an ode to the global quarantine that the world plunged itself into in 2020, the title being a reference to the date when lockdowns started. However, unlike other media that has come out in the past year talking about the pandemic, this song takes a uniquely bittersweet approach, describing the effects of being closer with one’s family after being trapped inside their house, and seeing other individuals in the community try to replicate some form of normalcy. There’s a distinct chord shift in the second verse, which lyrically delves into watching the world change in real time, most probably for the worse. The song itself ends somewhat abruptly, and more could have possibly been done with the lyrical content, but it’s a solid track nonetheless.

The crown jewel of this record is the final track, “Well Rested,” which is the longest Kero Kero Bonito song to date, lasting about 7 minutes. It incorporates more glitchy and distorted melodies than other tracks on the EP, and is sonically and thematically more reminiscent of the tracks on 

The most intriguing aspect of this song is the lyrical content – Kero Kero Bonito use religious imagery to address the climate crisis, which is a very interesting allegory, referring to the Earth as a god and referencing Gaia, an ancient Greek personification of the Earth. It draws a thematic parallel to the reverence of religious circles to the reverence that humanity should be having for the Earth. This is contrasted with much more bombastic sounds when the lyrics delve into the resilience of humanity and civilization, perhaps illustrating a duality between man and nature. The song climaxes with a repetitive chant and an explosion of synthesized melodies, and afterwards becomes distorted. There’s a cool synthesizer solo, and the EP finishes with the sound of water flowing, coupled with scattered electronic notes – an impactful image of nature’s power.

The EP feels as if it was left on a cliffhanger, which was probably done on purpose – more likely than not, there will be a 

, which will most probably bring the series to a close. It’s definitely a project to look forward to, especially in Kero Kero Bonito’s sound and lyrical prowess developing further. While it isn’t as consistent or impactful as 2019’s 

 certainly is a worthy successor, and is definitely worth a listen.

Kero Kero Bonito’s ‘Civilisation II’ EP is full of serene storytelling

Tell Me About the Long Dark Path Home (Reissue)

The Newfound Interest in Connecticut’s cult classic album 

 has finally received a remaster, vinyl release, and a release on streaming services, and it showcases all of the intricacies that make this album the masterpiece of post-rock and midwest emo that it is. The instrumental build-ups and crescendos, emotionally potent lyricism and vocal delivery, and surprisingly complex drum sequences that occur throughout this album, put simply, are genius and expertly crafted in every sense of the word. Each note on this album is meticulously placed with deliberate intention, and played with genuine emotion in an attempt to capture a transcendent and ethereal feeling. These facts, of course, are only part of what makes this album so phenomenal.

Jack Ognibene