Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.

 lacks the edge and intensity that defined the Pumpkins’ best works.

The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the defining bands of the ‘90s alt-wave. With a breakup in 2000 and subsequent reformation in 2005, the band has been through a plethora of lineup changes and turmoil. At long last, with 

, most of the founding lineup has come back together – frontman Billy Corgan has been re-joined by guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The only one missing from the founding members is former bassist D’arcy Wretzky, around whose absence there’s been a lot of drama and uncertainty.

All of the drama surrounding the Pumpkins is integral to understanding the context of their music – which is similarly tumultuous and poignant, and it always has been – until now. 

 lacks the edge and intensity that defined the Pumpkins’ best works. This new album certainly bears the image of their trademark sound. Tracks like ‘Seek and You Shall Destroy’ ‘Solara,’ and ‘Marchin’ On’ mimic the heavy, dark guitar of their early years, but the image displayed now is a mere silhouette, lacking depth and substance. 

 feels like a portrait drawn from memory of the Pumpkins’ glory days – the form is accurate, yet all the genuine, authentic detail that brings most meaning and beauty to it has been forsaken with time.

There’s still a sort of aching beauty to it, sure, but it’s a sentimental, nostalgic beauty, built on coming to terms with emotions of the past rather than expressing the raw, unadulterated feelings of the present. You can tell the emotion is there, lurking somewhere in the depths, but it feels murky and unclear. It’s not for lack of emotion or effort that this album suffers – it’s lack of clarity. Tracks like ‘Knights of Malta’ and ‘Marchin’ On’ are wrought with anguish and potency aplenty, yet it feels disingenuous and shallow. ‘Marchin’ On’ with its almost accusatory forcefulness, still feels like only a mere caricature of the Pumpkins’ previous intensity.

The Smashing Pumpkins may lack only a quarter of their original lineup, but what they lack from their original quality of work is much greater. While this album marks the passing of many of the band’s problems, the maturity it has apparently brought to them, Corgan especially, has been ill-expressed. It lacks inspiration – this album was not made because they wrote a bunch of good music and it was time to publish it. This album was made because the band was back together and they needed a new album, something they could publish, to commemorate that. In doing so, all the Smashing Pumpkins managed to create was a lackluster caricature of their glory days.

The Smashing Pumpkins release lackluster ‘Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.’

As someone who grew up on Muse, this album was a bit of a disappointment.

Over the years, Muse has strayed further and further from their original sound with each new release. Their eighth album, 

, continues this trend as they introduce more of the electronic elements they had been playing around with in their past few albums. Unlike its predecessors, however, 

 is a bit of a musical Frankenstein’s monster: around half the time, its hybridization of the heavy riffs the band is known for and their experimental electronic elements combine to make something vaguely enjoyable, but the rest of the time, the two are poorly combined.

The more pleasant version of this combination occurs in songs like ‘Pressure’ and ‘The Dark Side’. These two sounded like they could’ve been on some of the band’s earlier albums upon first listen. The sad part is that that’s what made me like these songs so much and what made them stand out from the rest of the album. There’s an almost pitiful irony in this, however, particularly with the song ‘Pressure’, which is apparently meant to be about how frontman Matt Bellamy 

 to keep making songs in the style of their older music. 

 as a “more straight Muse rock track” with “a different riff every ten seconds”, and it certainly doesn’t disappoint on this front.

Songs where this hybridization falls flat include ‘Break it to Me’, which includes autotune of all things (which is enough to damn the song completely all on its own), and

‘Thought Contagion’, which sounds like the sort of song that’d be played over the end credits of a mediocre YA dystopian movie, especially with some of the lyrics: “You’ve been bitten by a true believer”, and “They’ll never do what you want them to/Give it up and watch them break through”, among others. Even the name “Thought Contagion” should be clue enough to the sort of campy speak of revolution that the song contains. Then, there’s ‘Something Human’, which sounds like it’d better fit a 20-year-old blonde pop star than a 40-year-old rocker like Bellamy. The song itself isn’t all that bad, but it certainly doesn’t suit Muse as a band, even with their known history of experimenting.

As someone who grew up on Muse, this album was a bit of a disappointment. Trust me, I’m not disappointed that the band’s sound is changing – I’m all for experimentation and trying new things! That’s part of what I believe makes the band so great – they’ve grown immensely since their founding and haven’t stagnated despite releasing their first album in 1999. It’s not the experimentation that disappointed, it was the execution – I had faith that Muse would be able to pull this type of album off a lot better than they did. One thing’s for certain: Muse will continue to play around with genre and push the limits of their music well into the future – I just hope they do it better next time.

Muse falls flat with ‘Simulation Theory’

With its artful sparseness and crooning notions of love and loss, 

 is exactly what Robyn needed to catapult herself back onto the pop throne.

 is Robyn’s first full-length album since 2010. The Swedish artist, who’s hailed to have 

, has finally returned to the spotlight with this bittersweet, emotionally-charged album. In it, she touches on personal turmoil and the cleanup afterwards, including dealing with the death of a friend, a breakup with her boyfriend, and their consequent reunion. 

 is deeply intimate yet light and airy, coating turbulent sentiments in cotton-candy vocals, rich basslines, and glistening synths.

Robyn’s lyrics are potent and powerful, but not flowery —they’re streamlined and concise. In the titular track ‘Honey’, phrases such as “At the heart of some kind of flower / Stuck in glitter, strands of saliva / Won’t you get me right where the hurt is?” pack a punch, eloquent and expressive. In other instances, such as in ‘Human Being’, verses like “You know we’re the same kind / A dying race” say just enough to leave you pondering your humanity and that which it entails.

Her command of musical simplicity is masterful. Each aspect incorporated—a switch-up in the bassline, a sparkle of synth, or an added layer of harmony—introduces a new depth to the track. “Beach2k20” is a prime example of this. The song has very little to say, lyrically yet it is one of the most interesting and fun to listen to on the entire album. It’s atmospheric, building up and up and then pivoting into something new countless times throughout the song—every time the overlaid speech changes or the baseline shifts, the song is given a new burst of flavor. There’s an intriguing, underlying distortedness in particular patches, with a hypnotically pervasive beat layered over it that ties the track together throughout its many transformations. ‘Between the Lines’ is another standout. The chorus hits with a groovy beat that could convince 

Some songs fall somewhat flat, however, when the sparseness comes off as boring rather than artful and the song lacks the edge needed to push it over the line between dull and decadent. ‘Baby forgive me’, while its lyrics are achingly emotional, is quite boring to the ear. The entire last minute and a half of the song grows repetitive as the same underlying melody and single phrase loops on and on, rarely visited by a blip of novelty. ‘Send to Robin Immediately’ is comparably lacking on the front of novelty—you can feel an anticipation for a burst of energy bubbling underneath during the first minute or so of the song, but it never quite boils over into a satisfying resolution. Though this flaw certainly rears its head on more than one occasion, it’s a feat worth acknowledging that this is the only major weakness present in the album.

 is exactly what Robyn needed to catapult herself back onto the pop throne. She’s clearly grown into a newer, better Robyn throughout her hiatus, but she’s maintained continuity between Honey and her previous works that suggests she hasn’t abandoned her past self in the process. This sort of immense personal and artistic growth is glorious to witness, and only leaves more excitement for the future. In this, 

 satisfies the cravings for Robyn’s return, leaving a sweet, sweet taste in the mouth, but also draws you in, leaving you eagerly awaiting her next release.

Robyn masters musical simplicity with ‘Honey’

CHVRCHES has struck a delicate balance between creating a high-quality performance while not trying too hard in the process

The Orpheum theater is not the best place to see a show. Like many true and proper theaters, it has formal seating, and thus, no GA or standing section (the Orpheum is also not the best place to shoot a show, as I have learned – there was no photo pit, which made my job infinitely harder). In my past experience with shows at similar venues, this lends itself to a stagnant sort of atmosphere which leads to a lack of excitement in the crowd.

Fortunately, with CHVRCHES, a Scottish synth-pop group who hit it big in 2013 with ‘The Mother We Share’ and ‘Recover’, this was not the case. The crowd was high-energy, up and dancing in their seats the entire show without a care in the world, creating a positive feedback loop – the band and crowd seemed to both feed back and forth off each other’s energy. CHVRCHES, with their A+ banter, live music prowess, and all-around fantastical presence, created an amazing performance that stood out amongst past shows I’ve experienced.

Frontwoman Lauren Mayberry, donning a long, flowy white skirt and glitter covering her cheekbones, has an immensely captivating stage presence. She commands the theater with a unique and powerful voice that shines even brighter live than it does in recordings. This is particularly true in songs which showcase her belt. In the chorus of ‘Grafiti,’ Mayberry’s voice soars high and clear. She conveys a sense of whimsy and intensity with her aura in a way that mimics the colorful synth-pop shimmer of some of the band’s songs, which tend to have an edge of potency.

Martin Doherty, usually in charge of synthesizers and samplers, got a chance to shine vocally on songs such as ‘Under the Tide’ midway through the show, before trading back with Mayberry for vocals. CHVRCHES switched up the setlist, as this was the second-to-last show on their tour, with one more show the night after in the same venue. They performed a cover of ‘The Downtown Lights’ by the Blue Nile with openers Lo Moon at the start of the encore. Additionally, they gave ‘We Sink’ (performed early in the show) and ‘Never Say Die’ (the closing song of the encore) extended outros, adding a special flair to what were already fan-favorites.

The entire band is tight, musically and amicably. The show contained no shortage of playful quips, and plenty of banter rose up between songs. Topics included ‘why on earth is America so obsessed with Halloween?’ (prompted by the discovery of a miniature pumpkin backstage mid-set) and ‘congrats on your baseball team, but we don’t really care about sports’, among others. No quality was harmed in the making of all this fun, however – their music seems to sound even better live than it does recorded. CHVRCHES has struck a delicate balance between creating a high-quality performance while not trying too hard in the process. They maintain a light, fun, and energetic atmosphere without weighing it down by taking themselves too seriously. They make it seem effortless and easy, creating what was effectively one of the best shows I’ve been to in quite a long while.

CHVRCHES brings life to the decaying Orpheum Theatre

This album is a perfect example of the disconnect between the critical world and the everyday listener.

If you’ve heard the name Greta Van Fleet, you’ve likely heard the name Led Zeppelin somewhere in its immediate syntactic vicinity. The comparison has followed them since the beginning, and it certainly doesn’t look to be leaving them alone any time in the future.

Greta Van Fleet had a lot to live up to with their first album. The band was off to a flying start with near-instant success with their first two EPs, topping Billboard charts left and right. However, even with such popular success, the band still drew criticism for their seeming lack of novelty.

 hasn’t done much to quell these complaints. In a brutal review, Pitchfork gave the album a 

, and plenty of other reviews have contained similar sentiments. Though Pitchfork’s review in particular is quite exaggerated, if you dig down underneath, most of the points made are on-the-nose, reasonable claims. Despite all that, the more unanimous popular response is quite positive, to the point that Pitchfork’s review 

seemed to generate more animosity towards the website itself

Generally, people outside of the critical realm seem to really, truly enjoy the album, and though it has its faults, there is also good reason to enjoy it. The album opens with ‘Age of Man,’ which starts you off on an adventure through a wealth of pleasantly nostalgic songs laden with catchy riffs. Overall, Greta Van Fleet seems to have mastered the art of drawing people in – each song, one after another, is enthralling in its own way. Some, like ‘Watching Over,’ simmering up as the song builds, others, such as ‘When The Curtain Falls,’ hooking you right from the start. The lyrics dance between lighthearted and narrative from song to song, yet overall, the album maintains a thread of continuity from start to finish.

This album, for these reasons, is a perfect example of the disconnect between the critical world and the everyday listener. Sure, plenty of music may have faults in the critical lens, but most people will go on and enjoy it nonetheless. These two different realms of critical and casual have such different takes on what is good and what is bad – does it matter more if the music is novel, unique, groundbreaking? Or does is matter more that it’s actively fun to listen to, that it brings people enjoyment? It’s hard to draw the line between the two – both are fundamental to the musical experience and are deeply rooted in each other. However, one thing is certainly clear, as we can see with the mixed bag of popular and critical opinions regarding this album – to lean too far to either side fails to paint a representative picture of the true merit of a song or album.

The boys in Greta Van Fleet have a ways to go in terms of maturing as musicians, and building up sound and reputation of their own. However, in the interim, it can be expected that their releases will continue to reach considerable chart success and popular approval. After all, it may not be quite “good,” but it sure as hell is fun to listen to.

Maggie Van Nortwick