Album Reviews: Kendrick Lamar, Confidence Man, Amyl & the Sniffers

 Kendrick Lamar – GNX Compton, CA All thunder-stealing of Father John Misty aside, it was a wonderful surprise to not only get an unexpected Kendrick Lamar album this past week, but one this strong. Although it often feels like a more pop-centred Lamar, there’s a lot of vocal play and

Album Reviews: Molchat Doma, The Okmoniks, Magdalena Bay

 Molchat Doma (Молчат Дома) – Belaya Polosa, (Белая Полоса) Minsk, Belarus As they expand their sound on each album, Molchat Doma have had to navigate the tricky ground of maintaining an iconic aesthetic while finding something new to say. They do a great job of threading that needle on their

Album Reviews: Confidence Man, Tyler the Creator, Sofi Tukker

 Confidence Man – 3AM (LA LA LA) Brisbane, Australia/London, England While their 2nd LP Tilt embraced 90s pop with everything from house to riot girl, a move to London sees Confidence Man tightening their focus for their latest record. With a rave, KLF, and overtly 90s British dance club centre

Album Reviews: Jack White, Confidence Man, Beachwood Sparks, Andreya Casablanca, David Lynch

 Jack White – No Name Detroit, MI/Nashville, TN After at least a hand’s worth of projects and decades of music, Jack White managed to surprise fans first by quietly including his new record with sales at his label’s store, and then doubly so when that same record turned out to

Album Reviews: Childish Gambino, Cults, Porter Robinson

 Childish Gambino – Bando Stone and the New World Edwards, CA/Stone Mountain, Georgia To round out his time under his Childish Gambino moniker, Donald Glover has thrown a bit of everything at the wall in a stuffed last record. As such, his final album is a more of a sporadic

Album Reviews: Clairo, Brijean, Cigarettes After Sex

 Clairo – Charm Atlanta, GA While she’s been exceptional in the indie scene as her career has grown, Clairo has really redefined herself, and taken a few giant skips up the ladder of her career with this latest record. With a rich and lush sound that mixes 70’s tones, hip

Album Reviews: Peggy Lou, Isobel Campbell, Angélica Garcia

 Peggy Gou – I Hear You Incheon, South Korea/Berlin, Germany Whether you know her name or not, you’ve definitely already heard a song or two from Peggy Gou, perhaps thinking you were hearing a throwback station. Continuing the great recent run of house-inspired, retro dance gems, Gou creates a magnetic

Album Reviews: Kneecap, Bat for Lashes, Arooj Aftab

 Kneecap – Fine Art Belfast, Northern Ireland Though their overtly political music has easily attracted controversy, that shouldn’t detract anyone from the musical power of Belfast’s Kneecap. Between a lot of great takes in and out of the music, kinetic production and a rare (and frankly satisfying) taste of Gaeilge

Album Reviews: Tove Lo, Kate Nash, Pond

 Tove Lo & SG Lewis – Heat EP Helsingborg, Sweden/Reading, England Right on the heels of a recent collaboration with Nelly Furtado, Tove Lo returns with SG Lewis for a brief but exhilaratingly sweaty EP of dancefloor bangers. Riding a tight-yet-exciting line between honouring classic sounds and playing to her

Album Reviews: Kaytranada, Aurora, King Hannah

 Kaytranada – Timeless Montreal/Port-au-Prince, Haiti Though every album they’ve delivered has impressed us more and more, Kaytranada has managed to top themselves yet again. Evolving their art yet again with such a wide range of artists on the record, Kaytranada not only reasserts their surreal talent as a producer, but

Album Reviews: Charli XCX, Blue Hawaii, Billie Eilish

 Charli XCX – Brat Cambridge, England Though it seems like she’s about to hit the second popularity peak of her career, Charli XCX has been knocking out stellar heady-yet-catchy albums since the Vroom Vroom and Pop 2 era. While the pop is on point here, Charli has managed to inject

Album Reviews: Talking Heads, Dehd, Orville Peck

 Various Artists – Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense Various With a discography as varied and excitingly weird as the Talking Heads have, the one problem their tribute album has at times is simply how often the cover artists basically do a karaoke-esque remake. But

Album Reviews: Taylor Swift, English Teacher, Jessica Pratt

 Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department West Reading, PA While Taylor Swift’s move into more folky, producer-influenced pop has slowed things down and reduced the overt pop of her music, she still found room to keep her music varied. However, there’s a samey quality and lack of satisfying mixing

Album Reviews: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Laura Jane Grace, Chromeo

 Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Challengers (Original Score) New Castle, PA/London, England Though we typically avoid scores for these reviews, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’s submission for the new film “Challengers” may be one of the best electronic albums we’ll see this year, period. While it certainly adds a

Album Reviews: Dua Lipa, John Carpenter, Ibibio Sound Machine

 Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism London, England It’s crazy to think that in just a few years Dua Lipa went from an up-and-comer to one of the most talked about pop stars of our time, and has kept the momentum going enough to make us forget about “Argylle.” While it

Album Reviews: Beyoncé, Khruangbin, Elbow

 Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter Houston, TX While perhaps a larger genre shift from much of her recent work, Beyoncé’s raw talent as a vocalist and musician as a whole makes her latest effort less of what some have deemed a “Surprise” and more of an impressive show of versatility that

Album Reviews: Allie X, Omni, Bleachers

 Allie X – Girl with No Face Oakville, Ontario With her unique brand of art-pop, Allie X keeps pushing the boundaries of what her music can be. This latest mix brings all the fun of mainstream pop with all the weird unpredictability, and intense emotion that you simply won’t hear

Album Reviews: MGMT, Sheer Mag, Faye Webster

 MGMT – Loss of Life Middletown, CT Over their several records, it’s become clear where MGMT is making pop-focused music and exploratory music, and their latest album appears to lean to the latter. Though this album is full of strong writing and personal touches that keep the songs accessible, this

Album Reviews: Idles, Molly Lewis, Paloma Faith

 Idles – Tangk Bristol, England Always ones to unleash a riot on their records, Idles’ increase the sonic and emotional depth on their latest record. Despite the a few more downbeat tracks, the band comes out with a fuller sound than ever, finding more intricate production to play around with,

Album Reviews: Chelsea Wolfe, Brittany Howard, Torres

 Chelsea Wolfe – She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She Roseville/Sacramento, CA In her latest exploration of the dark corners of rock and experimental sound crafting, Chelsea Wolfe is uncompromising. Methodical and morphing, this is a record that breathes to the point of fogging up our headphones, but

Album Reviews: The Last Dinner Party, Ty Segall, Moonvampire

 The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy London, England It’s rare to hear a band come out the gate with orchestral arrangements and over-the-top energy on a debut, and still feel like that band has figured out their sound. The Last Dinner Party certainly has their aesthetics figured out

Album Reviews: The Smile, Future Islands, Elliphant

 The Smile – Wall of Eyes England Despite its appearance as simply a Radiohead side project, The Smile’s lean into experimental and dense writing has proven to be equally, if not more, satisfying to listen to as of late for some. Refocusing the band members’ unique talents through a more

Album Reviews: Green Day, Gabriels, Sleater-Kinney

 Green Day – Saviors East Bay, CA Not unlike Muse, Green Day hit a point in the 2010s where their back-to-basics period almost alienated the fans they’d built up until that point. But it seems like they’ve course-corrected and found the best of both worlds. Delivering easily their best record

Best Albums of 2023

 Another year of music has gone by, and while it truly felt like a bigger year for shows returning than new music, there was still plenty of great releases to make this latest trip around our sun feel special. While our list definitely tiered from top to bottom by how

Album Reviews: Squirrel Flower, A. Savage, Sofia Kourtesis

 Squirrel Flower – Tomorrow’s Fire Boston, MA Between sheer beauty and explosive outrage, Squirrel Flower crafts vivid soundscapes that take you deep down a personal moment in time. There’s a buzzing tension and sense of hope to “I Don’t Use a Trash can” as the album seems to rise to