Music Reviews

This one’s a quickie.

Another instalment in the ongoing Weezer „SZNZ“ series is here, so the question has to be asked, is it an improvement over the previous two? Well we’re here to find out.

So the record kicks off with „Can’t Dance, Don’t Ask Me“ a painfully generic but overall fun song that already sounds miles better than whatever was going on on the summer album – still though, the electronics are really obnoxious as is the chorus, also the ending is super abrupt and awkward it just ends like in the middle of the chorus, it’s a really weird choice, but yeah, overall it’s solid. The next song „Get Off On The Pain“ is an enygma – the intro sounds super promising, like the heavy driving guitars sound super good and I love the energy of the track up to that point but once we get to the chorus the song literally just turns into a completely different songs, the two segments just don’t mash together at ALL. The pacing of this song is just completely ruined because of this even though the 2 segments sound good on their own but together they just don’t work in the slightest. Anyways „What Happens After You?“ is a potentially alright song, like nothing mind blowing and a bit cheezy but overall passable but once again, the chorus here not only makes it one of the worst songs on this album and this whole series, the OoOOoooOoOOos are SUPER annoying and ruin a completely okay song. After that we have the song „Francesca“ which yeah sure, it’s generic, it’s melodramatic and yes a bit under-written, however the small part before the chorus where RIvers sings a bit faster, just something about the was he sings that works really well and honestly compared to some of the choruses here so far this one’s not so bad you know. If it wasn’t for some awkward choices (like the obviously thrown in synths that sound super forced and out of place or the last part of the last chorus which makes my ears bleed) this would have been of the best songs of the whole series but as is it’s just alright. „Should She Stay Or Should She Go“ is just a ruined Beatles song, I legit fell I’ve heard this exact song a milion times before a milion times better, super boring and forgetable, moving on. „Tastes Like Pain“ is funny since up to this point this 2 minute interlude unironically sounds better than literally all the full songs here and I’m just gonna let that speak for itself. However I do have to say, the closer „Run, Raven, Run“ I actually enjoy quite a bit – it’s a bit goofy overall but really heartfelt and it’s probably the most solid tune on the album – the switch up in the middle of the song works super well and the build up back to the chorus is very climactic and rewarding, I gotta say probably my favorite song on the whole album, extraordinarily well made closer, just wish the rest of the songs lived up to it.

And there you go, that’s „Autumn“, to the surprise of no-one another mixbag in this SZNZ series – funniest thing about this one is probably the fact that they just completely gave up at least trying to sound like the season they are trying to portray, like this one sounds literally more like summer than the summer one. Still probably the best installment overall so far, not really a compliment though.

-favorite tracks: Can’t Dance, Don’t Ask Me; parts of Francesca; Tastes Like Pain; Run, Raven, Run

-least favorite tracks: What Happens After You?; Should She Stay Or Should She Go

Strong 5/10

Hi hello and welcome ladies and gentlemen to this Rina Sawayama review. Now me personally I REALLY liked Rina’s last project SAWAYAMA with tracks like XS and STFU! effortlessly blending together elements of metal and pop music into this beautiful mix that sounded like nothing else at the time and honestly still does today. So my expectations were fairly high going into this album and admittedly on my innitial listen I was a bit confused as what to make of this project just because of how once again different it was from her previous record. This time around the emphasis is definetly more on the pop side of things with elements of rock and elctronic music shining through only at certain times, however I genuinely think this record show Rina’s songwriting ability much better then her last album did, like it’s insane how much she improved in that department. The song structures, sharper songwriting and much more focused sound is this album in a nutshell and even though I personally still prefer Rina’s previous album to this one, I can see how she improved and evolved as an artist. So without further ado, let’s take this album apart, shall we?

The opener „Minor Feelings“ is kind of and underwhelming opener – it’s not really a song, more of an interlude that does its job well enough I guess by setting the mood of the album well enough and it sets the stage for the next pretty well but that’s it. The next song also the title track „Hold The Girl“ is a mezmerizing and beautiful balad that I genuinely can’t get enough of. Rina’s voice is so gentle yet powerful here and the melodies are just magical. Definetly picked things up after the last song and one of my favorite Rina tracks period. However this song does already raise the issue that many people have with this album and that is that in a similar sense as Charli XcX’s last album it’s just too pop oriented. And while I agree with this I honestly don’t see this as that big of an issue when the songs are on this level of quality. Yeah this album may not have the same ammount of replayability nor staying power as her last but it still is a nice listen you know. „This Hell“ is the prime example of this – while the song does have some niche electronic guitars, the electronics and pretty basic beat make for your typical Rina pop ballad – not a bad one at that, just a tad unadventurous you know, the song doesn’t realy take any risks in any point. „Catch Me In The Air“ does have some really nice 2000s pop punk energy at the beginning and a pretty catch pre-chorus, however the payoff is just not really there in my opinion. Again a solid tune, just not mind-blowing – Rina’s voice however definetly carries this album, her vocal performance throughout this whole album is stellar. „Forgiveness“ does have some nice vocal melodies here and there but it just sounds like an alright-ish campfire song, even though the instrumentation around the 2:50 mark goes really hard and boosts the song up a few notches. „Holy (Til You Let Me Go)“ is however where things REALLY start to get good, the 80s sound work really well here and I especially like the lyrics here, they mix really well with the sound and make for a pretty nice tune. „Your Age“ justs sort of exists, I honestly don’t have a lot to say about it, keeps the flow of the album well enough i guess. „Imagining“ is one hell of a banger though, this song really proves to me that Rina’s still got it, the chorus is SUPER infectious, like criminally so, and the instrumentation is super tasteful and futuristic and robotic and just… Exciting. Really reminds me of some of the stuff off of her last album. And if that wasn’t enough, she manages to top it off with the next song „Frankenstein“ which is one of my personaly favorite, if not just my favorite, from this album. The driving energetic beat, the dirty bass and the pure musical euphoria that is the chorus just all make for a super well-rounded song that just keeps on delivering each and every time. I like the next song „Hurricanes“ well enough even though it’s once again one of the more poppier ones but as I said the song quality is just there so it works. „Send My Love To John“ is another one of my personal favorites – this one’s very lyrically centred and it packs a serious emotional punch, just go listen to it and you’ll se what I mean. „Phantom continues the hot streak of songs with a very climactic feel, lushious strings and anthemic guitars that all mash together into this coming of age song that really hits all the right spots. „To Be Alive“ follows it up decently but I honestly think „Phantom“ should have been the actual closer – still an okay addition to the album and closes it off pretty well.

So all in all, Rina did indeed deliver – like yeah what did you expect. Besides some just alright songs, this is a pretty amazing collection of songs that all have something unique about them. Overall a solid listen, if you liked her last album then definetly give this one a listen but just keep in mind the more poppier direction.

-favorite tracks: Hold The Girl, Holy (Til You Let Me Go), Imagining, Frankenstein, Hurricanes, Send My Love To John, Phantom

-least favorite tracks: Catch Me In The Air (If i had to pick something, they are all solid)

Strong 7/10

No intro for this one, out of ideas, let’s just skip right into it.

The first song „Pink Venom“ is clearly trying to capitalize on the success of „How You Like That“ except without that song’s instant effortless catchiness. The electronic drop the group seems to be so hyperfocused on doing lately is super weak on this one and the build up is much more rewarding then the drop itself. The hook is just super repetetive and uninspired and overall it’s just a mystery to me why this was the leading single for this album. The outro is also super obnoxious like they really saved the worst for last. Anyways, the next song is „Shut Down“ which is kinda what I wanna do with this album at this point. The strings are somewhat pleasant however the trap beat just mashes really awkawardly with it and honestly with this one the tune just isn’t really there, at least Pink Venom was memorable enough even if not for the best reasons. Also what the hell is „Typa Girl“ like honestly. The beat is just super cheap and not up to Blackpink’s production standarts at all. Also once again it just feels like a dollar store version of How You Like That. Not much else to say, this album is only 8 songs long and there are still songs that if they weren’t there literally nothing would be changed with the album. „Yeah Yeah Yeah“ is the first alright-ish song in my opinion the gentle electronic guitar that kicks the song of with the 80s inspired drop, that sure has been done to death by this point, still manages to sound really nice and is quite pleasant, honestly I wish it was stretched out a bit, because everything else surrounding it I could just take or leave. Definetly an improvement over the last track although that’s not really saying much. Also I appriciate the way they switch the drop up for the last one, really gives the song more life. Now… Is ANYONE gonna talk about how the next song „Hard To Love“ sound EXACTLY like In Your Eyes by The Weeknd?? Like they’re not even trying to hide it, I’m no music expert but I wouldn’t by surprised if even the same fricking chords were used here. And the funniest thing is that this is the song that I enjoy the most from this album basically for that same reason. Like it’s not really obvious from the start but once the drums kick in it’s like right there staring at you. As I said, I enjoy the song so it’s not THAT big of an issue (admittedly the song does have a few of its own original ideas but the core tunes are just so similar it should be a sin). „The Happiest Girl“ does have some genuinely passionate vocal performances and I reallly like the sentiment of the song however for the longest song on the album it doesn’t really go anywhere. Still one of my more enjoyed moments on the album, but I really think they could have pushed it a bit furhter to give it that extra emotional punch – also it ends like REALLY abruptly. „Tally“ is the second to last song on this album and it sure is a song. I like the guitars overall, however the drums are mixed like garbage and the hook isn’t strong enough to carry the song honestly, it’s better then some of the earlier moments on this album but still lacks a good tune regardless. Now the closer „Ready For Love“ is about as dissapointing as the ending for this album could have gone – this song is like the embodiment of generic. The obnoxious EDM drops make a return in probably the worst form they have yet appeared, like this drop makes my ears bleed, actual youtube rewind core. The song also doesn’t change at all throughout and it’s just super annoying I was dreading for it to be over. Also once again it just ends out of nowhere like what’s with this album and these abrupt endings, it really feels like they didn’t want to be on these songs at all.

Overall BORN PINK turned out about as expected – not better, not worse, just really avarage. And it’s a shame because when the lightning strucks gold with this group they make some of the most catchy and memorable pop songs to come out in a long time, however there isn’t a single song on this album I would put nowhere close to that category – in one word, it’s dissapointing.

-favorite tracks: Yeah Yeah Yeah, Hard To Love, The Happiest Girl

-least favorite tracks: Ready For Love, Typa Girl

Light 5/10

This one’s a bit short but c’mon, it’s Yeat, cut me some slack.

So I guess let’s get right to it – the opener „Flawless“ right of the back tries to be this opening raging anthem that kinda works? However I just wasn’t as crazy about it as everyone else – when the song first hits it’s great but from there nor Lil Uzi Vert’s feature nor Yeat’s performance are really that captivating – and trust me I listened to the song soo many times, I really wanted to like it, seeing how everyone else is head over heels for it, but for some reason I just can’t get into this one that much. HOWEVER here on the second track „Up off X“ is where things were starting to click with me for some reason. The track has a numbing quality to it that I actually do enjoy. It doesn’t stand out at all actually but it’s a really strong vibe that really got me into that „Die Lit“ mood that actually REALLY enhanced my enjoyment of this project. From this track on even though the songs weren’t the most memorable I just couldn’t help but enjoy them nonetheless. I mean I felt good listening to it that’s what matters right? The next two songs „Out thë way“ and „Wat It Feel Lykë“ both carry out the vibe pretty well even though as I said they don’t really stick out in any way (except the synths on „Wat It Feel Lykë“ which are a nice touch) but they don’t need to – the vibe is there. „Can’t stop it“ is the first song that switches thing up a bit adding some guitar and actual live drums to the mix that make for an intresting change but I don’t think they bring enough for the change to be justified, if anything for me it kinda ruined the pacing a little bit. I appriciate the experimentation but it just doesn’t necessarily stick the landing on this one. Still a solid tune i guess. Another song that doesn’t bring quite enough for me is „Krank“ funily enough the next song after „Can’t stop it“. There just isn’t anything remotely intresting in this one which yeah there wasn’t much in the previous ones either but at least those had a pulse, this one is sort of dry you know. However the next song „Talk“ is probably the hardest song on this whole album so it’s kind of excused. This song is really good even outside of the mind-numbing context of this album, the melody is just that infexious. The last 4 song are all surprisingly decent. „Comë on“ sounds like something straight out of Whole Lotta Red, „Systëm“ has a simple beat that actually goes kind of hard, „Holy 1“ has one of my favorite tunes on the whole album (even though the Future influence here is really apparent) and „Killin ëm“ is a really nice closing track, these last 4 songs alone manage to make this album actually surprisingly cohesive.

So yeah, do I like this more over perhaps some of his earlier stuff? No, not necessarily, but it’s still an overall nice addition to his discography even though a bit forgetable one.

-favorite tracks: parts of Flawlëss, Up off X, Talk, Comë on, Systëm, Holy 1, Killin ëm

-least favorite tracks: Krank, Can’t stop it, Got it all (this one’s just forgetable)

Light 6/10

Sheesh this album flew COMPLETELY under my radar.

So yeah, I’m a bit late on this one admittedly – like seriously, I didn’t even register that this album came out at all – however I’m really glad I decided to go back to it, because this album goes super hard. The samples THE FRICKING SAMPLES ON THIS THING are music to my ears, like this is exactly the type of thing I love in rap music. The beats are super clean with just the right amount of dirty (forced breaking bad reference check) and are all super memorable – this is like an album made of those songs that get stuck in your head for days and just refuse to leave.

Case in point the opener ¨Sometimes¨ where the sampling really shines through – it’s like going through a portal. Honestly I just wish the song was longer. ¨Cheat Codes¨, the next song, has a similar vibe to the last one, except this time around the emphasis is on the keys which make the song sound more i guess dirty – I will complain though, even for the shorter runtime of this song, nothing really changes throughout – I just wish there was like a beat switch or something because I think it would really make the song pop out more – still a great track though, just kind of uneventful. ¨The Darkest Part¨ picks thing up a bit, the angelic chorus hits super hard and compliments the rap verses pretty well, however the same criticisms I had with the last song also apply here (even though the core tune is so good that here it’s not as big of an issue, however there is a pattern growing here) – it’s more of a nitpick really but the song barely changes throughout it’s entire runtime and I just wish there was more to it you know. It’s really intresting because the album feels like a not so all over the place Madvilliany (which is a compliment, however the unpredictability of that album is exactly what I love so much about it, so I guess it’s just the element of surprise that’s missing here – it’s more like a collection of banger songs, which is by no means a bad thing, but at least for me as the days went by it kind of lost the replayability aspect a little bit, because I felt like I got the most out of it already – anyways sorry about this little rant here, let’s keep going with the review). Well funily enough the next song „No Gold Teeth“ sounds like something straight out of Madvillainy – the really dirty bass with all the instrumentation surrounding it, just something about it screams that album to me. „Because“ with Joey Badass, Russ and Dylan Cartlidge in the mix is one of my personal favorites from this album, the way the chorus is sung is just super orgasmic to me, so it’s really no wonder that it’s the most well performing song from this album. Also while we’re still on the topic of Madvillainy -the next song is „Belize“ with the one and only MF DOOM (rest in peace obviously) doing a posthumous feature and man does this song just hit different. DOOM’s verse makes it feel like the guy never really left, the man absolutely owns this track. Definetly one of my favorites here for sure. Speaking of favorites „Aquamarine“ sure is another one – the beat goes hard, the lyrics are raw and delivered agressively, it’s the whole package! „Identical Deaths“ is honestly kind of forgetable – at least relatively to the rest of the album. I appriciate the message of the song and the instrumental switch up towards the end, however I just think there could have been more done with the song, feels kind of underbaked. The same can’t however be said about the next song „Strangers“ with fricking A$AP Rocky AND Run The Jewels?? Christmas really came early this year (I did aswell listening to this song but that’s besides the point). I mean do I really have to tell you that the song is a banger? A$AP kills his verse as does LP and Killer Mike and honestly what else do you want? After that comes „Close to Famous“ which is alright – I mean you could put any song after the last one and it would feel stale in comparison so that’s not really the song’s fault. Still a nice addition to the album. „Saltwater“ with Conway the Machine is honestly really carried by Conway, he murders his verse and instantly ranks the song up a few notches. Still it’s once again all things considered just alright. And finally the closer „Violas and Lupitas“ is probably the best way to close this album – the strings with the otherworldly production really create this feeling of a journey coming to an end and by the end of it the whole album just comes full circle for you.

I mean WOW I knew this album was gonna be good based on the features but nothing could prepare me for just how good – Danger Mouse’s production throughout the whole album is on point, as is Black Thought’s rapping and there isn’t a single feature on here that isn’t at the bare minimum good. So if you, like me, for some reason haven’t checked this album out yet then go do yourself a favor and do so, because you will not regret it.

-favorite tracks: Sometimes, The Darkest Part, No Gold Teeth, Because, Belize, Aquamarine, Strangers, Violas and Lupitas

-least favorite tracks: Identical Deaths, Close to Famous

Decent 8/10

So… This new The Garden album? Well… It’s alright lol.

Now that we got the unnecessary suspensful intro out of the way – this New Garden album is actually quite good. I was originally dreading the release of this thing as I did not really enjoy any of the teaser tracks the band put out for this thing – the sort of forgetable „Freight Yard“ was just okay, Orange Country Punk Rock Legend was, at least at the time just too goofy and all over the place (a quality of the song which I know funily enough enjoy) and „Chainsaw the Door“ didn’t leave much of an impression either (although that is like my top 3 song from this album now)- needles to say, my expectations were really low for this new album. My fears were further confirmed once the actual album came out and 4 songs in I had yet to really necessarily enjoy anything – that luckily broke once the fifth song, the title track, kicked in and it felt like I was listening to a whole different project – from here on out things did fortunately turn for the better (although nothing really managed to top said title track).

To dissect this album more in depth we have the opener „Haunted House on Zillow“ which is only a minute long and still manages to be too long for its good – credit where credit’s due, it sets the tone for the first few songs and I guess the rest of the album pretty well, however that doesn’t mean the song itself nor the tone is all that pleasant. The followup „Oc93“ has a solid punk aesthetic and an okay chorus, however that’s literally like the only thing the song has going for it – it really feels longer than it actually is which usually in The Garden songs it’s the other way around. ¨Puerta de Limonisa¨ exists just to fill in the runtime, removing the song changes zero things with the album. ¨Freight Yard¨ is still kind of a meh song, that’s like the one single which I’m still not super crazy about. As I said alredy the title track ¨Horseshit on Route 66¨ has no business going this hard especially after the mixbag that is the first few song of this album. ¨What Else Could I Be But a Jester¨ is a decent followup to the last song, mainly because it doesn’t go for the same formula the first 4 song go and switches things up for a more harsher distorted electronic sound that really reminds of their last album which is probably the best compliment I can give this song. Just wish it was longer. The next song ¨X in the DIrt¨ kind of reminds me of the first 4 songs but for some reason this one actually works. Don’t really have much else to say about it, fairly decent. ¨Orange Country Punk Rock Legend¨ sticks out in this album like a sore thumb but it’s just so goofy that it works. ¨Chainsaw the Door¨ is a song that grew on me probably the most – the melody is super fun and the song is just super nice to the ears, the guitars with the electronics mix really well together and it’s overall just a pleasant listen. The last two tracks ¨Squished Face Slick Pig Living in a Smokey City¨ and ¨At the Campfire¨ are both decent. The former of the two having a pretty decent atmosphere and serving as an okay transition into the last track, which maybe isn’t the most ear-catching song of the album but still manages to wrap things up nicely making the album feel like a whole expirience (plus I enjoy the 2 second freakout on which the album ends).

So yeah, not much else to say here, if you enjoyed The Garden up to this point (especially their earlier work from what I’ve been told) then you’re probably gonna find some level of enjoyment out of this.

-favorite tracks: title track, What Else Could I Be But a Jester, X in the Dirt, Orange Country Punk Rock Legend, Chainsaw the Door, At the Campfire

-least favorite tracks: the first four with the exception of maybe Oc93

Light 7/10

Viagra Boys – Cave World

What an absurdly fun album. Every single song (besides a few minor duds such as „Big Boy“ which I’ll be the first to admit does kind of overstay it’s welcome) hits hard in it’s own unique way but it all manages to stay consistent and cohesive. This album seriously has one of the most colorful sound pallets of any album I’ve heard this year, it’s like you can see the sounds this thing is throwing at you. Also honestly, find me an album from this year which sounds more exactly like it’s album cover.

Light 9/10

black midi – Hellfire

Oh yeah this is a big one alright. Truly and honestly this has to be one of the most insane musical experiences I’ve had this year. I don’t know if this is a hot take or nah but this just may be my favorite album of theirs – I just feel like it’s their most realized album to date and it packs one hell (pun intended) of a punch. Go listen to „Sugar/Tzu“ to see what I mean.

Decent 9/10

Post Malone – Twelve Carat Toothcare

*sigh* now that we got the good albums out of the way… Posty PLEASE tell me what the hell happened here. Like seriously, I feel like I’m in the minority when I say I loved the frick out of Beerbongs & Bentleys, but even the people who weren’t crazy about that album have to agree that this is still a significant drop in quality. Like man, there isn’t A SINGLE SONG on the same level as ANYTHING of of that album, it’s just a miss after miss after miss. Oh what’s that, a song sounds actually promising? Nevermind the lyrics are trash. What’s this, the melody on this one kind of sticks? Yeah too bad the verses are insufferable. It’s just a big giant huge big mess and I seriously will probably never return to any of these songs.

Strong 2/10

Drake – Honestly, Nevermind

*insert obvious joke here*

Light 3/10 (i guess, I seriously don’t remember a thing from this)

Muse – Will Of The People

Sheesh, really continuing the streak of bad albums here huh… I mean I’ll say one thing this definitely seems like an improvement over Simulation Theory however that means absolutely nothing since it’s still the same garbage Muse has been feeding us for over more than a decade now and I’m seriously starting to get sick of it. I mean I just today listened to Origin Of Symetry just for a comparison point and what a fell from grace this band experienced, because you know what that album isn’t? Absolutely pretentious car commercial music that’s what. That being said there are some highlights such as „Kill Or Be Killed“ or the kind of guilty pleasure „Verona“ but besides that… Look I’m just tired of ranting about this, let’s move on.

Decent 3/10

Beyoncé – RENAISSANCE

Drake should fricking take notes, all I’m gonna say.

Strong 7/10

JID – The Forever Story

I… am kind of speechless? Like HOLY- this is the rap aoty and if you disagree your opinion is objectively wrong (/jk). But maaan does JID bring his absolute A-game here, I was in complete shock the whole album, because he just keeps setting the bar higher and higher and always keeps surpassing it, it’s honestly brilliant. My only complaint is the pacing gets a little too slow for my liking in the middle but that’s honestly more of a nitpick than anything.

Decent 9/10

Machine Head – ØF KINGDOM AND CRØWN

Funnily enough this is my father’s favorite childhood band and I gotta say, dad’s got some taste alright. If you’re looking for some good metal music this year then look no further than here.

Strong 7/10

Panic! at the Disco – Viva Las Vengeance

This feels like Brendon trying to appeal to his original audience with this Vices and Virtues-esk sound and it failing to appeal to not only them but literally everyone. It’s like copy and paste of the title track 12 different times each time in a new awful way. That is also the only track from this album that I genuinely remember.

Decent 2/10