A dive into depression that is certainly fantastic at draining you emotionally, but I'm really not a fan of the vocals and the slightly repetitive production. It's certainly a product of its time, and it's not at all bad, just not my cup of tea.

Favourite Song: Disorder

Best: Insight, New Dawn Fades, Shadowplay, Interzone

Worst: Candidate

I do really enjoy this album with its establishment of Fiona's song writing foundations, but the more I listened to this the more I longed to return to When The Pawn. I think that I severely underrated that record. I think I'm just projecting because I can't say much about this album apart from it's pretty good and it's a great debut. It drags a little in the second half but shows some real strength when Fiona lets her vocals loose.

Favourite Song: Shadowboxer

Best: Sleep to Dream, Sullen ... read more

Deftones deftones deftones deftones, deftones deftones deftones deftones deftones. Deftones? Deftones. Deftones? Deftones deftones. Deftones deftones, Koi No Yokan, deftones, Chino Moreno.

(from this point onwards, take a shot every time you see the word 'Deftones')

Translation:

Though I think that the Deftones style of metal is one that will continue to positively influence bands throughout the rest of time, I don't think that Loathe sticks the landing too well for me personally even with ... read more

Please can no-one tell Dream that Weird Fishes released in 2007.

Well produced brain-rot bangers from start to end.

Favourite Song: This Is Sweet Immaterial

Best: One Scam Is All It Takes // Slide (In Your Bank Account), Meet me at 94 Diskont Street (Clumsy Jungle Mix) // Aquarium VIBEZ!!! (Big Paws Bowser), Ratercore // Silver Piano (Jersey Club Mix), I Need You So Much Cwoser! :3 (DJ Musicenjoyer In The Mix 2013 We The Yeah), Weird Masks/Arcapeggi, So This Is What An Amy Burger Is Like ... read more

Oddments is like a box of chocolates, you get too many weird ones and not enough of the ones you like.

Though the assorted mess aspect of Oddments has its sort of charm, for the most part it's a really fluctuating listen in terms of quality and production. Each song clashes and warps around themselves strangely making for a listen that never feels too right, but its scrappiness is also its charm. A very odd album truly.

Favourite Song: Hot Wax

Best: Alluda Majaka, It's Got Old, Work This ... read more

Welcome back, The Beatles.

Float Along is like if you shook around Sgt. Peppers for a while until it eventually spat out its much louder and more annoying drugged up cousin - and I love it. Each song is so damn tight, like the opener which is a 16 minute long power statement, and everything works in perfect psychedelic unison throughout the listen. This is the great Gizz finally starting to show their prowess and colours.

Favourite Song: Head On/Pill

Best: I Am Not a Man Unless I Have A ... read more

A decent garage rock debut that is some part slightly irritating, but some part solid. Not much to say about the Gizz's first album.

Favourite Song: Nein

Best: Elbow, Muckraker, Cut Throat Boogie, Sea of Trees

Worst: Sam Cherry's Last Shot

I, like many other deranged individuals, have decided to embark on the majestic Gizz journey through their entire discography. Eagle eyed deranged individuals however may notice that I'm stating this message at their second album instead of their first. The reason for this is because I'm still taking my time to enjoy their rustic garage rock debut, whereas this album is, politely put, dogshit and I want to forget about it very quickly.

Listen, if I wanted to subscribe to Audible, I wouldn't ... read more

I actually find 4D country to be more cohesive than its 3D counterpart, despite having far less single power. I love the expansion upon the LP's eponymous song, and the rest of the track list goes pretty well together, making for yet another fun Geese listen. Can't wait for 5D country.

Favourite Song: 4D Country

Best: Jesse, Art of War, Killing My Borrowed Time

Worst: Space Race

For a post rock album with songs on the shorter side (despite them still being five minutes long each at least), the horizons that Knocknarea expands to is truly mesmerising. Its songs start cold and haunting, but grow to become warm and extravagant. Maruja somehow do all of this without leaving boring spaces within each track's transitions and they also maintain a fairly accessible style throughout, with their version of experimentation being with just how rich their scope of the rock genre ... read more

This is clearly a hip hop project made with a lot of heart and a lot of passion. McKinley uses some super compelling emotional story telling tactics over some fantastic jazz rap sections, and though the listen is short, it makes use of the entire run time.

Favourite Song: Run, Run, Run

Best: Sun I Rise, Mezzanine TIppin', Live! from the Kitchen Table, Tyler Forever, The Story so Far, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?

Worst: Dedicated to Tar Feather

I'm catching up on a few 2023 albums that I missed last year, which piqued my interest via end of year lists, and one of those albums come from a pretty vast collective of the aviary world. Incredible to think so many birds making music together can almost sound human like.

3D Country is an extremely quirky dive into a crazed cowboy world. The main issue with the album is how damn frontloaded it is. The first four tracks overshadow the rest of the album immensely, but that's because those four ... read more

THE GHOST POP TAPE has a palpable sense of depression laced within its atmosphere, helped by its very impressive production, but if I'm being honest, I found the experience to be very singular noted. I very much understand how this album thrives in its subtleties and in its general 'vibe' over anything tangible or even remotely accessible, but even so everything sounds extremely similar. The kindest thing I can say to this album is if I was on hallucinogens, this would be the greatest album of ... read more

Though WORRY has its fun moments and clearly has lyrical thought put in, at times it dips its toes into cringe (probably due to the very nature of pop punk itself), and its entire second half tries an 'Abbey Road' approach of having tons of miniature songs, but for the most part it just falls a bit flat. For sure an album that in theory I should've enjoyed more than I actually did, but at least there were some decent bangers and a few catchy bits and bobs.

Favourite Song: Festival Song

Best: ... read more

This album sounds like a hyper self-aware Tim Robinson sketch about anti-vaxxers, but instead of being purposefully bad and ultra comical, it's actually really good... and ultra comical.

There's an invigorating energy pulsing through Cave World that makes it such a fun listen, helped with its manic and total oddball vocalist armed with an abrasive arsenal of varied dance punk bangers by his side. This is yet another recent album that it pains me to have missed out on a year and a half ago. ... read more

Sure it has its moments of beauty, but all of the hype left me feeling a little underwhelmed. The first section of this album is pretty good, with a lot of creativity flowing throughout the music shifts and the overall tone, but after a while you kind of get the gist of things and the album's sounds keep going on when they have nothing much more to proclaim in terms of uniqueness. Some solid individual tracks, but yet another bad case of "everythingblendstogether-itus".

Favourite ... read more

Punk. British accent. Funny song titles. Too many tracks. Not enough development. Decent enough.

Punk.

Favourite Song: N/A

Best: Reuters, Three Girl Rhumba, Ex Lion Tamer, Lowdown, Pink Flag, 106 Beats That, Strange, Mannequin, Champs, 12 X U

Worst: The Commercial

Infinitely enchanting and mesmerising. An hour imperceptibly trickles by when Natalia allows her songs to breathe and expand into wonderfully warm spaces. Every time I listen it feels like a live performance, due to just how raw and human Natalia's voice is, and how well the instruments collaborate together. A language barrier will not bar me from loving this album and feeling the emotions that Natalia goes through.

Favourite Song: Pajarito colibrí

Best: Vine solita, De todas las ... read more

An incredibly fun work of alt rock. I predominantly steered clear of Pixies for ages simply because I didn't enjoy their vocalist, but putting him amongst the crazed guitars and general euphoria of Doolittle's sound makes his voice fit perfectly. I only wish there were a few more distinctive singular tracks that I really could stick my teeth into, but for the most part anyways, Doolittle's a bloody classic and it goes to show with its consistency and playfulness.

Favourite Song: Hey

Best: ... read more

A collection of East-Coast hip hop treasures that have become slightly damaged through the prospects of time. Dated aspects aside (predominantly in the production side of things), GZA's harshness is his speciality, and one that he utilises as best as possible throughout the album resulting in a very solid listen.

Favourite Song: B.I.B.L.E.

Best: Liquid Swords, Duel Of The Iron Mic, Gold, Cold World, 4th Chamber, Shadowboxin'

Worst: Labels