Some of Jack Stauber’s best and most haunting work, by far. The tracks here fall in line with the “micropop EP” era of Jack’s music (that means they’re very good). This album and its corresponding short film were Jack’s last significant work before going on hiatus, and serve as quite a good bookend to a legendary era of his career.

Best Tracks: Easy to Breathe, Mirror Man, Virtuous Cycle

I really, really like the part of this song that doesn’t include Issac Castor attempting to rap. For all I know, the guy could be a rap god, since I haven’t listened to any of his other stuff. However, he really fumbled the bag here. Besides that segment of the song, the rest of “Special” is a return to form for Joe Hawley after his 2016 hip-hop album “Joe Hawley Joe Hawley” turned out to be incredibly mediocre. The lyrics here are classic Joe Hawley affair ... read more

So warm, so cozy, so wholesome. This album is basically just Andrew taking his signature style from “The Whole Word and You” and “You” and making an entire album out of it. The tracks here are pure joy incarnate, and pack all of the melancholy bliss of what it’s like to be a child into such a short runtime. This album isn’t perfect, by any means, but it is quite beautiful and absolutely achieves what it set out to do.

Best Tracks: HEY YOU!, Hummingbird, ... read more

I feel like I’m in the minority here when I say that HiLo is great, but not as good as Pop Food. There are certainly plenty of standouts here, but I feel like this album is just a tad more boring than Pop Food. Certainly not by any extreme amount, but it’s still something that lingers on my mind when I listen to it. Anyways, besides that critique, this album is just great. Jack gets even more experimental here, signaling the beginning of his micropop EP era that would come soon ... read more

The album where Jack finally develops his signature pop style. This album set the standard for what Jack Stuaber’s music would be for the next three years after it (before he went on hiatus). This isn’t the best of Jack’s work by any means (that would be the micropop EPs), but it was the first of its kind in Jack Stauber’s library. The innovation that this album brought essentially allowed Jack to carve out a style of pop that redefined what the genre could be in the ... read more

Remember when Joe Hawley used to make good music? After producing his magnum opus, Joe Hawley decided to take a left turn into hip-hop. It didn't work. The standouts on this album are geniunely quite good, but the standouts are rare. I think it's just enough to perfectly balance itself out with the truly bad songs on here to give this album a perfectly mediocre 5/10. I don't hate this album, but I'm dissapointed that the majority of it feels like a giant shitpost with ... read more

An excellent start for Jack Stauber, by all means. This is an incredibly impressive album for Jack's age at the time. However, when reviewing this album objectively, the flaws in it start to become obvious. This album peaks right at the beginning and drags throughout the whole middle section of the album. I can appreciate the artistic intent behind Mindsight, but listening to a crying baby is not completely enjoyable. Ms. Led is the longest song on this album and is quite boring, contributing ... read more

This is Will Wood's most impressive and by far. There is a sense of authenticity that pervades this album. You get the sense that the veneer that Will has displayed throughout his previous three albums has been dropped. Will opens up about his love for animals, longing for a happy life, and regret for his past actions. After having listened to this record many times over, it has only grown on me. The songs are much more somber than in other Will Wood albums, and slowly build up into entrancing ... read more

The first two thirds are about paranormal googas and the last third is about capitalism. There, I said it. When this album isn't just featuring Neil Cicierega's iconic satirical comedy in tracks such as Lifetime Achievement Award, Touch Tone Telephone, and Sweet Bod, it's also combining that satirical comedy with anti-capitalist messages in songs such as I Earn My Life, Reaganomics, and Spiral of Ants. Every song on here is catchy and basically impossible to get out of your head too, which only ... read more

"Creative" is this album's middle name. The variety of tracks on here is absolutely astounding, with most of them hitting quite hard. The peaks of this album are absolutely excellent and leave it as a must-listen. At their best, Tally Hall comes off as a modern-day version of the Beatles. However, the Rob Cantor tracks on this album feel more Weezer-inspired than anything else, and are mostly just mediocre. The excellent tracks make up for it though, trust me.

Best Tracks: Taken for ... read more

It's a Jack Stauber rock album. Technically, Jack Stauber is only one member of the band, but he's the lyricist and vocalist so the songs are basically just his. Some of the songs here are incredibly solid, but this album definitely has some of Jack's weakest lyrical writing. This album does take many risks and is quite creative, but the weaker stuff on here doesn't necessarily help it. Still really like this album though. Maybe I'd be a bit less harsh if Jack didn't come out with Viator later ... read more

Jack Stauber's most solid batch of work is contained in this 4-song EP. It's weirder than any of his other micropop EPs. It's bolder than any of his other micropop EPs. It pushes the boundaries of Jack's style with 3/4 of the songs on this EP being absolute discography highlights. If you want an avenue to get into Jack's music, this EP is the way to go.

Best Tracks: Dinner Is Not Over, There's Something Happening, Cupid

This is the point in Jack Stauber's series of micropop EPs where things start going off the rails. The weirdness factor in unignorable here as the songs continue to get crazier and crazier. Deploy is one of the highlights of Jack's entire discography. Those Eggs Aren't Dippy is a bit weaker but still very unique and fun. Out the Ox is the most traditional song on here, but is still so weird that it feels wrong to say that. All in all, this EP is "crazy" good.

This one is a bit contentious for me. I don't really like Baby Hotline and Tea Errors as much as other people seem to, although they are still excellent tracks. However, this installment in Jack's series of micropop EPs absolutely just dials the creativity up to 11. These two tracks are incredibly varied and unique, and really just go above and beyond in breaking the boundaries of standard pop music. Not my favorite, but still deserving of a 9/10.

Despite still being excellent, I think this is definitely the low point in Jack's collection of micropop EPs. Today Today and Al Dente are simply not as good as the tracks that came before them in the previous EPs. The headlining track of this EP, however, is the real attraction here. The Ballad of Hamantha is one of Jack Stauber's most famous songs and it's obvious why. Some might even consider The Ballad of Hamantha to be Jack's magnum opus, although I personally disagree.

An incredibly solid followup to Jack Stauber's first micropop EP. This installment once again delivers a more standard pop song (Cheeseburger Family), as well as a more innovative one (Fighter). Both are absolutely amazing and marked with the standard Jack Stauber seal of quality.

Jack Stauber starts off his series of micropop EPs with an incredibly strong duo of songs. Inchman is an incredibly catchy and innovative pop song, which basically sets the format for the later extended micropop songs. Two Time is excellent (and probably more popular), but nowhere near as innovative as Inchman.

Pretty underrated album, overall. There are some incredibly good songs on here, with only a couple duds here and there. The album has a strong medieval theme that carries the album thematically all the way to its amazing finale, almost as if I was in a small theater in medieval Europe hearing this. When it isn't sounding medieval, it takes a spooky turn, which is fitting for an album with "evil." in its name. I see no reason why anyone could dislike this.

Best Tracks: &, ... read more

Pure joy in album form. I know that the back half of this album is technically just a bunch of stapled-on singles, but I couldn’t give a damn at all. This is sone od the Beatle’s best work, and some of the greatest material in music.

Best Tracks: Blue Jay Way, I Am the Walrus, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane

An absolutely amazing end to the Tally Hall story.