Can the Cosmic Girls do any wrong? They still employ one of the most fun production teams in K-pop. "HOLA" is the k-pop banger 2020 sorely needed.

Standouts: BUTTERFLY, HOLA, Where You Are, Tra-la

You wanted old Gaga, you get old Gaga. It's dumb as hell and fun as hell. BloodPop supercharges Gaga's Chromatica-world with great production that's only held back by some of Gaga's most banal lyricism. But I imagine most won't listen to just how silly some of these songs, they'll listen to dance. And oh, you can dance to Chromatica. I also like the three instrumental bits, but they don't lead into the rest of the record well. They're more dramatic, instrumental and grandiose, but out of place ... read more

Shamelessly turned on to this record by the Fantano review, but this is some shamelessly good power pop. Proving you can mix an outdated style with modern themes, Rosenstock fearlessly confesses his fears on NO DREAM. It's got some of the tightest rock production of any record you'll hear this year, reminding me of the glory days of Green Day, Weezer and MCR. "***BNB*" in particular sounds like a b-side from Blue. On and on, Jeff screams and shouts his fears of finding meaning in ... read more

The bigger The 1975 have gotten, the more they’ve seemingly embraced the title of “voice of the millennials”. Matty Healy and company’s efforts get bigger and bigger with each successive album, and Notes On A Conditional Form is no different. A whopping 22 songs in length, not only is it their longest album ever, but also their most musically diverse. Their attempts to encompass an entire generation have led them to new styles like country, hardcore punk, and even a bit ... read more

Sounds more like Daft Punk than the Deadmau5 I know, and I like it better for that. Pharrell/The Neptunes are the gift that keeps on giving.

"I just wanna go real hard..."

Charli's feeling the effects of quarantine like the rest of us. But unlike the rest of us, she has the resources, friends, drive and talent to channel her isolated emotions into her own artistic endeavors. Made in a measly six weeks, how i'm feeling now represents some of Charli's purest feelings she's ever put to music. It's remarkably polished for a record made so quickly, in the sense that the 100 gecs-esque beats are well-formed and often addicting. ... read more

There's two decent EP's in MADLO that are unceremoniously mixed together, along with a few real letdowns. The synth songs and the traditional songs are fine when played separately, but they do not compliment each other well. The experiments with synths are initially interesting, and I do find myself enjoying the heavier dabbles like "Deadlines (Thoughtful)" the most, but the other songs feel incomplete. They also don't contrast well with the more typical CSH songs, and even those ... read more

I got my copy early. Yet again LITA have selected 16 absolutely wonderful forgotten city pop tunes for our years. Vinyl is beautiful too! Highly recommended and a great followup to the original Pacific Breeze.

Kali hasn't left her wheelhouse yet, leaving these four tracks as nice distractions and nothing more. Given what I just wrote and the nature of the album cover, this rating seems perfectly fitting.

Standouts: angel, i want war (BUT I NEED PEACE)

I've been a fan of STRFKR's lazy brand of synthpop for well over a decade now, but Future Past Life continues an unfortunate streak of failure to impress for the group. STRFKR aren't untalented, and there's a few tunes here and there that excite.The peppy "Deep Dream" and "Sea Foam", the organic Shy Boys collab "Budapest", and some texturally interesting instrumental passages that end songs like "Dear Stranger", "Pink Noise" and "Cold ... read more

Though the title claims something out of the ordinary, TNA isn't too far off from the Strokes we've come to love and be frustrated with over the years since Is This It. Unlike other efforts though, the music here is finally up to the standard we've expected the band to meet. The album is at its best when Julian gets to sing his heart out, and TNA has reminded me how much I love him as a singer. "At The Door" is the finest example, giving a simple synth line to back Julian's ... read more

I don't feel the need to write all that much about a record like Saint Cloud because the artist tells you everything you need to know. Katie Crutchfield's writing and singing is pure and clear, giving her songs a special amount of detail. When backed by arrangements as pleasant as the ones here are, you can't help but be be swept into an Americana nirvana.

Standouts: Can't Do Much, Fire, Lilacs, The Eye, Hell, War, Ruby Falls, St. Cloud

For an artist with 50+ million monthly listeners on Spotify, Dua Lipa flew under my radar up until late last year. When a song like "Don't Start Now" drops, though, my attention was had. It's easily one of the most fun pop songs of the last few years, a slick mix of 80's and 90's dance/disco and modern pop sensibilities, all tied together with a cool and collected Dua guiding you through. It raised a lot of people's eyebrows, mine included, and subsequent singles only served to raise ... read more

For years, I never understood The Weeknd’s popularity. The auto-crooning vocals and mishmash of r&b beats never meshed for me, but it sure did for the rest of the world. He’s been all over the charts ever since his rise, but for me, After Hours is the first real great record he’s put out. There’s an overall focus on the cold, synthesized aesthetic that really ties AH together in a way Starboy and My Dear Melancholy, never did. The heavy use of synths calls back to ... read more

What I love about Pet Shop Boys is that they have basically made the same two songs over and over again since the early 80's. They've got the synthpop banger (Will-o-the-wisp, Happy people, Monkey business) and the slower synthpop number (You are the one, After the dark), and they still excel at making them. This isn't the strongest crop of Pet Shop Boys in the new millennium (that honor goes to Super), but if you love yourself some "West End Girls" or "Always On My Mind", I ... read more

Not many people would’ve thought of a new U.S. Girls project as an event a few years ago (myself included!), but given how uniformly excellent In A Poem Unlimited was, Meg Remy’s next project deserved attention. What we’ve gotten is Heavy Light, a record that feels like a natural evolution from its predecessor. It’s more experimental in song structure, with some spectacular hits and some admirable misses. The hits are bound to be some of the best songs you’ll hear ... read more

Will has played the character who wants to be cool, and this new single seems like that character's first attempt at actually being cool. It's a first step, and admittedly I dont love it yet, but I'm excited to hear this among the rest of the new record and see how cool of a character Will can be.

You know all those feelings you have as a teenager that you just can't express through words? Honeymoon is like all those feelings getting the voice they've been needing. It covers the usual aspects of love, loneliness, dreams, etc., but lead singer Lili Trifilio's voice and writing ring true. Her emotions are pretty raw and very millennial, like wanting to be the girl in someone's Instagram photos on "Ms. California". It's all very similar thematically to the work of indie compatriot ... read more

Redux rating! The Life Of Pablo took me years to acclimate to, much like its predecessor Yeezus. While I don't think it's quite as tight as that project, there's a lot of good to go around on TLOP. The frenzied nature of the Kanye's psyche allows for a lot of creativity in the songs, with influence ranging anywhere from gospel (Ultralight Beam), 80's house (Fade), and typical pop rap (Famous). Bizarro choices like rapping over Desiigner's "Panda" on "Pt. 2" end up working ... read more

For the most part Father Of All... lacks any spine. The production is extremely safe, which is ridiculous when you see the billboard going around claiming Green Day is bringing back "100% uncut rock music". The only tracks that give any semblence of punk or hard rock are "Stab You in the Heart" and "Sugar Youth", and even so those just seem better compared to what they're up against. "Father Of All..." is a bad Black Keys knockoff, "Oh Yeah!" is ... read more