The performances of this intriguing Irish-country-pop-blended record are incredible.
Man's Best Friend is an interesting case. Coming off the heels of 2024's Short n' Sweet album, Sabrina delivers a rather quick turnaround on an album, narrowing her focus this time. Her team on this album is a little more close-knit than previously, with only Jack Antonoff and John Ryan credited as producers, and Amy Allen as a writer. This allows Man's Best Friend to have a more consistent sonic language across the board. While it's not laced with as many hits, the ... read more
Joey puts forth the point of view that he has reached his peak, but he neither sounds all triumphant nor mournful about his position. It all makes me feel like he has more he's capable of showing.
What happens when AJR strips away so much of what makes them one of the most annoying bands in modern alt-pop? It leaves you empty. There's no longer entertainment in struggling to digest their insane theatrics. Instead, AJR approaches The Maybe Man with an effort to craft songs with greater focus on lyrics. While the sentiments towards the emotional draw of family struggles is admirable, AJR, without all of the noise, leaves behind a boring soundscape. Despite being technically more ... read more
Neotheater contains some of the most earworming pop concepts in AJR's catalog, but is still heavily plagued by the overwhelming sense of misguided theatrics and a baffling blend of bland and bombastic pop sounds.
What I might be able to pass off as a quirky instrumental album is sent completely crumbling in my mind by the primal fear of Jack Met's voice appearing to sing about being a quirky, unemployed millennial who can't seem to stop pretending to be a child.
The soundscape is vibrant and creative, but it lacks performances that really stick.
What seems like a return to form for the band only reaps a base level of enjoyment, occasionally still plagued by standard pop structures and questionable writing choices.
It's a great album. Deftones excels in their pacing. Even though the guitars never stop groaning and droning, the music just glides from start to finish.
It's so cool that Laufey is singlehandedly keeping this genre of music alive, but I don't think its traditionality is all that compelling, especially when it's so still ingrained in what she owes to modern singer-songwriter pop.
Josiah's songwriting is so offensively dry. It's a crime that this is what Gen Z Christians are cementing as what's popular.
Lecrae opens this album with a thematic promise and fails to deliver, filling its runtime instead with half-baked raps and pop cuts, and singles like "Die For The Party," which, respectfully, doesn't belong on an album.
For Mac's diehard fans, more of that plucky guitar and soft, wiry voice may be all they need. On Guitars, Mac strips down many of the sonic elements that have made his sound what it has classically been, which results in a project with very little variety or evolution in the realm of production.
My favorite part about this project is the little moments of Mac's stellar poetry, and the quiet way he delivers it. On the song Terror, Mac writes about the lingering thought of death, ... read more
Earl Sweatshirt continues to dominate his pocket of abstract mumble rap tapes that are always short and sweet. While Some Rap Songs may be one of the best hip hop albums of the modern era, I can't help but imagine if Earl continued to grow past that. It seems like he's still stuck in replicating that vibe. Nevertheless, the production here is nothing to scoff at. His dedication to the art is clear, but we could use more meat in Earl projects than we have been seeing.
Racing Mount Pleasant's first major label debut is proven special mostly by its stellar climax, starting at the album's title track.
Gracie Abrams collaborator Audrey Hobert's debut solo project isn't nearly as thoughtless as her cohort's music, but her songwriting still fumbles through the realm of being questionably relatable.
Insufferable, shameless Taylor Swift worship that barely pales in comparison to what made 1989 and Folklore as good as they are.
After a lengthy hiatus, Brian comes through with a vibrantly produced album.
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Recent Review Comments
On HX9's review of Armand Hammer - Mercy
"sweet! definitely check out their other albums like haram and we buy diabetic test strips. i think this record is rather weak compared to how exciting their other projects are. you may definitely see some improvements."
On CMAT - EURO-COUNTRY
"@sminty My 5s' are not negative. Anything I score from 4-10 is a good album. Overall I enjoyed the record, it sounded good. I wasn't very impacted by it by the end. So I gave it a modest score while recognizing the talent present."
On Swack's review of Josiah Queen - Mt. Zion
"@lforce2007 The thing is, it IS about the music though. The profit machine is what makes the music so bad. All Josiah has to do I have some quirky terrible writing over a stomp and holler beat and people eat it up and it makes money. He is never required to try any harder than the bare minimum because Christian consumers settle the simple label "Christian music" and never challenge the artist to evolve. Christian music is regressing. It keeps getting more boring."
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"thunder. th-th-thunder thunder. thunder. th-th-thunder thun. thunder. th-th-thunder."
On dougweezerfan's review of Cameron Winter - Heavy Metal
"Hell yeah! I do think a few tracks are a little weak, but Drinking Age and $0 are actual peak in songwriting."
On Swans - Birthing
"@IYUN Thanks for the reccs! I've only been keeping up with new releases in music for the past 2 years, so I've missed a lot from acts like Swans with big, old catalogues."
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