DogDayAfternoon

Beautiful Ideas In Need Of A Second Draft

0 ❤️ tracks, 1 ⭐ tracks, 2 ⚡ tracks and 0 💩 tracks

Caroline 2 is one of those records that sounds like it was incredible to be in the room for. The problem is, it sometimes feels like you are standing outside that room, forehead pressed to the glass, hearing three different rehearsals happening at once.

It actually starts strong. "Total euphoria" has that tangled, overlapping energy that feels deliberate rather than messy, ... read more

Good, Not Transcendent

Backxwash returns from years of industrial suffocation with a dramatically softened approach, wrapping vulnerability in warm synths and orchestral space. It's a measured rebirth that mostly works. The problem is that critical consensus has treated it as a statement of artistic transcendence when, in reality, it's a very solid album with genuine moments of brilliance, surrounded by unfulfilled potential.

The production is genuinely stunning. Gone are the ... read more

I loved/love the single 'I Used To Live In England', but I was slightly fearful this would "just" be a West Coast LCD Soundsystem; instead, the EP is varied, experimental, yet incredibly poppy. Most of all, it is fun.

I like Sam Fender. I really do. But People Watching feels like he’s still clinging a bit too tightly to his Springsteen starter kit. It’s not a bad album by any means: the production is lush, the vocals are on point, and the writing shows real growth. But I keep waiting for him to take that sound and make it unmistakably his.

Three albums in, and it still feels like he’s following rather than leading.