I can't lie, a lot of this score is motivated by just how damn good I Don't Wanna Be Me is, but the rest of this record is still very high-quality Type O Negative. ...A Dish Best Served Coldly is a nice throwback to their more doomy records like World Coming Down, and Anesthesia is a career-defining track. I definitely think this is their most accessible record, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. All I will say is if you end up liking this one, I highly recommend going back ... read more

This is kinda tough to review because this isn't an album per se. It's a compilation of (I think) 4 different projects. So the album is more a chronology of the first 5 years of Pinegrove's existence. The explosion of Need 2 kinda distracted the masses from this fact, so take this review with that understanding in tow.

This is a fun time. It's not groundbreaking, and a lot of the first half of the record really shows the band in their infancy, but there are a lot of great ... read more

What a record. I've loved XO for a long time, but just never got around to reviewing it. This is the perfect bridge between Either/Or and Figure 8. It has the intimacy that the former had in droves while beginning some of the compositional choices found prominently on Figure 8. These songs have so many layers to them; they all build wonderfully, and Elliott Smith is always on point, constructing images of yearning, disappointment, and melancholy. If you have still only exposed yourself to ... read more

As someone who is very unfamiliar with David Berman, I was pretty damn impressed with American Water. There is something so fruitfully abstract about his writing, and paired with the slacker-rock stylings of some of the guys from Pavement, it is just a wonderful experience. This album has one of the best pairs of openers and closers ever, and People has such a great composition. There is not much more to say; I just had a really good time with this one.

FUUUUUUCCCKKKK YEAAAHAHHHHHHHHH BAYBEEEEEE

I've loved Agriculture since I heard Living is Easy back in 2024, and I even saw them live in Pittsburgh (incredible show), and The Spiritual Sound is as massive as I hoped for. They somehow got heavier and more tender and intimate at the same time; it's insane. The riffs this time are fucking unbelievable. My Garden opens with legit metalcore shredding, but they don't compromise anything. This is still the same Agriculture that I fell ... read more

I'm giving this the same score I gave The Tortured Poets Department because, in my opinion, this album has the opposite problems than TTPD. For one, it sounds much better. The instrumentation and composition are finally out of Jack Antanoff's grasp, and I think it's for the best. On the other hand, a lot of these songs are just embarrassing. Taylor Swift is 35. She has been the biggest female artist in the world for a while. She has been in the industry since she was a child. She ... read more

What a fucking surprise, the AJR record is bad. (Thanks Joe, you bastard)

All of these songs are the entire strength of Pro Tools being driven down our throats, while all of the songs are painfully blatant in what they are about. Also, it's been brought up before, but I thought it was still worth mentioning: why is Jack unable to write a compelling song without being from a child's perspective? Like My Play, while still being bad, is at least interesting, but like 4 other songs on ... read more

Look, making an album over an hour worthwhile is a really difficult task. Few artists can do it, but for those who can, it is often their best work. That is the same for albums over 2 hours long, except it is way way way harder. I like Zach Bryan. I've been very favorable towards him in the past, but American Heartbreak is just to god damn much. The issue I face is that most of these songs are really good, but Zach Bryan's always suffered from having bloated albums, even the ones ... read more

Geese continue to be Geese.

A much more striking release than the previous 3D Country, but one I think I may like better? At least a little better. Songs like 100 Horses and Taxes are incredible displays of Cameron Winter's writing, and the closer Long Island City Here I Come is so sprawling and atmospheric that it's just impressive. Incredibly solid, weird indie-rock, I would recommend.

While I do prefer the other 2 eps released before this (and their debut LP Pain to Power that I listened to before I came back to this one), Tír na nÓg is a display of just how emotional and powerful Maruja can get without the need for lyrics. This is a great demonstration of their compositional abilities and their ability to create atmosphere. While I do love their biting lyrics and prefer their other releases, Tír na nÓg is terrific in its own way.

This is what Maruja has been building this whole time. The scope is massive, the sounds are monolithic, and all the ideas coalesce into a phenomenally angry and impassioned masterpiece. I was afraid that they wouldn't be able to live up to their unbelievable EPs (Connla's Well being my favorite), but I was gladly proven wrong. The intro Bloodsport sets the tone immediately; this is something new and intense. Maruja is both peaceful and intense, and not to sound like a run-of-the-mill ... read more

Very passible hardcore. Separating the fact that this is Matty Matterson's band, the songwriting is excellent, but a weak mix and uneventful production hold this back from being something that stands above other hardcore bands.

This is a tremendous next step after 2022's We're Not Here To Be Loved. This is a much more diverse record than what was on their first one. It swings from metalcore-adjacent riffing and screaming to lush shoegazy orchestrations. (Also, I had no idea that Fleshwater was essentially a Vein.fm side project. I love both bands equally, but it makes a lot more sense now.) On that note Green Street is the best Vein.fm song you haven't heard yet.

While I don't fully agree with JPEGMAFIA's take on The Alchemist. I'd be remiss to say I didn't love Alfredo when I first heard it back in 2021. Since then, I've fallen in love with both Pinata and Bandana, so naturally, I just assumed that I was only going to like Freddie Gibbs material that prominently featured production from Madlib. Alfredo 2 breaks that very ill-conceived trend I have made for myself by being a smooth, entertaining, and lush example of both Freddie ... read more

While not as decade-defining as The Forever Story, God Does Like Ugly shows JID in a slightly more experimental pocket, still displaying his masterful storytelling skills and a plethora of phenomenal verses, of not only his own, but the many features that accompany him.

As much as I really did enjoy this project, I can't help but feel it's a little too ambitious for its own good. The compositions are on such an abstract scale where it's often hard to figure out where one idea stops and another begins. There are still a lot of great songs on this (the last 3 tracks are fucking phenominal) and when he works with other experimental contemporaries like Marjua, it really pays off. I still think I prefer his efforts on SCRAPYARD and IDMTHY, but this ... read more

While not as profound as his last few projects, DON'T TAP THE GLASS proves that Tyler could put out heat whenever he damn well feels like it.

For a while, Tyler has been assessed as a "conscious rapper," which for artists could be seen as a negative. It's never great when the entire critical world expects poetry every single time. Projects like these are important because they establish Tyler as a flexible and varied artist. Sometimes he can be profound, and other times he ... read more

Ngl this is straight poop from a butt

This is Travis Scott by numbers in a way that hasn't been done before. This album sounds like a contractual obligation. The good songs are generic as hell and don't do anything innovative production-wise (and I genuinely always thought Travis Scott was a pioneer in anthemic trap production), and all of the features do nothing to raise the quality of the product. And the bad songs are fucking terrible. Here's hoping that the next main-line ... read more

Ooooooooooooooooo baby this shit goes hard.

Everyone involved in this record put everything they had into it; the raps, the production, the grit, everything here is just raw. Push and Malice have an unwavering level of resentment towards other rappers, and this record is proof that they can fucking stand on that. So Be It goes hard on so many levels, it blows my mind. For a generation of people that missed out on Clipse, I'm glad that they came back and that they honored their past, and ... read more

CONVERGE RETROSPECTIVE #5 - Jane Doe

I could give less of a shit if you think that calling Jane Doe a masterpiece is cliche or an overplayed take. It's just so fucking good. This has by far the greatest production of any metal record period. It is so brutal but so clean. It is perfectly paced, perfectly written, perfectly performed. I really can't sing its praises high enough. There isn't really a point going song by song (because they are all fantastic), but here's all ... read more