Fᵣₒₑₕₗₖₐₚₕₒₙᵢc

(FroehlkaPhonic)

As a project, I’m impressed by this. The reality of having everything you do being judged based on your own legacy has to be exhausting. Doing something artistically different and creative is also a risk for those same reasons. Paul McCartney seems to have done that here - there is a pervasive distorted, dark rock sound. It reminds me a bit of the later career Johnny Cash where you sense that the roads travelled haven’t always led to happy places. To be sure, I’m ... read more

🎂 Perhaps not quite reaching the level of their second album, Fortress presents the most mature sounding Sister Hazel album yet. They definitely sound like a band that has grown up and feels comfortable in who they are. Maybe there is too much comfort here, which can stifle exploration - high risk / high reward and all that. There definitely are no risks being taken here - we’re given a very high production quality version of songs that sound like songs we’ve heard before - to ... read more

What an amazingly rhythmic / danceable album! “Somebody Hates Me” is infectious as an opener and also establishes a self-deprecating / world loathing sarcasm that couldn’t hit the mark more for me if it tried. Grungy metal intros give way to these horn forward overtures and snarky lyrics. What’s not to love?! Things get even better once you learn the words to the songs and can sing along - doing so in person was especially fun at the concert I attended years ago. ... read more

Certainly the most cohesive and composed of The Why Store releases. With such a unique sound from the lead singer, I’m surprised that these guys didn’t have more broad popularity - maybe it was the timing, maybe they didn’t rock quite hard enough or ‘alt’ quite distinctly enough, which left them stuck in the middle searching for an audience that wasn’t quite there for them beyond their regional success. Whether the people wanted it or not, Two Beasts ... read more