The title track really feels like the focal point of this album and what could have been a larger focus—as its also the best track. I'm new to Polly Scattergood but she comes from a generation of artists and sound that more or less forgot her; St. Vincent and Anna Calvi—who is having a particularly good few years. And she's just as good. Maybe as I backtrack I'll find more of what was most exciting here, but it's a strong album full of light piano-whimsy and spacey soundscape ... read more

From the drop, “Los Angeles” sounded to me like a hybrid of Sleigh Bells’ “Rill Rill” and the guitar on “Walk On The Wild Side,” which is also quoted on “Summer Girl”. And it leaves a weird bitterness in me, that kind of obvious quote that carries the song on the heels of another, but there’s so much more to this album that’s better than those references—intended or not. This band is very special to me and I felt so proud ... read more

This is how you avoid the sophomore slump—it seems like Phoebe Bridgers somehow has had the perfect album cycle, remaining relevant to her listeners with other projects that feature enough of her that they feel like follow-ups to Stranger In The Alps but sparse enough that it isn’t a true successor to it. I’m not sure she ever left our minds working with so many other artists in her listener’s wheelhouses and then bam—Punisher is exactly what the doctor ordered and ... read more

The girl-group indie coming out of Spain with bands like Hinds and now Melenas are just exactly my cup of tea. Full of youth, confession, guitar-driven bops, and just good 4/4 head-bobbers to paint the summer with atmosphere. One of my favorite releases this year.

For me, SCORPION is second only to TAKE CARE and I find this to be such a strange grab-bag of Drakes packaged for our collective consumption of the Drake each of us enjoy. Nonetheless, it’s very listenable—it soundtracked a quarantine drive around my old neighborhood with melancholy and dripping reverb. Maybe it’s forgettable, but it’s given me, at least, a little but of comfort.

iN CODE is truly a jam, though.

A little on-the-nose with Thundercat's trademark trippy bass at times, otherwise really solid.

Saw Jill perform in Elkin, NC at the Reves theater. Sorry Now is the strongest track and then The Party. I hate that the greater bulk of this album is kitschy fluff with nothing more to say about one's thirties than your parents might say in passing to you over the years. Hopefully bigger risks will be taken the next time around.

Just down-right good Americana.

Why the FUCK is T.I. on this album? Dear, god....

Rollicking joy—this'll be a repeat and an especially good summer drive.

Sometimes I imagine this is what the fierce dynamics of nü metal are here to accomplish—wild and melodic symphonies of sound teetering between intensity and sing-song like a flower-laden axe.

A breezy, lovely little album of songs that feel like a friendlier version of The Lemon Twigs. Inquisitive and youthful—a pleasant delight.