littleCT

My association with this album is a weird one. About a decade ago, I was first exposed to Wax Fang through the show American Dad, when they used the opening track "Majestic" in an episode. I liked the song back then, but being fairly young I wasn't invested in music enough to really take note of it. Cut to last year and a friend of mine happened to play "Majestic" again, bringing back the memory of the song as well as my love for it. With this context in mind, I thought I ... read more

Came across this album through a Spotify mix, although I had originally heard the most popular track off of it ("House Fire") a few years back. Overall, I'm very satisfied with this record. As others have pointed out, there are very clear influences on this record from both Elliott Smith and Weezer. However, I would argue that this record takes those influences not to serve as a watered-down version of either of those acts, but rather to blend them into a more unique sound. The softer ... read more

Found this album on the recent folk releases on Bandcamp. I want to start with what doesn't work on here for me, as I think it feeds into what makes this album a success. The weakest element of this project, in my opinion, is Senior's vocal performance. There's nothing inherently bad about it, but in the sea of baroque or chamber-adjacent folk acts, Senior's voice doesn't have much which sets it apart. However, it feels like her vocal performance isn't treated as the focus here, as the mixing ... read more

I found this album the same way I'm sure many others did; by noticing that it is the highest rated album under the "Ambient Americana" subgenre (on RYM). This album offers exactly what the genre name implies: an ambient soundscape rooted in traditional Americana instrumentation. Built atop acoustic droning, the songs on here heavily feature steel/slide guitar, some traditionally-reminiscent banjo/fiddle playing, and even some supplementary bells for effect. Tonally, this album feels ... read more