This was nice! I was listening while playing two games, Downwell and then mostly Terraria, and it felt very fitting as a soundtrack. It kinda goes between glitchy electronic and dream pop adjacent stuff, both of which land pretty well. Honestly nothing really stood out to me specifically besides like Dsco and Velocity but it's a solid album and I could see it growing on me. I give this a "damn, that was honestly a sweet trip" out of 10.

femtanyl was always an artist that kinda interested me cause that name is so kickass. Well anyway the artist-turned-band decided to release their debut album this year (with a cool fucking album cover) and yea this is pretty cool! Dancy hardcore breakbeat stuff that kinda feels exactly like people described, although way less aggressive than I figured and really catchy. Not much else I wanna say for right now but this is really fun and I could definitely see it growing on me if I give it more ... read more

Stardust is the first Danny Brown album I've heard besides the hit Scaring The Hoes with the Pegster. But I knew I would have to check it out instantly given that STACKED list of collaborators. I mean really, Danny is collecting these trans fem hyperpop artists like the fucking infinity stones. And unsurprisingly, it all comes together for an overall fun and occasionally epic release. The first track with Quadeca is probably the most singular of all of them, going for a chamber pop sort of ... read more

Breach was a pretty big surprise to the entire twenty one pilots community. I mean sure I KINDA believed the "double album" theories, but I figured with the huge stadium tour and all the merch and every track getting a music video, that Clancy would essentially be the end, or at least that anything else that followed would just be a bonus track or EP or something along those lines. But out of nowhere the band announced they were doing another full-length album and even another tour ... read more

The Lamb As Effigy has for around the past two years been one of the strangest and most powerful pieces of art I've experienced and because of this I've rarely ever come back to it. I decided I should relisten, amidst a not so great mental state to be honest, and maybe clear up my thoughts on it. In contrast to Sprain's slowcore roots and even their previous noise rock album, this record takes the grandeur up to a whole different level. I think what immediately comes to mind for ... read more

The heart ep is a collection of previously released singles plus a couple new songs that are all from Jane's somewhat teased "pop album" and honestly that idea works extremely well here. Every song is kind of it's own beast and the production is firing on all cylinders as Jane always does. Is it their most experimental work? Certainly not, but this direction suites them so insanely well that we might as well get Jane to produce the billboard top 10 regularly. Every side of ... read more

Oxis, who opened for Magdalena Bay on last year's final leg to the Imaginal Mystery tour, was an artist whose energy I appreciated and even if it's not my favorite thing ever I loved the performance I got to see and and she was kind to the whole crowd (she even responded to my instagram story after the show lol). This is her latest project since then and continues much of what she's been doing up until this point (guitar, a loop pedal, and watery synths and drum pads) but ... read more

Don't Be Dumb is essentially the first major release of the year and while I am not very familiar with Rocky's catalog I knew this would probably be worth checking out. I think what's immediately clear when first starting this is that I must not be tapped into much mainstream rap (or trap) beyond your Kendricks and Kanyes. So this kind of treads the area of being something familiar but also way out of my normal wheelhouse. But still I can certainly recognize the appeal here and I ... read more

This album's been on the AOTY homepage for a little while and I thought it looked interesting so I decided to check it out. Sadly, this wasn't the case and I didn't really vibe with the whole thing and it was just kind of boring to say the least. Fairly standard pop punk instrumentals all around with little variety and barely enough song length to expand on these ideas. This is accompanied by elementary level songwriting with really little personality and no real standout hooks. ... read more

Injury Reserve's Ritchie and Parker return to the music scene under a new name, By Storm, mirroring the final song they would make under the previous moniker and showing respect to that era of their lives with the legendary Groggs and moving on to new ventures. This album has taken a decent time to release as the now-duo have been releasing singles and doing live shows in the lead-up. But finally this has all culminated in My Ghosts Go Ghost, which sees the group expanding their horizons ... read more

I can't remember exactly where I first heard about this, but it was probably from a youtube video. Nevertheless this randomly popped back in my mind so I checked it out and lemme just say...holy shit this record is insane. Truly flawless band chemistry and performances throughout, extremely catchy guitar and bass riffs and relentless, dense fucking drum beats. I dont even know how you go about getting that good at your instrument. The lead vocalist is also surprisingly really great and she ... read more

Injury Reserve's self-titled debut album sees the trio dive headfirst into experimental hip hop as well as a list of collaborators also in the scene. This is clear from the first track, Koruna & Lime, which literally begins with unintelligible yelling before loosely constructing itself into this beat with pounding 808s and gang vocals abound as Groggs and Ritchie rap with a sort of introductory energy that gives us a sense of who they are before getting twisted into some sick ... read more

Oh no please don't crash :( Drive It Like It's Stolen is essentially Injury Reserve's TOTEP, but instead of being tied to any specific album, it stands on its own. Despite its shorter length, there isn't really a bad track on here and the more bare bones approach on songs like TenTenths, 91 Cadillac DeVille, and Colors invoke this much more moody and lowkey version of the group and their reflecting. Meanwhile, See You Sweat is a earwormy, undercover club banger and Boom (X3) ... read more

Floss, the second half of Injury Reserve's Dentist Office days, sees the trio defying their previous "jazz rap" label to pursue their most hardcore and explosive sound thus far. Though it's tied to their previous project due to how it was made, this mixtape sees the group firing on all cylinders and showing they can change and adapt to new sounds. This project is banger after banger, seriously every song from Oh Shit onwards is an absolute banger (even more lowkey cuts like ... read more

Since their newest album under By Storm is coming out in just under two hours, I decided I'd come back and relisten to their stuff to see how far they've come. For the sake of convenience and time I'm listening to everything from this mixtape onwards and not their two older projects (they don't even really mention those and didn't even include them in the vinyl discography collection a while back so yeah but I will go back to them sometime later for sure!).

Injury ... read more

Edit (05/29/2026): Brought up from an 80 to a 90. This is genuinely so good and they really have not missed. I'm sorry I doubted you, Civilisation.

I have finally reached the last album in my KKB review journey, and what better way to end it then with a fantasy-induced electronic-house mesh danceathon. Civlisation, the compilation of both EPs of the same title, sees the group go back to a more energetic and polished form, much opposed to the rawness of Time 'n' Place, but ... read more

Time 'n' Place, the next project in my KKB review journey, is actually the first album of theirs that I listened to, and building off of TOTEP, the group form a new sound that grows and dissolves into a messy and rough-around-the-edges emotional junk drawer. It's clear from the first track Outside, with its loud and fuzzy guitar and unconventional structure, that this isn't the KKB we're used to. Only Acting is one of the band's most unique songs, with it's ... read more

TOTEP, which I only recently realized stood for "The One True EP," is a sort of bridge between KKB's last album and their next. This makes sense once you listen and realize just how sharp of a left turn their direction took. In contrast to the previous installment in the KKB canon, this takes on a much more noisy and fuzzy direction, and Sarah's vocal are much more intertwined into the songs' atmosphere unlike her previous very upfront presence. But in combination with ... read more

Update (01/28/26): Yeah it hasn't even been like a week since the original review but I've been in such a KKB mood lately and this has grown on me once I paid some more attention. I just love how happy and catchy the whole thing is and it's just a really fun project so I knew I just had to raise the score!

She's all grown up! (ಥ◡ಥ) On Bonito Generation, KKB continue their mission to make joyous and super catchy tunes to save the world, this time with some more layers ... read more

Kero Kero Bonito are a band I've been aware of for quite a bit of time now, having enjoyed their album Time 'n' Place as far back as 2023 maybe? But it was only around late December when I had been talking to my new friend about his love for the band and I decided to binge their entire discography. And in that short amount of time I've honestly fallen in love with KKB and I plan to review all their albums throughout the next day or so.

Intro Bonito is KKB's first ... read more