Continuing my Beatles journey, Revolver seemed like a good album to revisit next. My highlights on this album are some of my favorites in the entirety of The Beatles' discography, and I love the lightning-in-a-bottle nature that a lot of these songs have, most being short but very punchy. The guitars are handedly my favorite part of this record, with tracks like the opening 'Taxman' being characterized by fantastically crunchy guitars. I also adore the guitars on later tracks ... read more

I think it's one thing to simply call an album influential and another thing to actually speak on the quality of that album in isolation. So, instead of labeling this record a classic and listing off the many later acts and projects that it inspired, let me just gush about this album as it is. Great googly moogly, this is one of the most warm and comforting albums of all time. The inviting arrangements of guitars, strings, and feather-light vocals on 'Something' and the ... read more

I enjoyed MatC's past projects for their lush, nature-bound, ambient soundscapes. This album does something a bit different by incorporating these psychedelic and shoegazey tendencies on top of this pre-existing ambient sound. This comes in the form of brash yet delicate guitars on tracks like 'joseph' and 'greg' (yeah, all of the song titles are white dude names). I actually enjoy this combination of influences quite a bit, like on 'joseph', for example, ... read more

Even considering Little Simz's very impressive and vulnerable lineup of past projects, this newest album from her may just be her most personal yet. The exploration of themes such as relationships with friends, family dynamics, and artistic motivation makes this such a genuine and heartfelt record. On top of this, the album sounds great, with some smooth, soulful jams such as 'Only' and 'Free' and some lush, sinister bangers like 'Flood' and 'Lion'. ... read more

I've unfortunately never been in love with a Conan Gray album. On this record in particular, I can at least appreciate the commitment to the theatrical angle that Conan takes in making these songs sound larger than life. However, on key tracks, this big, orchestral sound palette combined with the pop sensibilities sounds like this kind of movie trailer bait. Tracks like 'This Song' and 'Vodka Cranberry' suffer from this and it makes it hard for me to put any emotional ... read more

I'm not beating the performative male allegations as it is so I'll keep this one brief. I think this album, alongside Laufey's debut 2023 album, is a decent take on classic bossa nova music with a modern twist. It's not like this genre didn't already have many pop sensibilities, but Laufey definitely makes this bossa nova influence accessible to a modern audience. I can appreciate this record's commitment to this fantasy-like, storybook, classic Disney-esque ... read more

The Neighbourhood proves to us that they still know how to write musical wallpaper in everyone's favorite year, the big '25. This dream pop/surf rock inspired sound that The Neighbourhood has been running with since the early 2010's is at its most boring and uninspired on this album. There's little to nothing of substance present here, and with this record being nearly an hour long with fifteen tracks, it's hard to stay engaged while listening. Whenever this record ... read more

This album is a bit of a mixed bag for me, but I think I enjoyed more than I didn't enjoy. My biggest nitpick with this album is that a lot of the EDM influence (of which there is a LOT) doesn't always translate into something new and fresh. There are some very heavily EDM-inspired tracks on this record like 'Bound2U' and 'FOREVER IS A LIE' that try to capture this nostalgia for classic EDM and general early 2010's electropop that I think succeed at this, but ... read more

Big Thief has been one of my favorite indie bands for the better part of this decade now, so you can imagine I was really looking forward to this newest album of their's. The first thing to note here is that this album is definitely less ambitious than their 2022 album release, with that album containing twenty tracks and this new album only containing nine. Even though I enjoy Big Thief at their most ambitious, the idea of a more narrow-scoped album from them was something to be ... read more

The Beths come through on this record with a solid balance of thrilling indie rock jams and somber meditations. The opening title track and 'No Joy' are two invigorating tracks that set a nice, exciting mood early on in the album, with their brash guitars and rocky drums. The writing on this album is very thoughtful and life-affirming when necessary, like on the track 'Mosquitoes', which has the very clear visual influence of nature that outlines the lyricism. The song ... read more

Machine Gun Kelly continues his streak of writing music about being a worthless deadbeat and yet still demands grace and sympathy from his audience, all while singing apathetically over the same uninspired pop-punk instrumentals. It really is sad how mgk can write this many songs about his life practically falling apart and still make it impossible to side with him, whether its the music he's spinning these narratives over sounding pretty bad, like the track 'starman' which ... read more

I really do appreciate the range that Bon Iver displays on this new album, or maybe album and a half? This record is constructed of an EP that Bon Iver put out earlier this year alongside nine new tracks that fill in the rest of the project's runtime. The songs on the EP (the first four tracks), are very raw, organic, and guitar-centered (very reminiscent of Bon Iver's older material), while the rest of the album has more lush instrumentation, throwing in more strings, keyboards, and ... read more

Danny Brown gets pretty vulnerable on this new hyperpop-tinged, experimental, electronic hip hop record. Whether he's expressing his genuine love for music and gratitude for his platform on 'Book of Daniel' or 'All4U' or openly regretting how he used to mindlessly seek intimacy on the track 'What You See', Danny doesn't refrain from really digging into his own psyche and showing off what makes him tick. Pairing this transparency with a flamboyant, ... read more

Oklou is an artist I regret waiting this long to listen to. This album is by no means perfect, but it's such an interesting take on ambient pop that is like nothing else I've heard in a while. The sound palette of this album, with its nostalgic synths and odd wind instruments, is very unique and adds a lot of character. Tracks like the etheral 'thank you for recording' wouldn't be the same without its strange instrumental that sounds as if medieval times clashed with a ... read more

Deftones doesn't deviate much from their traditional alt-rock/metal sound to define this new record, but this album proves to be a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". The band comes through on this album with a heavy collection of tracks with warm and fuzzy walls of guitars that manage to supply intense noise and melody at the same time. This balance is struck especially well on the singles 'my mind is a mountain' and 'milk of the madonna', ... read more

The Last Dinner Party has made a name for themselves over the past year alone with their debut 2024 album, which was a very theatrical display of indie rock anthems with art pop and baroque influences. This sophomore album is anything but a slump, as it carries over the elements that made their first album great while improving on these elements. The vocals and songwriting are just as impressive on this album, but where I really think this album improves is on the instrumental side of things. ... read more

Simply put, this album didn't need to be as long as it is. Thirty tracks and seventy-five minutes is pretty wild considering how many of these tracks could have been cut without really affecting much of anything. On top of this album being bloated, the quality of the performances and writing across this project is pretty low. While some of the features on this album are neat to see, most of the vocals are hard to take seriously with how silly they sound. The lyrics offer nothing special at ... read more

Oddly enough, Sabrina Carpenter's most controversial album is probably my new favorite from her discography. The sensual, tongue-in-cheek lyricism and sharp production on this record really draw me in and add a lot of character to what might otherwise be a pretty by-the-books pop album. This album doesn't deviate too much from what made 2024's 'Short 'n Sweet' successful, but I think the strengths of that album are even stronger here. One of these strengths is the ... read more

This album, at the very least, is much more condensed and concise than last year's Tortured Poet's Department in terms of duration and rollout, but I don't think the writing got much better. Tracks like 'Actually Romantic' and 'CANCELLED!' are written in an immature and semi-problematic fashion that makes the work from Taylor's teenage years seem like masterclass poetry in comparison. I will say that the production is at least a cut above what we've ... read more

Hayden Anhedönia embarks on another lore-filled, deep Southern, apocalyptic, slowcore inspired journey of a concept album under the Ethel Cain moniker. While I'll always prefer her 2022 magnum opus 'Preacher's Daughter', this album gets a lot of things right. For one thing, each track does a great job at materializing the characters or settings that they are attempting to portray. The instrumental duo of 'Willoughby's Theme' and 'Willoughby's ... read more