GOOD. Eliza McLamb's debut, Going Through It, is filled with insightful yet conversational lyrics about womanhood, mental illness, strained relationships, and marketable suffering. McLamb has a talent for being blunt in candor while still feeling sharp in wit, and despite being another relatively simple singer-songwriter album, it contains far more interesting details and creative texture exploration than most.

FINE. PACKS' fourth project has all the makings of a great band's first project. Link's got a nice voice, and the guitars had a few interesting ideas to express, but the drums were so generic as to not merit discussion, and there are no other instruments present at all.

POOR. Sol María is a rough listen. While Eladio has a few interesting ideas towards the end of the record, it's outshined by the cringe English language sections (both lyrics and that heinous skit), and the general banality of the record in the context of modern Latin music.

BAD. ekkstacy's self-titled record is what feels like half an hour spent trying to capture the charisma of Surf Curse's best singles and failing.

VERY GOOD. SLIFT'S fifth album, ILION feels like one massive Progressive Metal raga from start to finish. Despite feeling a little dry at times due to this very consistent soundscape, the record promises a sonic journey into a dark, psychedelic, and dystopian world spanning over an hour.

GOOD. While most recognize Neck Deep's self-titled record as the run of whistle-clean pop-punk bangers that it is, I'm surprised to see that most people seem to miss the best part of the outfit. That of course is how absolutely adorable they are! It's a rare day in the genre where I feel like the outfit's frontman wouldn't roofie me in a shitty dive bar. Neck Deep is an unapologetically friendly record full of comically well-adjusted lyrics.

GOOD. Sleater-Kinney's Little Rope is another strong, Indie Rock feather in their cap, but isn't nearly as cutting edge in 2024 as Dig Me Out was in 1997. The quality of the tracks is somewhat inconsistent, but they all range from ok to great, so it's at no point an unpleasant listen.

AMAZING. A staggering Art Rock record, plastic death seamlessly blends Prog, Math Rock, Post-Harcore, and Emo into an hour-long under-sea musical voyage. Almost every single track has a shockingly perfect dynamic transition or beautifully executed progression, and the record as a whole reflects this pattern on a wider scale. A wild ride from start to finish, glass beach spent the half-decade since their first album wisely.

POOR. Well, it's better than last time...

VERY GOOD. Bronson Arm's self-titled debut is quite the treat for Noise Rock fans in search of new artists to follow. Except for a couple of sore spots, the record strikes a great balance between hard-hitting vocals, and letting their rich and varied instrumentals breathe.

FINE. Very normal New Wave record. Everything from the moody, synth-heavy production to the bleak lyrics but upbeat vocals is very par for the course. A decent listen for fans of the genre, I'm sure.

FINE. It is largely standard fare where death metal is concerned, with a slightly more well-developed edge to its riffs. The record is held back by its lack of purpose as Splitknuckle's Breathing Through The Wound has all the venom and aggression of a harbinger of dread news or agent of chaos but, on closer inspection, has nothing new to say.

[REDACTED]. I would never criticize such strong women so I'll just say that this is a symphonic metal album released in January of 2024. It features a cover of a Journey song, a song entirely in French, and a cover of Alice Cooper's Poison. It is almost one hour long. If that doesn't paint enough of a picture, I can't help you.

FINE. A couple of great tracks dot a canvas of mediocre alt-folk.

GOOD. Cosmic Joke's self-titled debut is a really cute hardcore punk record. Nothing that hasn't been done before, but the impassioned vocals, genuine and insightful lyricism, and 00s punk-rock-flavored instrumentals make it worth a listen or two.

AMAZING. The record is replete with rich, textured, and varied instrumentals that feel lovingly hand-crafted down to each second of music. Not only does the record push the boundaries of what bedroom pop can be, but Rebe's dark, dry, meta-ironic lyricism captures a deeply underrepresented perspective. "es que acaso no me oyes??" explores the fragility, torment, and horror of womanhood and love better than any other record in existence, yet I believe Rebe's magnum opus is yet to come.

BAD. heylog's eve is a copy-paste cookie-cutter pop album that is derivative of artists who aren't even particularly talented themselves. The singing is poor, the instrumentals are generally uninspired, and the lyricism is clichéd at best. There was one quite interesting passage in the second to last track, however. Good job whoever produced that, and good job heylog for being quiet long enough for me to appreciate it.

GOOD. Despite being longer than a lot of other Death Metal records at almost an hour, Hoplite manages to keep it engaging and interesting nearly the entire time. While the beginning half of the record is a little more frugal with its strikingly creative ideas, by the end of the record you'll have been pleasantly surprised at least a few times.

FINE. A soft, palatable, yet dull indie pop record. I would never imagine recommending it to anyone, but it's not bad. That being said, if you're one of those playlist freaks, there are a couple of actually good songs on here.

AWFUL. I thought this record was bad when I wasn't paying attention to the lyrics. Turns out it was even worse. Some of the most brain rot trap music on the market today. God and it's so long, too. 48 minutes seem to last for hours with how repetitive and annoying the record is.