I can’t describe the heaven scraping experience that I have had listening to this album on repeat today. Who is this band that came out of nowhere and delivered the greatest rock release that I have heard in a very long time?! Speechless.
A record about our darkest moments because how can we grow if we can’t acknowledge them.
I fear that music can’t sound like this anymore. There’s a raw vulnerability to each recording, simple on its surface, but pulled off with the musical prowess of a geniuses, giving each track a depth that has me lost in every moment. Most tracks are cut precisely a short three or fewer minutes leaving room for “simple” sounding guitar work—I will get back to ... read more
When “Double Infinite” released, I didn’t enjoy the single “Incomprehensible” or the album art. Upon release, while I find the band’s lush chemistry beautiful, there are too few moments where Big Thief is firing on all cylinders and too scares great lyrics to make up for it.
Hands down rock’s greatest release all year
“Look Down On Us” has the fire of a Rage Against the Machine track but is able to pull back into an emotionally powerful realization and a beautiful crescendo at its end—perfect.
“Born to Die” starts off a bit repetitive and not quite as strong on the lyrical front but completely makes up for it at 7:30 to 8:35 where the band is completely in their element and owning it, playing an instrumental section that sounds ... read more
On Perverts, Ethel Cain used industrial noise, drawing it out into conniving drones that expanded my understanding of the depths of emotions that music can reach. Further, Perverts is the first musical project that had me genuinely horrified. God, what a record!
First Listen Reaction:
While the interludes slightly drew me out of the album's narrative, there was something so sincere yet heartbreaking about Ethel Cain's delivery and lyricism that made me feel each song on a personal level. Tempest and Waco, Texas left me stunned and gave the album's hour run time a rewarding finish. This is a project that I will be drawn back to many times and I am excited to see how my opinions shift.
My new happy album, one that I can't have a bad time listening to :)
...but someone please tell me sister is not based on true events
Quadeca, I am floored. With "Vanisher, Horizon Scraper" you created a new genre by merging experimental indie folk, full gaze-esc walls of distortion, and conceptual hip-hop to craft a near perfect record.
"Diamond Jubilee" is the most beautiful album that I can never quite digest in one sitting. I believe that Cindy Lee has one of the greatest fuzzy guitar tones out there right now, and on tracks like "24/7 Heaven", it's truly beautiful to experience. "Diamond Jubilee" is that something remembered with devotion, a devotion which turns it into something else entirely.
I can’t believe that I let this fly under my radar for so long. A new Geese project and no one told me about it! “Heavy Metal” sees Cameron Winter crooning the most insane lyrics that I have heard all year all while somehow keeping a Bob Dylan-esc swagger.
Me on the night of an epic album’s release wondering how so many people have fully formed opinions.
Edit: Here is my somewhat fully formed opinion.
Going into “Birthing” my only other Swans experience was “To Be Kind” a record that I have experienced being one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rock experiences crafted in the last 20 years. While there are moments on “Birthing” that echo the power of the band’s work a decade ago—the ... read more
Revengeseekerz sees the only 21 Jane Remover pushing forward genres of hyper pop, noise rock, and even shoegaze in ways that will surely inspire many artists moving forward. Revengeseekerz is a soon-to-be classic that will keep growing on me as I decipher its unending layers of noise.
I imagine if “In Utero” and “Loveless” had a baby, that baby would be “Girl With Fish”, an album packed so full of shoegaze pain and anger that I forget it lasts only 26 minutes.
The summer feelings carry me through “Sinister Grift” on a warm breeze. My one complaint is that the record stays too slow between “Left in the Cold” and “Elegy for Noah Lou”. Oh and who’s that guitarist that I hear on “Defense”, I would recognize that tone anywhere :)
After Ants, this was not the endeavor that I was expecting, but it is the one that I needed. The peace I feel while listening to the three lead vocalists is a magic that makes me wish more bands sang together. Black Country New Road still retains their voice—that powerful larger than life voice—even while drastically shifting genres. My favorite track might be Forever Howlong’s title track as it captures an earthy Joanna Newsom-esc magic that is so rare to find in music.
Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplain Over the Sea" might be the best album whose narrative is a historical event ever written. The album packs many themes such as war, religion, content in living, and trying to comprehend death. It is rewarding to dive into the lyrics across the album to unfold deeper and deeper layers of meaning that each track continues revealing. One of my favorite lyrical repetitions is how Jeff Mangum effectively uses metaphors of flowers to tie life and ... read more
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Recent Review Comments
On krisjohnston's review of Quadeca - Vanisher, Horizon Scraper
"Sometimes having a great album to fall asleep to isn’t such a bad thing."
On GingKizzard's review of Quadeca - Vanisher, Horizon Scraper
"It’s still a great album though even if it were stripped back"
On tankjuno's review of Quadeca - Vanisher, Horizon Scraper
"I get your point but once you listen to some more hazy records (say Loveless), you might get what Quadeca is going for. Sometimes its about getting lost in the noise not really about trying to find stand out moments."
On jaegerlistens's review of McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
"Diet TPAB is better than most artists ever do"
On KodakEZ's review of Swans - Birthing
"I think the length of “Birthing” would be more bearable if the material was as strong as an album such as “To Be Kind”. I agree that these songs’ lengths can create a watered down listening experience."
On Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album
"I’ve wondered why some people don’t rate Blacking Out the Friction as high as I might, but you’re definitely right, taste is weird and I could see how the guitar might seem repetitive."
On SilCySi's review of Geordie Greep - The New Sound
"Wait until you get to the track “The Magician”then the themes in this album really fall into place in a satisfying way"
On Lokus_mp4's review of Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
"I think that out of the three disks in this album, the second one ("On a Good Day" through "Occident"), is the best one. Each comes with its own flavors and feeling though and its interesting how they all begin to grow on you in their own unique ways."
On rehabaher's review of Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!
"sadness"
On Krusherx's review of Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
"Just because Fleet Foxes released Helplessness Blues I say that they won but its a close call"
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