Iceage - New Brigade

Iceage - New Brigade (2011)

Genre: Post-Punk, Art Punk

While not exactly breaking new grounds, Iceage show some promise on their debut, mixing various genres to create a solid post-punk album. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade. 

I understand that objectively speaking, a good punk record needs to have healthy doses of aggression, attitude and energy. This band definitely has all three, but I can't help but feel like the amount of praise this album received upon release was due to hard-rock deprived critics who were quenching for something a bit more hardcore among the soft rock flooding the market. Granted, I can somewhat sympathize, and at the end of the day, this is still a solid record.

Excluding the minimalist intro track, there are 11 hard hitting tracks here, all wrapped up in a cozy 23 minute package. Something to be noted is the impressive mix of genres that can be heard. While this is very much a post-punk album at heart, there's plenty of influences of no wave, noise rock and hardcore punk. Rotting Heights is a clear example of these genres molding together to create a raw, crunchy and dissonant sound that distinguishes this band's sound from a lot of other art punk groups. White Rune is another highlight, but conversely so for its more subdued pacing while still maintaining the same aesthetic.

The album's strengths are greater exemplified by it's short length, but while this band has established themselves well with this release, I can't help but feel like they still lacked a bit more. As it stands, this is a great album to listen to as a whole, very much short and sweet, but outside of a technical standpoint, there weren't many tracks that really hooked me. But to end on a positive note, the loud, muddled and abrasive production stand to this album's benefit for a short, but powerful listening experience.

B

Favorite Tracks: New Brigade, Total Drench, Count Me In, You're Blessed

Least Favorite Track: Collapse

Soccer Mommy - Clean

Soccer Mommy - Clean (2018)

Genre: Indie Rock, Lo-Fi

Soccer Mommy's first proper studio album is simple, but effective, with a great deal of intimacy in its teenage angst driven lyrics. This album is being reviewed per request. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade. 

I understand the general appeal of the simple melodies and lo-fi aesthetic of indie albums like this one. While I can admit it's not necessarily my cup of tea, I can't help but feel attached to Sophie's expressive lyrics that deal with infatuation, popularity, and one's self-image. This is all typical teenage fair, but there's a certain charm with this young artist that feels very intimate, very personal. I'm not one to usually ponder on lyrical content in the music I listen to, so it's refreshing to find an album where I grew attached to them.

Musically, this is your easy-listening, down-to-earth kind of indie rock. Simple, but highly melodic melodies nicely compliment Sophie's personal lyrics, which are at times delivered with subtle, but powerful emotion, like in the "feminist anthem" track Your Dog. On the other end of the spectrum, she sounds just as honest in more self-loathing songs like Last Girl, which is my personal favorite, and in which I can't help but hear traces of Blur's Coffee and TV. The lo-fi aesthetic on this record gives it a warm, homey feel that fits right at home with the themes that are being presented, coming from the mind of a young woman of 20 years.

I won't get into any of the other tracks, because while they're all quite pleasant, not many really stood out above the rest. I would consider this to be one of those albums I'd enjoy better by listening to it as a whole, rather than picking out a few songs to add to a playlist. It's odd that I say that, as there's no grand storyline that this album strives to tell. Even so, I feel like all the tracks effectively compliment each other and flow together quite nicely. It's charming and it holds up well as a relatable outlet for teenage angst and hardships. I just wish it was a bit more musically ambitious.

B

Favorite Tracks: Cool, Your Dog, Last Girl, Scorpio Rising

Least Favorite Track: Blossom (Wasting All My Time)

Mitski - Be the Cowboy

Mitski - Be the Cowboy (2018)

Genre: Art Pop, Indie Rock

Indie rock singer/songwriter Mitski returns with her 5th full length LP, embracing the soft piano pop/rock of her earlier albums to much critical praise. This album is being reviewed per request. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

Considering that Mitski has been a pretty underground name within the industry over the past few years, it's nice to see that this album has been getting a lot of attention. Granted, while I did enjoy this album, there seems to be a lot of unwarranted praise coming from professional critics and the general public which I frankly don't really understand. For one, while the songs on here are certainly pretty, Mitski seems to just play it safe for the most part. With a 32 minute run-time and 14 tracks, there's a lot of really short and sweet tracks on here that seem to end before they can really grow on you.

This even applies for some of my favorite tracks. Old Friend is probably the track that resonated with me the most, and I was fully enjoying it, but then it just fizzled out suddenly. Lonesome Love is another great track, which ends with a long, sustained note that, sonically, is kind of unsatisfying. And I'm not trying to nitpick, because the tracks' short length and less than pleasant endings don't necessarily detract from the songs' appeal overall. I just wish that Mitski had executed them in a better way. Nobody, while being one of my favorite songs on this record, isn't exempt from these weird, cut-out endings either. That said, all the songs here are quite pleasant and enjoyable, and as one critic pointed out, it's nice to hear her move on to "more conceptual themes" in her lyrics pretty effectively.

As I stated previously though, she plays this record very safe from a musical standpoint. There's almost no experimentation or enough variation in the structuring of these songs, and because of that, this album actually benefits from being relatively short as it is. The most interesting songs on here actually come in the form of the more rock-oriented tracks. Why Didn't You Stop Me and Remember My Name are good examples of this. The former making great use of synthesizers to push it forward. The more standard soft piano tracks scattered throughout are decent in their own right, but they just don't resonate as well with me. 

Honestly, it's kind of hard to flesh out my thoughts too much on this record. Yes, I do believe it's a good album, but I don't really understand the immense praise it's getting. And I am fully aware that you don't need to reinvent the formula to make something great, but as it is, the album as a whole isn't as exciting as critics were hyping it up to be. There's just not enough here to allow me to feel the same. When it comes to indie rock, this is a much more subtle, at times lovely album, but it could have been a bit "more."

B

Favorite Tracks: Why Didn't You Stop Me?, Old Friend, Lonesome Love, Remember My Name, Washing Machine Heart

Least Favorite Track: Geyser

Paul McCartney - McCartney

Paul McCartney -  McCartney (1970)

Genre: Rock, Lo-Fi

Released less than a month before the release of the final Beatles record Let It Be, McCartney's debut album received substantial hype, thanks in part to rumors of The Beatles' eminent break-up. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I will do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

It was perfectly reasonable to expect nothing short of a masterpiece from Macca. After all, he contributed so many hits to The Beatles' discography as part of his songwriting partnership with Lennon. The first time I listened to this record all the way through, I was honestly left a bit confused and disheartened. It's riddled with unfinished songs and short, whimsical ditties that by the end, it felt like I had listened to a collection of cut studio takes and abandoned B-sides. It definitely didn't have the consistency and wow factor that one would expect from a former Beatle.

But I digress, as none of the tracks on here are downright stinkers. In fact, this album did spawn one of McCartney's most celebrated solo efforts, Maybe I'm Amazed, a raw, yet sweet piece of romantic piano rock. It's very clear that most of the album drew inspiration from his wife, Linda. The opening track, The Lovely Linda, while only being a mere 44 seconds long, is one of the cutest acoustic piece that McCartney ever recorded and stands out as one of my favorite tracks on the record. If you like cute, sappy love songs, then Macca has you covered on this record.

It's interesting to note, however, that out of the 13 tracks, 5 of them are instrumental and that includes Singalong Junk, which is just an instrumental version of Junk. Pretty cheap of him, if you ask me. While the incomplete songs were already a big indication, this further solidifies my claim that poor Paul was simply struggling with coming up with enough decent material. Junk is quite pretty, at least. Glad he didn't do this with some of the other tracks. Oo You is the most hard-rocking tune here, very much uninspired in it's lyrical content, but quite catchy nonetheless. Man We Was Lonely dabbles in some country influences and remains another simple, but effectively catchy tune. To sum up my thoughts on most of the track-listing, a lot of these may be pretty short, simple tunes, but they're mostly quite pleasing and enjoyable.

 I'd like to properly address Kreen-Akrore. I like to think of this track as an excuse for McCartney's ego to shine through. It's a glorified percussion-heavy jam session. Seeing as he played every instrument on this album, he possibly wanted to show off his [subpar] drumming skills. It's not a particularly horrible track, but it seems quite odd to include it, especially as the closing track. Overall, the album has a low-fi quality about it, production wise. Seeing as a lot of the tracks were recorded at home, it stands to reason that McCartney was going for a more "DIY" kind of sound and aesthetic. For the type of tunes he was putting on this record, it works well enough. This was probably not what most people expected from Macca's debut solo effort, but it has its charm.

B

Favorite Tracks: Maybe I'm Amazed, Man We Was Lonely, The Lovely Linda, Junk, That Would Be Something

Least Favorite Track: Kreen-Akrore

Harry Styles - Harry Styles

Harry Styles - Harry Styles (2017)

Genre: Pop Rock, Glam Rock, Hard Rock, Folk Pop

Harry Styles of One Direction fame, released his debut solo album in 2017, with some interesting results.  This album is being reviewed per request. As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I will do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

Most fans may agree that Harry Styles always seemed to have the most potential within One Direction, and this album has been a small step in proving that statement. I was already fully aware of his hit-single Sign of the Times before the release of this record. It's quite a beautiful piano-rock ballad. It gave me some optimism, as I expected that at least a couple of other tracks would be able to match it. I can't say that my expectations were exceeded, but I was still pleasantly surprised.

Harry has definitely matured in his songwriting since his One Direction days. Throughout the record you will notice lots of influences from 60's and 70's R&B and some funk sprinkled in. Carolina blew me away with its hypnotic bass groove and sultry guitar rhythms. Styles' vocal performance on the track is incredibly seductive and appropriately powerful as well, and it left me wanting more. Nothing on the album after that was able to match it, unfortunately. Only Angel and Kiwi seem to try and one up Carolina with its more hard rock style, but fall a bit short on creativity. If anything, they're still decent efforts and the only two worthwhile tracks on the second half of the record.

Sweet Creature seems to get a lot of attention from fans, but I personally thought it was pretty overrated. The song's finger-plucked riff sounds like it could have taken inspiration from The Beatles' Blackbird. It's tasteful, but a bit generic in my book. What really killed the momentum for me, were the last three tracks, which unfortunately, have the distinction of being the three worst tracks on the album. They're not bad, per se, but there was potential there to close off the album on a high note, and instead, Harry just let it simmer down for the last 13 minutes or so. 

Ironically, I personally feel that the strongest tracks on this record were the first three. Although I still did enjoy the songs in between, it's unfortunate that it had to dwindle down and lose its momentum as much as it did. With that said, Harry's debut definitely shows promise in his songwriting abilities and his ability to blend classic rock influences were for the most part, simple, but appreciated. I expect him to grow more and for a first try, it's pretty solid.

B

Favorite Tracks: Meet Me In The Hallway, Sign Of The Times, Carolina

Least Favorite Track: Ever Since New York